JP2004106553A - Communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication terminal which can perform processing after errors and hold by application software operable on the operating system equipped with a versatile driver and the like. <P>SOLUTION: A busy parameter selecting part 82 is provided with mode 1 in which a host side is indicated that data processing has become impossible by the output of a busy signal at an error parameter 62a, a hold parameter 62b and buffer full 59a, and mode 2 in which the busy signal is not output at the error parameter 62a and the hold parameter 62b and the command to cope with these parameters can be received from the host side. The mode 2 is set to an application software 5 corresponding to a real-time command, so that the application software 5 can be involved in the solution of the problem of a communication terminal 10 at the time of errors and off-line. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

<< The present invention relates to a communication terminal such as a terminal printer or a plotter used in a POS system.

In recent years, the processing speed and versatility of hardware and software have been increasing. For this reason, information processing systems with specific purposes are often combined with versatile hardware and software, instead of combining dedicated hardware and software developed for the processing purpose. Has become. By using general-purpose hardware and software, an information processing system can be constructed at low cost, and the information processing system can be used for multiple purposes. Further, by combining various types of hardware and software that are commercially available, it is possible to flexibly construct an information processing system that matches the purpose and environment of the user.

A POS system is also one example, and a POS system in which a printer, a display, a drawer, or the like is connected mainly to a personal computer has been developed from a conventional POS dedicated machine in which a printer, a keyboard, and the like are integrated, and used by users. .

情報 処理 In such an information processing system centered on a personal computer, various types of data processing terminals such as a customer display, a drawer, a printer, a plotter, a modem, and a barcode reader are used. Many of these data processing terminals are connected to a personal computer via a serial communication port (RS-232C), and processing data or command data is transferred between the personal computer and the data terminal using the personal computer as a host. Therefore, in order to maintain the compatibility of data and commands to be transferred and to protect them, the specifications and control method of the interface are standardized.For example, data and commands sent from the host to the data terminal are transferred during the transfer. A data terminal ready (DTR) signal is provided to prevent loss. The DTR signal allows the terminal to instruct the host whether the terminal is ready to receive data or a command, and upon receiving the DTR signal, the host returns a data set ready (DSR) signal, Data and commands are transmitted after confirming that both are operable, thereby preventing data and commands from being lost.

2. Description of the Related Art In a terminal printer, which is a communication terminal frequently used in a POS system, a reception buffer is full, a hold state in which data extraction from the reception buffer is temporarily stopped due to a cover open, or a paper jam. The DTR signal becomes busy due to an error state factor such as the above. In response to this signal, the host-side printer driver temporarily stops transmission of data or commands to protect the data, and displays an error occurrence on a display or the like. When these factors on the printer side are resolved by an operator or the like, and the functions of the printer are reset to a normal state, the operator operates the host side and the printer side to resume data communication and perform printing.

As a terminal printer for recent POS systems, in addition to the function of printing receipts using roll paper, it has multiple functions such as the function of slip printing using cut-sheet paper and the function of reading magnetic ink characters. Printers have appeared. In the printer having such a complex function, the slip-printing is performed, the cut-sheet paper wait state is held, the DTR signal becomes busy, and then the receipt printing data can be prepared on the host side. Nevertheless, a situation occurs in which the printing process does not proceed. If an error such as a paper jam occurs on the printer side, the DTR signal becomes busy and the data transfer is stopped. After that, when the operator resolves the error and resets the printer, data that has not been printed while being transmitted to the printer is lost, or data is printed twice.

For example, the software detects that the printer is waiting for paper, detects the type of error that occurred in the printer, and resends the data accordingly, or erases the data in the buffer. The problem can be solved by performing a process such as performing. However, a general-purpose serial port driver or printer driver cannot transfer a command when the DTR signal becomes busy, and cannot be dealt with by software on the host side. In order to cope with the host software, it is necessary to create a special driver that can access the serial terminal ignoring the DTR signal, which makes it impossible to construct an information processing system using a general-purpose operating system. Furthermore, in a system in which communication between the host and the serial terminal is controlled by a signal different from a standardized or standardized interface signal such as a DTR signal, general-purpose hardware and software cannot be used, so the system is expanded. Sex is lost. Further, if commands and data are sent simply by ignoring the DTR signal, there is a risk that data will be lost during transfer and the reliability of the system will be reduced. Therefore, data reliability of a POS system or the like is required. System cannot be built.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to deal with a hold state or an error state by software on the host side without changing the standardized or standardized specification in serial transfer between the host side and the communication terminal side. It aims to provide a communication terminal. It is another object of the present invention to provide a communication terminal that allows the host to participate in a hold state or an error state without sacrificing the versatility of the communication terminal. It is another object of the present invention to provide a communication terminal capable of coping with a hold state or an error state by a host, preventing a loss of data transferred from the host to a terminal, and constructing a highly reliable information processing system.

Therefore, in the communication terminal of the present invention,
(1) an interface for receiving data sent from the host;
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A first mode in which the communication permission means notifies the host of the busy state in the error state or the hold state; and a first mode in which the communication permission means does not notify the host of the busy state in the error state or the hold state. A switch means for selecting between the second mode and the second mode is provided.
(2) an interface for receiving data sent from the host;
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A first mode for notifying the host of the busy to the host when in the error state or the hold state, and a second mode for not notifying the host to the busy even in the error state or the hold state are selected. It has a busy factor selection section that is set
When the second mode is set by the busy factor selection unit, a real-time command corresponding to the state can be received from the host.
(3) an interface for receiving data sent from the host;
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A busy factor selection unit for selecting an output factor of the busy notification is provided.
(4) The busy factor selection unit can select a mode in which the communication permission unit does not output the busy to the host even in an error state or a hold state.
(5) first analysis means for sequentially analyzing commands from the data stored in the reception buffer;
Second analysis means capable of analyzing a command from the data passed from the interface to the reception buffer;
It is characterized by having.

As described above, since the communication terminal of the present invention includes the busy factor selection unit that selects the output factor of the busy notification, the host that executes the real-time command and the host that does not execute the real-time command according to the busy factor other than the reception buffer full Is achieved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a terminal printer suitable for constructing a POS system as an example of a communication terminal according to the present invention. The terminal printer 10 of this embodiment is a printer that can print slip paper 19, journal paper 18, and receipt paper 17 as recording paper. The slip paper 19 is a cut sheet such as an irregular form slip paper. When the slip paper 19 is inserted in a direction of an arrow 19A from a slip paper insertion opening 21 in front of the printer 10, a paper detector (not shown) detects the slip paper, and 15 to the print head 1 through a paper path. Then, the print head 1 moves in the left-right direction 1A to perform printing, and further moves in the direction of arrow 19B to be discharged. The printer 10 of this embodiment employs a wire dot type print head 1 and performs printing on slip paper 19, journal paper 18 and receipt paper 17 to be described later via the ink ribbon 3.

The journal paper 18 and the receipt paper 17 are both continuous paper, and are supplied in the form of roll paper in the printer 10 of this embodiment, and pass through the case 15 from the direction opposite to the slip paper 19 with respect to the print head 1. It is guided to the print head 1. After the information as a receipt is printed, the receipt paper 17 is guided by the cutter unit 14 to be cut and passed to the customer. The journal paper 18 is printed with information as recording paper, and is wound up and stored by a winding device (not shown). Each of the roll papers 17 and 18 is provided with a near-end detector 20 for detecting the end of the roll paper. The near-end detector 20 includes a detection lever 20a that swings in the direction of arrow 20A depending on the outer diameter of the roll paper, and a switch 20b that is turned on and off by the detection lever 20a. When the outer diameter of the roll paper approaches the end and the outer diameter decreases, the detection lever 20a swings inward, and as a result, the switch 20b is turned off and it can be detected that the end of the roll paper is near.

A cover (not shown) is attached to the case 15 of the printer 10, and printing is performed with the cover placed on the case 15 except when the roll paper 17 or 18 or the ink ribbon 3 is replaced. It has become to be. For this reason, the cover detector 22 for detecting the opening and closing of the cover is attached to the case 15, and when the cover is opened, the cover is automatically set to the hold state so that processing such as temporarily stopping the printing function can be performed. Has become.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a POS system in which the personal computer 30 is used as a host and the terminal printer 10 of this embodiment is used as a communication terminal. In this POS system, the customer display 40, the terminal printer 10, and the cash drawer 45 are serially connected via a serial communication port (RS-232C) driver 31 of the personal computer 30, and these three are connected via the RS-232C. Data can be sent to a data terminal for processing. For this reason, the operating system 32 of the personal computer 30 of the present embodiment controls the POS operating system (OS) 33 and devices such as a keyboard and a display which generally constitute the personal computer 30 and the devices in addition to the serial communication port driver 31. A basic OS 34 for controlling application software. The POS OS 33 includes an OS 35 for controlling the printer 10, the customer display 40, and the cash drawer 45, a receipt printing driver 36 for printing the printer 10 on continuous paper such as receipts or journal paper, and a slip paper for the printer 10. A driver 37 for slip printing used for printing, a driver 38 for controlling the customer display 40, and a driver 39 for controlling the cash drawer 45 are provided.

The POS application software 5 and other application software 6 such as a spreadsheet of the personal computer 30 operate under the control of the basic OS 34 and the POS OS 33. Transmission and reception of data between the customer display 40, the terminal printer 10, and the cash drawer 45 are performed via the drivers 36 to 39, the port driver 31, and the other general-purpose OS 33.
The interface 41 of the customer display 40, the interface 51 of the terminal printer 10, and the interface 46 of the cash drawer 45 are connected to the RS-232C port driver 31 in this order. The data or command for each terminal output from the port driver 31 is selected by these interfaces. Data and commands for the customer display 40 are processed by the display processing unit 42, and commands for the drawer 45 are processed by the drawer processing unit 47.

In the terminal printer 10, if the data received by the interface 51 is data for the printer 10, an interrupt occurs and the data receiving unit 52 takes out the data from the interface. The data extracted from the interface 51 is stored in the reception buffer after the real-time command is analyzed through the real-time command analyzer 53 in the same interrupt processing. When recognizing a real-time command included in the data transmitted from the data receiving unit 52, the real-time command analyzing unit 53 performs a preset process based on the command. The data stored in the reception buffer 54 through the real-time command analysis unit 53 is taken out one data at a time by the command analysis unit 55, and after the data code is analyzed, if the command data is command data, the control unit 57 follows the command. The print data is stored in the printer buffer 56. Next, the control unit 57 controls the print processing unit 60 according to the command, and sends the print data stored in the printer buffer 56 to the print processing unit 60 for printing.

The control unit 57 has a function of monitoring the status of each unit of the printer 10 in addition to setting and controlling the print processing unit 60, managing print data, and the like. The result is output to the common status detection unit 59. You. For example, when the receiving buffer 54 is almost full or in a state of waiting for a cut sheet, the status is given to the common status detecting unit 59. Also in the print processing unit 60, the state of the printer mechanism 61, for example, a hold state in which the cover is opened and data processing is temporarily stopped, an error state such as a paper jam, or a status such as a near end detection of roll paper is performed. Is supplied to the status detection unit 62.

The statuses detected by the common status detection unit 59 and the status detection unit 62 of the printer mechanism are supplied to the status data generation unit 72 of the status transmission unit 70. The status transmission unit 70 has a function of transmitting the status of the printer mechanism 61 collected in the status data generation unit 72 and other statuses relating to the printer 10 such as the status of the reception buffer to the host by the automatic status transmission unit 71. I have. The automatic status transmission unit 71 transmits the status data when the status of the predetermined status changes under the control of the control unit 57, and the status changes and becomes a trigger for transmitting the status data. The status can be selected. The status data output from the automatic status transmission unit 71 is supplied to the interface 51 via the data transmission unit 58, and is transmitted to the RS-232C port driver 31 on the host side. Then, the process is transmitted to the application software 5 via the POS OS 33 having a printer driver and the like, so that the application software 5 can select a process matching the situation occurring in the printer 10 and instruct the printer 10.

By providing such a status transmission unit 70, when the status of the printer mechanism or the terminal printer 10 changes, status data is transmitted to the application 5, so that the application can grasp the overall status of the terminal printer 10. Can be. Also, since status data can be transmitted only when the situation changes, the processing load on the host and terminal printers involved in transmitting and receiving status data can be reduced, and the throughput in serial transfer can be improved.

The status (hereinafter, buffer full status) 59a indicating that the reception buffer is full in the common status detection unit 59, the error factor (error status) 62a and the hold factor (hold status) 62b in the status detection unit 62 of the printer mechanism 61 are: It is also supplied to the busy factor selection unit 82 of the communication permission unit 80. When any of the factors of the buffer full 59a, the error 62a and the hold 62b is detected, the busy setting unit 83 outputs a busy signal to the interface 51 to instruct the host 30 to prohibit data transmission. The transmitted data is prevented from being lost without being processed on the data terminal side, that is, the terminal printer 10 side. When data is serially transferred via the RS-232C, a DTR (data terminal ready) signal is prepared to fulfill the function of a busy signal, and the RS-232C port driver 31 or the printer driver 36 on the host side is provided. Reference numeral 37 indicates that data transmission is performed only when the DTR signal is at a high level, and data transmission is stopped when the terminal printer 10 is busy and the DTR signal is at a low level.

When status data is transmitted due to a change in a predetermined status such as near-end detection, a command for confirming the status from the application 5 to the terminal printer 10 and all statuses for grasping the status of the printer other than the transmitted status are provided. A command for instructing data transmission can be output. In a conventional terminal printer, this command is stored in the reception buffer 54 together with the print data, and when the data processing advances and the command is analyzed, the command is processed. Therefore, if data is stored in the reception buffer 54, it takes a very long time to process the command. Further, even if a command is transmitted when the reception buffer 54 is full, the command is not accepted by the reception buffer 54 and is not executed.

Therefore, the terminal printer 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a real-time command analysis unit 53, and when a real-time command is transmitted, it is analyzed before being transferred to the reception buffer 54, and processing according to the real-time command can be performed. Like that. The real-time command is determined based on, for example, 2-byte received data of “GS” + “R”, and the content of processing to be executed in the printer is indicated by a 1-byte value n following these 2 bytes. The processing contents indicated by n include, for example, those shown in Table 1 below.

　このように、リアルタイムコマンド解析部５３においては、コマンド解析部５５と異なり、データ受信部５２によって受信されたコマンドを直に解析して処理できる。従って、リアルタイムコマンドで指示された処理は、受信バッファ５４において処理を待っているデータあるいはコマンドの順番とは係わりなくリアルタイムで行われる。また、受信バッファ５４が満杯になって受信されたデータやコマンドが受信バッファ５４に格納できない状況であっても、リアルタイムコマンドが解析されずに欠落することはないので、リアルタイムコマンドによって指示された処理は確実にターミナルプリンタ１０の側において実行される。例えば、ｎ＝０のリアルタイムコマンドは、プリンタステータスの送信要求であり、リアルタイムコマンド解析部５３は、ステータスデータ生成部７２に集められた各ステータスデータをデータ送信部５８を介してホスト３０のアプリケーション５に送信する。もちろん、リアルタイムコマンド解析部５３が自動ステータス送信部７１を制御して同様の処理を行っても良い。このように、本例では、リアルタイムコマンドを用いてターミナルプリンタ１０を制御することが可能であり、受信バッファ５４を介してコマンド解析部５５によって解析されたコマンドと同様の処理を時間遅れなく行うことができる。
さらに、リアルタイムコマンドはターミナルプリンタ１０において受信バッファ５４に起因する時間遅れなしに処理されるので、エラー要因を解除したり、あるいは、スリップ用紙がセットされていないためにホールド状態となっているときにスリップ印刷を解除してレシート印字を開始するなどといったフレキシブルな処理をアプリケーション５の側でコントロールすることが可能になる。

As described above, unlike the command analysis unit 55, the real-time command analysis unit 53 can directly analyze and process the command received by the data reception unit 52. Therefore, the processing specified by the real-time command is performed in real time regardless of the order of the data or command waiting for processing in the reception buffer 54. Further, even in a situation where the received data or commands cannot be stored in the reception buffer 54 because the reception buffer 54 is full, the real-time commands are not analyzed and are not lost. Is securely executed on the side of the terminal printer 10. For example, the real-time command of n = 0 is a printer status transmission request, and the real-time command analysis unit 53 transmits the status data collected by the status data generation unit 72 to the application 5 of the host 30 via the data transmission unit 58. Send to Of course, the real-time command analyzing unit 53 may control the automatic status transmitting unit 71 to perform the same processing. As described above, in this example, it is possible to control the terminal printer 10 using the real-time command, and to perform the same processing as the command analyzed by the command analysis unit 55 via the reception buffer 54 without time delay. Can be.
Further, since the real-time command is processed in the terminal printer 10 without a time delay caused by the reception buffer 54, when the error cause is canceled or when the hold state is set because the slip sheet is not set. The application 5 can control flexible processing such as releasing slip printing and starting receipt printing.

However, if an error occurs in the terminal printer 10 or the terminal printer 10 enters the hold state, the busy factor selection unit 82 of the communication permission unit 80 determines that the terminal is busy. For this reason, in the communication permission unit 80, the DTR signal becomes low in the busy signal setting unit 83. Therefore, since the host OS 33 stops the data transfer to the terminal printer 10, even if the host application 5 attempts to transmit a real-time command to the terminal printer 10, the host application 30 does not transmit the real-time command to the terminal printer 10. The command does not reach the command analysis unit 53. Therefore, even if the application 5 has a function of using a real-time command and the terminal printer 10 has a function of analyzing the real-time command, the processing using the real-time command cannot be performed if it overlaps with the busy factor as described above. However, the real function of real-time commands is limited.

The serial port can be directly controlled by the application 5 without using the OS 32 on the host side, or a dedicated OS (such as a printer driver) for the application 5 that uses real-time commands can be created and introduced into a personal computer. It is possible. However, creating the application 5 without using the OS 32 is a very laborious and time-consuming operation. In particular, when the functions of the OS 32 are not used, it is necessary to develop a unique program for each manufacturer's personal computer. . Also, if functions such as a driver are incorporated, the application 5 itself becomes very large and expensive. Therefore, it is practically impossible to create POS application software for real-time commands that can be operated on personal computers of each manufacturer without using the OS 32. In addition, if a special OS is introduced, other application software such as a spreadsheet cannot be used, so that system extensibility is lost, and it is difficult to customize the system according to the user's environment and purpose.

(4) It is also possible to eliminate the busy function of the DTR signal from the terminal printer 10 and to ensure the reliability of the data for the terminal printer only by the status data transmitted from the status transmission unit 70. However, such a terminal printer cannot be used for an application program that cannot analyze status data, and loses versatility. Further, there is no merit of eliminating the function of the DTR signal for an application program that does not use a real-time command, and it is necessary to maintain the function of the DTR signal from the viewpoint of protecting serially transferred data.

Therefore, in the terminal printer 10 of the present example, the factor for outputting the busy signal can be selected by the busy factor selection unit 82 of the communication permission unit 80, and any one of the error 62a, the hold 62b, and the buffer full 59a occurs. Then, it is possible to select one of the mode 1 in which the busy is determined and the mode 2 in which only the buffer full 59a is a busy factor without determining that the error 62a and the hold 62b are busy. In the case of buffer full, there is a possibility that data transmitted thereafter may be lost, so this is left as a busy factor, but the buffer full is transmitted to the application side of the host by the automatic status transmission unit 71, and the real time command is used. If the loss of data can be prevented, the busy signal may not be output in mode 2.

In the terminal printer 10 of this example, such a mode 1 and a mode 2 can be set by the switch unit 81 using a dip switch. Further, in the terminal printer 10 of the present embodiment, when the mode 2 is selected by the DIP switch 81, the control of the automatic status transmitting unit 71 is set so that status data is transmitted when a hold factor occurs. . Accordingly, even if a hold cause occurs and the DTR signal changes to a low level, that is, does not become busy, the host application 5 can recognize that the hold state is being obtained from the status data, and thus a process for preventing data loss and the like. Can take. Therefore, even if the hold factor is deleted from the function of the DTR signal, the reliability of data transfer can be ensured. Of course, when an error factor occurs, the status can be sent from the automatic status transmission unit 71 to the application 5, and a response corresponding to the error factor can be given to the printer by a real-time command to take a measure for improving data reliability. It is.
As described above, the terminal printer 10 of this example sets the busy factor selection unit 82 to the mode 2 by the dip switch 81 under the application corresponding to the real-time command, and sets the DTR signal in the busy signal setting unit 83 for the hold or the error. Can be kept low. Therefore, the application 5 can be provided with a more flexible processing function by effectively utilizing the real-time command during the hold or the error. On the other hand, under an application that does not support a real-time command, the busy factor selection unit 82 is set to mode 1 by the DIP switch 81, and the DTR signal is set to a low level due to normal factors such as hold, error, and buffer full. Can be protected. The switching between the mode 1 and the mode 2 can of course be performed by a software switch, and the setting of the busy factor selection unit 82 can be changed at any time from the host depending on the type of application using the terminal printer 10. .

FIG. 3 shows a process of outputting a busy signal using the communication permission unit 80 of the terminal printer 10 of the present embodiment. The communication permitting section 80 detects an error factor, a hold factor, and a buffer full at steps 91, 92 and 93. When the error factor and the hold factor are detected in steps 91 and 92, the mode set in the mode selection unit 81 is determined in step 94. If mode 2 is set in the mode setting section 81, an error factor or a hold factor is sent to the host using the automatic status transmission section 71 in step 96.

。 However, no busy signal is generated. On the other hand, if mode 1 is set in step 94, or if buffer full is detected in step 93, the process proceeds to step 95, where a busy signal is generated and transmitted to the host, and data transfer from the host is performed. To stop.

As described above, the terminal printer 10 of this example sets the DTR signal, which is a busy signal, to a low level when the data transmitted via the RS-232C cannot be processed by the print processing unit 60 (mode 1). ) And a mode in which the DTR signal is not set to a low level (mode 2). Therefore, if the host-side application software has a function such as a real-time command and is capable of transmitting a command to cope with a case where data cannot be processed by the terminal printer 10, the terminal printer is set to mode 2. As a result, even if an error factor or a hold factor occurs, the terminal printer can be operated by the application software, so that a measure corresponding to the error factor or the hold factor can be performed safely and reliably by the application software. Accordingly, the labor of the operator can be reduced, and the security of various data such as sales data managed by the POS can be secured. On the other hand, when the terminal printer is used by application software that does not have a control function such as a real-time command, communication with the host can be managed by using the DTR signal by setting the mode to 1, and data security can be maintained as in the conventional case. Can be secured.

Further, by allowing the terminal printer to set the cause of the DTR signal, the function of the real-time command can be fully utilized as described above without changing the specification of the host OS related to the DTR signal. it can. Therefore, when constructing a system such as a POS system, a system is constructed in which the application software can participate in and process an error or hold state terminal printer without reducing the versatility of the application software and the versatility of the printer. be able to.

In the above description, the present invention has been described with the terminal printer 10 suitable for constructing a POS system as an example of a communication terminal. However, the communication terminal is not limited to the terminal printer, and may be a plotter, a scanner, Of course, the present invention can be applied to a communication terminal connectable to a serial interface such as a modem, a printer connected to a parallel interface, and the like. By applying the present invention to these communication terminals, even when the transmitted data cannot be processed, the host-side application program can be involved in solving the problem of the communication terminal. . Therefore, when an error factor or the like occurs on the communication terminal side, the processing can be dealt with on the application side instead of leaving it to the operator. By reducing operator's labor and eliminating the risk of misoperation, a more secure and reliable system is built using highly versatile, easily customizable and inexpensive hardware and software such as personal computers and general-purpose OSs. It becomes possible to do.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a terminal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a POS system using the terminal printer and the personal computer illustrated in FIG. 1. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of outputting a busy signal using the communication permission unit of the terminal printer of the present example.

Explanation of reference numerals

1. Print heads 5, 6, application program 3, ribbon cassette 10, terminal printer 17, receipt paper 18, journal paper 19, slip paper 20, near-end detector 22, cover detector 30 ..PCs (hosts)
31, Serial port driver 32, Operating system 33, POS OS
34 Basic OS
36 to 39, driver 40, customer displays 41, 46, interfaces 42, 47, processing unit 45, cash drawer 51, printer interface 52, data reception unit 53, real-time command analysis unit 54, A receiving buffer 55, a command analyzing unit 56, a printer buffer 57, a control unit 58, a data transmitting unit 59, a common status detecting unit 59a, a buffer full cause 60, a print processing unit 61, a printer mechanism 62, Status detector 62a error cause 62b hold cause 70 status transmitter 71 automatic status transmitter 72 status data generator 80 communication permitter 81 mode selector (switch)
82 busy factor selection unit 83 busy signal setting unit

Claims (5)

An interface for receiving data sent from the host,
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A first mode in which the communication permission means notifies the host of the busy state in the error state or the hold state; and a first mode in which the communication permission means does not notify the host of the busy state in the error state or the hold state. 2. A communication terminal, comprising: switch means for selecting one of two modes. An interface for receiving data sent from the host,
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A first mode for notifying the host of the busy to the host when in the error state or the hold state, and a second mode for not notifying the host to the busy even in the error state or the hold state are selected. It has a busy factor selection section that is set
The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the second mode is set by the busy factor selection unit, a real-time command corresponding to the state can be received from the host. An interface for receiving data sent from the host,
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received via the interface,
A processing unit that retrieves and processes the data stored in the reception buffer;
Communication permission means for notifying the host whether data reception from the host via the interface is possible or busy,
In a communication terminal having
A communication terminal comprising a busy factor selection unit for selecting an output factor of the busy notification. 4. The communication terminal according to claim 3, wherein the busy factor selection unit can select a mode in which the communication permission unit does not output the busy to the host even in an error state or a hold state. First analysis means for sequentially analyzing commands from the data stored in the reception buffer;
Second analysis means capable of analyzing a command from the data passed from the interface to the reception buffer;
The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

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