>Hi Everyone,
>
>What are the best ways to connect things like Pole Displays, Cash Drawers, Scanners, Scales, all that jazz to the computer and control them with VFP?
>

As a general rule, it doesn't matter so much the type of port used as the software interface - if at all possible, you want an ActiveX control rather than a C-style API interface. Barcode readers, mag stripe card readers and similar devices are often available as a wedge device - a wedge style device connects up through the keyboard, and input from it comes in as if it were typed in at the keyboard, so you can get the information through a textbox on a form.

Scales and the like typically are serial or USB devices; most devices in this class are simple serial devices, and can be handled through the MSCOMM32 control if they don't come with their own control. Graphical input devices like scanners generally adhere to a standard like TWAIN and have controls available for them.

I try to avoid using output devices that require detailed control as Windows printers - barcode printers for example. Go out of your way to select hardware that offers this as an option; if you don't want to treat it like a Windows printer with the Windows Spooler and the whole GDI sitting in place, don't pick a device that forces you to treat it as a Windows Printer.