How to Handle Errors and Debug Barcode Operations in C#

using IronBarCode;
using IronBarCode.Exceptions;

// Success path: valid file present on disk
string filePath = "scanned-invoice.png";
// Failure path: file does not exist → caught by FileNotFoundException below
// string filePath = "warehouse-labels.pdf";

try
{
 BarcodeResults results = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath);
 foreach (BarcodeResult result in results)
 {
 // Print the detected symbology and decoded value for each barcode found
 Console.WriteLine($"[{result.BarcodeType}] {result.Value}");
 }
}
catch (IronBarCodePdfPasswordException ex)
{
 // PDF is encrypted — supply the password via PdfBarcodeReaderOptions before retrying
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"PDF requires password: {filePath} — {ex.Message}");
}
catch (IronBarCodeFileException ex)
{
 // File is present but corrupted, locked, or in an unsupported format
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"Cannot read file: {filePath} — {ex.Message}");
}
catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
{
 // Missing files throw FileNotFoundException, not IronBarCodeFileException
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"File not found: {filePath} — {ex.Message}");
}
catch (IronBarCodeNativeException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("DLL"))
{
 // The when filter routes only missing-DLL errors here; other native exceptions
 // fall through to the IronBarCodeException block below
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"Missing native dependency: {ex.Message}");
}
catch (IronBarCodeException ex)
{
 // Base catch for any IronBarcode-specific error not matched by the blocks above
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"IronBarcode error: {ex.GetType().Name} — {ex.Message}");
}

Imports IronBarCode
Imports IronBarCode.Exceptions

' Success path: valid file present on disk
Dim filePath As String = "scanned-invoice.png"
' Failure path: file does not exist → caught by FileNotFoundException below
' Dim filePath As String = "warehouse-labels.pdf"

Try
 Dim results As BarcodeResults = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath)
 For Each result As BarcodeResult In results
 ' Print the detected symbology and decoded value for each barcode found
 Console.WriteLine($"[{result.BarcodeType}] {result.Value}")
 Next
Catch ex As IronBarCodePdfPasswordException
 ' PDF is encrypted — supply the password via PdfBarcodeReaderOptions before retrying
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"PDF requires password: {filePath} — {ex.Message}")
Catch ex As IronBarCodeFileException
 ' File is present but corrupted, locked, or in an unsupported format
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"Cannot read file: {filePath} — {ex.Message}")
Catch ex As FileNotFoundException
 ' Missing files throw FileNotFoundException, not IronBarCodeFileException
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"File not found: {filePath} — {ex.Message}")
Catch ex As IronBarCodeNativeException When ex.Message.Contains("DLL")
 ' The when filter routes only missing-DLL errors here; other native exceptions
 ' fall through to the IronBarCodeException block below
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"Missing native dependency: {ex.Message}")
Catch ex As IronBarCodeException
 ' Base catch for any IronBarcode-specific error not matched by the blocks above
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"IronBarcode error: {ex.GetType().Name} — {ex.Message}")
End Try

using IronBarCode;

string filePath = "scanned-invoice.png";

// Configure the reader to narrow the search to specific symbologies and use
// a thorough scan pass — narrows false positives and improves decode accuracy
var options = new BarcodeReaderOptions
{
 ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.Code128 | BarcodeEncoding.QRCode, // limit scan to known formats
 Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed, // slower but more thorough — use ExtremeDetail for damaged images
 ExpectMultipleBarcodes = true // scan the full image rather than stopping at the first match
};

BarcodeResults results = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath, options);

// An empty result is not an exception — it means no barcode matched the configured options
if (results == null || results.Count == 0)
{
 // Log the configured options alongside the warning so the cause is immediately actionable
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"[WARN] No barcodes found in: {filePath}");
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" ExpectedTypes: {options.ExpectBarcodeTypes}");
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" Speed: {options.Speed}");
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" Action: Retry with ReadingSpeed.ExtremeDetail or broaden ExpectBarcodeTypes");
}
else
{
 foreach (BarcodeResult result in results)
 {
 // Points contains the four corner coordinates of the barcode in the image;
 // use the first corner as a representative position indicator
 string pos = result.Points.Length > 0 ? $"{result.Points[0].X:F0},{result.Points[0].Y:F0}" : "N/A";
 Console.WriteLine($"[{result.BarcodeType}] {result.Value} "
 + $"(Page: {result.PageNumber}, Position: {pos})");
 }
}

Imports IronBarCode

Dim filePath As String = "scanned-invoice.png"

' Configure the reader to narrow the search to specific symbologies and use
' a thorough scan pass — narrows false positives and improves decode accuracy
Dim options As New BarcodeReaderOptions With {
 .ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.Code128 Or BarcodeEncoding.QRCode, ' limit scan to known formats
 .Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed, ' slower but more thorough — use ExtremeDetail for damaged images
 .ExpectMultipleBarcodes = True ' scan the full image rather than stopping at the first match
}

Dim results As BarcodeResults = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath, options)

' An empty result is not an exception — it means no barcode matched the configured options
If results Is Nothing OrElse results.Count = 0 Then
 ' Log the configured options alongside the warning so the cause is immediately actionable
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"[WARN] No barcodes found in: {filePath}")
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" ExpectedTypes: {options.ExpectBarcodeTypes}")
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" Speed: {options.Speed}")
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" Action: Retry with ReadingSpeed.ExtremeDetail or broaden ExpectBarcodeTypes")
Else
 For Each result As BarcodeResult In results
 ' Points contains the four corner coordinates of the barcode in the image;
 ' use the first corner as a representative position indicator
 Dim pos As String = If(result.Points.Length > 0, $"{result.Points(0).X:F0},{result.Points(0).Y:F0}", "N/A")
 Console.WriteLine($"[{result.BarcodeType}] {result.Value} " &
 $"(Page: {result.PageNumber}, Position: {pos})")
 Next
End If

using IronBarCode;

// Enable IronBarcode's built-in logging — set BEFORE any read/write calls
// LoggingModes.All writes both debug output and file-level diagnostics
IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All;
IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "ironbarcode-debug.log"; // path is relative to the working directory

// All subsequent operations will write internal processing steps to the log file:
// image pre-processing stages, format detection attempts, and native interop calls
var options = new BarcodeReaderOptions
{
 Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed,
 ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.All // scan for every supported symbology
};

BarcodeResults results = BarcodeReader.Read("problem-scan.tiff", options);
Console.WriteLine($"Read complete. Results: {results.Count}. See ironbarcode-debug.log for details.");

Imports IronBarCode

' Enable IronBarcode's built-in logging — set BEFORE any read/write calls
' LoggingModes.All writes both debug output and file-level diagnostics
IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All
IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "ironbarcode-debug.log" ' path is relative to the working directory

' All subsequent operations will write internal processing steps to the log file:
' image pre-processing stages, format detection attempts, and native interop calls
Dim options As New BarcodeReaderOptions With {
 .Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed,
 .ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.All ' scan for every supported symbology
}

Dim results As BarcodeResults = BarcodeReader.Read("problem-scan.tiff", options)
Console.WriteLine($"Read complete. Results: {results.Count}. See ironbarcode-debug.log for details.")

using IronBarCode;
using System.Diagnostics;

// Lightweight wrapper that adds structured JSON observability to every read call.
// Call this in place of BarcodeReader.Read wherever elapsed-time and status logging is needed.
BarcodeResults ReadWithDiagnostics(string filePath, BarcodeReaderOptions options)
{
 var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew(); // start timing before the read so setup overhead is included
 try
 {
 BarcodeResults results = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath, options);
 sw.Stop();
 // Emit a structured success entry to stdout — pipe to Fluentd, Datadog, or CloudWatch
 Console.WriteLine($"{{\"file\":\"{filePath}\",\"status\":\"ok\","
 + $"\"count\":{results.Count},\"elapsed_ms\":{sw.ElapsedMilliseconds}}}");
 return results;
 }
 catch (Exception ex)
 {
 sw.Stop();
 // Emit a structured error entry to stderr with exception type, message, and elapsed time
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"{{\"file\":\"{filePath}\",\"status\":\"error\","
 + $"\"exception\":\"{ex.GetType().Name}\",\"message\":\"{ex.Message}\","
 + $"\"elapsed_ms\":{sw.ElapsedMilliseconds}}}");
 throw; // rethrow so the caller's catch blocks still handle the exception normally
 }
}

Imports IronBarCode
Imports System.Diagnostics

' Lightweight wrapper that adds structured JSON observability to every read call.
' Call this in place of BarcodeReader.Read wherever elapsed-time and status logging is needed.
Function ReadWithDiagnostics(filePath As String, options As BarcodeReaderOptions) As BarcodeResults
 Dim sw As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew() ' start timing before the read so setup overhead is included
 Try
 Dim results As BarcodeResults = BarcodeReader.Read(filePath, options)
 sw.Stop()
 ' Emit a structured success entry to stdout — pipe to Fluentd, Datadog, or CloudWatch
 Console.WriteLine($"{{""file"":""{filePath}"",""status"":""ok"",""count"":{results.Count},""elapsed_ms"":{sw.ElapsedMilliseconds}}}")
 Return results
 Catch ex As Exception
 sw.Stop()
 ' Emit a structured error entry to stderr with exception type, message, and elapsed time
 Console.Error.WriteLine($"{{""file"":""{filePath}"",""status"":""error"",""exception"":""{ex.GetType().Name}"",""message"":""{ex.Message}"",""elapsed_ms"":{sw.ElapsedMilliseconds}}}")
 Throw ' rethrow so the caller's catch blocks still handle the exception normally
 End Try
End Function

Batch 1 — Scan 1

Batch 1 — Scan 2

Batch 1 — Scan 3

Batch 1 — Scan 4

using IronBarCode;
using IronBarCode.Exceptions;
using System.Diagnostics;

// Enable built-in logging for the entire batch run so internal processing steps
// are captured in the log file alongside the per-file console output
IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All;
IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "batch-run.log";

// Collect all files in the directory — SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly skips subdirectories
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles("scans/", "*.*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);

var options = new BarcodeReaderOptions
{
 Speed = ReadingSpeed.Balanced, // balances throughput vs accuracy
 ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.Code128 | BarcodeEncoding.QRCode, // limit to known formats
 ExpectMultipleBarcodes = true // scan each file fully
};

// Three outcome counters: success (decoded), empty (read OK but no barcode found), fail (exception)
int successCount = 0;
int failCount = 0;
int emptyCount = 0;
var errors = new List<(string File, string Error)>(); // per-file error context for root cause analysis
var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();

foreach (string file in files)
{
 try
 {
 BarcodeResults results = BarcodeReader.Read(file, options);

 // Empty result is not an exception — the file was read but contained no matching barcode
 if (results == null || results.Count == 0)
 {
 emptyCount++;
 errors.Add((file, "No barcodes detected")); // record so caller can adjust options
 continue;
 }

 foreach (BarcodeResult result in results)
 {
 Console.WriteLine($"{Path.GetFileName(file)} | {result.BarcodeType} | {result.Value}");
 }
 successCount++;
 }
 catch (IronBarCodePdfPasswordException)
 {
 // PDF is password-protected — supply password via PdfBarcodeReaderOptions to recover
 failCount++;
 errors.Add((file, "Password-protected PDF"));
 }
 catch (IronBarCodeFileException ex)
 {
 // File is corrupted, locked, or in an unsupported image format
 failCount++;
 errors.Add((file, $"File error: {ex.Message}"));
 }
 catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
 {
 // File was in the directory listing but deleted before the read completed (race condition)
 failCount++;
 errors.Add((file, $"File not found: {ex.Message}"));
 }
 catch (IronBarCodeException ex)
 {
 // Catch-all for any other IronBarcode-specific errors not handled above
 failCount++;
 errors.Add((file, $"{ex.GetType().Name}: {ex.Message}"));
 }
 catch (Exception ex)
 {
 // Unexpected non-IronBarcode error — log the full type for investigation
 failCount++;
 errors.Add((file, $"Unexpected: {ex.GetType().Name}: {ex.Message}"));
 }
}

sw.Stop();

// Summary report — parse failCount > 0 in CI/CD to set a non-zero exit code
Console.WriteLine("\n--- Batch Summary ---");
Console.WriteLine($"Total files: {files.Length}");
Console.WriteLine($"Success: {successCount}");
Console.WriteLine($"Empty reads: {emptyCount}");
Console.WriteLine($"Failures: {failCount}");
Console.WriteLine($"Elapsed: {sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds:F1}s");

if (errors.Any())
{
 Console.WriteLine("\n--- Error Details ---");
 foreach (var (errorFile, errorMsg) in errors)
 {
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" {Path.GetFileName(errorFile)}: {errorMsg}");
 }
}

Imports IronBarCode
Imports IronBarCode.Exceptions
Imports System.Diagnostics

' Enable built-in logging for the entire batch run so internal processing steps
' are captured in the log file alongside the per-file console output
IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All
IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "batch-run.log"

' Collect all files in the directory — SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly skips subdirectories
Dim files As String() = Directory.GetFiles("scans/", "*.*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)

Dim options As New BarcodeReaderOptions With {
 .Speed = ReadingSpeed.Balanced, ' balances throughput vs accuracy
 .ExpectBarcodeTypes = BarcodeEncoding.Code128 Or BarcodeEncoding.QRCode, ' limit to known formats
 .ExpectMultipleBarcodes = True ' scan each file fully
}

' Three outcome counters: success (decoded), empty (read OK but no barcode found), fail (exception)
Dim successCount As Integer = 0
Dim failCount As Integer = 0
Dim emptyCount As Integer = 0
Dim errors As New List(Of (File As String, Error As String))() ' per-file error context for root cause analysis
Dim sw As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew()

For Each file As String In files
 Try
 Dim results As BarcodeResults = BarcodeReader.Read(file, options)

 ' Empty result is not an exception — the file was read but contained no matching barcode
 If results Is Nothing OrElse results.Count = 0 Then
 emptyCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, "No barcodes detected")) ' record so caller can adjust options
 Continue For
 End If

 For Each result As BarcodeResult In results
 Console.WriteLine($"{Path.GetFileName(file)} | {result.BarcodeType} | {result.Value}")
 Next
 successCount += 1
 Catch ex As IronBarCodePdfPasswordException
 ' PDF is password-protected — supply password via PdfBarcodeReaderOptions to recover
 failCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, "Password-protected PDF"))
 Catch ex As IronBarCodeFileException
 ' File is corrupted, locked, or in an unsupported image format
 failCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, $"File error: {ex.Message}"))
 Catch ex As FileNotFoundException
 ' File was in the directory listing but deleted before the read completed (race condition)
 failCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, $"File not found: {ex.Message}"))
 Catch ex As IronBarCodeException
 ' Catch-all for any other IronBarcode-specific errors not handled above
 failCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, $"{ex.GetType().Name}: {ex.Message}"))
 Catch ex As Exception
 ' Unexpected non-IronBarcode error — log the full type for investigation
 failCount += 1
 errors.Add((file, $"Unexpected: {ex.GetType().Name}: {ex.Message}"))
 End Try
Next

sw.Stop()

' Summary report — parse failCount > 0 in CI/CD to set a non-zero exit code
Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "--- Batch Summary ---")
Console.WriteLine($"Total files: {files.Length}")
Console.WriteLine($"Success: {successCount}")
Console.WriteLine($"Empty reads: {emptyCount}")
Console.WriteLine($"Failures: {failCount}")
Console.WriteLine($"Elapsed: {sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds:F1}s")

If errors.Any() Then
 Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "--- Error Details ---")
 For Each errorDetail In errors
 Console.Error.WriteLine($" {Path.GetFileName(errorDetail.File)}: {errorDetail.Error}")
 Next
End If