Package that can be used for POS

[ChrisFarrugia]

Dear all, I m interested in developling some king of pos software that uses equipment such as barcode readers, cash drawers etc. But if possible I want to make it hadware manufacturer independent. Is there some package that is available that allows me to do this? Thanks a lot, Chris Farrugia

[Pete OHanlon]

Have a read of this[^] to get an idea of how Microsoft handle POS. This should give you some idea as to what is possible.

Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.

[martin_hughes]

ChrisFarrugia wrote:

Is there some package that is available that allows me to do this?

I've done a lot of research into PoS in the past (admittedly getting on for 10 years ago now... but probably still relevant). The problem on the hardware (cashdraws, barcode scanners, receipt printers) side of things is that there aren't many standards governing how these devices should work - each manufacturer decides which control character(s) open the draw, activate the scanner, starts the printer etc. Sometimes you can get lucky and find Windows driver support, but this is the exception rather than the norm. So basically you either end up supporting just a few specific devices, or spend the rest of your life coding in support for every device that comes along. Of the two options, there are compelling reasons to go for the first: 1) Regardless of whether you want to or not, you will become both a hardware and software vendor because no retailer will touch you if they have to manage multiple contracts/companies for both hardware and software 2) As a hardware vendor you'll need to cut costs by buying in as much bulk as possible - impossible to do if you support too many products 3) You'll never have the resources to cater for every device going There are some other concerns that you should consider: - Most commercial products from the big players (IBM/HP etc.) are geared towards the big (or wanting to become big) retailers - think Walmart, Tesco, Toys R Us, Borders etc. You'd think this would leave you with a huge customer base of small to medium sized businesses. Unfortunately it doesn't because a)Most small businesses - say one or two outlets - don't need a sophisticated PoS system and b)Your product will be (comparitively) very expensive which will be hard for smaller businesses to justify. - There is no such thing as a one-size fits all PoS system, even within the same sector. I've worked for a number of Bookstores (as an Area Manager) and every single one had different procedures and processes for handling the same tasks. Sure it's possible to develop flexible software, but consider how many resources you'd need to throw at such a product and then weigh that up against how much you could make. -Medium sized businesses (which in reality will be your potential customer base) also create their own problems for you: a) Medium sized companies looking to get big won't touch you unless you have a proven track record. b) Consider the amount of suppor

[ChrisFarrugia]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply and i totally agree with you! So it seems there are no standards that govern pos equipments and therefore it is quite difficult to make a software compatible with the majority of them. Thanks a lot once again, Chris

[MickCurley]

Hello Chris, You can get started in POS using the following POS for .NET 1.11 from Microsoft. They are trying to reduce the problem of different hardware drivers/manufacturers as mentioned by using service objects. Epson and a few others support OPOS for .NET and even give examples in C#, which is nice... Good Luck Mick Curley