OPOS driver support in POS for .NET

Question

Hi to everybody!
First of all let me say that i'm new to this MS world.
I am trying to develop a POS application which has a WPF UI (so i am not a hardware guy seeking for info for how to develop a service). Recently i discovered the POS for .NET Framework (actually i don't know why that late), and i realize i have to throw away code i 've written.

Some things are not very clear to me so what i want to ask is:
1. if a device (for example a receipt printer) has an OPOS driver, can i be sure that at runtime my software will find this device when i call   explorer.GetDevices()  (i am not interested in Plug 'n  Play functionalities.) ?
2. can i install this WPF "enabled" application to a desktop PC running Windows XP, with all these 'POS for .NET' functionalities working correctly (or do i have to install on an OS like POSReady 2009)?
3. Is POSReady 2009 capable of running WPF applications (normaly it should since there is .NET 3.5 support)?



Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

If you have an OPOS driver and it is correctly installed & configured, then yes, GetDevices() should return it. I've specifically had this work with Epson and TPG devices (although I'm now using the Pos .Net Epson drivers) and I have a number of other OPOS drivers I've downloaded from the 'net and they are all returned by this method. I think Sean Liming said in another post that not all OPOS drivers were compatible, but if that's true it still seems to be most of them that work.

Yes, you can run Pos .Net on Windows XP or Vista, you do not have to run your application on POSReader 2009/WePOS etc.

I'm not 100% certain about WPF on POSReady2009 but I think the answer is yes, you can... I would be highly surprised if you couldn't. Sean Liming should be able to confirm as he's a WePOS/PosReady2009 MVP.

Answer 2

Thanks Yort for the quick and enlightening reply!
May be Sean Liming will also comment something... i 'll wait a little bit until mark as answered!

Thanks again very much!

Answer 3

No problem :)

Answer 4

POS for .NET will not run on Windows XP Embedded or Windows Embedded Standard 2009 because they are not Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard compliant. As a result, Microsoft created WEPOS and the newer POS Ready as the embedded OS solution for use with POS for .NET. You can also use POS for .NET on Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Ultimate. I believe some of the server editions are also supported.  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/products/readyproducts/posready/overview.mspx

WPF is supported in .NET Framework 3.0 or higher. You have to install .NET Framework 3.0 or hight on POSReady. The website calls out support for 3.5 for Silverlight: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/products/readyproducts/posready/default.mspx. It should be possible to run your WPF app.


I ran into a Voyager barcode scanner that came with an OPOS driver. I don't know if it was a configuration issue or setup, but I couldn't get it to work with POS for .NET. So far, it is the only one I have ran into that had a problem.

-Sean

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www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com, Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XPe Supplemental Toolkit, WEPOS / POS for .NET Step-by-Step

Answer 5

Thank you Sean for your reply!

You say that ".. you can also use POS for .NET on Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business , and Windows Vista Ultimate ..": i think you meant that these are the OS's the application can run on and not the development platform (cause i'm using Vista Home Premium edition, which was pre-installed on my laptop and everything seems to work fine).
Do i understand this correctly?

Savvas

Answer 6

POS for .NET to the best of my knowledge should not install or run correctly on Vista Home. Unless something changed and has not been communicated that is my understanding.

-Sean

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www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com, Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XPe Supplemental Toolkit, WEPOS / POS for .NET Step-by-Step

Answer 7

I'm not sure, but I think it's the licensing that doesn't allow you to use it on home etc... it possibly works technically, but it's not legally allowed.

I could be wrong.

I have defintely read that Business and Ultimate are the only editions of Windows you shuold use it on.

Make sense too, businesses *shouldn't* be running home editions.

Answer 8

Well, it seems to me that the POS for .NET framework works wihout any problem on my Vista Home Premium Edition - laptop (at least until now - and i 'am developing with this framework 6 days only, so i don't know if run into any problems in the future).
On the other hand i don't understand why i should "downgrade" my development OS only to cope with licensing matters... (i 'm honest: i didn't read the licensing of POS for .NET ... carefully, so i don't want anybody to have this misunderstood).

...nevertheless the thread gets out of "scope" so i would like to close this here, thanking everybody for the time spent.

Answer 9

That is correct - the license agreement for POS for .NET does not extend to the Home edition.  Since POS for .NET is not licensed for the Home edition no testing was done on this version and it is not supported.  

Answer 10

I don't think applying either Business or Ultimate would be a downgrade... Ultimate certainly wouldn't be, I guess Business edition might not include Media Centre or something but it probably has other features like support for domains/active directory etc. (I can never remember what's in any given editions, but I think at least one of the home edtions didn't include domain support).

Thanks for the clarification on the issue/licensing Sylvester.

Answer 11

Hi Savvas,

I am currently developing a POS application using Microsoft POS for >Net API. The application GUI is in WPF. I am currently developing it on XP Professional Edition SP2. Now i am stucked with printers...!.

Using the code :-

    PosPrinter pos = null;

            DeviceInfo deviceInfo = null;

            PosExplorer posExplorer = null;

            try

            {

            

                posExplorer = new PosExplorer();

                deviceInfo = posExplorer.GetDevice(DeviceType.Belt,"CanonLBP 2900");

                pos = (PosPrinter)posExplorer.CreateInstance(deviceInfo);

                pos.Open();

                pos.Claim(1000);

                bool result = pos.DeviceEnabled = true;

                pos.PrintNormal(PrinterStation.Journal, "sfadskghsdjgs");

            }

            catch (PosControlException ex)

            {

                MessageBox.Show(ex.ErrorCode.ToString());

            }

            catch (Exception Ex)

            {

                MessageBox.Show(Ex.ToString());

            }

            finally

            {

                pos = null;

                posExplorer = null;

                deviceInfo = null;

            }

I have messed up my head a lot. I am not getting the reference of the printer in deviceInfo(in above code). Well i mean the GetDevices() method is not at all enlisting me the network printers. The printer which i am using is a ink jet printer CannonLBP 2900

Is there something that i am missing, well i mean i have installed Pos for Dot Net V1.12 from below URl.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=eaae202a-0fcc-406a-8fde-35713d7841ca&displaylang=en         

Also, when i am using PosExplorer.getDevices() it is enlisting me only those simulators and not the actual printer.

Is there any way to deal with our normal printers(ink jet) with this API. I dont want to use WMI in this. 

Thanks

          

           

Answer 12

The UPOS specification, that POS for .NET is based, implements a middle layer called a OPOS / Service object that sites between the application and the hardware. You need a Service Object or OPOS driver to connect to the device. POS for .NET is targeting POS devices do a OPOS driver / service object might not be available for a standard ink jet printer.


-Sean

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www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com, Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XPe Supplemental Toolkit, WEPOS / POS for .NET Step-by-Step