Identifiers and scanning

An identifier is a physical marker bound to a Thread so the physical item and its digital record can be matched to each other. DICE supports five identifier types:

Type	What it is
DUST tag	A DUST Identity tag read optically by a DUST scanner
QR code	Any QR symbol
Barcode	Linear barcodes
Data matrix	2D data matrix symbols
NFC	NFC tags, read by their hex ID

All scan workflows start from the Scan page in the navigation, or from a Thread’s identifier list.

The Identify page on the Scan screen, with DUST, Camera, and Manual modes and a team scan scope — The Scan page's Identify operation: pick a scanner mode (DUST, Camera, or Manual) and the teams to search.

Explore the Dragon scanner

Open Learn → Tutorials → Meet Dragon in DICE to explore an interactive 3D view of the Dragon scanner. Drag to rotate and scroll or pinch to zoom. Use the overview, front, rear, side, top, and lens views to inspect the protective frame, optical barrel, focus ring, cable connection, bottom collar, and scanning aperture. Select a component in the list or on the model to highlight it and read its description. Hide the USB cable to inspect its socket, or hide the bottom collar to see the recessed optics.

The viewer also supports keyboard controls: arrow keys rotate, + and − zoom, and Home resets the view. Automatic rotation starts only when you choose it. If your device cannot display 3D, the scanner illustration and component descriptions remain available.

The model is a visual reconstruction with approximate proportions.

Mount the Loupe on an iPhone

Open Learn → Tutorials → Mount your Loupe in DICE for an interactive mounting guide. Each Loupe is made for a specific phone model and attaches to a compatible MagSafe case, not directly to a bare iPhone. Check that your Loupe matches your phone model and that you have a compatible case before mounting.

Switch between rear and side views as you follow the three steps:

Orient the Loupe. Fit the compatible case to your phone and hold the phone with its back facing you. Keep the Loupe’s optical opening at the top and its flat magnetic back facing the case.
Align the optical opening. Position it over the camera that your model-specific Loupe is designed to use. The illustration shows the lower-left rear camera, with the long body extending down the case.
Seat the MagSafe mount. Bring the flat back against the compatible case, let the magnetic attachment hold it, and check that the optical opening remains centered over the camera.

The Loupe adds optics to the phone’s camera; it does not contain a camera of its own. The phone and case illustration has approximate accessory proportions; camera alignment and Loupe fit depend on the phone model.

The three scan operations

Bind attaches a scanned identifier to a Thread (“Scan an identifier to bind it to this Thread”). Once bound, the identifier appears in the Thread’s identifier list.
Verify confirms a specific identifier already bound to a Thread: you pick the identifier on the Thread, scan the physical item, and DICE reports whether it matches (“Identifier matches expected value”) or fails.
Identify goes the other direction: scan any identifier and DICE finds the Thread(s) it is bound to (“Find Threads by scanning their identifiers”). Use Identify when you have an item in hand and want to know what it is; use Verify when you already know which Thread it should be and want proof.

If a scanned identifier is bound to more than one Thread, a Multiple Matches Found dialog lists every match — filterable by Thread name, description, or organization — so you can open the right one.

Scanner modes

A segmented switcher at the top of the scanner selects the input method:

DUST — the DUST camera scanner. Point the reticle at the tag and press Scan (or tap spacebar).
Camera — the device camera reads QR codes, barcodes, and data matrix symbols as soon as one is in frame; there is nothing to press.
Manual — Manual Entry: “Paste, type, or use a HID/Bluetooth scanner.” Choose the identifier type (QR Code, Barcode, Data Matrix, NFC), enter the value, and press Enter to submit. Standalone timestamp prefixes and suffixes are removed automatically, so wedge-scanner input works as-is.

Scanning in a phone or tablet browser

A phone or tablet browser — Safari, Chrome, or any other browser on iOS or Android — scans QR codes, barcodes, and data matrix symbols with Camera, and takes typed values with Manual. DUST scanning needs the DUST Go app: in a phone or tablet browser the scanner opens on Camera by default, and DUST — chosen in the switcher, opened from a DUST link, or used to verify a DUST identifier — shows Open in DUST Go, which opens the same page in the app. See Scanning with DUST Go.

Camera starts on the rear camera. On an iPhone with several rear lenses it uses the combined rear camera, which switches lenses to focus on a small label up close. Only a camera that faces you is shown mirrored.

DUST indexing modes

When binding a DUST tag you choose an Indexing Mode:

Identifiable (“Verify + Identify”) — the DUST can be verified against its Thread and also matched from any Identify scan.
Verify-only (“Cannot be identified”) — the DUST can only be verified against the Thread it was bound to; Identify scans will not return it.

The scanner shows a help popover (“About DUST indexing modes”) explaining this in place: only Identifiable DUST can be matched from an Identify scan, while both indexing modes can be verified.

A Verify-only DUST can be made identifiable later. Open the identifier from its Thread’s Identifiers card and choose Activate; when a Thread carries several, Activate n Verify-only on the card header activates them together. Activation asks the scan service to index the fingerprint and runs its duplicate check, so a DUST that matches an identifier already identifiable in your organization is refused and stays Verify-only, with the reason shown. Activation is forward-only: there is no way to make an identifiable DUST Verify-only again. Labels have their own Activate actions on the Reel page and the Label card.

Scan scope for Identify

The Identify screen includes a Scan scope panel: “Pick which teams to match against when identifying a thread.” By default the scope covers every team available to you — your own Teams and Teams connected to yours — and the panel shows a summary like “Searching in all N teams”. You can narrow it to the Current Team, all Teams in my org, or any custom set; your selection is remembered per Team. Identify results can therefore span organizations, which is called out in the match dialog (“N matches found … across N organizations”).

When an Identify scan does not find a match, the message tells you why and what to do next:

Scan not clear enough — the capture was rejected for focus or quality; hold steady and scan again.
No match found — every team in your scan scope was searched and nothing matched. The identifier may be unbound, or belong to a team outside your scan scope; use Adjust scan scope to review where you are searching.
Search incomplete — some teams could not be searched, so the result is not a definitive “not found”; use Try again.
Connection problem — the scan never reached DICE; check your connection and try again.

Camera permissions

The Camera and DUST modes need browser camera access. If the browser blocks it, the scanner shows Browser blocked camera access with recovery steps:

Click the camera/lock icon in the browser’s address bar and choose Allow for camera.
Or open browser Settings → Privacy → Site settings → Camera and allow this page.
Reload the page after granting access.

The Camera settings popover (“Choose which camera to use for scanning.”) lets you pick a specific device when more than one camera is available. DICE remembers the camera you pick in that browser.

Reticle and scanner settings

The DUST scanner overlays a reticle to help you center the tag. Open Scanner Settings to adjust it:

Device — select which connected DUST scanner to use (Refresh connected devices rescans).
Show Reticle — toggle the overlay.
Reticle Color and Reticle Style — styles are Default, Thick, Crosshairs, Duplex, and None.
Blend Reticle — blends the reticle into the camera image.
Fullscreen — expands the scanner view.

If the DUST scanner isn’t detected you’ll see Scanner not connected with troubleshooting tips (reseat the USB cable, try a different port, avoid unpowered hubs).

Dragon focus controls

An optional enhanced mode for computers with a Dragon scanner and the DUST Camera Controls desktop app installed. It is off by default; the plain DUST scanner keeps working without it.

Turn on Dragon focus controls under the DUST scanner. The viewport then shows the Dragon preview with:

Connect — links DICE to the app. First use asks you to approve the website in DUST Camera Controls and to allow browser camera access; both are remembered.
Autofocus — searches either side of the current focus for the sharpest image, measured in the marked center of the frame. Keep the specimen still and centered.
Focus settings — a manual focus slider and the autofocus search range. The lens does not report its position, so the slider shows the last command sent.
Scan (or spacebar) — captures the current frame and runs the selected operation, exactly like the plain DUST scanner.

If the app is not running or the Dragon is unplugged, the viewport says so and offers Get the app or Connect. Only one browser tab can control the camera at a time: when another tab holds it, the viewport shows Another tab is using the Dragon and Use the Dragon here takes over, disconnecting the other tab. Turn the switch off to return to the browser-camera scanner.

Binding workflow details

When binding, a compact context panel shows the Thread you’re binding to and a Tag Description field (e.g. “Front label”) so you can note where the identifier sits on the item. On smaller screens, Existing Identifiers appears below the scanner to leave room for scanning. Back returns to the page you came from, or to the Thread when you opened the bind page directly. Batch Scan is available from the main Scan entry point, rather than during a single-Thread bind.

Labels are automatically activated on bind when identifiable DUST is enabled for your organization. If it is unavailable, Activate label on bind is shown switched off and disabled.

Two conveniences:

Camera/manual binds show a Confirm step (“Review the scanned value before binding to this Thread”) with the Detected Value before anything is written.
Stay after bind — a toggle on the bind screen that keeps the current item selected after a successful bind (“Keep the current item selected.”), useful when adding several identifiers to one Thread.

Verifying and unbinding from a Thread

On a Thread’s identifier list, open an identifier to see its details and verification state (Verified / Not Verified). From there:

Verify starts a scan against that specific identifier. A failed DUST verify reports: “This DUST doesn’t match the selected tag.”
Unbind removes the identifier from the Thread after a confirmation (Unbind Identifier? — “This will remove the identifier from this Thread. This action cannot be undone.”).

Every bind, verify, identify, and unbind is recorded in the Thread’s history — see Activity and transaction log.

Voiding and archiving an identifier

Over an item’s life it can carry several identifiers — dust gets destroyed, re-applied, or the marked material is cut away. Void and Archive both mark an identifier without removing it, and they do opposite things to what you see.

	What it means	How it looks
Void	This identifier is no longer the live marking for the item	Stays in the identifier list, in red, marked Voided
Archive	Hide this identifier from the default view	Moves into a collapsed Archived identifiers section

Both are set from an identifier’s detail dialog, and both are reversible — Remove void and Restore put an identifier back. They are independent: an identifier can be voided, archived, or both.

Voiding is a label and nothing more:

The identifier stays bound to the Thread with its full history intact.
It can still be identified, verified, and unbound exactly as before.
Nothing about the underlying DUST record changes.
If a voided identifier turns up in an Identify result, DICE flags it — “This identifier was marked voided. Check whether it should still be in use.” — but never blocks the scan.

Voiding and un-voiding are recorded in the Thread’s history, and a void travels with the identifier when a Thread moves through a shipment.

Scanning with DUST Go

The mobile counterpart to the browser scanner lives at Scan → Dust Go. DUST Go binds, verifies, and identifies “directly from the mobile hardware scanner” and reads “DUST, QR, barcode, Data Matrix, and NFC in one flow” — press the on-screen prompt to trigger the next scan. If DUST isn’t enabled for your organization, DUST Go can still read the non-DUST identifier types.

What the scanner shows you

Recent DUST Go builds show the scan’s context in the viewfinder and answer each scan there, so a run of scans needs no trips back to DICE:

What the next scan is for — the Thread being worked, the identifier being verified, and for a batch, the queue with the current position marked.
The result of each scan — bound, verified, no match, not found, or a connection problem, shown over the viewfinder as soon as DICE answers. The same outcome still appears in DICE when you return to it.
Name an identifier while you hold it — on a bind, the suggested identifier name is editable in the scanner. What you type there is used for that bind, in place of the description entered in DICE.
Move around a batch queue — pick another Thread from the queue in the scanner. Stepping forward off a Thread you haven’t finished marks it skipped: it stays in the queue and still counts as outstanding, so the batch is not complete until you come back to it.

Older DUST Go builds are unaffected — they scan exactly as before.

Integrate with DUST GoHow the DUST Go mobile app and its hardware scanning work.

Batch scanning

Batch Scan processes many Threads in one sitting — either binding an identifier to each Thread in a queue, or verifying a whole queue of Threads. Reach it from the Scan page, or select multiple Threads in a folder and choose Batch Scan from the selection bar.

Add Threads — build the queue by picking Threads from a folder (Browse folders) or by scanning to identify them (Scan to add). The queue persists while you switch between the two.
Scan to bind or Scan to verify — for bind, “each scan binds the next Thread in the queue”; for verify, “each scan verifies the active Thread”.
Track progress — the queue shows live status per Thread, a ready count (“N ready / M queued”), and a completion state (“All Threads bound” / “All verifiable Threads verified”).

Batch behavior worth knowing:

Verify needs identifiers. Queued Threads with no identifiers are kept in the queue but skipped until an identifier is added (“N Threads need identifiers”).
Overall Verify Mode — Any Match accepts any matching identifier on the Thread; All Tags requires each candidate identifier to be verified. A per-Thread Thread Verify Mode override is available under Show advanced.
Failures stay in the queue. A failed scan marks the Thread and you can simply scan it again; Reset States (under Queue actions) clears all statuses to rerun the batch, and Clear Queue empties it.
Skipped Threads stay in the queue too. A Thread you stepped past in the DUST Go scanner without finishing is marked skipped and remains outstanding — the batch is not complete until it is done or removed.
The batch queue stays in this open session. Refreshing or closing the page, signing out, or switching accounts or Teams clears the queue and unsent batch descriptions. Complete pending work before leaving the session.
Stay after bind works here too, and each bind can carry a New Tag Description (e.g. “Inside logo”).

Batch scanning also has a DUST Go variant (Batch Scan from within DUST Go) that adds identified Threads straight into the batch queue.

ThreadsThe records identifiers are bound to.

RelationshipsScan an identifier to pick a Thread when linking.

ActivityWhere scan events are recorded.

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