The primary focus of our business is information systems software. This involves computers and communication which have given rise to some of the most controversial issues of our age. On this page we offer our own editorial contribution.

Identity

    One of the most important considerations of information systems is that of identity. Records, the building blocks of any information system, must be identified before they can be accessed or processed. Important records are often assigned a unique identifier when initially created by the system(either system assigned,usually the next number in a sequence, or one assigned by industry standard e.g. a UPC code for an sku). The records are then indexed by the system, relating  the unique ID to a physical location in the system so they may be accessed directly upon specification of the unique ID. Since there is often nothing about the unique ID that intuitively relates it to the record or the object described by the record it is a   challenge to determine the unique ID when attempting to access the record.

    A traditional approach is to utilize additional indices that can point to the record or at least narrow the search. These are often key words that describe the record e.g. if the records are of customers, they might be indexed by the words in the company name, the name of the contact person or the telephone number. Such an approach is useful in interactive procedures where the speed and accuracy of clerical analysis is adequate. However in those cases where the speed of the process and required accuracy will not permit clerical analysis, other techniques are required. Barcode technology has evolved primarily to address such needs.

    A barcode is a series of vertical lines whose width and density combine to represent a codified series of characters. There are a variety of industry standard symbologies that have evolved to efficiently represent codes of various formats. As a corollary, devices have been developed that can read the codes to store and/or transmit them to be stored and processed in computer systems. The most common technique has involved the use of laser and infa-red light to scan the barcode in order to de-code it so it may be stored digitally. Continually improving technology for the printing of barcodes and subsequent scanning has resulted in a highly reliable and efficient methodology for identifying and determining the identity of records and the objects that they represent. In fact the technology has now progressed to the point that more complex patterns of marks can be printed and read that can include a great deal more data than can be represented using the line symbologies. Obviously this requires greater sophistication in the printing and scanning devices.

    Several WISL products including WISL Warehouse Management, WISL Process Control, WATPOS and WISL Inventory Maintenance utilize barcode technology(some involving radio frequency communication) to efficiently establish the identity of records in order to provide more responsive information systems.