How do I read input from a USB HID device?

Question

I'm making an application to run in the background on a salespoint to read input from a usb scanner. How can I get the input of the scanner from C#? And can I differentiate between the scanner and a usb keyboard? (Scanner is a HID device)

Answer 1

I did this successfully before using a “Raw Input” implementation on CodeProject:

• Raw Input

It allows you to receive both the input (what “keys” are pressed if it mimics a “keyboard”) as well distinguish which device it came from.