POS Network version 5.0 is released.

[Dale Harris]

The network version of the POS program has be uploaded for general release here http://keyhut.com/pos3.htm
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Instructions...

Unlike some other POS programs that give away their stand-alone versions and then charge you when you want to move up to the network version, this program is FREE in both versions. Actually the stand-alone version of this program and the network version are the EXACT SAME program files, if you have one version, you have both versions. (Assuming that you have version 5.0 or later of course.) YOU tell the program which version you want it to be and it will morph into that version.

In order to use the program over a network you will have to have two or more computers connected to a network. If this is not obvious to you then please go talk to someone about networking computers and what that means. This person should be one who knows something about networks.

This program should work on most modern networks that are not more that 10 years old. It may work on older networks, you will have to try it out to make sure. Please do not email me asking if this will work on a particular network because I will have no idea. For the same reason please do not ask me what network you should get. Tell your network vendor that you want to use a DOS program that has been written to be used over a network and ask him what he recommends. Give him a copy of the program to try out if he is willing.

This version has been in BETA testing for about a month. There is, of course, no chance that we found all the bugs. You may download now and see if you can find some more or wait a while and let someone else find them first. The bugs that are left are probably pretty small and harmless but you never know.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU BACKUP YOUR OLD PROGRAM AND DATA FILES BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD THIS NEW VERSION.

Here is the link to download POS Version 5.0 http://keyhut.com/pos3.htm

Here are the instructions to set it up...

*** NETWORKING THE CASH REGISTER ***
This program can be used as a "stand-alone" register or it can be reconfigured to run over a network. A "stand-alone" register is where there is only one register in the store. All sales must therefore be rung on this one register because it is the only one. This makes for a very simple system in that there is only one set of data files and only one way to access them, which is through the one register.

But what if your store is so busy that one register will not handle the customer traffic? You could run two copies of this software on two stand-alone registers but this leads to problems. If you are using a stock table, what is sold on one register will not be noticed by the other register. If you have two identical inventories (one in the stock table of each register) then when an item is sold from one register it will be subtracted from the
inventory of that register but not from the other register. So to function properly you will need to have the registers linked together over a network so that they can share data files.

Of course to run the registers over a network the first thing you will need is two or more computers linked over a network. I am sorry but deciding on what kind of network you should have, what hardware you should use, and how to set up the network is up to you. If you consult with someone else or some company to help you with these decisions tell them that you are trying to network DOS software that is network compatible. Have them read the next section of this users guide and make sure that they tell you what PATH you must enter to the "Global" folder.

SETTING UP COMPUTERS TO RUN "CASH REGISTER" OVER A NETWORK
When used over a network various "folders" must be set up on each computer being used as a cash register. First, each register must have what is called a "Local" folder. This folder will keep all the program files and data files that are used by that register. These are called, of course, your "local" files. While you can name this folder anything you wish and place it anywhere you want on the hard drive, to keep it simple please name this folder POS and place it at this PATH - C:\POS

You must create this C:\POS folder on each computer on your network that is being used as a cash register and place into that folder all the program files from the Cash register program. If in the future you wish to upgrade the Cash Register program to a newer version you will have to load the new version into each C:/POS folder on every computer that is being used as a cash register. You may now place the icon from the POS.EXE program on your computer screen's desktop to be used to start the Cash Register program. Remember that your "Local" folder is located at C:\POS on each cash register computer.

Now you must create one "Global" folder. The global folder will hold all the data files that are shared by all registers. This folder is only created on ONE of the networked computers. This folder should be created on the most used cash register computer because if your network goes down only the computer with BOTH a "Local" folder AND the "Global" folder will be able to ring up sales until the network comes back up.

While you can name the "Global" folder anything you wish and place it anywhere you want on the server, to keep it simple please name this folder GLOBAL and place it at this PATH (assuming that your server hard drive is F: ) F:\GLOBAL

You must also place all the Cash Register program files into the "Global" folder" and of course if you wish later to upgrade the Cash Register program to a newer version you will have to copy the new version program files to the "Global" folder also.

SETTING UP THE PROGRAM TO WORK OVER A NETWORK
The stand-alone version of the Cash Register program and the network version of the Cash Register program are the EXACT SAME PROGRAM FILES. To convert POS into POSnet all you will have to do is to enter a network PATH into the POSCONFG.EXE program, give each register a register letter, A-Z, and declare one of the folders to be "Global" while the other folders are "Local".

If you are converting from a "Stand-alone" setup to a network setup (meaning that you have been using the cash register program for a while on one computer that has not been used over a network and you now want to use the program over a network using the same computer plus others connected to the network) then first create the local folders on the other computers and the global folder on ONE of the computers. Now over the network copy ALL of the files from the existing local folder to ALL of the other local folders AND the global folder.

If you are new to the Cash Register program then create a local folder on each of the computers to be used as a register and the global folder on ONE of the register computers. Now copy all the program files to each of the local folders AND the global folder.

Now it is time to setup the Cash Register program to function over the network. Go to the LOCAL folder on one of the computers and run the POSCONFG.EXE program and go to the "Network" feature. First enter the PATH to the global folder. Assuming that the server drive is F: and you created the global folder on the server drive at \GLOBAL then the PATH you would enter would be F:\GLOBAL You now must give this register a "register letter" from A to Z. When using the program later, under some conditions, it will be very important to know from which register a transaction was rung. The "register letter" will be printed after every transaction number on every receipt, i.e. 1234A, so you must give each register a different "register letter." This software will NOT check to make sure that each register has a different "register letter" YOU must make sure that each one is different on each register. On the lower right of the screen you must make sure that this folder is set up as a LOCAL folder, press [TAB] to change it if you need to. When everything is correct press [ESC] to return to the main POSCONFG.EXE menu.

Now repeat the above process for each of the other registers.

Now you must go to the GLOBAL folder and do the same thing. Even though the program will be running in the global folder you must still enter the PATH. You must still enter the "register letter" because while the POS.EXE program in the global folder will not allow you to ring up transactions it will allow you to open and close the program thereby printing opening and closing receipts. Since the closing receipt from the global folder will give you the sales from the entire store it would be very helpful if you knew which one it is. And this time you must set the folder as the GLOBAL folder. This is important because it will prevent the program from doing things in the global folder that it should not do and allow the program to do things that the copies of the program in the local folders cannot do.

When the program is set to be used over a network (i.e. the network PATH is not blank) the main menu screen of both the POS.EXE program and the POSCONFG.EXE program will display the word "NETWORK" followed by the network letter for that register. If "NETWORK" is not displayed then that register is not part of the network (even if the computer it is on is on the network) and data from that register is not being shared with the other registers.

So why are there local data files and global data files? Global data is shared by all the registers, things like the stock table, tax rates, customer info, sales history, employees, receipt headers and footers, coupons, passwords, etc. This data can be accessed and changed by any register and the changes will then apply to all the registers.

Local data applies to only the register it is entered on, for example hardware issues. It is possible that each register was cobbled together from different parts at different times as new registers were needed. Different registers could be run on different computers running different versions of Windows (or DOS) attached to different receipt printers and different cash drawers. Therefore settings for things like printer setup, printer programming, color or B&W, keyboard beep, open cash drawer settings, etc. are all local.

To find out if something is "local" and must be set on each register or "global" and can be set from one register and will then apply to all registers use the POSCONFG.EXE program to access the feature you are interested in. If this symbol (L) is near where you enter the data or setting then it is local, if the symbol is not there then it is global.

Two of the things that are local are the journal and the record of past sales. This is why the receipts have the register letter following the transaction number. If you need to void a sale you must do it from the register that originally rang up the sale, it is the only one that will have the record of that particular sale in it's .REC file so that you can void it.

The journal being local allows you to deal with just one register when trying to make sure that no sales have gone "missing." If you print your journal you do not have to compare the transaction numbers from each printed journal roll to make sure that the transaction numbers are sequential. For example, transaction number 2568 is on journal E and then 2569 is on A and 2570 is on journal C. Each register journal is separate and has its own sequential transaction numbers.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN "STAND-ALONE" AND NETWORK OPERATION.
Sale parking.
Sales can be parked from any register and can then be picked up from any other register. However if one register is parking or picking up a sale the other registers will not be able to access sale parking until the first register is finished or has waited to get into this feature for 3 minutes. This is because if two registers access the parking feature at the same time it is possible to give two different sales the same parking ID or to park the two sales in the same slot thereby losing one of the parked sales.

Stock table.
It is not a good idea to make structural changes in the stock table while sales are being made on other registers. Do not delete current items and moving current items around in the stock table is a REALLY BAD IDEA. When a sale begins the POS.EXE program locates where every item is in the stock table. If that item moves while the sale is being processed then the item cannot be found.

Changing prices, tax rates, or other information is OK but if the item has already been rung into the sale on another register those changes will not be reflected in that one sale.

Closing the registers.
The only noticeable change in closing an individual register is that you will not be able to reset the merchandise data from the register. The closing receipt will only report sales from that one register. All of the figures on the closing report (except "tips") are also from only that register. You MUST close every register before you close the "Global" register.

After all the registers have been closed you must run the POS.EXE program from the GLOBAL folder. Closing out this global register will print on the closing report the sales from the whole store, all the figures on the global closing receipt are a total of all the registers added together. Only when you close the global register will you be offered the option to reset the merchandise data. The global register cannot ring sales, returns, no
sales, or voids.

Reports.
While closing on a register is local, making a report (option #8 ) is global. So if you press [7] to see the closing screen it may tell you that the local sales for that register are 345.67 but if you press [8] to make a sales report it may tell you that the sales are 1234.56 for all the registers.

Inventory and Receiving.
On a "back room" computer you can run only the RECEIVE.EXE and INVENTOR.BAT programs if you wish. You will also have to run the POSCONFG.EXE program once to configure the folder as a "local" folder and enter the PATH to the global folder. This assumes that the back room computer is also on the network and you can actually run several back room networked computers if you wish to.

When run over the network you will not need to, or be able to, copy files from one drive to another as all the data files will actually be kept in the global folder.

After you have entered your received merchandise or your inventory into the data storage file you will still need to load that file into the stock table, however only the copy of the POS.EXE program in the global folder will be able to load the file.

If you do not wish the registers to be able to receive merchandise or enter inventory then remove the RECEIVE.EXE and INVENTOR.BAT from those local folders. Note: taking inventory requires both the RECEIVE.EXE and INVENTOR.BAT files.

[Dale Harris]

Here is a BETA test for version 5.01 http://keyhut.com/pos51c.zip

MAKE BACKUPS FIRST.

You MUST close your register with reporting and resetting before you run this version.

1. In this version you will be asked after choosing "credit" as your payment option to then choose between "credit" or "debit". On the close screen the "credit" figure will still include both credit and debit but in "reports" and the close receipt, credit and debit will be listed separately.
2. THIS VERSION WILL RUN ON ONLY THE TOP PART OF THE SCREEN!!!

The reason for this is that the bottom of the screen is being used as a simulated pole display. This version will send data that is supposed to be sent to a pole display to a disk file POLE.DAT. It will also display the same data on the "pole display" on the bottom portion of the screen. The pole display data is formatted in two 20 character lines. Now we need someone who can write a Windows program like APRINT that will run in the background and send the POLE.DAT data to the actual pole display.

Of course the release version will run full screen and not have the "virtual pole display."

[Dale Harris]

Here is a slight upgrade http://keyhut.com/pos51c.zip

The second line of the virtual pole display is aligned on the right.

[Dale Harris]

Jon has requested a 3rd line for the pole display.

The first 14 characters are the stock number, the next two are unused. The next two are the data type, 1 = sale, 2 = return / payout, 0 = other. The last two are the MKI$(x) of a number that changes sequentually every time the pole data is updated. When the number reaches 32,000 it is reset to zero.

The POLE.DAT file is now opened as a random, shared, read/write file with a record length of 20. http://keyhut.com/pos51c.zip