57
Chapter 10:

Creating a Custom Program

You can create a program in the T riCoder to prompt the operator for anything. You can tell the operator what to do next, notify them
of errors, date and time stamp the data or review and ed it previous data. The TriCod er has room for 4 programs; pro gram #0 is fixed
and cannot be changed or deleted, program #1 is editable and prompts for item and quantity, program #2 is based on Program #0 but
with some editing allowed and #3 is not pre-set and can be programmed by the user as desired.
Programs are constructed of statements, with each program capable of containing up to 97 statements. Statements determine what
happens at each step of the program - one statement might prompt the user to enter data, another statement may add a date sta mp.
Statements in turn are constructed of fields, each one determining certain properties of the statement.
Programs can be created on the TriCoder itself or created on your computer (if you have Windows) and downloaded to the TriCoder
via Serial or USB. The remainder of this chapter is directed towards programming the TriCoder itself; if a fter completing this chapter
you decide you want to create programs on your PC, go to Chapter 11: Creating TriCoder programs on your Windows PC for details.
We have provided a form to help you chart out programs before they are entered into the TriCoder . TriCoder Coding Forms can be
found at the very back of the manual. We will also use sections of the TriCoder Coding Form to illustrate coding of certain features.
You may find it helpful to have a TriCoder Coding Form in front of you while using this section of the manual.
Using KwikInventory™...
If you are using the KwikInventory program, do NOT program your TriCoder according to the instructions here. The KwikInventory
program itself will generate your program and download it to your TriCoder. See the KwikInventory help files and manual for more
information.

Program Statements

The following infor mation is provided in the order in which it is referenced in t he TriCoder when creating a program. To create a
program in the TriCoder, the first t hing that has to happen is to get the TriCoder into PROGRAM MING mode. After turning on t he
TriCoder you will see the following screen:
Press 4 at the MAIN MENU (opening screen) , then when prompted enter the password WDTRI to get to the P rogramming Menu.
Entering the password incorrectly generates the message:
INVALID PASSWORD
HIT ANY KEY
Entering the password incorrectly 2 times generates the same message, but when you hit a key you will return to the opening screen.
If you have entered the password correctly, you see the PROGRAMING MODE menu:
PROGRAMMING MODE
PROGRAM #1 ------------------------- 1
PROGRAM #2 ------------------------- 2
PROGRAM #3 ------------------------- 3
MULTI PROGRAM MODE --- OFF 4
DONE/EXIT ----------------------------- 0
PLEASE SELECT OPTION: _