Parameter distribution

Basics

Each GK/Retail component needs a specific configuration. GK/Retail applications are supplied with configuration data via the Infochannel Services.

An essential aspect of the GK/Retail architecture is that a central configuration management is available. Storemanager is the central instance for managing and maintaining the configuration data of all GK/Retail applications. The Infoserver and Infoclient, collectively also called Infochannel Services, are responsible for the correct distribution of the configuration data.

Parameter distribution in detail

In Storemanager, a unique key (the structure ID) is assigned to each GK/Retail application. This key is necessary to identify the systems/components when distributing the configuration data. Each store includes an Infoserver which may run on an arbitrary system. The primary task of the Infoserver is to retain the configuration data of all systems located at the store.

If a configuration is added or changed for one or more stores, Storemanager contacts the Infoserver of the corresponding store and provides the new or changed configuration data to this Infoserver. The transferred data is then replicated to the Infoserver database.

This Infoclient is responsible for running queries on the Infoserver at defined intervals to identify new or changed configurations. To do so, the Infoclient uses the structure ID and the host application version for identification purposes.

At the time of receiving an Infoclient query, the Infoserver first checks whether the configuration data and current version of the corresponding application are available. The structure ID is used to identify the application (e.g. POS Server) while the version is used to describe it more precisely. If this key does not exist or the version is invalid, the application is not configured in Storemanager and therefore cannot receive any data.

If a structure ID assignment is found, the Infoserver will send the specific configuration to the Infoclient for subsequent transfer to the corresponding GK/Retail application.

Note:

A combination of Infoserver and Infoclient is used for central systems, the so-called Hybrid Infoserver. This is optimized for high throughput.

Technical details of the communication

Communication between the Infochannel components takes place via TCP port 7422. All Infochannel components are executed as services (or daemons on Linux).

For replication of the data received from Storemanager, the Hybrid Infoserver uses a database (for requirements, see the “Product Availability Matrix”).

Storage of POS Server configuration

Important configuration directories are:

$POS_SERVER_ROOT/config/parameter

All configuration files are supplied by the Infoclient. Data supply is carried out even if the configuration files have been deleted (intentionally or unintentionally) during current operations. The data is supplied from the cache directory of the Infoclient: