A portable hand held optical reader having a specially constructed two-dimensional image sensor array is operational in a bar code decoding mode and in a picture taking mode. The connection to the communications network is set up by means of a PDP context link via a mobile network. These transporting containers themselves serve as magazines for disk-shaped objects and are open laterally. The light source outputs physical measurement light and reflected light coming from the reflective sensor is separated into two beams of light. The patterned portions of conserved material provide additional light shielding for array pixels. The system then identifies pointers to frequently used localized strings and caches the identified pointers.