The latest articles on DEV Community by nigdanil (@nigdanil). https://dev.to/nigdanil https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3292389%2F327fc641-bed5-4261-969b-d3a51cc41710.png https://dev.to/nigdanil en nigdanil Fri, 04 Jul 2025 13:10:41 +0000 https://dev.to/nigdanil/how-i-built-dotplus-a-cross-platform-qr-barcode-generator-in-rust-with-gui-cli-docker-and-3meh https://dev.to/nigdanil/how-i-built-dotplus-a-cross-platform-qr-barcode-generator-in-rust-with-gui-cli-docker-and-3meh <p>Hello everyone 👋</p> <p>I'm Danil, and I'd love to share the story behind <a href="https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>DotPlus</strong></a> — a fully offline QR and barcode generator written in Rust. It combines both <strong>GUI and CLI</strong>, supports <strong>PDF export</strong>, <strong>Docker</strong>, <strong>CSV batch generation</strong>, and works seamlessly across <strong>Windows and Linux</strong>.</p> <h2> 🧩 What is DotPlus? </h2> <p>DotPlus is a free tool for generating QR codes and barcodes (EAN-13, Code 39, etc.).<br><br> It supports:</p> <ul> <li>✅ GUI (built with <code>egui</code>)</li> <li>🛠️ CLI for automation / scripts</li> <li>📄 PDF &amp; PNG export (with A4 layout)</li> <li>🐧 Linux + Windows binaries</li> <li>📦 Docker support for headless environments</li> <li>🖼️ Logo overlays, Cyrillic input, and CSV batch processing</li> <li>🔒 Fully offline — no internet, telemetry or accounts</li> </ul> <h2> 🔧 Why Rust? </h2> <p>Rust was a natural fit for:</p> <ul> <li>Cross-platform compilation</li> <li>Performance with image generation</li> <li>A rich ecosystem (<code>qrcode</code>, <code>barcoders</code>, <code>imageproc</code>, etc.)</li> <li>Safety — especially when handling files and assets</li> </ul> <p>The GUI is built using <a href="https://github.com/emilk/egui" rel="noopener noreferrer"><code>egui</code></a>, and CLI uses native <code>std::env::args</code>.</p> <h2> 📁 How it works </h2> <p>The core logic (CSV → image generation → export) is shared between CLI and GUI. This helps keep things DRY and consistent.</p> <ul> <li>GUI is built with <code>eframe</code>, includes live preview and layout editor</li> <li>CLI supports flexible flags like: </li> </ul> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code> dotplus <span class="nt">--mode</span> qr <span class="nt">--csv</span> data.csv <span class="nt">--logo</span> logo.png <span class="nt">--output</span> out/ <span class="nt">--qr-size</span> 200 </code></pre> </div> <p><br> `</p> <h2> 📦 Releasing on Windows, Linux, and Docker </h2> <p>DotPlus uses GitHub Actions for CI and automatic packaging:</p> <ul> <li> <code>.exe</code>, <code>.deb</code>, <code>.rpm</code> binaries</li> <li>Docker images (for headless batch jobs)</li> <li>Flatpak/Snap coming soon</li> </ul> <p>Releases:<br> 👉 <a href="https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus/releases" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus/releases</a></p> <h2> 🌍 Use cases </h2> <p>DotPlus is actively used for:</p> <ul> <li>ID cards and staff badges</li> <li>Library and archive cataloging</li> <li>Logistics, inventory, asset tracking</li> <li>Document labeling in healthcare and schools</li> <li>Government signage and event navigation</li> </ul> <p>It’s free for both <strong>personal</strong> and <strong>public sector</strong> use (under a custom license).</p> <h2> 📷 Demo and screenshots </h2> <p>Visit the live site for videos, screenshots and how-tos:<br> 👉 <a href="https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus</a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Ftl3k9e6s6ozmixzmpld8.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Ftl3k9e6s6ozmixzmpld8.png" alt="screenshot" width="800" height="1131"></a></p> <h2> 🙌 What’s next? </h2> <ul> <li>Translation &amp; localization (multi-country support)</li> <li>Flatpak / Snap packaging</li> <li>Community templates (label layouts, QR formats)</li> </ul> <h2> 💬 Feedback welcome </h2> <p>If you’re into:</p> <ul> <li>CLI tools</li> <li>Offline utilities</li> <li>Rust GUI</li> <li>Batch automation</li> </ul> <p>I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions or ideas! PRs are welcome too 🙂</p> <p>🔗 GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus</a><br> 🌍 Live: <a href="https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus</a></p> <p>Thanks for reading and happy hacking!</p> <p>— Danil (<a class="mentioned-user" href="https://dev.to/nigdanil">@nigdanil</a>)</p>