OPEN / CLOSE Cash Register
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Hi guys. I need help, I dont even know if Im putting this in the right FORUM... but here it goes. Ive been asked to create a Point of Sale application that can control a recipt printer and a cash register. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START. as of now I know that the printer and cash register is connected through LPT1...THATS IT!!.. please help.. Im pretty good at handling web applications and flash...so if there is anyway that I could create componets that I might be able to manage through a web application and SQL/Access database...It´d be great. Thank you very much... X-ZD Designs
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Hi guys. I need help, I dont even know if Im putting this in the right FORUM... but here it goes. Ive been asked to create a Point of Sale application that can control a recipt printer and a cash register. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START. as of now I know that the printer and cash register is connected through LPT1...THATS IT!!.. please help.. Im pretty good at handling web applications and flash...so if there is anyway that I could create componets that I might be able to manage through a web application and SQL/Access database...It´d be great. Thank you very much... X-ZD Designs
Jonavis wrote: I dont even know if Im putting this in the right FORUM... but here it goes. Nope. Jonavis wrote: Ive been asked to create a Point of Sale application that can control a recipt printer and a cash register. Define 'control'... Web pages are not going to be of ANY help on this project. Your going to need a custom I/O controller (.DLL) to talk to a cash register through the parallel port. This is required because you can't get at the parallel port hardware directly. Also, the manuals on the register and printer are 'must have's for this. Once you have a working communications layer written (that custom .DLL), you can get started on the 'control' app above... RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome
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Hi guys. I need help, I dont even know if Im putting this in the right FORUM... but here it goes. Ive been asked to create a Point of Sale application that can control a recipt printer and a cash register. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START. as of now I know that the printer and cash register is connected through LPT1...THATS IT!!.. please help.. Im pretty good at handling web applications and flash...so if there is anyway that I could create componets that I might be able to manage through a web application and SQL/Access database...It´d be great. Thank you very much... X-ZD Designs
If you are writing a Point of Sale that needs to access a receipt printer and a CASH DRAWER then I may be able to help. If you are working with a Cash Register that is a different process all together and I would be no help. I have written 3 point of sale applications and they all have been a challenge. The cash drawer is opened by sending a Hex command to the receipt printer which then opens the drawer and rings the bell. This all has to be configured and installed on the client computer, which is a whole other task. Choose your printer wisely because paper widths and drivers are not the same and you will have to write a ton of code to support very many different types of printers. It is harder than it looks to handle receipt printing and more so from a web app (I still haven't figured that one out). Find out what type of printer you will be using and get the drivers setup and figure out the type of layout they will be using. Normally you will have a logo followed by three lines of text(Name, Date and such) then comes the invoice number if you are using text otherwise it prints as a barcode on the bottom. Now comes the fun part. If you are using .Net use the draw namespace and draw the receipt by creating a rectangle or region and converting the text to an image inside of the region. Handling the spacing and alignment is tough but it just takes time. Remember the spacing between the characters is not always the same (2 is wider than 1) so you have to code defensively or your end product will have zig zagging numbers. If you are looking for help you may want to be more specific about what you are asking for. Specifically you will need to work with printing and drawing which are fair game in the C#,VB.Net or ASP.Net forums. And don't forget the articles there are great articles on printing using the Draw namespace right here on the CP in fact it is one of the best references I have ever found. If you have made it this far you are either desperate or bored so one last parting shot of advice. Use .Net if you can it is a rich language and has most of what you need. If you are going with something else I strongly suggest buying commercial grade components dev express, infragistics or something like that (I think some of them advertise on CP) it will save you a ton of time. Hope it helps. I have had a great time working with point of sale apps they are a real challenge.
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If you are writing a Point of Sale that needs to access a receipt printer and a CASH DRAWER then I may be able to help. If you are working with a Cash Register that is a different process all together and I would be no help. I have written 3 point of sale applications and they all have been a challenge. The cash drawer is opened by sending a Hex command to the receipt printer which then opens the drawer and rings the bell. This all has to be configured and installed on the client computer, which is a whole other task. Choose your printer wisely because paper widths and drivers are not the same and you will have to write a ton of code to support very many different types of printers. It is harder than it looks to handle receipt printing and more so from a web app (I still haven't figured that one out). Find out what type of printer you will be using and get the drivers setup and figure out the type of layout they will be using. Normally you will have a logo followed by three lines of text(Name, Date and such) then comes the invoice number if you are using text otherwise it prints as a barcode on the bottom. Now comes the fun part. If you are using .Net use the draw namespace and draw the receipt by creating a rectangle or region and converting the text to an image inside of the region. Handling the spacing and alignment is tough but it just takes time. Remember the spacing between the characters is not always the same (2 is wider than 1) so you have to code defensively or your end product will have zig zagging numbers. If you are looking for help you may want to be more specific about what you are asking for. Specifically you will need to work with printing and drawing which are fair game in the C#,VB.Net or ASP.Net forums. And don't forget the articles there are great articles on printing using the Draw namespace right here on the CP in fact it is one of the best references I have ever found. If you have made it this far you are either desperate or bored so one last parting shot of advice. Use .Net if you can it is a rich language and has most of what you need. If you are going with something else I strongly suggest buying commercial grade components dev express, infragistics or something like that (I think some of them advertise on CP) it will save you a ton of time. Hope it helps. I have had a great time working with point of sale apps they are a real challenge.
There is an old inititive out there called OPOS wich is intended for communication between a POS and different hardware. When I worked with POS-applications(a couple of years ago) we used OPOS to communicate with printers, cash drawers, customer displays etc. Microsoft, IBM, Epson and a lot of diffrent companys stood behind this, but that was in the late -90's, early -00's. It might be worth to investigate if it still can be used and have evolved.