VHV5 Barcode Reader

Node-RED package with one VHV5 websocket reader node that emits two JSON outputs.

Patch Notes

0.1.7

• Fixed VHV5 websocket frame handling so MessagePack payloads are decoded correctly even when the websocket message is delivered as a buffer with an incorrect text/binary flag.
• Fixed barcode extraction to prefer live VHV5 result fields such as outDataUTF8 and dataUTF8 instead of returning Base64 payload content.
• Fixed symbology extraction to use the actual result type from the decoded VHV5 read event.
• Added a regression test covering the live-style VHV5 ReaderReport payload shape.

Behavior

• requires user input into Barcode readers IP address
• Connects to Websocket of barcode reader
• extracts metadata and transforms into JSON formatting
• Extracts barcode-like fields from decoded VHV5 events.
• Reconnects automatically after disconnects.

Outputs

Output 1 sends one message per successful read:

{
  "topic": "vhv5/barcode",
  "payload": {
    "barcode": "0041199006794",
    "symbology": "EAN13",
    "received_at": "2026-07-06T18:00:00.000Z",
    "host": "192.168.250.55",
    "port": 9003
  }
}

Output 2 sends one message per successful read:

{
  "topic": "vhv5/barcode/metadata",
  "payload": {
    "barcode": "0041199006794",
    "symbology": "EAN13",
    "image_key": "123456",
    "result_count": 1,
    "received_at": "2026-07-06T18:00:00.000Z",
    "frame_format": "msgpack",
    "decoded_type": "object",
    "source": {
      "host": "192.168.250.55",
      "port": 9003,
      "websocket_url": "ws://192.168.250.55:9003"
    },
    "event": {}
  }
}

Files

• package.json: package manifest
• vhv5-barcode-reader.js: runtime registration for the Node-RED node
• vhv5-barcode-reader.html: editor UI for the Node-RED node
• lib/vhv5-decoder.js: shared websocket decode and barcode extraction logic

Local Use

1. Run npm.cmd install in this folder.
2. In your Node-RED user directory, run npm.cmd install <path-to-this-folder>.
3. Restart Node-RED.
4. Add VHV5 Barcode to a flow.