point of sales programming

does anyone have the experience of writing programs for a point of sales system ???? Do you have any helpful info on how to communicate with the cash drawer, receipt printer from a PC(MS window) ?? Please help...

This all depends on the hardware that you are using. I designed a POS system that need a scan pen to enter the products. I didn't know what to do. I found a pen that piggy backs the keyboard and the problem was solved. I used a cash draw that I needed to just send the port a keypress and it would pop open. This all depends on the hardware. Find something you want to work with and get some documentation. That is all you can do.

Sorry if this didn't help.
Raistlin

As stated already, the code to open the cash drawer highly depends on what type of drawer it is. Some just want a carriage return and others want some other silly character. Usually, though, this information can be found out by visiting the manufacture's website and/or contacting technical support for the device.

good luck,

john

John Pirkey
MCSD
http://www.ShallowWaterSystems.com
http://www.stlvbug.org

As the others have said, the cash drawer usually connects to the serial port, all you have to do in most cases is open the port using certain parameters and send in the character that pops it open.

I have found that the following method works well.
You may have to adapt it. This method is for a cash draw that uses a code for opening and is connected via a com port.

Create a batch file containing the following

"copy d:\back\setup\code.txt com2:"

Then create a text file called code.txt which just contains the code for opening the draw. In my case it was "O7H".

Then run the batch file. The cash draw should open. If you want, you can hardcode this process into your app.