Epson SR-600 EPSON OPOS ADK

Rev.A Driver / Utility Specifications 4-11

Developer's Guide SR-600

Confidential

EPSON OPOS ADK

OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) is component software that run s on Win 32-bit style

operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. The creation of software components

enables software reuse and backward compatibility.

The purpose of OLE POS (“OPOS”) is to use OLE to standardize the control system (AP I) of POS

peripherals, thereby making application and peripheral equipment control software open and

generic, OPOS standardizes the interface between POS applications and device control objects,

which in the past have differed by device and by manufacturer; it also facilitates the porting of

applications and the reconfigurations of peripheral devices.

Such standardization of peripheral devices eliminates much of the work once needed to

developsoftware. Further, it totally opens systems and make s i t possible to build intelligent,

flexible POS systems affordably, not only in large retail stores but even in the smallest shops,

where POS has yet to make inroads.

OPOS makes it easy to build POS applications that take advantage of the functionality that　

Windows has to offer, such as graphics, video, and sound, a user-friendly GUI, and　

multitasking.

Refer the User’s Guide stored in the directory C:\Backup\Oposadkfor for more dtails of the

OPOS ADK installation procedure.

POS devices require a control program. In the past, the device control object existed as par t of a

monolithic POS application software. Because of this monolithic structure, POS systems

designers would have to replace or rev ise the entire POS application software just to change the

device control object when a peripheral device was changed. This, of course, was a time-

consuming and costly process. It also meant that to create device control objects, POS

application software developers had to acquire detailed technical knowledge of each

manufacturer’s devices, including their functions and command systems.

With the advent of PC-POS, however, any external device coul d be connected to the PC, as long

as the interface (e.g., serial or parallel) was supported. While the hardware compatibility

problem was solved, the software problem was not. Software could not be adapted and the POS

applications software itself would have to be replaced. Thus a total opening of PC-POS

systemsin terms of both hardware and software had not been achieved.

To solve this problem, the device control objects were modularized and made independent from

the POS applications software. This simplifies the process of changing the POS application

software itself when a device is replaced because now only the device control object needs to

bereplaced. In addition, by providing our own device control object s, we can lighten the burden

on our POS applications software developers, who no longer need to acquire detailed

knowledge of each manufacturer‘s device and standardize the total system, hardware as well as

software.