JPS62122357A - Text relay processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send an express text received laser to a host device with priority while skipping a general next received earlier by blocking the general text in a buffer. CONSTITUTION:A control 2 is provided with a function identifying a kind of a text sent from a terminal equipment and a buffer blocking the general text. When the controller 2 receives a text, its identification function discriminates whether the text is an express text or a general text, and when the text is the express text, it is sent to a host device 5 with priority and when the text is the general text, after it is blocked in a buffer, plural blocked texts are sent altogether. Since the general text is blocked in the buffer, the express text received laser is sent to the host device with priority while the general text received earlier is skipped.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Table of contents] Overview Industrial field of application Conventional technology Problems to be solved by the invention Means for solving the problems (Fig. 1) Example of operation (a) Example of one embodiment Description of configuration (Figure 2) Description of operation of one embodiment (Figures 3 and 4) (C) Explanation of other embodiments Effects of the invention [Summary] Message sent from a terminal device is transferred to a controller In a message relay processing method in which a message is relayed to a higher-level device, a buffer is provided in the controller and a message identification function is provided, so that when the message is an express message, it is sent with priority, and when it is a general message, it is stored in the buffer. By sending the messages in batches later, it is possible to prioritize the transmission of express messages and shorten the transmission time of general messages.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a message relay processing method in which a controller relays a message transmitted from a terminal device to a higher-level device, and particularly relates to a message relay processing method in which a message is sent preferentially to a higher-level device depending on the type of message.

A system in which a terminal device communicating with a controller transmits a message to a host device via the controller is widely used.

For example, P as a sales information processing system shown in FIG.
In the OS system, n POS terminals (terminal devices) la to 1n are connected to a controller 2 via a line 3, and the controller 2 is connected to a host device 5 via a line 4 to form a system.

In such a POS system, the controller 2 and the PO
In addition to communicating with S terminals 1a to 1n via line 3 to perform desired product registration processing, POS terminal l
a to 1n communicate with the host device 5 and the controller 2 via relays.

[Conventional technology]

For communication between the POS terminals 1a-1n and the controller 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 2a, and each time a product code is input during the product registration process, the PoS terminals 1a to 1In send a PLU inquiry message to the controller 2 as shown in FIG. Product name from 2a,
For the price look-up method that receives PLU response messages such as prices, and for POS terminals 13 to 1n.
There is a device for transmitting a detailed message, which is the content of one transaction, to the controller 2 to update the total file of the PLO file 2a. On the other hand, POS terminals 1a to 1n
As for what is sent from the host device 5 to the host device 5, credit inquiry messages are sent to the host device 5 in order to use the Talegift authorization function of the host device 5 for credit transactions using credit cards, etc., and the sales details of the entire POS terminals 1a to 1n are sent from the host device 5 to the host device 5. There are sales telegrams, detailed telegrams, etc. that are used to understand the situation.

From such POS terminals 1a to 1n to the host device 5
Due to the system configuration, it is necessary to send a message to the controller 2 via the controller 2, and for this reason, the controller 2 is provided with a message relay processing function.

In conventional message relay processing, the controller 2
If a message is received from the S terminals 1a to 1n and is sent to the higher-level device 5, the message is sent as is or after being processed and sent to the higher-level device 5 in the order of reception as shown in FIG. 7(B). That's what I was doing.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, among the messages sent to the host device 5, inquiry messages such as credit inquiry messages are sent from the POS terminals 1a to
In 1n, if the response message is not received promptly, the customer will be kept waiting for a long time, and the efficiency of the POS terminals la to 1n will be reduced.

Also, other notification messages other than inquiry messages are sent to POS terminal 1a.
In xln, it is not the nature of an inquiry message that the next process cannot be performed unless a response is obtained, and there is no need to send it to the host device 5 as quickly as an inquiry message.

Therefore, in the conventional message relay processing method that sends messages in the order they are received, it is not possible to give priority to urgent messages such as inquiry messages, which reduces the efficiency of the POS terminal. Since there are a large number of such general messages, the communication time becomes long and there is a problem in that express messages cannot be sent as quickly as possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a message relay processing system that can prioritize express messages from a terminal device and relay them to a host device.

[Means for solving problems]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention.

In the present invention, the controller 2 is provided with a function of identifying the type of message sent from a terminal device and a buffer for blocking general messages.

When the controller 2 receives the related message, the identification function determines whether the message is an express message or a general message, and if it is an express message, it is sent to the host device 5 with priority, and if it is a general message, it is blocked in the buffer, and then multiple messages are sent. I am trying to send in bulk.

[Effect]

In the present invention, since general messages are blocked in the buffer, it is possible to send an express message received later to the host device with priority over the general message received earlier.

Furthermore, by sending the general messages all at once, the communication time for the general messages to the host device can be shortened, and the general messages can be communicated efficiently.

Furthermore, since the communication time of the general message is shortened, even if the express message is received while the general message is being communicated, the waiting time for the express message can be shortened.

〔Example〕

(a) Description of the configuration of one embodiment FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 11 which is connected and exchanges messages with the controller 2, and performs processing such as hourly sales aggregation, sales aggregation for each terminal, and tally authorization, etc.; 11
0 is the main CPU, which processes and executes tasks requested by the upper level 5 and POS terminals la to 1n, and has a PLU file 2a and memory 111; 120 is a lower line sub-CPU; 130 is an upper line sub-CPU that controls the upper line 4 for the upper 5. and a buffer 131 for transmission and reception with the upper 5
It has the following. 10 is the main control unit of the POS terminal, which is composed of a microcomputer and performs product registration processing, etc.; 11 is a keyboard equipped with a product input key, a numeric keypad, function keys, etc.;
12 is a printer that prints on receipts/journals; 13 is a scanner that scans barcodes attached to products and inputs data; 14 is a line control unit that connects the controller via line 3; 15 is a cash drawer, which is provided to communicate with 2.
16 is a display for storing cash etc.; 17 is a display for displaying input data, processing results, etc.;
is a magnetic card league, which reads data on the magnetic stripe of cards such as credit cards and bank cards presented by customers.

Although the figure only shows the configuration of the POS terminal la, the other PoS terminals 1b to 1n also have the same configuration.

3 and 4 are message relay processing flowcharts of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a message relay processing flow in the upper line sub-CPU 130, and FIG. 4 is a main It shows a message processing flow in the CPU 10, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a communication message used in the present invention.

First, to explain the operation of the POS terminal la, during the product registration process, the operator presses the keyboard 1.
1 or the scanner 13, the main control unit 10 sets the destination shown in FIG. It is transmitted to the line 3 via the control unit 14.

In addition, the transaction details are displayed in the main control unit 10 by pressing the total key.
Detailed information of the current transaction (single item code,
price, etc.) as data, transaction details as message identification,
A detailed message is created with controller 2 as the destination, and similarly sent to line 3.

On the other hand, the credit inquiry message is created using the card data obtained by the main control unit 10 when the operator causes the magnetic card reader 17 to read the customer's card, the destination as the controller 2, and the message identification as the credit inquiry. and sends it to line 3 in the same way.

In addition, the sales message is sent to the controller 2 in response to a sales request command from the host 5 via the controller 2, with the sales data of the past transactions stored in the memory of the main control unit 10 as the data and the sales as the message identification. As the destination,
Similarly, it is sent to line 3.

(2) On the other hand, in the controller 2, as shown in FIG. 4, the message from the line 3 is received by the lower line sub CPUI 20 and stored in the reception area of the buffer 121. Main C
The PUI 10 inquires of the lower line sub CPU 120 whether there is a received message, and if there is a received message, the buffer 121
Read the received message and analyze the received message.

If this received message is a PLU inquiry or transaction details and is processed only within the controller 2, the corresponding processing is performed.For example, if it is a PLU inquiry, search the PL file 2a, find the corresponding price and product name, Create a PLU response message, send it to the POS terminal 1a via the lower line sub CPU 120, and if it is a transaction statement, send it to the PLU file 2a.
update the aggregation file accordingly.

■ On the other hand, if the processing is not performed only by controller 2, check whether the message is sent to the upper layer after processing by controller 2.6For example, in the case of a sales message, each POS terminal 1a
~Aggregation of sales from In and sending to higher level, PL
A file maintenance message for changing the price of the U file 2a, etc. changes the contents of the PLU file 2a and transmits the changed contents to the upper layer.

Such sales telegrams and file maintenance telegrams are notification telegrams, and after performing the relevant processing, the notification telegrams to the higher level are created.

■ A created notification message or a message that does not require such processing (
(Credit inquiry message or transaction details message at the time of higher level aggregation)
The destination is changed to the higher-level device 5 and stored in the higher-level transmission area of the memory 111.

Next, the upper line sub CPU 130 performs message relay processing as shown in FIG.

■ The upper line sub CPU 30 is the main CPU 11
0 to inquire about the presence or absence of a transmitted message. Upper line sub CPU
130, when it is determined that there is a transmission message, the main CPU
The transmission message is read from the upper transmission area of the memory 111 of 10, and it is determined whether the message is an inquiry message (express message).

If the transmitted message is a notification message that is not an inquiry message, the read transmitted message is stored in the buffer 131.

(2) Conversely, if the transmitted message is an inquiry message, the inquiry message is immediately sent to the host device 5 via the line 4.

■ Next, the upper line sub CPU 130 uses the buffer 131
It is checked whether the number of notification messages stored in has reached a predetermined number (for example, four messages), and if not, the process returns to the beginning of step (2).

Further, the upper line sub-CPU 130 checks whether a predetermined period of time (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed since the first notification message was stored in the buffer 131, and if not, returns to the beginning of step (2).

On the other hand, if the buffer 131 is full with a predetermined number of notification messages stored in the buffer 131, or if a predetermined period of time has passed since the notification messages were stored in the buffer 131, all the notification messages stored in the buffer 131 are transferred to the line 4. The data is sent all at once to the host device 5 via the host computer, and the process returns to the beginning of step (2).

In this way, the lower line sub CPU 130 identifies the type of message to be sent to the upper layer, stores a notification message in the buffer 131, immediately sends an inquiry message, and the number of notification messages stored in the buffer 131 reaches a predetermined number. When it reaches the specified time or a predetermined time has elapsed, it will be sent all at once.

(C) Explanation of other embodiments In the above embodiments, the express message was explained using a credit inquiry message as an example, but other inquiry messages etc. may also be used.
Although the system has been explained as an example, it is not limited to this.

Although the present invention has been described above using examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, general messages can be
Because of the blocking within the network, it is possible to send the later-received express message to a higher level by skipping the earlier-received general message. Furthermore, by sending the general messages all at once, the communication time for the general messages to the upper level is shortened. Furthermore, by shortening the communication time for general messages, the waiting time for express messages can also be shortened. In particular, it provides flexibility in relay processing for systems in which a large number of terminals communicate with each other by connecting to a controller. This greatly contributes to improving response.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a message relay processing flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is an embodiment of the invention. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a communication telegram according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a POS system, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique. In the figure, 1 a ~ I n・-P OS terminal (terminal device)
, 2--Controller, 5--Upper-level device, 130--Upper line sub-CPU. 131-Buffer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A controller identifies a message sent from a terminal device,
In a message relay processing method for relaying transmission to a higher-level device, a buffer is provided in the controller, and the controller is configured to identify whether the message is an express message or a general message, and the controller is configured to identify whether the message is an express message. If it is identified that the message is a general message, it is sent preferentially to the higher-level device, and if it is determined that the message is a general message, it is stored in the buffer and then sent all at once to the higher-level device. A message relay processing method characterized by transmission.