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Xiao Ling
Xiao Ling

Posted on • Originally published at dynamsoft.com

Building a Driver's License Scanner with JavaScript: From Foundation to Production

#webdev #javascript #programming #pdf417

Driver’s license scanning has become essential for identity verification, age validation, and automated data entry across various industries. With Dynamsoft’s powerful computer vision APIs, web developers can easily build comprehensive driver’s license scanning applications using JavaScript. This tutorial demonstrates two approaches: a foundational implementation for learning core concepts, and a production-ready component for enterprise use.

Demo Video: JavaScript Driver’s License Scanner

  • Foundational Implementation:

  • Ready-to-Use Component:

Online Demo

Try it here

Prerequisites

Understanding Driver’s License Technology

Before diving into the code, let’s briefly understand the technology behind driver’s license scanning.

PDF417 Barcodes

Most North American driver’s licenses use PDF417 barcodes, which encode structured data such as:

@ ANSI 636026020002DL00410288ZA03290015DLDCANONE,JANE DCS DOE DAC JANE DDF N DAD NONE DBD 04232024 DBB 04231990 DBA 04232030 DBC 1 DAU 505 DAY BLU DAG 123 MAIN ST DAI ANYTOWN DAJ CA DAK 902230000 DAQ 123456789 DCF 12345678901234567890 DCG USA
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This includes:

  • Personal information (name, address, birth date)
  • License details (number, expiration, class)
  • Physical characteristics (height, eye color)
  • Security features and validation codes

Technical Challenges

  1. Barcode Quality: Varying lighting and print conditions affect readability
  2. Data Parsing: Converting raw strings into structured key-value data
  3. Validation: Verifying the completeness and accuracy of extracted fields
  4. User Experience: Delivering smooth, real-time, intuitive scanning interactions

Simple PDF417 Scanner Built with Foundational API

Let’s start with a basic implementation using the Dynamsoft JavaScript Barcode SDK’s foundational API. This approach is ideal for learning and understanding the core concepts of barcode scanning.

Step 1: Project Setup

Create a simple HTML file structure:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>Driver License PDF417 Scanner</title> <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/dynamsoft-barcode-reader-bundle@11.0.3000/dist/dbr.bundle.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <h1>Driver License Scanner</h1> <!-- Scanner interface will go here --> </div> <script src="script.js"></script> </body> </html>
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Step 2: Initialize Barcode Reader, Code Parser, and Camera Enhancer

The Dynamsoft JavaScript Barcode SDK is composed of several components that work together to provide a complete scanning solution:

  • CaptureVisionRouter: The core engine that manages data flow between components.
  • CameraView: The user interface for camera input.
  • CameraEnhancer: Manages the camera lifecycle and configuration.
  • CodeParser: Parses structured data from scanned barcodes. 
async initSDK() { try { // Set license from user input Dynamsoft.License.LicenseManager.initLicense(this.licenseKey); // Preload modules await Dynamsoft.Core.CoreModule.loadWasm(["DBR", "DCP"]); await Dynamsoft.DCP.CodeParserModule.loadSpec("AAMVA_DL_ID"); await Dynamsoft.DCP.CodeParserModule.loadSpec("AAMVA_DL_ID_WITH_MAG_STRIPE"); await Dynamsoft.DCP.CodeParserModule.loadSpec("SOUTH_AFRICA_DL"); // Create components this.components.parser = await Dynamsoft.DCP.CodeParser.createInstance(); this.components.cameraView = await Dynamsoft.DCE.CameraView.createInstance(); this.components.cameraEnhancer = await Dynamsoft.DCE.CameraEnhancer.createInstance(this.components.cameraView); this.components.cvRouter = await Dynamsoft.CVR.CaptureVisionRouter.createInstance(); // Setup camera view const cameraContainer = document.getElementById('camera-view'); cameraContainer.appendChild(this.components.cameraView.getUIElement()); // Configure router this.components.cvRouter.setInput(this.components.cameraEnhancer); // Setup result filter const filter = new Dynamsoft.Utility.MultiFrameResultCrossFilter(); filter.enableResultDeduplication("barcode", true); await this.components.cvRouter.addResultFilter(filter); // Configure barcode settings const settings = await this.components.cvRouter.getSimplifiedSettings("ReadDenseBarcodes"); settings.barcodeSettings.barcodeFormatIds = Dynamsoft.DBR.EnumBarcodeFormat.BF_PDF417; await this.components.cvRouter.updateSettings("ReadDenseBarcodes", settings); this.components.receiver = { onCapturedResultReceived: (result) => this.handleCapturedResult(result), onDecodedBarcodesReceived: (result) => this.handleBarcodeResult(result) }; this.isInitialized = true; return true; } catch (error) { console.error('SDK initialization failed:', error); alert('Failed to initialize barcode scanner: ' + error.message); return false; } }
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Step 3: Scan from Camera or Image

The SDK provides a built-in UI that supports both real-time video and single-frame image scanning:

  • Use thesingleFrameMode setting to switch modes.
  • Get the processed results through the onCapturedResultReceived and onDecodedBarcodesReceived callbacks. 
async startScanning() { if (!this.isInitialized) { const success = await this.initSDK(); if (!success) return; } document.querySelector('h1').style.display = 'none'; // Start in the selected mode if (this.currentMode === 'camera') { await this.switchToVideoMode(); } else { await this.switchToSingleFrameMode(); } } async switchToVideoMode() { const elements = { mainContainer: document.getElementById('main-container'), tipMessage: document.getElementById('tip-message'), cameraView: document.getElementById('camera-view') }; elements.mainContainer.style.display = 'block'; elements.tipMessage.textContent = 'Aim at the barcode on the driver\'s license.'; elements.tipMessage.hidden = false; elements.cameraView.style.display = 'block'; this.components.cvRouter.removeResultReceiver(this.components.receiver); await this.components.cvRouter.stopCapturing(); await this.components.cameraEnhancer.close(); this.components.cameraEnhancer = await Dynamsoft.DCE.CameraEnhancer.createInstance(this.components.cameraView); this.components.cameraEnhancer.singleFrameMode = "disabled"; await this.components.cameraEnhancer.open(); this.components.cvRouter.setInput(this.components.cameraEnhancer); await this.components.cvRouter.startCapturing("ReadDenseBarcodes"); // Setup result receiver this.components.cvRouter.addResultReceiver(this.components.receiver); } async switchToSingleFrameMode() { this.components.cvRouter.removeResultReceiver(this.components.receiver); await this.components.cvRouter.stopCapturing(); await this.components.cameraEnhancer.close(); this.components.cameraEnhancer = await Dynamsoft.DCE.CameraEnhancer.createInstance(this.components.cameraView); this.components.cameraEnhancer.singleFrameMode = "image"; await this.components.cameraEnhancer.open(); this.components.cvRouter.setInput(this.components.cameraEnhancer); await this.components.cvRouter.startCapturing("ReadDenseBarcodes"); // Setup result receiver this.components.cvRouter.addResultReceiver(this.components.receiver); }
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Step 4: Parse and Display Driver License Data

Use CodeParser.parse() to extract structured fields:

 handleCapturedResult(result) { if (this.components.cameraEnhancer.singleFrameMode === "disabled" || !this.components.cameraEnhancer.isOpen()) return; const hasBarcodes = result.items.some(item => item.type === Dynamsoft.Core.EnumCapturedResultItemType.CRIT_BARCODE ); if (!hasBarcodes) { this.showResults("No PDF417 Barcode Found!"); } } // Handle successful barcode detection async handleBarcodeResult(result) { if (!result.barcodeResultItems.length) return; Dynamsoft.DCE.Feedback.beep(); const success = await this.parseDriverLicense(result.barcodeResultItems[0].bytes); if (success) { this.components.cvRouter.stopCapturing(); } } // Parse driver license information async parseDriverLicense(bytesToParse) { try { const parsedResult = await this.components.parser.parse(bytesToParse); if (parsedResult.exception) return false; const dlInfo = JSON.parse(parsedResult.jsonString); console.log('Parsed Driver License Info:', dlInfo); this.parsedInfo = {}; this.extractLicenseFields(dlInfo); this.displayResults(); return true; } catch (error) { console.error('Parsing error:', error); alert('Failed to parse driver license: ' + error.message); return false; } } // Extract fields based on driver license type extractLicenseFields(dlInfo) { const { CodeType, ResultInfo } = dlInfo; switch (CodeType) { case "AAMVA_DL_ID": this.extractAAMVAFields(ResultInfo, "commonSubfile"); break; case "AAMVA_DL_ID_WITH_MAG_STRIPE": this.extractAAMVAMagStripeFields(ResultInfo); break; case "SOUTH_AFRICA_DL": this.extractSouthAfricaFields(ResultInfo); break; default: console.warn('Unknown driver license type:', CodeType); } } // Extract AAMVA standard fields extractAAMVAFields(resultInfo, targetField) { for (const info of resultInfo) { if (info.FieldName === targetField && info.ChildFields) { this.processChildFields(info.ChildFields); } } } // Extract AAMVA magnetic stripe fields extractAAMVAMagStripeFields(resultInfo) { for (const info of resultInfo) { if (info.FieldName.includes("track") && info.ChildFields) { this.processChildFields(info.ChildFields); } } } // Extract South Africa driver license fields extractSouthAfricaFields(resultInfo) { for (const info of resultInfo) { this.parsedInfo[info.FieldName] = info.Value; if (info.ChildFields) { this.processChildFields(info.ChildFields); } } } // Recursively process child fields processChildFields(childFields) { const excludedFields = ["dataElementSeparator", "segmentTerminator", "subfile", "subfileType"]; for (const childField of childFields) { for (const field of childField) { if (!excludedFields.includes(field.FieldName)) { this.parsedInfo[field.FieldName] = field.Value; } if (field.ChildFields) { this.processChildFields(field.ChildFields); } } } }
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driver license parsing example

✅ What You Get with the Foundational Example

  • ✅ Basic PDF417 barcode scanning
  • ✅ Live camera input
  • ✅ Structured data parsing

⚠️ Limitations

  • ❌ No image capture or export
  • ❌ Basic UI/UX
  • ❌ No document boundary detection

Ready-to-Use Approach: Complete Solution

For production applications, use a pre-built component that encapsulates all the complexity. Developers only need to include a single JavaScript file and write minimal code.

Step 1: Include the Component

The source code for the ready-to-use component is available on GitHub. You can download it here.

Build the ddls.bundle.js component (written in TypeScript) with the following commands:

npm install npm run build
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Then include the generated ddls.bundle.js in your HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <title>Driver License Scanner - Production Ready</title> <!-- Single script include - all complexity handled internally --> <script src="ddls.bundle.js"></script> </head> <body> <!-- Your app goes here --> </body> </html>
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Step 2: Initialize the Scanner with One Line 

// Initialize the complete scanner with one line const driverLicenseScanner = new Dynamsoft.DriverLicenseScanner({ license: licenseKey, scannerViewConfig: { uiPath: "../dist/ddls.ui.html", }, templateFilePath: "../dist/ddls.template.json", workflowConfig: { captureFrontImage: true, captureBackImage: true, readBarcode: true, }, });
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This component automatically handles:

  • ✅ Camera initialization and management
  • ✅ Document detection and capture
  • ✅ Barcode scanning and data parsing
  • ✅ Professional UI with guided workflow

Step 3: Launch Scanner Workflow

Start the complete scanning process with a single method. The component manages everything—from camera access to data extraction—and returns structured results with both images and parsed data.

async function startScanning() { try { // Launch complete scanning workflow with professional UI const result = await driverLicenseScanner.launch(); // Result contains everything: images + extracted data console.log('Front image:', result.frontSide?.imageData); console.log('Back image:', result.backSide?.imageData); console.log('License data:', result.licenseData); displayResults(result); } catch (error) { console.error('Scanning failed:', error); } }
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driver license scanner workflow

Comparison and Best Practices

When to Use Each Approach

Scenario Foundational Ready-to-Use
Learning & Education ✅ Great for learning ✅ Easy to start
Rapid Prototyping ❌ More setup ✅ Ideal
Production Applications ❌ Too basic ✅ Fully equipped
Enterprise Integration ❌ Limited capabilities ✅ Robust & scalable
Custom Workflows ✅ Full control ✅ Configurable
Ease of Implementation ❌ Manual setup ✅ Plug-and-play

Implementation Complexity

Foundational Approach (Higher Complexity):

  • Manual initialization and setup
  • Custom camera integration code
  • Manual data parsing implementation
  • Custom UI development required

Ready-to-Use Approach (Lower Complexity):

  • One-line initialization
  • Professional built-in UI
  • Pre-configured scanning workflow
  • Minimal code with robust results

Source Code

https://github.com/yushulx/javascript-barcode-qr-code-scanner/tree/main/examples/driver_license

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