Printable View
Hi!
I got to program a simple cashier-system. It shall be able to control a Credit-Card reader.
the card reader can be controlled using a "ZVT"-Connecor. On the side of my program I got to program such a ZVT-Connector by myself.
Do you have any hints for me? Has someone done something similar?
Thanks in advance!
I have no idea what you mean by ZVT connector. PCs have USB ports, Network ports, Display ports and possibly serial and/or parallel ports.
If what you are talking about is some kind of USB adapter then it should have driver software available if needed and it should have documentation to tell you how to use it.
Thanks, DataMiser!
It seems that I didn't understand, how specific my question is. So I didn't wrote about the ciurcumstances.
The ZVT stands for a protocol used in Germany (and similar in all Europe?) which handles the whole process of paying with a credit card and other plastic money. ZVT stands for ZahlungsVerkehrTerminal.
As ZVT does not only handle the commuication between the terminal an the computer of the cashier-system, but also between the terminal and the bank, the whole financial transaction, PIN-handling, encryption, verification, .... it is quite complicated.
I have found additional info: it seems, that alle the suppliers for those creditcard-terminals have an organsiation: "Verband der Terminalhersteller". On thier homepage "www.terminalhersteller.de" there is at least a detailed description of the protocol. As I only want to "tell" the terminal which price I want to charge, I hope that I need almost nothing of that major and feature-rich protocol.
The vendor "ingenico" uses another protocol: O. P. I. (Open Payment Initiative) for thier terminals, this protocol seems to be a lot easier to implement, as it is only meant for the needs I actuually have.
I'm sure that I'm not the first one to program a software that tells the terminal which price it shall ask for. But it is irritating to me, how litte info I can find in the internet. I was originally hopeing for a sample code, that would be easy to adapt to my project.
I hope for an easy description like that, possibly even a sample code:
Use RS232 or TCP/IP.
PC->Terminal: Initiate Session (incl. Password,...)
Terminal->PC: Accepted
PC->Terminal: Send Value: 9.55€
Terminal->PC: Accepted, Waiting for User-Action
(Customer ist entering Card, PIN, ....)
Terminal->PC: Payment Success, closing.
Well, sure, this is only what I hoped for.
It seems that I found a surprisingly seldom used problem, as almost every cashier-system is PC-based and almost every card-terminal is controlled from that system.
If you are using RS232, then there's loads of info available about programming RS232 using vb.net. Once you are able to communicate with the device, then the ZVT protocol will specify what data needs to be sent and what is received (which you're now got). Also when dealing with serial ports (RS232), it's very useful to have a terminal emulator (eg YAT etc) to directly send data to the port and to see what data is being received.
There are also samples included with VB.Net for using TCP/IP. Samples for TCP Server, TCP CLient and Sockets. I use the sockets myself in my TCP/IP programming, it can be a little more complicated than using the TCP Client or Serial component but also gives you more control. Most of the time communicating with an external device is fairly simple you just have to know exactly what the device expects to see from the host and exactly what it will send back under various conditions. Your protocol info should tell you that part.
Hi i have found this project on GitHub https://github.com/Portalum/Portalum.Payment.Zvt
The most important functions are already implemented there. There is also a test application with which the terminal can be tested. I hope the project helps you.
Well, if the OP is so patient to wait for a possible solution for almost 18 months then yep, it could help him! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by live2