<Here are the rantings of a mad man with some prog. kb experience and DHPOS>
I have been using DHPOS with a programmable keyboard
with great success. Its a CHERRY MX 8100 KB W/ touch
mouse pad & credit card reader (found cheap on ebay).
It allows you to adjust the typematic speed rate for playback.
Can store most macros directly in the KB. Has removeable key
cap covers so you can label your keys.
While a programmable KB will greatly enhances the DHPOS experience you need
to be sure
both you (with a Common Sense Factor of 92 or better) and
your EMPLOYEES (with a Common Sense Factor of 22) are aware of
EXACTLY when the programmed keys can be used in relation to the
DHPOS menus and screens.
In short the KB is Dumb
and Blind and will do
nothing to
raise one's Common Sense Factor (CSF) to Average.
If you program a key with a macro to work from the Sales Screen and
you hit this key from the Main Menu it could well be the end of
a nice day when the macro runs and the last thing showing on screen
is confirmation that all selected records have been successfully deleted
from the table! Dohhhh!
Note that a simple change in the posconfig can pretty much muck up your
day because of menu or screen changes that no longer coincide with your
programmed macros. For those using DHPOS with Windows, you need to note that an accidental key press in a windows applicaion can also ruin your day. hmmm, come to think about it, even at the desktop a macro
key could also be the making of a bad day too.

Carefully consider Dale's input, this info, and the average CSF rating at
your location before jumping in with a programmable kb.
With that said, here is some of the POSabilities:
These are macros I've programmed that have
saved me tens of keystrokes at week's end.
In my POS world I have enabled Stock Table, Allow Sales Checks,
collect Customer Info and Return to Sales Screen when transaction is finished.
For my store I only collect customer info for Credit Card or Check transactions.
All Cash sales go to a “Good Customer” record.
With these options enabled, completing a sale is more than hitting the [+] key.
Some save one keystroke; others save more; some just make redundant
tasks seem more enjoyable and make me smile.
Some of these take advantage of the fact that (often) 4 taps of the [Esc]
key will return you to the Main Menu. This allows some macros to be used
from various Screens/Menues in the program.
MY POS KEYS (these are located on a row just above the F keys on the Cherry kb.
When labeling the keys I also include a background color to
help in key recognition)
[No Sale] KEY (from a new Sale screen, reports or main menu, Opens the til)
[Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > 4 > [Enter] > 1 > [Enter]
[Cash] KEY
[+] > 3 > [Enter] > [Arrow Dn] > “Good Customer” > [F1] > 2 > [Enter] > [TAB]
[Credit] KEY
[+] > 3 > [Arrow Dn]
[Check] KEY
[+] > 3 > [Arrow Dn]
[Customer Sales Check] (park the sale and print a Sales Check)
[+] > 2 > [Enter]
[Re-print Last Receipt] KEY
[Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > 5 > [Enter] > [TAB] > [Esc]
(Really just re-prints whatever the last trans was. Most often you just want
to print another copy of the receipt for the sale just completed. If your
last transaction was a refund/payout/Close Register, that is what will be re-printed.)
[Show Current Sales $ Report] KEY
[Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > [Esc] > 8 > [Enter] > A > [Enter] > [+]
[Trim CC info]
(When I’m at the Customer Name field I swipe the card thru
the KB’s CC reader. Most Visa/Master Cards will have the card number
followed by the name. Hitting this “Trim” key removes the card number
in front of the customers name and then includes an [End] key so I can then hold
the backspace key to remove any junk that may be at the end, so just the customer's name remains.
This helps keep duplicate customer records from spawning because of mis-typed names.
Another Real World Example;
If I want to check the current $ sale (either on screen or print) and then I want to
open the til, this is a 2 keystroke process as compared to the 10 keystrokes to do the
same without the programmable kb.
Aside from the 10’s of keystrokes saved every week, a programmable keyboard also
bumps up the Coolness Factor of DHPOS from 100 to about 115!
Note that these macros work for my environment yours may vary
because of your POSCONFIG. And if you choose to go forward and tempt
fate with one of these fancy kb please don’t expect Dale to fix your kb
issues. Remember its up to you to write the macros that work for you and
your environment. (You write ‘em you fix ‘em. If you can’t fix ‘em, then
use the [+] key that Dale has convienently provided in DHPOS).
Bruce
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·.¸¸.·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
Have you backed up your data today?