Hi. I guarantee it will cost your client more to have you develop it from scratch than to buy a simple POS, unless you program for peanuts. :) I know this because I have my own accounting software product that I market, and how much integration / testing that is.

Now to answer your question, bar coding is simple. You use a bar code scanner that has a keyboard wedge (it works to essentially take a string and input it like the string was typed in at the keyboard.) You can use a TrueType font like 3of9 to take your product code and tranlate it back and forth. To open a cash drawer, you send a Ctrl+Y or other keystroke through a POS508 interface card that links a cash box with the computer. The POS508 uses one Ctrl+key for one cash drawer and another to open a second drawer (if applicable). You can send the Ctrl+whatever at the point in your processing when you want the drawer to open. I usually don't do automatic credit card processing, since my clients all have bank machines that process the charges and they just swipe the card through their machine and when it says ok, presses the tender type and tender amount on our system. The hard part in all this comes with the many types of transaction tendering (cash, cheque, etc.) and the split payments (cash+VISA), and the VOIDs and the audit trails and end of day reports. Our POS/Order Entry has multiple screens and about 100 reports for different sales analysis. To give you an idea, our package with complete accounting sells for $1995 (CAD) and includes what you mentioned plus full inventory control and purchase orders, back orders, etc. I think it just isn't cost effective for one client, unless you were planning on building it and getting your time investment back through multiple sales. Just my two bits! :)

Hope it helps.

Sandi Cassidy
scassidy@canaccount.com






Hello everyone,
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>I was recently asked if I could a develop point of sale system for a small retail store. The system would be comprised of only one register that would need to do the following: Scan the bar coded products being purchased, output the correct prices for the products, process credit card information, total the sale, automatically open the register draw, and delete the products from inventory. Keep in mind that this is a highly simplified description.
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>My problem is that I don't know where to begin or what tools to use. I've developed Visual FoxPro database applications, but I have never worked with bar coding, POS, credit card processing, or the hardware used for POS. I know that there are POS software packages available, but this particular client has pretty simple needs and wants to keep the price down. The client is hoping that I can develop the POS software cheaper than he can purchase the available software for.
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>Ok, here are my questions. What third party tools would I need to develop a POS system within Visual FoxPro? Also, any advice on how to go about this would be much appreciated. I have no clue how to integrate bar coding with VFP, get it to trigger cash draws to open, and prompt it to process credit card numbers.
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>Thanks for any help..:)
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>Dave