Applies to versions: 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2

Badge Notes and Encoding

When using badges to identify employees at the clock, there are special details to note on each type of badge.

Magnetic Swipe

• Track 2 is primarily used.  If needed, track 1 data can be used as well.  Track 3 is ignored.

Barcode

• Many scanners will not read a barcode with less than 4 characters. If you have employee or job codes that are 3 characters or less, either switch to 4 digits, or pad with zeros.  For example, if job codes are 3, 4, and 5.  Use codes 0003, 0004 and 0005 so their barcodes will scan.

RFID proximity

• Many scanners read these proximity cards in a hex format.  This is automatically translated inside the clock to match the decimal equivalent. To translate:
  • Only the right 8 characters are used.  If the reader scans 9 or 10 digits, the first 1 or 2 are dropped.  For example if the card reads 1122334455, only 22334455 will be part of the badge number.   Or if 122334455 is read, again, only 22334455 will be the badge number data.
  • Take the 8 digit hex reading, i.e. 000A1142 and use a calculator to convert from hex to decimal.  Our example will be 659778.
  • If  this does not match, it may be because some readers handle the codes slightly differently.  Try taking each pair of digits as a hex value, then doing an "endian flip."  Put that number into a calculator to convert from hex to decimal.  For example, 000A1142 would be as follows:
    00 -> binary is 00000000 -> flipped is 00000000 -> back to hex is 00
    0A -> binary is 00001010 -> flipped is 01010000 -> back to hex is 50
    11 -> binary is 00010001 -> flipped is 10001000 -> back to hex is 88
    42 -> binary is 01000010 -> flipped is 01000010 -> back to hex is 42
    So, 00508842 would go into the calculator and the result is 5277762

HID Proximity

• Most cards are standard 26 bit layout, with 16 bits allocated to the card number.  This allows card numbers from 1 to 65535.  Some cards use a special layout where the bits are allocated differenty. TimeIPS can usually accomodate such cards with special programming.