CA1150412A - Electronic point-of-sale system using direct-access storage - Google Patents
Electronic point-of-sale system using direct-access storageInfo
- Publication number
- CA1150412A CA1150412A CA000366019A CA366019A CA1150412A CA 1150412 A CA1150412 A CA 1150412A CA 000366019 A CA000366019 A CA 000366019A CA 366019 A CA366019 A CA 366019A CA 1150412 A CA1150412 A CA 1150412A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- read
- point
- direct
- transaction data
- data
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/04—Billing or invoicing
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
- G06Q20/20—Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
- G06Q20/209—Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
- G07G1/00—Cash registers
- G07G1/12—Cash registers electronically operated
Abstract
ELECTRONIC POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM USING DIRECT-ACCESS STORAGE
Abstract A standalone point-of-sale terminal in a unitary physical package has input/output devices for communi-cating transaction data between the terminal and an operator, and also has a cash drawer. These devices and a direct-access storage are controlled by a pro-grammable processor which executes low-level routines from read only addressable memory and serially re-placeable high-level applications programs from read/
write addressable memory. Both applications programs and transaction data are stored on a single non-volatile, removable storage medium.
Abstract A standalone point-of-sale terminal in a unitary physical package has input/output devices for communi-cating transaction data between the terminal and an operator, and also has a cash drawer. These devices and a direct-access storage are controlled by a pro-grammable processor which executes low-level routines from read only addressable memory and serially re-placeable high-level applications programs from read/
write addressable memory. Both applications programs and transaction data are stored on a single non-volatile, removable storage medium.
Description
~ ~5~
DESCRIPTION
ELECTRONIC POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM
USING DIRECT-ACCESS STORAGE
Cross-Reference To Related Applications Other aspects of the basic system disclosed here, as well as further details, are shown in United States Patent No. 4,266,271, issued May 5, 1981, to M.E. Chamoff, I.L.
Miller and D.L. Thorson, entitled "Reconfigurable Cluster of Data-Entry Terminals", and Canadian Application No. 365,226, filed November 21, 1980, by M.E. Chamoff and D.W. Piller, entitled "Cluster of Data-Entry Terminals".
Technical Field This invention relates to electronic point-of-sale systems for collecting, processing and recording data relating to business transactions. Such systems are also termed transaction recorders and electronic cash registers.
Background Art :
~ arious systems of data-entry terminals have been heretofore developed~which enable the entry of data for data processing from a plurality of different locations. For example, prior systems have utilized a plurality of point-of-saIe terminals in a retail store environment to enable sales data to be entered at a plurality of locations about a retail establishment. In such prior point-of-sale systems, the terminals have often been connected to a common data bus and the data directed to ~5~ LZ
DESCRIPTION
ELECTRONIC POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM
USING DIRECT-ACCESS STORAGE
Cross-Reference To Related Applications Other aspects of the basic system disclosed here, as well as further details, are shown in United States Patent No. 4,266,271, issued May 5, 1981, to M.E. Chamoff, I.L.
Miller and D.L. Thorson, entitled "Reconfigurable Cluster of Data-Entry Terminals", and Canadian Application No. 365,226, filed November 21, 1980, by M.E. Chamoff and D.W. Piller, entitled "Cluster of Data-Entry Terminals".
Technical Field This invention relates to electronic point-of-sale systems for collecting, processing and recording data relating to business transactions. Such systems are also termed transaction recorders and electronic cash registers.
Background Art :
~ arious systems of data-entry terminals have been heretofore developed~which enable the entry of data for data processing from a plurality of different locations. For example, prior systems have utilized a plurality of point-of-saIe terminals in a retail store environment to enable sales data to be entered at a plurality of locations about a retail establishment. In such prior point-of-sale systems, the terminals have often been connected to a common data bus and the data directed to ~5~ LZ
-2-a co~non computer host ~hich may be located at the retail establishment or at a remote location. $uch systems are relatiYely bulky and expensive due to the requirement of a large and complex separate host data processing computer or controller for storing input data.
In order to eliminat~ the requirement of a separate on-line host data processin~ computerj stand-alone terminals ha~e been previously developed utilizin~
magnetic storage cassettes which are used to record sales data fro~ each terminal. The cassettes may then be subsequently removed and taken to a remote location for subsequent processin~.
In point-cf-sale terminal systems, it is necessary to perform arithmetic operations on sales data with the ; use of ~arious function programs. In one type of poin-t-of-sale system using a magnetic tape cassette, function programs for operating on point-of-sale data are permanently stored in read-only memories in each of the terminals. In another type of such prior systems, function programs are input into each of the terminals at the beginning of the day when the system is powered up. In both types of prior systems, there has been a requirement or storage in each of the terminals for ; 25 function programs which are required to be executed during operation of the terminals. Such prior systems ha~e thus required a plurality of separate storage ~acilities in each point-of-sale terminal to proYide the desired operations.
A need has thus arisen f~r a point-o~-sale data-entry terminal system wherein the data-entry terminals are self-contained in unitary portable housings without the requirement o an additional data recording houslng or a separate controller t~ne-shared among plural terminals. A need has also arisen for point-of-sale data terminals wherein all function or application programs are not permanently wired into read-only memory or the like, and ye-t wherein each terminal can perform a broad and variable range of functions inde-pendently of any connection to a programmable host computer or the like.
In brief, the computerization of the point-o~-sale terminal has heretofore not taken full ad~antage o~ the flexibility inherent in the use of progra~nable pro-cessors, hecause conventional terminals are dependent upon unchangeable internally stored function programs and/or connections to external controllers or host processors.
Disclosure of InYention The present invention proposes a standalone point-of-sale terminal which takes full advanta~e of the flexibility afforded by the use o~ an internal pro-grammable processor, by allowing different applicationsprograms to replace each other in the terminal without any connection to another computer or controller. This goal is achieYed inexpensively and in a compact physical packaye by combinin~ in a new way a nurnber of elements which are individually well known in the art.
Generally speakin~, a point-of-sale texminal according to the inY,ention has a single, unitar~ package which holds and sup~orts the other elements. Input/
output devices, such as ke~boards, displays and printers co~nunicate transaction data between the terminal and an operator; a cash drawer is also provided. These devices are controlled by a processor which executes ~lS~
pro~rams from an addressable me~oxy, at least a part of which is capahle of bein~ written into as well as being read from ti.e., read/~rite memory, frequently termed RAM). ~pplications progxams a.re loaded into this read/write memory from a direct-access stora~e means in the same enclosure. This storage employs a single removable, non-volatile medium such as a flexible magne~ic disk (commonly known as a diskette~ to hold both a plurality of different application programs and transaction datà written out by the processor to the storage means. The term "direct access" in the present context refers to the ability of the storage mechanism to access (read or write) di~ferent items on the medium without accessing or passin~ through every item between the desired items. tA magnetic tape or other form wh;ch does require all intervening items to be accessed or passed is -termed `'sequential" stora~e in the art.~
"Non-volatile" is also a term o~ art, re~erriny to the ability to maintain stored information without the continuous application of some ~orm of power or external energy source. The term "removable" as used herein signifies that the media are physically separable from the terminal, that they may be freely inserted, removed and substituted for each other.
The application pro~rams or ~perating programs transferred between the storage medium and the address-able memory are high-level, f~nctional routines which define the oYerall operation of the terminal in a ~iven application. These pro~rams are contrasted with low~
le~el routines ox subroutines which directly control hardware dev;ces such as the displays, keyboard, etc.
These two types of pro~rams communicate with each other either directly or throu~h intermediate-level routines for data formattin~ and so ~orth. The low-leYel routines may be kept permanently in a read-only portion of the addressable memory. ~s used herein "addressable"
r.. ..,.~
memory denotes fully random-access memory, wher~ln any data item may be accessed without accessing or passing throuyh any other item in the memory.
Brief Description of Drawing An embodiment of the invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 of the drawing shows a point-of~sale terminal according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the terminal of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a memory map of the addressable memory of Fig. 2. Fi~. 4 shows a control block of a subroutine used with the invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a disk layout used with the invention~
~., Best Mode for Carrying Out the In~ention Fig. 1 shows a counter-top point-of-sale system 10. Machine cover or housing 11 encloses the elec-tronic and mechanical parts of the system. Data entry and display (i.e., input/output) devices include a keyboard 12, a multi-digit light-emitting diode (LED) display 13, a conventional xotatable message-drum display 14 for operator prompting, a cash drawer 15 and a multi-station printer 16. The printer prints a journal roll and either a receipt tape or cut-form documents; it is described in more detail in Canadian Patent No. 1,109,333, issued September 22, 1981 to D.S.
May et al and U.S. Patent No. 4,229,113, issued October 21, 1980 to T.H. Anderson et al. Covers 11 also contain a flexible-disk (diskette~ drive 17.
Access door 18 allows the insertion and remoYal of a conventional ma~netic disk 19. Door 18 may be made lockable.
Fig. 2 shows the electronics portion of system 10, ~0979-013B
~.,, , ~
also contained within housing 11. A microprocessor 20 receives instructions and data from a memory 21 ha~ing address lines 22 and data lines 23. A part of ~emory 21 is read-only (ROM~ and another part is read-write (RAM). Microprocessor 20 executes the instruction set of the publicly known IBM System/3 data processor. It is identical to the microprocessors described in aforementioned U.S. Patent 4,2~6,271. I/O bus 24 couples processor 20 to adapter interfaces for the devices mentioned aboveO A single adapter 25 of conventional design receives data from keyboard 12 and transmits data from bus 24 to display 13. A driver 26 steps message-drum display 14 to show the proper prompt message to t~e machine operator. Another driver 27 electrically locks and unlocks cash drawer 15. Adapter 28 transmits data from bus 24 to printer 16, and also receives signals concerniny the statu~ of the paper supply. A c`onventional diskette adapter 29 interfaces drive 17 to bus 24 in a conventional manner, to read and write information on diskette 19.
Other de~ices not shown in ~ig. l could also be attached to bus 24. A hand-held.wand for reading bar codes or stylized characters on merchandise labels may be desirable in some applications. A teleprocessing facility may be included for direct transmission to a data processor~ A line adapter for communication with satellite terminals is described in aforementioned U.S.
Patent 4,266,271. EYen a simple, conventional parallel part or serial interface may be useful in s~me cases.
Fig. 3 is a map o memory 21. Read-only memory (ROM) begins ~t address 0000. ROM stores microcoded routines for subroutine access, interrupt handling and various subroutines for lo~-le~el machine control and for common data~manag~ment functions. Microprocessor 20 accesses or invokes a subroutine by executing a supervisor-call (SVC~ instruction with a following code _7_ identifying the particular subroutine to be acces~sed.
This procedure is described in more detail in the aforementioned U.S. Patent 4,266,271. A
conventionally organized interrupt handler processes prioritized interrupt re~uests from adapters 25-29, signalling such conditions as the depression of a keyboard key or diskette index-hole detection. Whether individual su~routines are stored in ROM or in R~M is subject to discretion. Low-level microcoded control roùtines for operating the I/O devices of system 10 itself are included in ROM. Basically these comprise XXKYIO, XXPRIO and XXLIO. XXKYIO controls keyboard 12 and displays 13, 14 throu~h adapters 25, 26. XXPRIO
controls cash drawer 15 and printer 16 via adapters 27, 28. Both of these are described in detail in aforemen-tioned U.S. Patent No. 4,266,271. XXLIO provides the lowest level of control for diskette drive 17, via adapter 29.
This subroutine is amplified hereinbelow. Higher levels of control may also be provided in ROM. For example, diskette files LIBR and TLOG contain entries in dif~erent formats; separate ROM routines format the appropriate logical entries for each file, then pass them to another routine which formats them into the physical sectors of diskette 19, then down to XXLIO for performing the actual reading or writing. Other common data-management functions may also be stored in ROM, for example, subroutines for comparing two data items for equality, or for handling certain error conditions.
Such subroutines could be stored either in ROM or RA~1;
the more applications which use them, the ~ore de-sirable it is to aYoid haYing to read them into RAM
before every use.
The read-write portion (RAM~ o memory 21 begins at hex address 8000 and continues to the end of the physical memory in the particular machine: BFFF ~or a 16K machine, ~FF~ for a 32K, etc. RAM contains several ~s~
fixed-len~th ~ields, such as an I/O control-code work area ~r scratchpad, a common arèa for co~municatin~
data between code modules and a totals area for hard-totals counters. The remainder of R~M forms a variable-length page buffer. It is this buf~er which recelvesapplications programs, and from ~hich they are executed b~ microprocessor 20. They may be overlaid b~ other applications pro~rams, either under direct operator control or automatically by code in the programs themselves. Transaction data being processed is also stored in RAM, under the control of the particular applications pro~ram being executed.
The d~skette-file I/O control subroutine XXLIO is described herein because it is not used in the cluster terminals of Application 5erial No. 950,091. XXLI0 performs all read and write functions for ~oving data and programs between a .24 megabyte diskette 19 in drive 17 and the RAM part of memory 21. Fig. 4 illu-strates a control block for XXLIO; its address must be loaded into register XRl prior to a call of XXLI0.
XXLIO resets the control-block status bits in byte 0 prior to performing the requast operation.
Calling Format: SVC
DC XLl ' REQUEST CODE ' Disk 19 contains standard labels and data formats.
Labels are in Track 0. A program/data librar~ data set LIBR, described belo~, starts at Track 1, Sector 1. A
~ile command may be directed to a speciic disk address or to a data-file name. ~ command to a specific address is executed im~ed~ately. ~ cQmmand directed to a file name requires a se~rch of index entries stored in LIBR. (That is, XXLI0 does not use Track 0 " ~15~
index entries to locate data ~iles.~ The BOE, EOD, and EOE fields of the cont~ol block, Fi~. 3, receiYe their entries from the LIBR index entry. The ~ile-name command is then executed as though these en-tries had already been provided in the control block.
The control block of Fi~. 4 contains the following entries:
Byte 0 Bits 0-3 - X'4' identifies the .24 megabyte control block.
Byte 0 Bit 4 - T~e 'tunit check" status bit is set at device-end time of command execution if an error was detected. Byte 5 contains a code describing the error condition. Bytes 17-19 contain the error location, except for a "disk full" condition ~c~. Byte 6).
Byte 0 Bit 6 - The "device end" status bit i5 set when command execution is complete.
Byte 0 Bit 7 - The "unit exception" status bit indicates that a recoYerabie er~ox had occurred duriny co~mand execution. The erXor code appears in Byte 5;
the location is in Bytes 17-19.
, Byte 1 Bit 1 - The "inhibit disk reset" command ; bit waits for a cancel request, then tests to determine z whether a disket-te is inserted. If so, the disk-reset func-tion ls enabled; otherwise, it remains disabled.
By-te 1 Bit 2 - The "add" command bit causes the record (128 b~tes1 located at the Data Address (Bytes
In order to eliminat~ the requirement of a separate on-line host data processin~ computerj stand-alone terminals ha~e been previously developed utilizin~
magnetic storage cassettes which are used to record sales data fro~ each terminal. The cassettes may then be subsequently removed and taken to a remote location for subsequent processin~.
In point-cf-sale terminal systems, it is necessary to perform arithmetic operations on sales data with the ; use of ~arious function programs. In one type of poin-t-of-sale system using a magnetic tape cassette, function programs for operating on point-of-sale data are permanently stored in read-only memories in each of the terminals. In another type of such prior systems, function programs are input into each of the terminals at the beginning of the day when the system is powered up. In both types of prior systems, there has been a requirement or storage in each of the terminals for ; 25 function programs which are required to be executed during operation of the terminals. Such prior systems ha~e thus required a plurality of separate storage ~acilities in each point-of-sale terminal to proYide the desired operations.
A need has thus arisen f~r a point-o~-sale data-entry terminal system wherein the data-entry terminals are self-contained in unitary portable housings without the requirement o an additional data recording houslng or a separate controller t~ne-shared among plural terminals. A need has also arisen for point-of-sale data terminals wherein all function or application programs are not permanently wired into read-only memory or the like, and ye-t wherein each terminal can perform a broad and variable range of functions inde-pendently of any connection to a programmable host computer or the like.
In brief, the computerization of the point-o~-sale terminal has heretofore not taken full ad~antage o~ the flexibility inherent in the use of progra~nable pro-cessors, hecause conventional terminals are dependent upon unchangeable internally stored function programs and/or connections to external controllers or host processors.
Disclosure of InYention The present invention proposes a standalone point-of-sale terminal which takes full advanta~e of the flexibility afforded by the use o~ an internal pro-grammable processor, by allowing different applicationsprograms to replace each other in the terminal without any connection to another computer or controller. This goal is achieYed inexpensively and in a compact physical packaye by combinin~ in a new way a nurnber of elements which are individually well known in the art.
Generally speakin~, a point-of-sale texminal according to the inY,ention has a single, unitar~ package which holds and sup~orts the other elements. Input/
output devices, such as ke~boards, displays and printers co~nunicate transaction data between the terminal and an operator; a cash drawer is also provided. These devices are controlled by a processor which executes ~lS~
pro~rams from an addressable me~oxy, at least a part of which is capahle of bein~ written into as well as being read from ti.e., read/~rite memory, frequently termed RAM). ~pplications progxams a.re loaded into this read/write memory from a direct-access stora~e means in the same enclosure. This storage employs a single removable, non-volatile medium such as a flexible magne~ic disk (commonly known as a diskette~ to hold both a plurality of different application programs and transaction datà written out by the processor to the storage means. The term "direct access" in the present context refers to the ability of the storage mechanism to access (read or write) di~ferent items on the medium without accessing or passin~ through every item between the desired items. tA magnetic tape or other form wh;ch does require all intervening items to be accessed or passed is -termed `'sequential" stora~e in the art.~
"Non-volatile" is also a term o~ art, re~erriny to the ability to maintain stored information without the continuous application of some ~orm of power or external energy source. The term "removable" as used herein signifies that the media are physically separable from the terminal, that they may be freely inserted, removed and substituted for each other.
The application pro~rams or ~perating programs transferred between the storage medium and the address-able memory are high-level, f~nctional routines which define the oYerall operation of the terminal in a ~iven application. These pro~rams are contrasted with low~
le~el routines ox subroutines which directly control hardware dev;ces such as the displays, keyboard, etc.
These two types of pro~rams communicate with each other either directly or throu~h intermediate-level routines for data formattin~ and so ~orth. The low-leYel routines may be kept permanently in a read-only portion of the addressable memory. ~s used herein "addressable"
r.. ..,.~
memory denotes fully random-access memory, wher~ln any data item may be accessed without accessing or passing throuyh any other item in the memory.
Brief Description of Drawing An embodiment of the invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 of the drawing shows a point-of~sale terminal according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the terminal of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a memory map of the addressable memory of Fig. 2. Fi~. 4 shows a control block of a subroutine used with the invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a disk layout used with the invention~
~., Best Mode for Carrying Out the In~ention Fig. 1 shows a counter-top point-of-sale system 10. Machine cover or housing 11 encloses the elec-tronic and mechanical parts of the system. Data entry and display (i.e., input/output) devices include a keyboard 12, a multi-digit light-emitting diode (LED) display 13, a conventional xotatable message-drum display 14 for operator prompting, a cash drawer 15 and a multi-station printer 16. The printer prints a journal roll and either a receipt tape or cut-form documents; it is described in more detail in Canadian Patent No. 1,109,333, issued September 22, 1981 to D.S.
May et al and U.S. Patent No. 4,229,113, issued October 21, 1980 to T.H. Anderson et al. Covers 11 also contain a flexible-disk (diskette~ drive 17.
Access door 18 allows the insertion and remoYal of a conventional ma~netic disk 19. Door 18 may be made lockable.
Fig. 2 shows the electronics portion of system 10, ~0979-013B
~.,, , ~
also contained within housing 11. A microprocessor 20 receives instructions and data from a memory 21 ha~ing address lines 22 and data lines 23. A part of ~emory 21 is read-only (ROM~ and another part is read-write (RAM). Microprocessor 20 executes the instruction set of the publicly known IBM System/3 data processor. It is identical to the microprocessors described in aforementioned U.S. Patent 4,2~6,271. I/O bus 24 couples processor 20 to adapter interfaces for the devices mentioned aboveO A single adapter 25 of conventional design receives data from keyboard 12 and transmits data from bus 24 to display 13. A driver 26 steps message-drum display 14 to show the proper prompt message to t~e machine operator. Another driver 27 electrically locks and unlocks cash drawer 15. Adapter 28 transmits data from bus 24 to printer 16, and also receives signals concerniny the statu~ of the paper supply. A c`onventional diskette adapter 29 interfaces drive 17 to bus 24 in a conventional manner, to read and write information on diskette 19.
Other de~ices not shown in ~ig. l could also be attached to bus 24. A hand-held.wand for reading bar codes or stylized characters on merchandise labels may be desirable in some applications. A teleprocessing facility may be included for direct transmission to a data processor~ A line adapter for communication with satellite terminals is described in aforementioned U.S.
Patent 4,266,271. EYen a simple, conventional parallel part or serial interface may be useful in s~me cases.
Fig. 3 is a map o memory 21. Read-only memory (ROM) begins ~t address 0000. ROM stores microcoded routines for subroutine access, interrupt handling and various subroutines for lo~-le~el machine control and for common data~manag~ment functions. Microprocessor 20 accesses or invokes a subroutine by executing a supervisor-call (SVC~ instruction with a following code _7_ identifying the particular subroutine to be acces~sed.
This procedure is described in more detail in the aforementioned U.S. Patent 4,266,271. A
conventionally organized interrupt handler processes prioritized interrupt re~uests from adapters 25-29, signalling such conditions as the depression of a keyboard key or diskette index-hole detection. Whether individual su~routines are stored in ROM or in R~M is subject to discretion. Low-level microcoded control roùtines for operating the I/O devices of system 10 itself are included in ROM. Basically these comprise XXKYIO, XXPRIO and XXLIO. XXKYIO controls keyboard 12 and displays 13, 14 throu~h adapters 25, 26. XXPRIO
controls cash drawer 15 and printer 16 via adapters 27, 28. Both of these are described in detail in aforemen-tioned U.S. Patent No. 4,266,271. XXLIO provides the lowest level of control for diskette drive 17, via adapter 29.
This subroutine is amplified hereinbelow. Higher levels of control may also be provided in ROM. For example, diskette files LIBR and TLOG contain entries in dif~erent formats; separate ROM routines format the appropriate logical entries for each file, then pass them to another routine which formats them into the physical sectors of diskette 19, then down to XXLIO for performing the actual reading or writing. Other common data-management functions may also be stored in ROM, for example, subroutines for comparing two data items for equality, or for handling certain error conditions.
Such subroutines could be stored either in ROM or RA~1;
the more applications which use them, the ~ore de-sirable it is to aYoid haYing to read them into RAM
before every use.
The read-write portion (RAM~ o memory 21 begins at hex address 8000 and continues to the end of the physical memory in the particular machine: BFFF ~or a 16K machine, ~FF~ for a 32K, etc. RAM contains several ~s~
fixed-len~th ~ields, such as an I/O control-code work area ~r scratchpad, a common arèa for co~municatin~
data between code modules and a totals area for hard-totals counters. The remainder of R~M forms a variable-length page buffer. It is this buf~er which recelvesapplications programs, and from ~hich they are executed b~ microprocessor 20. They may be overlaid b~ other applications pro~rams, either under direct operator control or automatically by code in the programs themselves. Transaction data being processed is also stored in RAM, under the control of the particular applications pro~ram being executed.
The d~skette-file I/O control subroutine XXLIO is described herein because it is not used in the cluster terminals of Application 5erial No. 950,091. XXLI0 performs all read and write functions for ~oving data and programs between a .24 megabyte diskette 19 in drive 17 and the RAM part of memory 21. Fig. 4 illu-strates a control block for XXLIO; its address must be loaded into register XRl prior to a call of XXLI0.
XXLIO resets the control-block status bits in byte 0 prior to performing the requast operation.
Calling Format: SVC
DC XLl ' REQUEST CODE ' Disk 19 contains standard labels and data formats.
Labels are in Track 0. A program/data librar~ data set LIBR, described belo~, starts at Track 1, Sector 1. A
~ile command may be directed to a speciic disk address or to a data-file name. ~ command to a specific address is executed im~ed~ately. ~ cQmmand directed to a file name requires a se~rch of index entries stored in LIBR. (That is, XXLI0 does not use Track 0 " ~15~
index entries to locate data ~iles.~ The BOE, EOD, and EOE fields of the cont~ol block, Fi~. 3, receiYe their entries from the LIBR index entry. The ~ile-name command is then executed as though these en-tries had already been provided in the control block.
The control block of Fi~. 4 contains the following entries:
Byte 0 Bits 0-3 - X'4' identifies the .24 megabyte control block.
Byte 0 Bit 4 - T~e 'tunit check" status bit is set at device-end time of command execution if an error was detected. Byte 5 contains a code describing the error condition. Bytes 17-19 contain the error location, except for a "disk full" condition ~c~. Byte 6).
Byte 0 Bit 6 - The "device end" status bit i5 set when command execution is complete.
Byte 0 Bit 7 - The "unit exception" status bit indicates that a recoYerabie er~ox had occurred duriny co~mand execution. The erXor code appears in Byte 5;
the location is in Bytes 17-19.
, Byte 1 Bit 1 - The "inhibit disk reset" command ; bit waits for a cancel request, then tests to determine z whether a disket-te is inserted. If so, the disk-reset func-tion ls enabled; otherwise, it remains disabled.
By-te 1 Bit 2 - The "add" command bit causes the record (128 b~tes1 located at the Data Address (Bytes
3-4) to be written at the EOD address. This address is then incremented by one in Bytes 11-13 ~but not on the diskette Track a or 1~.
: Byte 1 Bit 3 - The "modify add" command bit causes the record at the Data Address to be written into the file at address EOD-l.
Byte 1 Bit 5 - The "write" bit causes the data at the Data Address written to the ~ile, starting at the BOE address, plus the offset contained in Bytes 9-A. Byte B contains the number of 128-byte records to be written. This command does not update the EOD
address in either the control block or the LIBR index entry.
- The "read'~ bit operates inYer-sely: file records from BOE ~nd o~set are read into memory- at Data Address. ~f the read operation would read past EOD (B~tes 11-13~, the actual number of records read is indicated in Byte 13 at deYice-end time.
~5~
Byte 1 Bit 7 - The "sync" ~it causes the disk access mechanism to aliyn itsel~ oYer Track 0.
Byte 2 Bit 0 - This bit specifies whether or not automatic retries will ~e performed for error con-ditions.
Byte 2 Bi-t 1 - ThIs bit selects whether a specified operation is to be per:Eormed with or without cycle-s-tealing data to or from memory.
Bytes 3-4 - The "data address" is the destin-ation address in memory address or read operations,and the source address fox write, add and modify-add.
It points to the leftmost byte of the data buffer.
Byte 5 - The "error code" describes a particular error detected during an operation.
Byte 6 Bits 0-2 - These bits are set when an add operation has been completed in the last 4-10, 2~3 or 1 sectors o a flle, respectively. Unit check (Byte 0 Bit 4) is set when these conditions are detected.
Byte 6 Bit 6 - This bit is set at all device-end times to indicate whether or not a disk is present in the drive.
Bytes 7-8 - This address points to a 128-byte work area used by XxLIo in index searches.
., Bytes 9-A - These bytes contain the number of disk sectors past BOE (~ytes C-10~ that reading or writ;n~ is to begin.
Byte B - This byte specifies the number of 128-byte records to be read or written. It is set to the number o~ bytes ac-tually read at the end of read commands.
Bytes C-10 - This location contains either a 5-character data-set name or a beginnin~-of-extent address having 3 by-tes specifyin~ cylinder/head/record.
Bytes 11-13 - These 3 ~ytes speci~y the end-oE-data address.
Bytes 14-16 - These bytes contain the end-of-extent address.
Bytes 17-19 - These bytes specify the ylinder/
head/record of a disk exror location.
The diskette 19 contains labels and data in a publicly a~ailable standard format. The labels are located on Track 0, and~identify the names and ad-dresses of the data sets on the disk. Fig. 5 shows the major data sets for the present embodiment, LIBR and TLOG. CRCK and PRLU, physically following TLOG on the same diskette, contain credit-check and price-lookup tables used by some applications routines.
20 ; LIBR, which begins at Track 1, Sector 1 of the disk, has two se~ments. One se~ment contains appli-cations routines and data set used by or with these routines. The other segment, Tr~ck 1 on the disk, contains index entries~ for these items. The first index entry is that of LIBR it$elf. ~n expansion o~
the 32-byte entxy foxmat is sho~n in Fi~. 5. Bytes 0-4 ContaIn a 5-character file name. Bytes 5-7 specify the beginning-of-extent address of the named file; that is, the BOE is the address of the first byte of the file.
Bytes 8-A specify the end-of-data address; i.e., the location of the last valid (non-empty~ data byte within the ~ile. The end-of-extent address in bytes B-D
speci~ies th~ last physical address of the fIle. sy-te E indicates which sector of Track 0 contains the corresponding index entry (or ~'00' iE there is none).
Byte F contains se~eral flag bits. B~tes 10-15 are not used. Bytes 16-lF specif~ the types and extent of check~ng to be performed on corresponding Track-0 entries.
TLOG is physically the second file on the disk.
TLOG has a fixed-length record strueture, but its format accommodates varia~le-length transactions logged out to disk by any one of a large number of applications rou-tines. The particular record format shown in Fig. 5 allows transactions to ~e fra~mented or duplicated, and yet to be processed correctly by a host processor even if its parts are not input in the correct order.
~very record of a transaction eontains 128 (X'80') ~ytes, eomprisiny a 12-byte header and four 29-byte data items. Bytes 0-3 eontain a separate reeord type identifier for each data item, defining the item's number of fields and the length, order and eontent of those fields. A header item is identified by the EBCDIC eharaeter "A", while "B" identifies a trailer item. A store/register number in bytes 4-9 identifies the partieular terminal whieh created the record. A
two-byte sequenee number is incremented by the terminal for e~ery suecessive record, without regard to trans-aetion boundaries, and ~raps around to 00 after reaching 99; this aids in pieeing to~ether interrupted trans-~ 30 actions and allo~s deteetion of missing and duplicate - records. The four 2~-byte items of eaeh record contain data specified by the particular applications routine which create them. The order in whieh the items appear - in the record is the sequence in which the data is ~ RO979-013B
collected by the texminal. The first item of the first record fQr every trans~ction is a header. The header contains. a transaction-type code, a transaction number, a sales person code, the time and the date. Headers are also logged during terminal ini-tialization, sign-on, open, close and selection of non-sales functions;
they may function as an audit trail for all terminal activity. If any data are yenerated by the ac~ivi~y which produced the header, other items will also be written. Examples of such other data include customer account numbers, merchandise identification numbers, tax amounts, amounts tendered, payments, discounts and allowances. If the data do not fit into a single record, items in additional records will be wri-tten. A
trailer item is written ~or any transaction consisting of more than merely a header. This item summarizes sales transactions and aids in the reconstruction of transactions spanning multiple records. The trailer : , contains a trailer code, the same transac-tion number as that of the correspondin~ header, and other information such as a transaction total monetary amount.
A point-of-sale system 10 is placed in service by : inserting a disk 19 into drive 17 and powering up.
Conventional initializing ROM subroutines in memory 21 read into RAM an initializing application program which has previously been pexsonalized to set up the machine : for the particulax functions de.sired to be performed.
This application program is stoxed on diskette 19 in the LIBR file, Fi.g. 5; its trans~er is achieved b~ ~OM
subroutine XXLIO, Fig. 4. The initializing program then calls into RAM ~ny of a large number of applications programs. These progr~ms, all stoxed in LIBR, may be written in the well-known IBM System~3 assembly language.
Alternati~ely, general-purpose programs may be person-alized by specifying certain options through a persona ~L~5~
lization applicat~on program which is also read into R~M fro~n LIB~. This m~y b~ done by requesting keyboard responses to a sequence of multiple-choice questions supplied to the user in a booklet, and/or by displayed messages. Personalization is effected internally by the conventional techniqlle of setting specified entries in a table which an application pro~ram uses at the appropriate places to branch -to alterna-tive code ~or carrying out the des~red functions.
~pplication programs may be written to carry out an arbitrary number of functlons on system 10. Some representative applications include totals readout, cash count, erase log, loan/withdra~al, void prior transaction and print log. The most important single application for most users is "sales mode", which enables system 10 to perform a number of frequent types of retail transactions. The appended printout, en-titled SLS16D, contains detailed code, written in the instruction set of the IBM System/3, for a 16K-byte machine and using domestic ~U.S.) sales-tax calcula-tions. This program occupies 12,915 bytes in the page buffer of Fig. 3. It controls I/O devices 12-16, Fig.
1, through levels of subroutines which ultimately employ ROM subroutines XXKYIO and XXPRIO. It formats transaction data items and writes them out to diskette ; 19 through subroutines which inYoke ROM routine XXLIO.
It can also terminate itself by o~erlaying the RAM page buffer with another application program called in from LIBR by XXLIO.
: Byte 1 Bit 3 - The "modify add" command bit causes the record at the Data Address to be written into the file at address EOD-l.
Byte 1 Bit 5 - The "write" bit causes the data at the Data Address written to the ~ile, starting at the BOE address, plus the offset contained in Bytes 9-A. Byte B contains the number of 128-byte records to be written. This command does not update the EOD
address in either the control block or the LIBR index entry.
- The "read'~ bit operates inYer-sely: file records from BOE ~nd o~set are read into memory- at Data Address. ~f the read operation would read past EOD (B~tes 11-13~, the actual number of records read is indicated in Byte 13 at deYice-end time.
~5~
Byte 1 Bit 7 - The "sync" ~it causes the disk access mechanism to aliyn itsel~ oYer Track 0.
Byte 2 Bit 0 - This bit specifies whether or not automatic retries will ~e performed for error con-ditions.
Byte 2 Bi-t 1 - ThIs bit selects whether a specified operation is to be per:Eormed with or without cycle-s-tealing data to or from memory.
Bytes 3-4 - The "data address" is the destin-ation address in memory address or read operations,and the source address fox write, add and modify-add.
It points to the leftmost byte of the data buffer.
Byte 5 - The "error code" describes a particular error detected during an operation.
Byte 6 Bits 0-2 - These bits are set when an add operation has been completed in the last 4-10, 2~3 or 1 sectors o a flle, respectively. Unit check (Byte 0 Bit 4) is set when these conditions are detected.
Byte 6 Bit 6 - This bit is set at all device-end times to indicate whether or not a disk is present in the drive.
Bytes 7-8 - This address points to a 128-byte work area used by XxLIo in index searches.
., Bytes 9-A - These bytes contain the number of disk sectors past BOE (~ytes C-10~ that reading or writ;n~ is to begin.
Byte B - This byte specifies the number of 128-byte records to be read or written. It is set to the number o~ bytes ac-tually read at the end of read commands.
Bytes C-10 - This location contains either a 5-character data-set name or a beginnin~-of-extent address having 3 by-tes specifyin~ cylinder/head/record.
Bytes 11-13 - These 3 ~ytes speci~y the end-oE-data address.
Bytes 14-16 - These bytes contain the end-of-extent address.
Bytes 17-19 - These bytes specify the ylinder/
head/record of a disk exror location.
The diskette 19 contains labels and data in a publicly a~ailable standard format. The labels are located on Track 0, and~identify the names and ad-dresses of the data sets on the disk. Fig. 5 shows the major data sets for the present embodiment, LIBR and TLOG. CRCK and PRLU, physically following TLOG on the same diskette, contain credit-check and price-lookup tables used by some applications routines.
20 ; LIBR, which begins at Track 1, Sector 1 of the disk, has two se~ments. One se~ment contains appli-cations routines and data set used by or with these routines. The other segment, Tr~ck 1 on the disk, contains index entries~ for these items. The first index entry is that of LIBR it$elf. ~n expansion o~
the 32-byte entxy foxmat is sho~n in Fi~. 5. Bytes 0-4 ContaIn a 5-character file name. Bytes 5-7 specify the beginning-of-extent address of the named file; that is, the BOE is the address of the first byte of the file.
Bytes 8-A specify the end-of-data address; i.e., the location of the last valid (non-empty~ data byte within the ~ile. The end-of-extent address in bytes B-D
speci~ies th~ last physical address of the fIle. sy-te E indicates which sector of Track 0 contains the corresponding index entry (or ~'00' iE there is none).
Byte F contains se~eral flag bits. B~tes 10-15 are not used. Bytes 16-lF specif~ the types and extent of check~ng to be performed on corresponding Track-0 entries.
TLOG is physically the second file on the disk.
TLOG has a fixed-length record strueture, but its format accommodates varia~le-length transactions logged out to disk by any one of a large number of applications rou-tines. The particular record format shown in Fig. 5 allows transactions to ~e fra~mented or duplicated, and yet to be processed correctly by a host processor even if its parts are not input in the correct order.
~very record of a transaction eontains 128 (X'80') ~ytes, eomprisiny a 12-byte header and four 29-byte data items. Bytes 0-3 eontain a separate reeord type identifier for each data item, defining the item's number of fields and the length, order and eontent of those fields. A header item is identified by the EBCDIC eharaeter "A", while "B" identifies a trailer item. A store/register number in bytes 4-9 identifies the partieular terminal whieh created the record. A
two-byte sequenee number is incremented by the terminal for e~ery suecessive record, without regard to trans-aetion boundaries, and ~raps around to 00 after reaching 99; this aids in pieeing to~ether interrupted trans-~ 30 actions and allo~s deteetion of missing and duplicate - records. The four 2~-byte items of eaeh record contain data specified by the particular applications routine which create them. The order in whieh the items appear - in the record is the sequence in which the data is ~ RO979-013B
collected by the texminal. The first item of the first record fQr every trans~ction is a header. The header contains. a transaction-type code, a transaction number, a sales person code, the time and the date. Headers are also logged during terminal ini-tialization, sign-on, open, close and selection of non-sales functions;
they may function as an audit trail for all terminal activity. If any data are yenerated by the ac~ivi~y which produced the header, other items will also be written. Examples of such other data include customer account numbers, merchandise identification numbers, tax amounts, amounts tendered, payments, discounts and allowances. If the data do not fit into a single record, items in additional records will be wri-tten. A
trailer item is written ~or any transaction consisting of more than merely a header. This item summarizes sales transactions and aids in the reconstruction of transactions spanning multiple records. The trailer : , contains a trailer code, the same transac-tion number as that of the correspondin~ header, and other information such as a transaction total monetary amount.
A point-of-sale system 10 is placed in service by : inserting a disk 19 into drive 17 and powering up.
Conventional initializing ROM subroutines in memory 21 read into RAM an initializing application program which has previously been pexsonalized to set up the machine : for the particulax functions de.sired to be performed.
This application program is stoxed on diskette 19 in the LIBR file, Fi.g. 5; its trans~er is achieved b~ ~OM
subroutine XXLIO, Fig. 4. The initializing program then calls into RAM ~ny of a large number of applications programs. These progr~ms, all stoxed in LIBR, may be written in the well-known IBM System~3 assembly language.
Alternati~ely, general-purpose programs may be person-alized by specifying certain options through a persona ~L~5~
lization applicat~on program which is also read into R~M fro~n LIB~. This m~y b~ done by requesting keyboard responses to a sequence of multiple-choice questions supplied to the user in a booklet, and/or by displayed messages. Personalization is effected internally by the conventional techniqlle of setting specified entries in a table which an application pro~ram uses at the appropriate places to branch -to alterna-tive code ~or carrying out the des~red functions.
~pplication programs may be written to carry out an arbitrary number of functlons on system 10. Some representative applications include totals readout, cash count, erase log, loan/withdra~al, void prior transaction and print log. The most important single application for most users is "sales mode", which enables system 10 to perform a number of frequent types of retail transactions. The appended printout, en-titled SLS16D, contains detailed code, written in the instruction set of the IBM System/3, for a 16K-byte machine and using domestic ~U.S.) sales-tax calcula-tions. This program occupies 12,915 bytes in the page buffer of Fig. 3. It controls I/O devices 12-16, Fig.
1, through levels of subroutines which ultimately employ ROM subroutines XXKYIO and XXPRIO. It formats transaction data items and writes them out to diskette ; 19 through subroutines which inYoke ROM routine XXLIO.
It can also terminate itself by o~erlaying the RAM page buffer with another application program called in from LIBR by XXLIO.
Claims (9)
1. A point-of-sale terminal for recording transaction data, said terminal comprising:
programmable processing means including read/write addressable memory for holding both applications programs and data, and further including read-only memory holding routines for loading different ones of said applications programs into said read/write memory;
direct-access storage means coupled to said processing means and adapted to read and write a single removable, non-volatile storage medium holding both said applications programs and said transaction data;
input means coupled to said processing means for receiving said transaction data from an operator;
output means coupled to said processing means for displaying said transaction data;
cash-handling means controlled by said processing means in response to said applications programs; and enclosure means for housing all the above means in a single physical package, said enclosure means further including means for inserting and removing said removable storage medium in said direct-access storage means.
programmable processing means including read/write addressable memory for holding both applications programs and data, and further including read-only memory holding routines for loading different ones of said applications programs into said read/write memory;
direct-access storage means coupled to said processing means and adapted to read and write a single removable, non-volatile storage medium holding both said applications programs and said transaction data;
input means coupled to said processing means for receiving said transaction data from an operator;
output means coupled to said processing means for displaying said transaction data;
cash-handling means controlled by said processing means in response to said applications programs; and enclosure means for housing all the above means in a single physical package, said enclosure means further including means for inserting and removing said removable storage medium in said direct-access storage means.
2. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1, wherein said input means includes a keyboard.
3. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1, wherein said output means includes both visible display means and printing means.
4. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1, further comprising prompt means responsive to said processing means for displaying messages to said operator.
5. A point-of-sale terminal for recording transaction data, said terminal comprising:
keyboard means for receiving transaction data from an operator;
display means for outputting said transaction data to said operator;
direct-access storage means for writing said transaction data onto a removable, non-volatile storage medium, and for reading a plurality of applications programs from the same storage medium;
addressable memory means having a read/write part and having a read-only part, said read-only part including microcoded routines;
programmable processing means coupled to said keyboard means, said display means, said direct-access storage means and said addressable memory means for executing said microcoded routines so as to load different ones of said applications programs from said direct-access storage means to said read/write part and for executing said applications programs directly from said read/write part;
enclosure means for holding all the above means in a unified physical package adapted to rest on a counter top.
keyboard means for receiving transaction data from an operator;
display means for outputting said transaction data to said operator;
direct-access storage means for writing said transaction data onto a removable, non-volatile storage medium, and for reading a plurality of applications programs from the same storage medium;
addressable memory means having a read/write part and having a read-only part, said read-only part including microcoded routines;
programmable processing means coupled to said keyboard means, said display means, said direct-access storage means and said addressable memory means for executing said microcoded routines so as to load different ones of said applications programs from said direct-access storage means to said read/write part and for executing said applications programs directly from said read/write part;
enclosure means for holding all the above means in a unified physical package adapted to rest on a counter top.
6. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 5, wherein said storage medium is a magnetic medium and wherein said direct-access storage means comprises a drive adapted to hold said magnetic medium.
7. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 6, wherein said magnetic medium comprises a flexible magnetic disk.
8. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 5, wherein said read-only part of said addressable memory means further includes microcoded routines for controlling said keyboard means and said display means.
9. The point-of-sale terminal of claim 5, wherein said keyboard means, said display means and said direct-access storage means are coupled to said processing means via a common bus.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US06/109,738 US4328544A (en) | 1980-01-04 | 1980-01-04 | Electronic point-of-sale system using direct-access storage |
| US109,738 | 1980-01-04 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1150412A true CA1150412A (en) | 1983-07-19 |
Family
ID=22329302
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000366019A Expired CA1150412A (en) | 1980-01-04 | 1980-12-03 | Electronic point-of-sale system using direct-access storage |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4328544A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1150412A (en) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3970992A (en) * | 1974-06-25 | 1976-07-20 | Ibm Corporation | Transaction terminal with unlimited range of functions |
| US4220991A (en) * | 1977-10-08 | 1980-09-02 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Electronic cash register with removable memory packs for cashier identification |
-
1980
- 1980-01-04 US US06/109,738 patent/US4328544A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1980-12-03 CA CA000366019A patent/CA1150412A/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US4328544A (en) | 1982-05-04 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |