Item Entry Control

Item entry control settings allow you to configure various methods for entering product information (such as a card or bar code scan or manual entry by cashier) at the POS in a format that the POS recognizes. You also use Item Entry Control settings to specify the action you expect from the POS after the product information is read.

Example Example

You may set up an item entry record to recognize a preferred customer and extend a discount to that customer. You can also configure item entry control settings to partially or completely mask a customer's credit card number on the receipt printout or on the POS display. Other uses for the item entry control parameters may include the following:

Triggering a user-defined transaction, including Non-Merchandise item transactions
Triggering a special discount when a coupon bar code is entered
Creating a sheet of bar codes for special transactions
Allowing the manual input of a product SKU at the POS if the number was not scanned or read properly the first time

End of the example.

You use the item entry control parameters on the Item Entry Control Maintenance screen to set up any of the following data entry methods:

Bar codes which trigger other functions: When you use the item entry control parameters to create a bar code, this method allows data in the bar code to be read back to the system.

Example

When a bar code is scanned, it can trigger a function such as a return sale. (Details required to perform the function are provided through a profile prompt set up for the function or through cashier input.)

End of the example.

Bar codes for variable weight items

Structure

You can create an item entry control definition to define a specific type of number, such as a bar code. You then specify each element that makes up the bar code number as well as the PLU item it is associated with.

When you create an item entry definition for a bar code, you create one item entry record for each bar code pattern.

Bar Code Length and Supplemental Parameters
Screen Element	Description
Minimum Length	Defines the minimum number of characters to be entered.
Maximum Length	Defines the maximum number of characters to be entered.
Total Length	Specifies the total character length of the item and the supplemental data.
Suppl. Len	Defines the length of the supplemental field.
Prompt for Supplemental	Determines if the cashier is to be prompted to enter supplemental data.
Supplemental Prompt	Defines the prompt to be displayed to the cashier. If data entered is less than the total length the application prompts the cashier to enter the supplemental data.
Position	Defines the character position of the supplemental data. If you do not specify the position, the first item entry row (Item entry ID) is zero.
Strip SKU Supplemental	Indicates that the supplemental code is to be removed from the item entered. If you do not select this option, the first item entry row (Item entry ID) is zero.
Print Suppl control	Indicates how the supplemental data is to appear printed on receipts as follows: 0 - Do not print supplemental on receipt/journal 1 - Print supplemental as it is written into the TLOG 2 - Print supplemental following the PLU number If you do not select this option, the first item entry row (Item entry ID) is zero.

Parameters
Screen Element	Description
PLU Start	Defines the starting character position of the PLU in the item entered.
PLU Length	Defines the PLU length.
Price Start	Defines the starting position of the price within the scanned or manually entered number.
Price Length	Defines the total length of the price number.
Pan Start	For third party value card service providers, such as Blackhawk, this option allows the item entry control feature to identify the starting position of the PAN (Primary Account Number) in the item bar code.
Pan Length	For third party value card service providers, such as Blackhawk, this option allows the item entry control feature to determine the length of the PAN (Primary Account Number) in the bar code.
Price Type — Standard Unit Price	Indicates that the price extracted is the standard unit price.
Price Type — Extended Price	Indicates that the price extracted is an extended price.
Checkdigit ID	Identifies the check digit algorithm to be used to validate the item's check digit.
Price Checkdigit	Provides a list of Price Check Digit options. The option you select provides the algorithm, which looks for the item prices in a data string. For example, when the POS performs a calculation on a price, if the result of the calculation matches the check digit number then the price is valid.
Checkdigit Start	Specifies the character start position for the item check digit.
Checkdigit End	Specifies the character end position for the item check digit.
Price Checkdigit Position	Provides the position of the price check digit in the data string.
Random Weight	Indicates that the item is a weighted item with embedded price and quantity.
Department Start	Defines the character start position for the department number.
Department Length	Defines the total number of characters for the department in the item entered.
Quantity Start	Specifies the character starting position for the quantity field. This quantity is a whole number.
Quantity Length	Defines the total number of characters for the quantity field in the item entered.
Decimal Start	Sets the starting position of the decimal code in a bar code. The decimal code value indicates the number of decimals in the price. For example, a 3-digit price value of 100 could signify 100, 10.0, or 1.00 depending on the decimal code specified.
Decimal Length	Sets the length of the decimal code in a bar code.
Effective Date Start	Specifies the character starting position of an effective date. If an item is sold before this date then a warning message is displayed: BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE.
Expiry Date Start	Specifies the character starting position of an expiry date. If an item is sold after this date then a warning message is displayed: AFTER EXPIRY DATE.
Function ID Start	Indicates the starting character position of the function ID.
Function ID Length	Indicates the character length of the embedded function ID.

Parameters for PLU/SKU formatting
Screen Element	Description
SKU Override type	Indicates how an SKU is to be processed: 0 - Any SKU entered is accepted. 1 - SKU is validated against the PLU file. If validation fails, an override option is given. 2 - Only valid SKUs in PLU files are accepted. 3 - Any SKU entered that is not found is accepted, with an option available to modify taxability. 4 - Any SKU entered that is not found is accepted, with an option available to modify taxability.
SKU Override type department	Specifies PLU departments that are not found in the PLU file/table.
Perform PLU	Indicates that the PLU obtained from the entry is used to do a Product Look Up.
Force Uppercase	Indicates if when validating prefix and suffix values the item entered is converted to upper case. This is done for the comparison only.
Keyboard Function	Indicates what function the system executes when an item matches this item entry control record. This field works with the function ID option or the function ID extracted. The list of choices for this option is the list of POS functions similar to the list of functions that can be placed on a menu or on the keyboard. Example If the ADMINID choice is selected, the Function ID field indicates which manager code to execute. If the DISCID function is selected, the Function ID field indicates the discount ID to execute. Note that the default setting for this field is ENTER. End of the example.
Function ID	This value identifies a bar code ID created in the Bar Code Maintenance screen. See Bar Code Maintenance for more information.
Prefix Mask	The Prefix Mask field can contain any alphanumeric character, or it can be defined with one of the following characters: #: Any digit from 0-9 ?: Any alphanumeric character @: Any ASCII character 0x21-0x7F
Suffix Mask	The Suffix Mask field can contain any alphanumeric character, or it can be defined with one of the following characters: #: Any digit from 0-9 ?: Any alphanumeric character @: Any ASCII character 0x21-0x7F The Prefix Mask and Suffix Mask combine for a maximum length of 20 characters. The length is dictated by Minimum and Maximum Length values. The default mask is ######### even if blanks are specified.
Translation Mask	The Translation Mask field is used to change a number that was entered at the POS. The change may be in the form of cropping the number entered, or adding a prefix or suffix to it. The following characters may be used in the Translation Mask field. x or X: Exclude the original character @: Include the original character !: Include the rest of the characters Blank: Do not perform translation If the mask is longer than the item number and the extra characters are just @ or x characters, there is no resulting character. Extra characters that are anything else would be appended.
Scan Data Type	Specifies what scan types are allowed.
Date Format	Indicates the format of the date field embedded in the item entry.
Bar Code	This field shows the bar code to print when a corresponding manager code specified in the Function ID field is triggered. Note These settings correspond to the Bar Code ID and Description fields in the Bar Code Maintenance function. End of the note.
Allow for Keyed Entry	Allows for data to be entered using the keyboard.
Extended Merchandise Lookup	Indicates what extended merchandise lookup configuration is used. For example, this can be used to extract size and color from the bar code.
Add MISC Record	Allows for the creation of a miscellaneous record (type 76) containing the item entry data, when this item entry control record is matched with data entered.
Item Entry Type	Identifies the bar code as a tender coupon. Used specifically for the Coupon Recognition function.

Example Example

The following is a sample configuration of an item entry control configuration for Blackhawk Gift Cards.

Minimum length = 30
Maximum length = 30
Total Length = 30
PLU start = 2
PLU length = 10
Perform PLU = TRUE
PAN start = 12
PAN length = 19
Scan Data Type = CODE128

End of the example.

Note Note

If the pattern is the same for all card types, one record is sufficient. If you need to support manual entry of the bar code number, you must duplicate each configuration and set the Scan Data Type value to none.

End of the note.