Standardizing point of sale services and leveraging instances of the plu data
AssigneeNCR Corporation
InventorThomas V. Edwards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adaptable and extensible interface is described for connecting one or more point of sale (POS) applications to one or more at a wide variety of retail application is described. The interface may be embodied as a programmable state machine employing XML files to customize its operation reusable retail applications may be utilized as part of the interface approach.
Claims18
1-20. (canceled)
An adaptable and extensible transaction interface system comprising:
- a programmable state machine which transitions from one state to another based upon occurrence of a sequence of inputs from a self-service application, the programmable state machine executing on a self-service terminal;
- and
- XML files to establish mappings and operation rules for the programmable state machine, the XML files including states produced from the programmable state machine, wherein the programmable state machine receives a message as an input from the self-service application and provides emulated outputs as necessary for compatible communication with a transaction application having one or more incompatibilities preventing direct communication of the message from the self-service application to the transaction application and correct operation in response to the message, the programmable state machine configured as a wrapper to the transaction application controlling the transaction application's inputs and outputs, and wherein when the transaction application is changed, the wrapper ensures there is no disruption in the compatible communication between the self-service application and the transaction application, and processing the programmable state machine with the XML files for providing an interface for interaction between the self-service application and the transaction application.
A method of adapting and extending a transaction interface system utilizing a programmable state machine which transitions from one state to another based upon occurrence of a sequence of inputs from a self-service application comprising:
- establishing mappings and operation rules on a self-service terminal, for the programmable state machine utilizing XML files, and each XML file include states produced by the programmable state machine;
- receiving, on the self-service terminal, a message as an input from the self-service application by the programmable state machine through an interface provided by the self-service application;
- providing, by the self-service terminal, emulated outputs by the programmable state machine as necessary for compatible communication with a transaction application having one or more incompatibilities preventing direct communication of the message from the self-service application to the transaction application and correct operation in response to the message;
- and
- acting as a wrapper to the transaction application, on the self-service terminal controlling the transaction application's inputs and outputs and ensuring, by the wrapper that when the transaction application is changed there is no disruption in the compatible communication between the self-service application and the transaction application, and wherein acting further includes processing the method as an interface for communication between the self-service application and the transaction application.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.