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Can You Access Your Own Cash Register Data?
jeronimo989 writes "A customer of mine has a small shop and asked me to look for an electronic cash register. One of the requirements is to retrieve the sales data from the cash register in some accessible format so he can import it in the software of his choice (which happens to be OpenOffice), either by downloading the data on a Flash card, connecting a laptop via USB, or even via a direct modem connection. As far as the cash register itself is concerned, he doesn't need anything too fancy; any 'entry level' machine for small businesses is probably OK (as long as it keeps an electronic journal, of course). Which options do we have? Are there cash register manufacturers out there that allow accessing the sales data directly in an open format? Does anyone here have experience with setting up a link between a cash register and PC, preferably using free/open source solutions?"
Did you even look at the page you're hawking? The features tab has only a place holder, the forum tab is utterly blank, and the manual is V 0.1.0, last updated 2004.
I for one (not native English) didn't know the term POS.
Now that you pointed jeronimo989 in the right direction, all other replies seem futile
... modern cash registers simply output on a serial or USB port all the transaction data entered, and receive informations on goods for PLUs (Price Look-Ups): when a barcode on a product is scanned, the cash register "asks" to a server the corresponding price and description to be printed on your receipt, etc. Most cash registers are actually (at least here in Italy, and in a reasonably sized shop) just a specialized keyboard/screen/cash drawer connected to a PC, which in turn sits on a network: it's all part of a turn-key system, maintenance included. It's not like you go and read the data *from* the cash register: while you can query it for some daily report, you usually just store the data on a server and use some custom app or a DB frontend to read it.
Please tell him to make it accessible via the Internet and to not encrypt his credit card data. It would make life so much easier for my Russian friends.
Ever heard of PCI-DSS?
This IS slashdot. It doesn't hurt to RTFA either (when they're there) but there's still a large number of readers here that don't want to risk it .
But yes - a simple google search did turn up a number of solutions. My guess is that the submitter wants to short circuit the process of working his/her way through them, and tap into the collective knowledge of /.ers.
The Mothership
If you are looking for all this, it would be nice to have register where the customer can plug in a USB drive and then have the register load the "receipt" on it. I am always amazed that none of the stores have this. I know that it would be useful to buy food from King Soopers and then take the info home and plug it into various applications including a kitchen app and a budget app.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Hell, he coulda have searched Slashdot alone:
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/2012230
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/13/0116212
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/04/12/166251
For a couple of hundred bucks he can get a Quickbooks terminal running on embeded Xp. Then all he has to do is export the quickbooks data or just access the pc for the info. The terminals are fully functional PC's, Registers, and loaded with Quickbooks.
http://shop2.outpost.com/%7Byf7-gwJCCQm5GvlczRQ4zQ**.node3%7D/product/5380498;jsessionid=yf7-gwJCCQm5GvlczRQ4zQ**.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
QUICKBOOKS 2008 POS BASIC W/HARDWARE
INTUIT:
For Windows
FRYS.com #: 5380498
QuickBooks Point of Sale Basic is a complete retail management solution that tracks inventory, sales and customer information to help you save time and serve your customers better. Includes easy-to-use software and retail hardware including a bar code scanner, cash drawer, receipt printer and credit card swipe* guaranteed to work together.**
Why won't using a PC directly work?
I worked in a rollout project with Circuit City whenthey replaced some of their POS systems. The new boxes were some IBM POS solutions with linux on them - I dont know from the top of my head but they seemd out of the box solutions - They pulled OS and all from BOOTP server, but I suppose you could get them preinstalled and all. Maybe IBM has more suggestions.
>London IT Support - Prominent Solutions
http://www.checkoutapp.com/
LOL. Just what it is the risk again?
My guess is that the submitter wants to short circuit the process of working his/her way through them, and tap into the collective knowledge of
Exactly. This is
"You know it doesn't hurt to do some research."
Well that would certainly explain all of the consistent slashposts on law, economics, Microsoft, politics, and women. We're gluttons for punishment.
Well, the software you found is a real POS alright. Seems Google still does an intelligent search match :)
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway. -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Just so everyone knows:
POS = Point of Sale
POS = Piece of Shit
For the most part, the POS's in this thread are the first choice.
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
He didn't ask for a new POS though ... oh wait this is the internet and we have to ignore the question and just try and sound intelligent.
How am I doing?
If he'd said which cash register they have and what budget that might have helped, but I guess that those questions don't get in because they aren't controversial or open-ended enough to spin enough page-views / ad-dollars.
Cynical? Maybe a touch.
Unless you require something a little more fancy, one of the easiest solutions is to just hook a cash-drawer and receipt printer to a standard computer and use an off-the-shelf cashiering software from somewhere to tie the parts together.
The product that we use is part of a larger ERP, and so is not suitable to you needs, but it works this way and we have had no major issues for years.
Everytime someone posts some question on slashdot there is inevitably some idiot who will answer to "goolge it" or "source forge it" or whatever similar.
I am sure the original poster did know about goolge and maybe he even did look in there before posting here but the idea of asking in slashdot is to see what the opinions of other people with *knowledge* (supposedly) are. For me as a slashdot reader is quite interesting, because the discussion usually brings several alternatives and answers which are up to date (instead of web pages that someties are outdated) and even some comments which are worthy.
Plenty of times I have recurred to an ask slashdot that I had seen before to look at what people *in the know* are using, instead of just looking at the advertisements thrown by each of the avaialble products (either Free or non Free).
So if the only advise you are going to give is to "google it", just shut up and go to troll to the next slashdot story. You are only polluting an otherwise interesting conversation.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
It's not difficult to find POS software that will turn even a very old workstation into a cash register. Quite often for free. Once you're there, backing up, analyzing, and sharing the data becomes very easy. Most entry level cash registers don't keep a record of transactions. They leave that to other entities. If you register has an RS-232 (9 or 25 pin serial port) or other IO port, you can probably give out the model number and find more bickering, though eventually usually help here.
I haven't tried it, since I'm not in the retail business, but Stoq is an open source Point of Sale system supported by a brazilian company called Async.
It is GTK based and uses PostgreSQL for database storage (so extracting data should be a breeze). It also comes with a LiveCD so you can try it out yourself.
And I (native to England) would half expect to see a lot of Microsoft-funded pages when Googling for "linux pos".
Nobody else has this sig.
I see a lot of comments already jumping on fancy POS systems, but if a basic cash register is really all that is needed, get to your local office store and take a look at what's there. A basic Sharp cash register (and probably registers from other makers as well) will store this data on a SD card or allow a USB connection to a computer. The software they (Sharp, don't know about others) provide is crap, but the data you get back is CSV which can be imported into any spreadsheet program. It's basic, but if that's all you need it does the trick.
Remember RFC 873!
Since nobody else seems to understand the difference between an electronic cash register and a PC based point of sale system - I'll throw in what little I know of ECRs.
DataSym makes a software product called Comm2000 that communicates with their ECRs. It can poll nightly to retrieve sales information, or you can have the register output the data on each sale. You can also maintain SKU lists, etc.
We have a few DataSym and older Sharp registers on the network (with a serial-TCP/IP device server), and the sales are captured in real time without going through Comm2000. Formats are a little obtuse, but reverse engineerable without documentation if you needed to.
Nightly, there's a fairly old version of Comm2000 that sends out SKU lists, register layouts, etc. The processing is held together with shell scripts and some custom C code, but I think Comm2000 is the standard EXE. This is all on a UNIX box, designed circa 1993, so YMMV.
Fortunately for me, but unfortunate for you, I have very little to do with the ECR side of things. But, I'd imagine most ECRs these days offer something similar, and I see DataSym still has Comm2000. Since ECRs don't really seem to be in the /. sweet spot, I'd suggest giving your local distributor a call.
I for one (not native English either) did know the term POS.
.sig: No such file or directory
IMHO a POS system has a superior flexibility for small shops; especially if the developer is willing to alter the software to fit specific needs.
Been selling these little buggers for way under 1k$ and most complaints have been met with some coding, which helped me keep the whole matter modularized.
Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
I think you're confusing POS software with the cash register. The cash register by itself has no way of knowing what it sells (save perhaps the totals for the end-of-day procedure). What you need is software linked to a cash register. You can then track inventory, customers, sales agents, connect it to a server blah blah blah... all depending on how much you want to spend. :) ) rather than the cheapest shit out there....
As mentioned in some posts above, there are packaged systems with all h/ware and sw bundled, or you could buy them separately if you feel you're up to setting it all up. From memory you'll need the cash draw connected to the printer, the printer to the PC, the PC to the card-swiper and a net or phone line to the bank. Also you'll need to make sure the bank card software can talk to the
POS application and vice versa.
This is assuming you are talking about a fairly organised store with a biggish inventory. Sounds a bit complicated for one terminal, but he'll then be able to extract meaningful data from the system to use more or less "as is" with his accounting processes (bank rec, end of months, statements invoicing etc..). He'll also need to input all his inventory (including barcodes and such if he's going to use them).
It sounds more complicated than it is, but in my opinion you shouldn't buy the cheapest piece of crap that you find. Find out what he needs (including what data he's after), and get a system which most suits his particular needs/business processes. It's better to spend more on the system now, and know it will serve him well for many years (i've seen POS systems on unix boxes that are 15+ years old and still running
A few year ago I had to write an application that linked up sales data to data from beer line flow monitors, all of the registers we had to operate with could provide sales information. Most often it was from a database that the till connected to, but sometimes it was directly from the till itself. To get good data (or any data) we usually had to contact the till manufacturers and ask them for details of how to access the data etc... they usually provided us with documentation we could work to, or sometimes there was some consultancy time where they showed us what to do as they didn't have any documentation.
I say contact a few till manufacturers and see what they can provide and what the costs are going to be.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
If you use any x86 based registers with a custom (or shelf) application which "mimics" a real cash-register, you will immediately be caught in vendor lock-in.
My suggestion is to look at what is available from real cash-register manufacturers. Most if not all of these vendors will have a serial (or other) interface which will upload/download data using standard ASCII, comma-delimited files.
This should reduce your task to a simple import/export routine with perhaps a little data massaging to get it into/out-of whatever back end system you want to use/develop.
I successfully used Sharp cash registers for this over 15 years ago. All of the PLU (Price-Look-Up) codes and pricing (stock levels, re-order etc) was stored on a DEC-VAX, basic reporting data was stored on a PC based SQL and generated using Crystal, Access or whatever. A single PC application spoke to the VAX every night, then contacted every register, downloaded sales data and uploaded new/changed PLU data, then massaged the data from the registers and sent it back to the VAX and also dumped what stuff into the SQL database.
With ASCII PLU/pricing/sales data coming from the registers it was a snack and allowed the company to move from a mini-computer architecture to a PC/LAN/SQL environment seamlessly. I'd be surprised if the current offerings from register manufacturers was much different today than it was back then as there really is no reason for it to be any different.
well said!
no sig = no personality(?)
"last updated 2004"
So your saying the term "functionally stable" is a bad thing?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
I had the same problem a few months ago. I really wanted an open POS system for the children's shoe shop my wife opened last year. We wanted a better system of managing inventory than the manual spreadsheet we were using.
I wasn't really that happy with any of the open source solutions I looked at (mainly LanePos and BananaPOS), mainly because I don't really have time to maintain these systems myself, and I wasn't convinced the support operations would work for us. We eventually did find a commercial provider based upon a recommendation from a friend with a small shop nearby. One of the things I really liked about this system was the fact that the vendor was completely happy for me to be able to access the database used by the POS software without any restrictions. I wasn't that happy with a number aspects of the system, but being able to access my own data was critical for me.
My business: Farstrider Studios.
he could get a cheap mac off ebay, or a mac mini, and use Checkout
It is when the "b" is a typo.
There are enough pc-based solutions. You can buy cash drawers that open on a COM port signal, you can buy slip printers (Epson) if you don't want a full-size invoice, you can buy extra customer displays that connect to a serial or parallel port or to the slip printer, there are barcode scanners for USB or keyboard wedge. Everything else is software then.
For the hardware look at http://pos.epson.com/products/.
The Sharp XE-A203
D
The first, last, and only tech news site on the net
Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
Give this one a try.
http://www.openbravo.com/product/pos/
Its simple and has export options.
I've used it since it was tinaPOS and it has worked good for me.
This is an awful article title. "Can You Access Your Own Cash Register Data?" First I read that as some silly desire to be able to access your own data in all the stores you visit, out of some sense of entitlement. Then I read the summary, and see that's not the case. In that context, it could be read as asking store owners if they can access their cash register data, a yes/no question. But no, that's not what's about either; it's someone seeking a recommendation for a freaking cash register, as if this is Yahoo Answers or something...
TLA's are just a PITA!
These electronic cash registers are designed to have their collected data extracted from them in some fashion, so the logical place to start is the cash register vendors themselves to find out how it can be retrieved and the software systems that can use it. Something integrated with the accounting system/bank reconciliation would be nice. If it's a hard process, then that's likely the machine to avoid.
The second question, in fact should probably be the first, is to decide exactly what kind of data is to be collected: bar-code data, department codes, and the number of different sales taxes applicable to the site. These kind of questions will dictate the complexity of the machine to be purchased. All cash registers will do the normal daily control functions, running and daily totals. What you're looking for a machine that will deliver higher-level data to support the management of the business, so you need to start with those management objectives, then see how the extraction process fits into the accounting system, and only then decide on a machine to support those systems.
Ibid.
a huge number of people around here have gone to PC's for there registers. apparently, you can get barcode scanners, receipt printers, and card swipe whatsits, all for the PC. true, this is not the cheapest route, but it does solve the problem of converting data or even being able to access the data in the first place. 'course, a few stores around here where still using a archaic inventory software written by a local madman in DOS a few thousand years ago, so they had a lot of trouble with some networked inventory management, but from what i've seen, most of these have finally replaced said software. (mind you, these are small business owners, not chains, so there is no corporate backing to buy this equipment). I would say look into PC point of sale systems, and see where that takes you.
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
From Wikipedia:
Vendors and retailers are working to standardize development of computerized POS systems and simplify interconnecting POS devices. Two such initiatives are OPOS and JavaPOS, both of which conform to the UnifiedPOS standard led by The National Retail Foundation.>
You have two choices; however, I think the Open POS solution might be a better option since it is cross platform.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_sale
Like a lot of vertical markets, this one seems to be infested with companies producing poorly engineered products with no mind for security, usability, interoperability, or ease of IT management. They're usually highly proprietary and overpriced, to boot.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
http://www.physicianspaymentsystems.com/
Is that another name for VISA? or MasterCard?
TODO: create/find/steal funny sig.
It's Here
Or you could have tried http://www.goolge.com/ and see for yourself that this typo is completely irrelevant.
If I'm wrong, please correct me ; learning is better than being right.
Disclaimer - I do not work for this company, but I have used this software package(s) extensively.
Softline Pastel.
It is an accounting software, so he will be able to do accounting of everything that has gone through the books, includes a payroll package, tax package and among even more other things: support for P.O.S (Point Of Sale)
What Pastel allows you to do wit P.O.S is:
Every Transaction gets recorded real time.
Operates P.O.S drawer.
Your Accountant can access what sales are in your P.O.S remotely (via lan, or with an add on via web - IIRC on that last one)
Supports "cash up" end of day to a removable drive.
It runs on Windows unfortunately - if you are inclined to run other OS's. Has a server module and can run the server/client on the same machine - ideal for small business.
www.pastel.co.za
Apologies for the spammy post everybody - like I said I am not employed by them, but it is a good piece of software with support for international currencies/tax etc.
Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity
Royal 600SC is a good simple choice.
Yes I can, thanks for asking!
What, you want more than that? Nevermind then, I use an abacus and carve my sales figures into stone tablets at the end of the day.
Here in Switzerland, the term POS is standard for cash registers.
So it doesn't seem specific to the US market or the UK market - but i wouldn't have assumed that everyone knew it either.
It uses a SQL SB to store sales. Really any POS solution that uses a SQL capable DB allows for easy extraction of data.
Could anybody tell me why most modern PC or MAC POS uses the mouse as an input method ? It's probably the worst way of doing things...
Ever seen someone use a mouse at any big company ??? There is a reason for that...
My advice would be to go as a Service. Cheap and convenient. most Saas providers will give you access to your data in downloadable formats. For example paygo: http://www.christianjames.net/
There are a squillion register-like accessories on the market, from USB-controlled cash drawers and receipt printers to price scanners that operate like keyboard devices and even little scrolling LED signs to show off the purchase. It is the work of less than a man-month to put together a simple register application that dumps its output to a file.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
I used to work for a company some 10 years ago that made POSes (POS: Point Of Sale), or rather the software for them. The basic system is simply a PC with some specialized externals: electric cash drawer, bar code scanner etc, and the SW takes care of all the usual things, like reading input from the scanner, looking up items in the database, calculating discounts, handling electronic payments, communicating with the backend system etc.
Try to search for 'linux point of sale' - I immediately found http://www.viewtouch.com/poshome.html. I don't know whether they are any good, but there you are. I expect that this system lets you access everything you need - otherwise, what is the point of having a till/cash register?
A large gas station chain that I was on the tech support team for used Palm POS. http://portal.pinncorp.com/Pinnacle/Default.aspx?tabid=58 While you might think vender lock-in, note that using someone else's POS system makes them accountable. I'm sure your client would prefer to run his business than worry about his computer and POS systems. Palm POS can export journals to SQL or XML in real time so he could use any custom front end he wanted to view the data or just use the viewer that ships with the setup.
For the past decade the /. community has kept me more informed about technology than any other source. /. is not always first with some topics, but eventually almost all intelligent technology content leads to /..
/. all trying to become more informed or attempting to suppress the truth with plausibly_logical_spin-reasoning (they always fail). The truth always gains from their adamant refrain being discovered as far less than accurate.
/.
/. community comments, was that M$-Vista would not even be on any company computers in 2007/08.
..., next time I will pick a more enigmatic job title for my BizCard ... maybe Technology Implicit Adviser ...; anyway it is important to keep it consistent with TIA for the signature block (my insanity %~P).
I have noticed government/military/CoOpGhost and politicians/corporatist/religious trolls on
The important side for me (I have an odd job), each year, I balance and document my pay to what I directly save this company by supporting or rejecting technology application and acquisition. If I cannot after my annual review clearly show I have saved the company $1M, I feel guilty about my pay (less than $100K). My best year yet was almost $4M, my worst was about $500K (last year), this year 2008 will be worse, but for our next FY2009 it is already at $5M. About a quarter of all that money is due to some discussion on
I had no direct input to one acquisition decision, but it is a well known example of clueless CIO staff/management. In 2006/05, I was told by a senior CIO staffer that by 2006/08 M$-Vista would be installed on all desktop computers. My immediate reply to him, thanks to the
So %~P, I promoted myself this past August from the Technology Information Adviser (TIA) to the illustrious sounding position of the Technology Innovation Adviser
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/04/12/166251 i always find software discussions from 2000 very relevant to my implementations today....
get off your high horse - just because you have no useful information to add, pointing to articles nearly a decade old is pointless!!!!
One of those plus a cash drawer. Is it really so difficult to search Sourceforge?
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Serial connection to connect the register to your PC or bar code scanner. Software includes a filter that downloads your end of day report totals directly to your QuickBooks Pro or Peachtree accounting programs.
In my experience, working for a company that sells and installs POS systems and DVR Surveillance systems at gas stations, most POS system data is easily accessible. Most systems we have worked with have 9-pin serial (now most are USB) receipt printers. When hooking up a DVR system we will tap into the serial feed and import the sales data so that we can overlay it on the images captured from the cameras pointed at the POS terminal.
This is obviously a 'real time' capture situation. Depending on the POS vendor, other options exist for retrieving sales data at end of shift/end of day.
DKone
Electronic Cash Registers are very inexpensive ranging from about 149.00 USD and up. Most have data ports and include software for fetching the journal.
Have a look here and you will find an inexpensive solution.
Hey KID! Yeah you, get the fuck off my lawn!
Touche' The term was used by a certain lage IT firm during the "who stole my cheese" era, it's a euphamisim that basically means pack your bags because the project is going nowhere.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
This got my vote for WORST NAME EVVAH!!
http://www.dinepos.com/
Most people are trying to say linux this and quickbooks that. What the submitter is asking is about a simple cash register and not a computerized POS solution. You might not realize it but today even simple cash registers are fairly smart and have a serial/USB port or a flash card that sales data can be pulled from. Problem is that the software is usually poor and simply wants a way or a register that can get the data into a spreadsheet. Not everybody needs a full workstation and there are times when a cash register is the better solution as long as the data can be downloaded from it instead of needing to manually reenter sales data from a closeout (or whats sometimes called the Z report) or going through every ticket one at a time.
I used to work at a dive shop/dolphin watch office on South Padre Island, Texas and I had to do just that. Reenter every receipt every day into Quickbooks. The dive shop would have benefited from an electronic cash register but the boss didn't want to have to train people in Quickbooks POS. The dolphin watch office only had 4 items (different types of trips) to sell and was on a dock so a simple cash register was the better solution if only we had one that we could pull the data from and import into Quickbooks. -scubaspi
I saw this at a brand-new bright-and-shiny coffee 'n muffin shop here in Brooklyn. This screams "out of business in six months" to me, blowing that much cheddar on something a Pentium II (if not a 486) could do, unless someone here thinks different.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
try this company www.pcpoll.com to get data from your registers.
We have two Sharp XE-A203's here at work that have SD card slots and a USB port. You download all of your cash register data on to an SD card and take it with you. The registers are pretty cheap too http://tinyurl.com/5fxlvo
If you're just planning on putting the info into a spreadsheet, try GnuCash, it has features that help you verify that all of your numbers match with reality, and some banks let you export your transaction data into formats that it can import, which gives you easy access to all of that data as well.
It should be possible to modify a flat bed scanner (perhaps by modifying one with a sheet feeder option) to be able to continuously scan the register's receipt tape for that day. The data would not be immediately available in such system, but it would also be rather more secure.
Did you mount a military-grade, variable-focus MASER on an unlicensed artificial intelligence?
Why does stuff like this make it to the front page of slashdot?
I've worked as a tech on a number of ECR and POS systems. Most modern cash registers (I'm speaking with direct knowledge of Samsung and Casio, machines) are pretty low-priced and can export their data in delimited formats. Most cash register retailers will charge extra for the software that allows you to do this, but it's not a great deal more. If you know what you're doing, you can grab the raw data yourself and make it behave in whatever way you'd like.
These aren't the super-expensive cash registers either. Even ones that can be bought at your local office supply store will be capable of this (much to specialized cash register retailers' chagrin) Just look for it in the feature set on the box.
Good luck
I've successfully implemented a 3 register system with a reporting webservice backend using NTPV, postgres, and Fedora Core. It's been stable for 2 years, and I get to do whatever I want with all my data. You can also build cheap touchscreens using overlays over a normal 17" monitor (total cost ~$400, versus $800+ for a retail touchscreen).
You must be new here, Mr 5-digit id.
Seriously though, kudos for helping your workplace run leaner. The impact of your efforts reaches far beyond the confines of your own four walls and benefits everyone who is even remotely involved with the company, its products/services and its clients.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
I was curious since I set up a DOS based POS about 10 years ago, so I googled and found a $500 model from Casio that will do pretty much what the OP had asked for. It's supposed to be able to interface with a credit card terminal and an optical scanner (2000 PLU codes).
It saves the data in Excel format so you can use Open Office to manage the data from the flash card.
Here's the manual in PDF : http://www.cashregisterstore.com/pdf/TE2200-2400.pdf
I run a home-based business and use Open Office Base (please improve it, if any OO developers are reading this!!). So I don't need a cash register at present but I would definitely consider this one over the other ones I saw when googling.
I used to work for an electronic POS company called Datasym. All of their cash registers can be polled via serial connection, and via a proprietary solution developed by them called PCIRC. Their newest editions (XR-650 and higher) also have ethernet support, and can have a USB stick added for data storage.
The polled data can be used in reporting packages sold by them, *OR* you can do your own software, as their file formats are text readable, and fully documented.
If your american, and you go to a Biglots store, you can see Datasym Registers in actions, as Datasym provides all POS systems for all 1500 Biglots stores.
Thomas A. Knight
Author of The Time Weaver
Indeed. Beyond that, there's the value-add (I can feel my hair getting pointy) that /.'ers know the BAD side of some of the software. All you're going to find on the web site is marketing. It's good to know the features, but sometimes knowing the downfalls is more important.
if you want control over something, it's just easier to build it. You're talking about something incredibly simple. The cheapest machine you can find, running some old version of XP will do. A serial/usb cash drawer. A ps2/usb keypad. A cheap LCD. You can probably do it for $500, plus a thermal printer of your choice. And then it just IS a computer, and you can do anything you want with it. Any POS software is fine, or write your own little web-app in a few hours, assuming you're doing the basic cash register work that we all see everywhere -- look up a product code (or with a barcode scanner), get the price, produce a receipt.
Of course, you can just use your other computer if you like.
Most modern (even the low end) registers allow for saving the transactions to a memory card, or can be polled (or can act as a 'stupid termina' when wired up -- but that requires a lot more software). The low end units typically store the output as ascii; very akin to the format you find on the paper tape; i.e. as would be written to the printer (at the end of the day, or as a carbon copy). Some, e.g. Sharp, have a more readily parsed format, basically CSV, which is easier to handle - or can even do html!. Keywords to search for (with the latter vendor) are SDW; or in general 'in-line' support. At the very extreme end - consider a POS application (or perhaps even http://www.checkoutapp.com/) with just a cash-drawer, a printer and no till at all. These are generally 'unlocked' easily and a lot of have a simple printerport connection to which you can send an 'esc' 'O' command -- akin to the old EPSON FX-80 era world. Dw.
Some of Sharps open line Cash Registers will do what you are looking for with a simple USB cable to a computer. But as written above, a POS System would offer a lot more information, a lot better inventory tracking capability, and when the export is done, it would give better detail if you need it.
I was told that Microsoft had a monopoly on POS systems. Which definition did they mean?
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
not Piece of Stuff, but Point of Sale
These systems are pretty easy to design your self, there are tons of roll your own POS software templates, and several companies that make them. A common tool is VB, as you can make a really quick front end and database, customize it to your particular needs, export the data in the way you want, create a system to log individual transactions, daily sales, discounts given, etc... If you can do the math, and are willing to work w/ a local community college, you can build one of these, or have a student build one of these for $1000. The hardest part being wiriing the cash draw selenoid.
If "Open Office" is the format he needs, how about exporting his data to a tab delimited text file? If he wants, he can then import that into a greater database. The sky is the limit when designing a system for POS. There is so much you can do, it just depends on how much functionality you want!
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
touché, not only that, but also the avaialble products
:)
Offence not taken
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
wtf is wrong with my accent? the é in touché is displayed as Ãf©
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
It happens, however you should be using MSN search engine.
:P
Ohh, you meant when googling for "linux pos" using MSN search engine?
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
next time I will pick a more enigmatic job title for my BizCard
;)
My personal favorite is "Grand Master and High Lord of the Infinite Unknown". If anyone challenges me on it, I ask them to prove that I'm not in charge of something they're unaware of
I've got clients quite happy with RPE/CRE from www.pcamerica.com. Has full reporting capabilities, and a lot more flexibility than the vendor lets on (we change menu layouts every few days to maximize revenue; the documentation on how to do that is spare-to-non-existant from PCamerica...but the product is reliable.
Check out r-u-i.com. DINERWARE systems offer touch POS, and as I understand it, run a linux system with a java front end. Happy Hunting.
Looks like a character encoding problem.
-- Wodin
You have to say touché.
HTML Character Entities are your friend: é = é
This company is working on a WEB based product that can post live sales to your PC along with End of Day 'Z' reports - check them out The machine they are linking to is the Casio 8500 http://www.buyatill.com/
Our boss wanted something similar to what the poster wanted. I suggested this as I got us into the beta (Version 1 no less) so the software was free. At close to $499 a license, it was worth it for the 4 we got.
Sadly, it never worked good for us. We were a junk store that had no hope of EVER inventorying anything. The beginning system didn't have buttons for "memory" or "misc" like the cheap registers we had did. Lots of manual typing, but we did get records!
I would recommend it, except we stopped upgrading since v3. Each reversion would change WAY to much and my boss was not liking the support "beta" gave:P
I've worked on many kinds of POS systems (still install and train) and they all do basically the same thing; the only difference between them are the specific business needs and the quality of their service.
If you need to save some $$$, instead of thousands of dollars on some of these POS solutions that I deal with, you could try OpenBravo POS.
Here is the link:
http://www.openbravo.com/product/pos/
It looks very good and is open source, so you can tailor it to your needs. You can use the data in any way you see fit. It will run under any OS (Java Based). See the "Technology" section for more details about what you can export so you can use OpenOffice.
It supports a wide range of hardware; this makes it easy for businesses to save money on start up cost and overhead, you only get what you need.
I hope this helps.
Posting to undo my accidental and improper moderation "click".
QuickBooks is great. If you hate it, try the alternative, Peachtree Accounting. It is awful.