CN100552734C - POS terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

A POS terminal device adapted to be connected to an external device. The application program runs in the POS terminal device. The device manager determines whether the external device can count the first numerical value representing the usage amount of the external device, and if yes, the device manager obtains the first numerical value from the external device according to a first command from the application program. The counter holds a second value representing the usage amount of the external device, and notifies the application of the second value according to a second command from the application. If it is determined that the external device cannot count the first numerical value, the counter virtually counts the second numerical value according to a third command sent from the application program to the external device. The updater updates the second numerical value with the third numerical value obtained by the fourth command from the application with reference to the first numerical value obtained by the device manager. When updating the second value with the third value, the first value is retained.

Description

POS terminal device

technical field

The present invention relates to a POS system including a POS (Pashboard System) terminal device and devices connected thereto, and more particularly, to a technique for determining device usage.

Background technique

JAVA POS is an application programming interface for constructing a cash register system (POS) system using JAVA (registered trademark). JAVA POS also has a function for device statistics, that is, information about the use of devices connected to the POS terminal. The JAVA POS standard enables applications running on POS terminals to obtain and use these device statistics, such as device usage information. The usage information is usage information indicating specific device functions, for example, in the case of a printer, information on the number of lines printed, or the number of characters printed.

Depending on the model or type of device, some devices have internal maintenance counters that are used to count specific function usage. A device having such internal counters can obtain device statistics about the operation of the device by reading these counters. There are also devices that do not have such an internal counter.

Irrespective of whether the connected device has maintenance counters or not, preferably some application program running on the POS terminal is able to use such device statistics.

Furthermore, maintenance counters installed in such equipment are generally used to maintain the equipment. Therefore, preferably, a POS terminal connected to the device does not overwrite the maintenance counter.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to enable the use of these device statistics in POS systems.

It is also an object of the invention to use, as device statistics, what is read from a maintenance counter in a single device, without changing the value stored by the specific counter.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a POS (Electronic Cash Register System) terminal device to be connected to an external device, comprising:

applications running on POS terminal devices;

a device manager capable of communicating with the external device, the device manager determining whether the external device can count a first value representing a usage amount of the external device, and when determining that the external device is capable of counting the first value When , responding to the first command from the application program, obtaining the first value from the external device;

a counter, which retains a second value indicating the amount of use of the external device, and notifies the application program of the second value in response to a second command from the application program, and when it is determined that the external device cannot count the first value, the counter according to A third command sent from the application to the external device virtually counts the second value; and

an updater which updates the second numerical value with a third numerical value obtained by a fourth command from the application program with reference to the first numerical value obtained by the device manager,

Wherein, when the second value is updated with the third value, the first value is retained.

Preferably, the updater subtracts the fourth value from the second value, and obtains the fourth value by subtracting the first value from the third value.

Preferably, the POS terminal device further includes storage means, wherein, when a predetermined event occurs, the device manager obtains the first numerical value, and stores the obtained first numerical value in the storage means.

Preferably, the POS terminal device further includes storage means, wherein the device manager stores the obtained second numerical value in the storage means when a predetermined event occurs.

The POS terminal device also includes a predictor that predicts a function count value (count) of the external device based on a command from the application program. The device additionally includes an accumulation counter for accumulating and storing the predicted function count value.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a method for managing the amount of usage of external equipment connected to a POS (electronic cash register system) terminal device, including:

Run the application program in the POS terminal device;

determining whether the external device is capable of counting a first value representing usage of the external device;

Obtaining the first numerical value from the external device in response to a first command from the application program when it is determined that the external device can calculate the first numerical value;

retaining a second value representing usage of the external device;

Notifying the application of the second value in response to a second command from the application;

When it is determined that the external device cannot count the first value, counting the second value according to a third command sent from the application program to the external device; and

updating the second value with the third value obtained from the application through the fourth command with reference to the obtained first value,

Wherein, when the second value is updated with the third value, the first value is retained.

Preferably, the second value is updated by subtracting the fourth value from the second value, and the fourth value is obtained by subtracting the first value from the third value.

Preferably, when a predetermined event occurs, the first value is obtained, and the obtained first value is stored in the storage means.

Preferably, the second value is stored in the storage means when a predetermined event occurs.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a POS (electronic cash register system) terminal device adapted to be connected to an external device, comprising:

a general-purpose computer, including a processor and memory, the general-purpose computer running an application program;

a device manager capable of communicating with the external device, the device manager determining whether the external device is capable of counting a first numerical value representing usage of the external device, and responding when it is determined that the external device is capable of counting the first numerical value A first command from the application to obtain a first value from an external device;

a counter, which retains a second numerical value representing the usage amount of the external device, and notifies the application program of the second numerical value in response to a second command from the application program, wherein when it is determined that the external device cannot count the first numerical value, the counter according to A third command sent from the application to the external device virtually counts the second value; and

The updater updates the second numerical value with the third numerical value obtained by the fourth command from the application program with reference to the first numerical value obtained by the device manager,

Wherein, when the second value is updated with the third value, the first value is retained.

Description of drawings

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a POS system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of the POS terminal initialization process performed in the POS system of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a flowchart of the process run by the virtual counter in the POS system of Figure 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for updating or resetting counters in the POS system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of counter reading processing executed in the POS system of FIG. 1 .

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a POS system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a POS terminal 1 and a printer 2 as an example of a device connected to and used with the POS terminal 1 .

The present invention is described below using the printer 2 as an example of a device, but the present invention is not limited thereto. More specifically, the present invention can be used with a number of peripheral devices connectable to the POS terminal 1, including Magnetic Ink Character Readers (MICR), scanners and Optical Character Readers (OCR). Additionally, one or more printers 2 or other devices may be connected to the POS terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1 .

For each of one or more functions of the connected device, in this embodiment, the device statistics used by the POS terminal 1 indicate how much of the particular function is used. Therefore, the POS terminal 1 in this embodiment is described by determining the number of lines printed by the printer 2 as an example of device statistics.

A number of different printers 2 can be connected to the POS terminal 1 . Depending on the printer type, some printers have internal maintenance counters and some do not. The maintenance counter 21 used here is a counter that counts, accumulates, and stores instances indicating how much a specific function is used whenever the printer 2 uses the specific function. Use of some printer functions is indicated by, for example, the number of characters printed, the number of lines printed, the amount of ink consumed, the length of paper transported relative to the roll when printing, and the operation of the trimmer number of times and the number of sheets printed when printing relative to trimming.

For example, if the printer 2 with the maintenance counter prints relative to the roll paper, releases the printed roll paper, and responds to the print command from the POS terminal 1, drives the paper cutter to cut the paper, the maintenance counter 21 will count the number of lines actually printed Or the actual number of characters printed is counted, these counts are added to the previously accumulated printed line count and the accumulated printed character count, and the accumulated cut count is incremented by one.

The POS terminal 1 is a general-purpose computer having a processor and a memory, and the POS terminal 1 described below obtains various components and functions by causing the POS terminal 1 to execute steps in a computer program.

The POS terminal 1 has: one or more application programs 11 for performing specific processing, a device manager 13 for managing devices connected to the POS terminal 1, a virtual counter 15 for virtually counting how many specific device functions are used , and non-volatile memory 17.

The application 11 sends a command to the device manager 13 requesting different processing. A command sent to the device manager 13 may request printing on the printer 2, refer to a counter for one of the parameters used by the printer 2, or update or reset a specific counter.

The device manager 13 executes various processes involving connected devices. When the device manager 13 receives a command from the application program 11, for example, the device manager 13 executes processing requested by the command. For example, if a command requests the printer 2 to process, the device manager 13 generates commands to control the printer 2 accordingly, and sends these commands to the printer 2, thereby causing the printer 2 to perform specific processing. If a command for reading one of the counters indicating printer usage is received, the device manager 13 executes the processing indicated by the command type. This processing is described in more detail below.

The device manager 13 also obtains information from the printer 2 such as a model ID indicating the type of the printer 2 . In addition, if a specific escape event (escape event) occurs, the device manager 13 stores the cumulative count value for each function monitored by the virtual counter 15, the cumulative count value of the function counter is retained by the maintenance counter 21, and will be further described below Difference information from the difference file 173 to the counter file 175 is described. Instead, the device manager 13 also restores the virtual counter 15 by reading the counter information from the counter file 175 .

The virtual counter 15 virtually counts the use of specific functions of the printer 2 . The virtual counter 15 has: a predictor 151 for predicting a count value for a specific function; and an accumulation counter 152 for accumulating and storing the accumulated predicted count value for each function. For example, if the device manager 13 sends a command to the printer 2 requesting the printer 2 to perform a specific function, the predictor 151 interprets the command and predicts usage values for the one or more specific functions used by the printer 2 . Similar to the maintenance counter 21, the predictor 151 predicts and counts printed line count values, paper cutting operations, and other functions. The resulting predicted count value is then added to the accumulation counter 152 .

The virtual counter 15 also has: a reset function for clearing the accumulation counter 152 to 0; and an update function for setting the accumulation counter 152 to a specific value in response to a command from the application program 11 .

The virtual counter 15 is in operation only when the connected printer 2 does not have an internal maintenance counter.

According to the type of command sent to the printer 2, the predictor 151 can predict the use of each function, as described below.

(1) If the command is a text print command, the predictor 151 predicts the number of characters and lines to be printed by counting the number of characters and line feeds specified by the parameters of the print command.

(2) If the print command is a command for printing an image such as a barcode, the predictor 151 counts the number of dots printed by the printer 2, thereby printing the image data contained in the print command. For example, the number of dots per character used for this conversion may be that of the font size most frequently used by the printer 21A (for example, 12 dots wide by 24 dots high), or the average number of dots in one character.

The image data print command also includes image size and scale information. The predictor 151 can use this information to determine the height of an image when printing is performed by the printer 2, and predict the number of printed lines based on the calculated image height and the predicted height of one line (line feed distance).

(3) The predictor 151 also detects escape sequence control commands, thereby predicting printer use. For example, the predictor 151 may count the number of paper cuts based on the number of paper cut commands sent, and count the number of paper cut escape sequences included in the print command.

For example, the predictor 151 also counts the number of times of printing a barcode, inserting a slip, and changing the printing surface of paper by detecting and counting the number of corresponding commands normally executed by the printer 2 . The number of home position errors can also be represented by a mechanical error count value.

The nonvolatile memory 17 stores: an attribute file 171 for storing attribute data for a plurality of devices connectable to the POS terminal 1; information on the difference between the saved actual count values; and a counter file 175 for storing the counter information. The property data stored in the property file 171 includes, for each printer or other device ID, information indicating whether the device identified by the device ID has a maintenance counter. For example, the counter file 175 stores counter values obtained from the virtual counter 15 or the accumulation counter 152 in the maintenance counter 21 .

The operation of the POS system thus incorporated will be described with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS. 2 to 5 .

When the POS terminal 1 is powered on, initialization processing of the POS terminal 1 is executed. As shown in FIG. 2 , this initialization process starts with the device manager 13 obtaining the device ID of the printer 2 from the printer 2 (S11). Then, the device manager 13 refers to the property file 171 which stores property data for the model of the printer 2 based on the obtained device ID (S12). Then, the device manager 13 determines whether the printer 2 is a model having a maintenance counter 21 based on the attribute data (S13)

If the type of printer connected to the POS terminal 1 is known, step S13 can be skipped.

If the device manager 13 determines in step S13 that the printer 2 is a model that does not have the maintenance counter 21 (S13, NO), the device manager 13 reads the counter information from the counter file 175 (S14). As described further below, the value held by the cumulative counter 152 is stored in the counter file 175 when the POS terminal 1 is turned off. Therefore, the counter information read from the counter file 175 is set to the accumulation counter 152 in the virtual counter 15, thereby restoring the counter to the same state as when the power of the POS terminal was turned off.

If it is determined in step S13 that the printer 2 is a model having a maintenance counter 21 (S13, YES), steps S14 and S15 may be skipped.

Next, the processing executed by the POS terminal 1 when the printer 2 not having the maintenance counter 21 is connected will be described.

The virtual counter 15 virtually counts a parameter indicating how much a specific function of the printer 2 is used while the printer 2 is operating according to a command from the application program 11 . This processing is described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 .

When sending a specific processing request to the printer 2, the application program 11 sends a specific command to the device manager 13 (S21). Then, the device manager 13 sends to the printer 2 a control command generated based on the application command, thus causing the printer 2 to operate according to the command (S22). The virtual counter 15 also obtains this command from the device manager 13 . Then, the predictor 151 interprets the command, and predicts the functions used by the printer 2 to execute the command, and a counter value representing the predicted use of these functions (S23). Then, these predicted values are added to corresponding count values in the accumulation counter 152, thereby updating the accumulation count value (S24).

When a specific escape event occurs, the device manager 13 detects the event and saves the reading of the cumulative counter 152 in the virtual counter 15 into the counter file 175 . These escape events are specific predetermined events such as power off of the POS terminal 1 , receipt of a command from the application program 11 , and turning on/off of the printer 2 . By thus saving the counter reading in the non-volatile memory 17, the count value predicted by the virtual counter 15 will not be lost if, for example, the POS terminal 1 is suddenly switched off.

To use the reading of the cumulative counter, the application 11 may read the counter or perform specific operations on the counter, eg reset or set the counter to a specific value. For example, the following describes processing executed by the device manager 13 when a read counter command is received from the application program 11 .

When the device manager 13 receives a read counter command from the application program 11 , for example, the device manager 13 reads the requested count value from the accumulation counter 152 . This command may request all cumulative counter readings in cumulative counter 152, or only readings for specific function counters. Then, the device manager 13 obtains and returns the values for all the requested counters, or the value of the counter specifically requested to the application 11 , as an instruction from the application 11 .

Therefore, the application program 11 can obtain information indicating how much a specific function of the printer 2 is used even if the connected printer 2 does not have the internal maintenance counter 21 .

When the device manager 13 receives a command to update the counter from the application program 11, the device manager 13 instructs the virtual counter 15 to update the accumulation counter to a specific value. Then, the virtual counter 15 updates the specified counter in the accumulation counter 152 to the specified value.

When receiving a counter reset command from the application 11, the device manager 13 may similarly cause the virtual counter 15 to reset. Therefore, the virtual counter 15 clears the accumulation counter 152 to zero.

Counters can be updated or reset using a batch process in which all counters are updated or reset, or individually for specified individual functions. As a result, the application program 11 can freely set the accumulation counter 152 as desired.

Processing performed by the POS terminal 1 when the connected printer 2 has the maintenance counter 21 will be described. When the printer has the maintenance counter 21 , the same processing can be executed as when the printer does not have the maintenance counter 21 , and thus the following processing is related to using the maintenance counter 21 .

When the printer 2 has the maintenance counter 21, the reading of the maintenance counter 21 can also be saved in the counter file 175. More specifically, when a particular escape event is detected, device manager 13 obtains the cumulative counters stored by maintenance counters 21 and stores the readings into counter file 175 . The device manager 13 may also save the difference information stored in the difference file 173 into the counter file 175 .

In this case, applicable escape events include: receiving a command from the application 11, turning on/off the printer 2, and going online of the printer 2. Note that power off of the POS terminal 1 can also be handled as an escape event.

FIG. 4 shows processing for updating or resetting the counter in the printer having the maintenance counter 21, and FIG. 5 shows processing for reading the counter.

When an operation request such as a counter update command or a reset command is received from the application program 11, difference information is set according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 .

More specifically, when the device manager 13 receives a reset command or an update command from the application program 11, it reads the value stored by the maintenance counter 21 of the printer 2 (S31, S32).

If a reset command is received, the device manager 13 writes the obtained count value into the difference file 173 . If an update command is received, the difference between the specified (update) setting and the current counter reading is determined as difference information and stored in the difference file 173 . Therefore, if an update command is received, the difference between the current reading of the maintenance counter 21 and the reading to be updated of the counter is calculated, and the difference information in the difference file 173 is also updated accordingly (S33, S34).

For example, if the current reading obtained from the maintenance counter 21 is A, then A is differential information for the reset command. If the counter reads A, and the value specified by the update command is B, the difference information for the update command is difference (A-B).

As a result, instead of directly updating the maintenance counter 21 according to a reset command or an update command received from the application program 11, a difference value for manipulating the value stored by the maintenance counter 21 is calculated. Subsequent read counter requests are answered by computing the distinct counter value when using this differential information, as described further below. Therefore, the same effect as when the maintenance counter 21 is directly updated can be obtained without directly updating the maintenance counter 21 .

When reading the counter, the device manager 13 first receives a read counter command from the application program 11 (S41), as shown in FIG. 5 . These read counter commands can be executed as a batch command to get all counter readings, or as individual commands to get specific counter readings as described above, and the device manager 13 gets all or specific cumulative count value. The device manager 13 then determines whether the printer 2 is online (S42).

If the printer 2 is online (S42, YES), the device manager 13 reads the maintenance counter 21 in the printer 2 (S43). If the printer 2 is offline (S42, No), the device manager 13 cannot access the maintenance counter 21, and thus obtains the counter value stored in the counter file 175 (S44). Note that the values stored in counter file 175 are relatively recent.

The device manager 13 then obtains the difference information from the difference file 173, and uses the difference information to update the cumulative count value obtained as described above (S45). Then the updated count value is returned to the application program 11 (S46).

Instead of simply returning a value from the maintenance counter 21 to the application, the present invention therefore returns a count value that reflects the desired operation of the application 11 .

Although the invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein. Such changes and modifications are obvious and are considered to be within the spirit, scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. one kind is suitable for the point of sells POS end device that communicates with external unit, comprising:

Be configured to the application program on the POS end device, carried out;

Operation is used for the equipment manager that communicates with external unit, described equipment manager is configured to (i) and determines that whether external unit can count first numerical value of the use amount of first function of expression external unit, and (ii) determining under the situation that external unit can be counted first numerical value, first order that response is sent by application program obtains first numerical value from external unit;

Counter, operation is used to respond second order of being sent by application program and determines second value, described second value is represented the use amount of second function of external unit virtually, and the 3rd order that response is sent by application program, under situation to first numeric counter, first numerical value, second value or the combination of the two are notified to application program, when not having under the situation that first numerical value is counted, to the application notification second value; And

Renovator, operation is used to respond the 4th order of being sent by application program, the third value that reference response the 4th order obtains under the situation that first numerical value is counted not and under the situation that first numerical value is counted with reference to first numerical value and third value, upgrade second value

Wherein, when under the situation that first numerical value is counted, upgrading second value, keep first numerical value.

2. POS end device according to claim 1 is characterized in that also comprising memory unit, and when the escape incident took place, the equipment manager operation was used for first value storage at memory unit.

3. POS end device according to claim 1 is characterized in that also comprising memory unit, and when the escape incident took place, the equipment manager operation was used for second value is stored in memory unit.

4. POS end device according to claim 1 is characterized in that also comprising fallout predictor, and operation is used to respond second order and predicts second value.

5. POS end device according to claim 4 is characterized in that also comprising the stored counts device, the accumulated counts value that operation is used to store described second value.

6. the management method of the use amount of an external unit that communicates with point of sells POS end device comprises:

Executive utility on the POS end device;

Determine that whether external unit can count first numerical value of the use amount of first function of expression external unit;

Determining under the situation that external unit can be counted first numerical value that first order that response is sent by application program obtains first numerical value from external unit;

Second order that response is sent by application program determines that second value, described second value represent the use amount of second function of external unit virtually;

Response is sent the 3rd order by application program, under situation about counting for first numerical value, first numerical value, second value or the combination of the two are notified to application program, are not having under the situation that first numerical value is counted, to the application notification second value; And

The 4th order that response is sent by application program, ordering the third value of acquisition and reference first numerical value and third value under the situation that first numerical value is counted less than reference response under the situation that first numerical value is counted the 4th, upgrade second value

Wherein, when under the situation that first numerical value is counted, upgrading second value, keep first numerical value.

7. management method according to claim 6 is characterized in that, when the escape incident takes place, stores first numerical value.

8. management method according to claim 6 is characterized in that, when the escape incident takes place when, and the storage second value.

9. one kind is suitable for the point of sells POS end device that communicates with external unit, comprising:

Multi-purpose computer comprises processor and storer, and described multi-purpose computer is configured to executive utility;

Operation is used for the equipment manager that communicates with external unit, the operation of described equipment manager is used for (i) and determines that whether external unit can count first numerical value of the use amount of first function of expression external unit, and (ii) when definite external unit can be counted first numerical value, first order that response is sent by application program obtains first numerical value from external unit;

Counter, operation is used to respond second order of being sent by application program and determines second value, described second value is represented the use amount of second function of external unit virtually, and the 3rd order that response is sent by application program, under situation to first numeric counter, first numerical value, second value or the combination of the two are notified to application program, in the absence that first numerical value is counted, to the application notification second value; And

Renovator, operation is used to respond the 4th order of being sent by application program, the third value that reference response the 4th order obtains under the situation that first numerical value is counted not and under the situation that first numerical value is counted with reference to first numerical value and third value, upgrade second value

Wherein, when under the situation that first numerical value is counted, upgrading second value, keep first numerical value.

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