Contest Number Receipt Printing

Just wondering if anyone has tried printing numbers on the receipt from POS to verify that someone signing up for a contest is truely someone who purchased from your store? For example:

When POS goes through the XML file when a receipt is being printed, it creates a random number and sends it to an outside source (e.g. Internet MySQL Server). It then prints the number on the receipt for the customer to use later when verifying they are who they say they are on a web based form.

Does anyone know if this is a possible feat?

I have some experience with the receipt.xml (edited the file before for a custom receipt to come out when a customer returns an item, so we can write down all their personal information) and web based programming knowledge (PHP, MySQL) but no XML knowledge.

Reply to
Tim
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Do you want only a random number created from a web-services, or you want to send the xml receipt to this web-services, and to-repost the reply in store operation? I think this isn't possible.. because the printer engine use receipt.xml and the transaction to create the print-copy .. You can modify the receipt.xml to print a SessionVariable value.. and to send the XML data (available from a QSRules.Session property) to web-service before to print the receipt.

cod

Reply to
cod

Ah ok :)

You can create an hook to initialize the random# on InitializeTransaction, or TenderBegin .. TenderEnd ..

Put this number in SessionVariable object (they are 10 session variable) and insert into receipt.xml a row to print the SessionVariableX (see in doc.) .. and after the post send the Transaction number, Store ID, Date and others details to your mysql server with another add-in (if you write your software in .NET you can get the System.Data.MySql assembly from mysql web site)

cod

Reply to
cod

I think i just realized another way of doing it. All i need to know is can you define the receipt.xml document as a Web path? (eg. http://45.7.4.22/receipt.xml)

Reply to
Tim

It's not going to work. The XML template file is only read once - when you select it in the Receipt Format properties. When you save the receipt format, the XML file and the property settings are compiled and stored to the database. The XML file is NOT accessed for each receipt that prints, just the compiled version of the database.

You need an add-in to inject your random number into the RMS Session so that it can be printed. I believe that you could do this with an HTML Add-in launched from a Custom POS Button, but if you want to make sure it is done without cashier interaction, you will need a COM Callable add-in. See drilldown.htm for an example of an html add-in; you wouldn't need anything this complex, but it shows how to interact with QSRules.Session.

I would actually use a web service on the other end to generate the random code and inject it into your website. The RMS addin would just need to call the web service to retrive the code, then save it into a Session.VariableX as cod suggested. No need to make multiple add-ins or multiple calls though - you would just make a single call to the web site saying "Hey, I need a code", then the website would be responsible for generating and storing it - all you need from RMS is to print it out...

Hope that helps.

Glenn Adams Tiber Creek C> I think i just realized another way of doing it. All i need to know is can

Reply to
Glenn Adams [MVP - Retail Mgmt

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