JPH0630111B2 - Transaction processing system and POS terminal - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Application of the Invention The present invention comprises a terminal controller having information on products to be handled, and one or a plurality of terminal devices that perform transaction processing based on information transferred from the terminal controller. The present invention relates to a control information changing method in a provided data processing system.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, in supermarkets, department stores, etc., a terminal device (for example, a POS terminal, hereinafter referred to as POS terminal) for each sales floor
(Referred to as a terminal), product information such as a product unit price of a product handled at a sales floor is stored in a memory in the storage unit, and data such as a product code is input from an input unit such as a keyboard of a POS terminal and stored. By reading the product unit price corresponding to the product code, the operator's operation is simplified and the transaction processing is speeded up. Further, generally, a terminal controller (TC) is provided as a higher-level device of the POS terminal, and the POS terminal is summarized and the product information to be stored in the POS terminal is transferred to the memory of each POS terminal.

In such a data processing system, it is necessary to change the product information such as the unit price of the product on a daily basis or in a time zone, and a quick and easy changing means is required.

Conventionally, as this type of control information changing method, there is known a method of directly replacing the product information transferred at any time by an instruction from the terminal controller (TC) with the corresponding product information stored in the POS terminal. It had the disadvantage that the unit price fluctuated. As a method of compensating for this drawback, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-2175, when a POS terminal receives an instruction from a terminal controller (TC) during a transaction, the instruction is waited until the transaction ends, and There is a method in which the transfer of merchandise information from the terminal controller (TC) is restarted at the stage of becoming a transaction so that the next transaction cannot be proceeded during the transfer. In this case, the terminal controller (TC) does not proceed to the next process until the transfer to all POS terminals is completed, and even the POS terminal cannot proceed to the next transaction during the transfer, so that the customer continues. In some cases, processing cannot be performed smoothly.

[Object of the Invention]

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to transfer the control information of the POS terminal from the terminal controller (TC) without any inconsistency even during the transaction, and to perform the data processing which enables the system to operate smoothly. It is to provide a control information changing method in the system.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reference area for referring to a control information area in a storage unit of a POS terminal during transaction processing and a storage area for storing control information transferred from a terminal controller (TC) as needed. It is characterized in that the latest reference area to be used in the next transaction processing is determined on condition that the POS terminal is at least non-transaction time.

Example of Invention

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a data processing system. First
In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a terminal controller, which is provided with a storage unit 2 for storing a master file 9 regarding products to be handled and a sub-file 10 for storing a change made during business. The terminal controller 1 is connected to a plurality of POS terminals 3-0 to 3-N in an online format. Each of the POS terminals 3-0 to 3-N operates under the control of the control unit 4 and the control unit 4, and an input unit 5 such as a keyboard and a storage unit 6 such as a rewritable memory (RAM). , A display unit 7, a printing unit 8 for outputting a journal, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the product information table stored in the storage unit 6 of the POS terminal according to the present invention. The product information table 11 comprises a master table 12 and a first sub-table 14. Here, the product information (pair of product code and unit price) of the master table 12 is, for example, before starting the business of the day, from the POS terminal to the terminal controller 1
Or by the judgment of the terminal controller 1 itself, it is transferred from the terminal controller 1 based on the master file 9 and stored in the storage unit 6. On the other hand, the first sub-table 13 and the second sub-table 14 are tables for storing information that has changed from the master table 12, such as price changes that have occurred after the start of business, and for referencing that information in transaction processing. And is accessible via selector 15. The selector 15 accesses one of the first sub-table 13 and the second sub-table 14 as a storage area and the other as a reference area.
The latest reference area to be used in the next transaction process is determined on the condition that the transaction period is at least non-transaction time. or,
At the start of the day's work, the first sub-table 13 and the second sub-table 13
Sub-table 14 has been cleared.

FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be made based on this.

If price changes etc. occur after starting the business,
Change information is created by the controller 1 and stored in the subfile 10. When the storage is completed, the contents of the subfile 10 are transmitted to all the POS terminals 3-0 to 3-N all at once by an instruction from an operator who operates the terminal controller 1 or time activation. The transmitted information is received by, for example, the POS terminal 3-0 (step 100) and stored in the storage area (one of the first sub table 13 and the second sub table 14) in the storage unit 6 via the selector 15. (Step 101). This storage is possible whether the POS terminal is in transaction time or non-transaction time.

Now, when switching from the non-transaction time to the transaction time, that is, when an input indicating that the transaction is started is made from the input unit 5 (step 200), the state of the storage area is checked via the selector 15 (step). 201). If the information has been transferred from the terminal controller 1 and has already been stored, the storage area and the reference area are replaced (step 202). That is, the conventional storage area is used as a reference area and the reference area is used as a storage area for the selector 15 to access. At this time, the conventional reference area is cleared (step 203). Then, it is declared that the transaction is in progress, and the transaction process is started (step 204). On the other hand, as a result of checking the state of the storage area, if the storage area has not been stored or is in the middle of storage, it is immediately passed through route A and it is declared that the transaction time is in progress. Of course, at the end of the transaction process, it is declared that the transaction is not in progress.

As a result, the product information will be updated at the beginning of the transaction,
Further, since the storage area and the reference area are not exchanged during the transaction processing, there is no contradiction in which the unit price of the same sales commodity changes during one transaction processing.

When performing transaction processing, for example, an operator who operates the POS terminal 3-0 inputs the product code and the number of products to be traded from the input unit 5 (step 300). Control unit 4
Is the selector with the entered product code as the key code
The reference area in the storage unit 6 via the 15 (first sub table
13 or one of the second sub-tables 14) (step 30)
1) If there is a product code that matches the input code, the corresponding unit price is read from the reference area (step 30).
2). When there is no corresponding product code in the reference area, the control unit 4 next searches the master table 12 of the storage unit 6 and reads the unit price from the master table 12 (step 303). When the unit price is obtained in this way, the control unit 4 performs an operation with the number input from the input unit 5, displays the result on the display unit 7 and outputs it as a journal by the printing unit 8 (step 304). . Note that product data such as the input product code and the number of products may be transferred as transaction information to the terminal controller 1 during transaction processing.

Although the reference area and the storage area are switched in the above embodiment, the contents of the storage area are transferred to the reference area without switching, and the first sub-table 13 is always used as the reference area and the second sub-table 14 is used as the storage area. You may fix it. In addition, the switching condition is such that the information has been transferred from the terminal controller 1 and stored in the first or second sub-table.
It is also possible to add conditions such as a switching instruction from, a time instruction with a time means. Further, in the above embodiment, the control information changed in the transaction processing is the product code of the product information and the unit price, but it is also possible to add information such as a product name.
Preset information other than the product information (for example, instruction information, account information, discount information) may be used.

The processing shown in FIG. 3 can be easily realized by using, for example, a microcomputer as the control unit of the POS terminal.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the control information of the POS terminal can be transferred from the TC without any inconsistency even during the transaction, so that the control information change processing time can be significantly shortened. The transaction processing performed at the POS terminal can be smoothly performed without interruption, and the efficiency of the system is greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a data processing system, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a product information table according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flow according to the present invention. 1 ... TC (Terminal Controller), 3-0 to 3-
N: POS terminal (terminal device) 4: control unit, 5
…… Input section, 6 …… Storage section, 7 …… Display section, 8 …… Print section, 9 …… Master file, 10 …… Sub file, 11…
… Product information table, 12 …… Master table, 13 …… First subtable, 14 …… Second subtable, 15 …… Selector.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A higher-level device having control information about a product to be handled, and a storage unit having a first area for storing control information transferred from the higher-level device, and a transaction based on the control information in the storage unit. In a transaction processing system including one or a plurality of terminal devices that perform processing, the terminal device stores control information in the first area in the storage unit, and then further transfers control information from the host device. Has a second and a third area for storing, and refers to the first and the second areas for executing transaction processing, and uses the third area for storing the transferred control information. The first mode and the third area for executing the transaction processing are referred to, and the second area is switched to the second mode used for storing the transferred control information to perform the transaction processing. To do Characteristic transaction processing system. 2. The transaction processing system according to claim 1, wherein the switching between the first mode and the second mode is performed after storing the control information in the first area and further by the host device. The control information transferred from the first is
The transaction processing system is performed when it is confirmed at the start of the transaction processing that the information is stored in the third area in the mode 2 and in the second area in the second mode. 3. A storage unit, which is connected to a higher-level device having control information related to a product to be handled and has a first area for storing control information transferred from the higher-level device, and is based on the control information of the storage unit. In a POS terminal device that performs transaction processing by means of a second, third, or third storage unit for storing control information transferred from the host device after the control information is stored in the first area. A first mode having an area, referring to the first and second areas for executing transaction processing, and using the third area for storing control information transferred, and for executing transaction processing A POS terminal device, which refers to the first and third areas and switches a second mode used for storing control information transferred in the second area to execute a transaction process. 4. The POS terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the switching between the first mode and the second mode is performed after storing the control information in the first area and further by the higher-level device. When it is confirmed at the start of the transaction processing that the control information transferred from is stored in the third area in the first mode and in the second area in the second mode. Characteristic POS terminal device.