An Microsoft .NET application wishing to utilize retail devices has at least two available approaches.
- Microsoft Point of Service for. NET version 1.12 (POS for. NET) is a class library that provides. NET applications with a simple and consistent interface for communicating with Point of Service (POS) peripheral devices.
- Microsoft's Point of Service for.NET is currently at version 1.12. Excerpting from its home documentation page, POS for.NET 'is a class library that enables POS developers to apply Microsoft.NET technologies in their products. It provides a simple and consistent interface for.NET Framework applications to interact with POS.
OPOS via COM Interop
Microsoft .NET's COM interoperability support allows straightforward integration of the OPOS Common Control Objects into .NET applications. One can directly reference COM objects, and Visual Studio will build the required interoperability layer.
Alternatively, available below are OPOS CCO interoperability assemblies created by the Microsoft TLBIMP utility. All use the 'POS.Devices' namespace, and the class names are consistent with the CCO names. Creating an instance of the class will instantiate the corresponding OPOS CCO, after which time one may call OPOS methods and properties, plus add handlers for events.
Jun 15, 2020 POS for.NET 1.12 and 1.14 When running a stand alone installation of POS for.NET v1.12 it installs the 2005 Visual C redistributable package x86 with it. I ran the stand alone installer for v1.14 and it does not install any redistributable package. I am on windows 7 64 bit. I am using Visual Basic 2010. I have downloaded the MS POS of.net 1.12 and referenced the application to the MicrosoftPointOfService.dll. Microsoft.PointOfService and system.collections. I have tried to download the OPOS from Symbol - was sure if I have the right one or it is in the right place.
A typical .NET POS application will include the following in its software stack. Ensure that all of these components are installed, plus registered and/or configured as needed:
Microsoft Pos For .net 1.12 Silent Install
- Application. Since the CCOs and and most vendors' Service Objects are 32-bit components, the application's Build Properties must target x86.
- OPOS for .NET Assembly. The application references and creates an instance of the assembly's device class. Creating this class causes an instance of the corresponding OPOS Common Control Object to be created. Adding event handlers to this class will hook into the Control Object's events.
- OPOS Common Control Objects. The Common Control Object lives for as long as the assembly's device class that created it. (The registered CCO version must be greater or equal to the OPOS for .NET Assembly.)
- OPOS Service Object. When the application calls the OPOS for .NET Assembly device class' Open(DeviceName) method, it calls the Control Object's Open method, which looks for the DeviceName in the registry to find and instantiate the appropriate Service Object. (You can manually browse the registry beginning at the key HKLMSOFTWAREOLEforRetailServiceOPOS to find the valid device names.)
The service object must be acquired from the hardware vendor, and must be installed and configured using instructions from the vendor. Most vendor's configuration utilities offer a test option (which often run the OPOS CheckHealth API). During setup, you should try it to make sure that the Service Object is set up and working with the hardware before adding the additional software layers.
The pre-built assemblies plus a sample application may be foundbelow.
POS for .NET
Microsoft's Point of Service for .NET is currently at version 1.12. Excerpting from its home documentation page, POS for .NET 'is a class library that enables POS developers to apply Microsoft .NET technologies in their products. It provides a simple and consistent interface for.NET Framework applications to interact with POS devices, a set of interfaces and classes created to help Vendors write applications for common devices such as Cash Drawers or Line Displays, and support for Windows Plug and Play functionality.'
To download, searchthis page for 'POS for .NET'. The POS for .NET v1.12 download page states that its supported operating systems are 'Windows Embedded for Point of Service; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows XP Service Pack 2'.
The UnifiedPOS specification contains an appendix that describes the POS for .NET relationship to UnifiedPOS.
Microsoft Pos .net 1.12 Software
OPOS Assemblies for .NET
The complete set of OPOS Assemblies are available in a ZIP file, or they may be installed via the CCO 1.13.003 or 1.14.001 Windows Installer file. A simple test program is also available.
- OPOS for .NET Assemblies 1.14.001
This ZIP file contains the following:- One assembly for each of the OPOS device types. As an example, the filename of the POSPrinter assembly is 'POS.Devices.OPOSPOSPrinter.dll'. In addition, for compatibility with applications built against the 1.12.xxx or 1.13.xxx assemblies, publisher policy assemblys are included for each device type.
- An assembly containing the OPOS constants.
- A 'readme' file.
- Two batch files to assist developers in adding or removing the assemblies from the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), if desired. These must be run in adminstrator mode.
- OPOS for .NET Assemblies 1.13.003
This ZIP file contains a similar set of files, but for UnifiedPOS 1.13. - OPOS for .NET Assemblies 1.12.000
This ZIP file contains a similar set of files, but for UnifiedPOS 1.12. - POSPrinter1 Application
This ZIP file contains a C# test application project. It was built against the 1.12.000 OPOS for .NET Assemblies.
Example -- Prepared against the 1.12.000 assemblies and 1.12.000 CCOs.
A screenshot of the POSPrinter1 sample application follows, followed by the NCR Emulator Service Object which was used for this run. (The emulators are not available to the public. You should substitute your own emulators or a vendor's installed and configured device.) The following activities occur while running it:
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- Application startup: Instantiate the OPOS POSPrinter assembly's class and wire the StatusUpdateEvents. Display the OPOS Common Control Object's ControlObjectDescription and ControlObjectVersion properties.
- Open: When this button is pressed, the application calls the Open and ClaimDevice methods, and sets the DeviceEnabled property. After opening the device, the application displays the ServiceObjectDescription and ServiceObjectVersion properties.
- Print: When this button is pressed, the application calls the PrintNormal method to print on the receipt station.
- On the emulator, update the Receipt Station's paper status to 'Empty'. A StatusUpdate event is fired; value 24 = PTR_SUE_REC_EMPTY.
- Print when out-of-paper: The print fails with ResultCode 114 = OPOS_E_EXTENDED. (The ResultCodeExtended is not output by this program, but would be 203 = OPOS_EPTR_REC_EMPTY.)
The following screen shots are from Visual Studio 2008, with the POSPrinter1 solution loaded. The Solution Explorer shows the references, including references to the POSPrinter and OPOS Constants assemblies:
Microsoft Pos For .net V 1.12
The Object Browser shows the classes and interfaces in the OPOSPOSPrinter assembly: