Setup of Second Screen via XML Interface

Introduction

SecondScreen.exe is a Windows application controlled by the cash station.

The cash station sends the operation status changes ("registry window", "order creation window", etc.) to the application, which, in turn, responds to the events and triggers corresponding scenarios.

Usually, scenarios (or a scenario with different conditions) are configured for each cash desk operation mode. Scenarios consist of scenes.

Scenes have a specific data display algorithm (it uses one of the supported media files for display, which can also be a .dll application).

When editing RK7 object (dish, dish category, business periods) parameters in XML files, the "code" property is used (instead of an identifier).

All necessary files are available via FTP (ftp://ftp.ucs.ru/rk7/INSTALL/RK7_XMLSecondScreen). The system consists of two parts:

1. the core — rar;
2. the folder with design templates, SSXMLAIR_Designs, which contains pre-installed design variants for different screen layouts and restaurant concepts.

Configuration and Launch Procedure

• Download and install the Adobe Flash active-x component (v.11 and higher). The distribution kit is available via FTP —ftp://ftp.ucs.ru/Foreigns/TOOLS/Flash/. It is not required for the latest versions.
• Unzip the SSXMLAIR_core_<version>.rar archive contents to the directory (the folder containing wincash.bat) of the cash station, where the second screen is physically connected, keeping the folder structure.
• Apply the relevant formatting. For this purpose, select the archive with the required formatting in the SSXMLAIR_Designs directory and unzip it to the cash station directory (the folder containing wincash.bat), keeping the folder structure.
• Edit SecondScreen.ini and SSConfig.xml (see details below).
• At the manager station, add the "Second Screen with XML Interface" to the "Devices" tab. Specify the log file name ("Log Name" parameter), and select the logging level ("LogLevel").
• Reload the cash station and make sure that secscr7.dll has been uploaded to the cash desk.
• If you need to assign an image to a dish, create an arbitrary directory and fill it with 512x512 px dish pictures in "png" format.
• Then, specify the path to this directory ("Path to image folder" parameter in the "Settings – Parameters" directory).

Fig. 2. "Path to image folder" parameter

• To allow the image selection from the previously created folder, enable the "Self-service/Online orders" parameter in the "Settings – Parameters" directory, and then fill in the File with large image field in the dish properties.

Fig. 3. Linking an image to a dish

• Create a new Dish classification and a relevant category (or categories) for the second screen ("Menu – Dish classifications" directory). Dish categories are required, if you need to configure scenes based on multiple dishes.

Fig. 4. Dish classifications for the second screen

• Configure the Business period, if required (Settings – Head office – Business periods).
• The further configuration implies the scenario setup for the second screen display and requires changing the corresponding configuration files: SecondScreen.ini and SSConfig.xml.

Update

To update the installed version, you need only to update the contents using the SSXMLAIR_core_<new_version>.rar archive.

Configuration files setup

When configuring the display of images and captions on the second screen, pay attention to three main files:

• SecondScreen.ini — general settings for the second screen forms, configuration of sizes, coordinates, display and logging parameters;
• SSConfig.xml — configuration of scenarios, scenes, and their design;
• media\skin.xml — detailed characteristics for the second screen design (enabling/disabling areas and field, color formatting, base layers, font sizes and colors).

SecondScreen.ini

General settings for the second screen forms, configuration of notification area, advertisement area, and order calculation area sizes 
[DISHPICS]
Dir=C:\image\ ; ; The path to the dish images. This folder should contain files used for the dishes at the manager station (Fig. 3) 
ImageForMissing=media\image_for_empty.png ; ; The path to the image file that displays in case of a missing dish image 

[OUTPUT]

DecimalDigits=0 ; ; The number of decimal digits in prices 
Language=RUS ; ; Localization language (RUS, ENG, GER) as specified in SSStrings.xml 
ItemName= ; ; The field containing dish names. If empty, the "Name" field value is taken. Moreover, an "AltName" value can be specified. If an enhanced property is specified, it should be prefixed with "gen", e.g., ItemName=genName0419. 
ShowZeroCheckLines=1 ; ; Show zero price lines in the bill (0=hide, 1=show) 
ShowNewItem=1 ; ; Display the dish, that has just been sold, on the second screen (0=do not display, 1=display, empty = 0). In this case, a special effect (steam) is displayed over the dish image 


PicByCode=0 ;; show the dish image upon finding it in the "Dir" folder according to the DishCode.png template in case of an empty "File with large image" parameter at the RK7 manager station (Fig. 3). 
ShowVoting=0 ;; Show the voting box (0=hide, 1=show, empty = 0). See details under the "Quality index" section 
DriveMode=1 ;; "Drive" mode (0=hide, 1=show, empty = 0) 
ShowCursor=0 ;; Show cursor (0=hide, 1=show, empty = 0) 
PopupStation=1 ;; Move focus to the cash desk (0=do not move, 1=move, empty = 0) 
ShowModifiers=1 ;; Show modifiers and combo contents (0=hide, 1=show, empty = 0) 
ReverseCheck=0 ;; Show bill in reverse order (0=no, 1=yes, empty = 0) 

ShowLastOrder=1 ;; 0 — work as usual, do not display previous order info, 1 — display previous order info until a new one is opened (sold dishes and order amount ). Implemented in SecondScreen.dll 1.0.0.160
ScenarioType=1 ;; Scenario type: 0 — normal, 1 — according to the last dish sold 
HidePrices=1 ;; Do not show prices 

[SCREENPOSITION]

; Second screen left coordinate 
MainLeft=1024
; Second screen top coordinate 
MainTop=0
; Second screen width 
MainWidth=1024
; Second screen height 
MainHeight=768

[LOGFILE]
; Logging level (0=no logging, 1=errors only, 2=errors and warnings, 3=full log) 
Log=3
; Log directory 
LogDir=SSLogFiles
[REGSOCKET]
; Screen internal communication host ( it is recommended to keep 127.0.0.1 by default) 
Host=127.0.0.1
; Screen internal communication port (it is recommended to keep 2489 by default) 
Port=2489
[CS_CONNECTION]
; Common Server address, if the configuration (scenario) is performed via the RK7 7.5.2 plugin and FeatureServer. If the parameter is empty, settings are taken from local files 
;; WSDL= https://IP_CommonServer:PORT_CommonServer/soap/UCSCommonWS 
WSDL=
[STATION]
; Station code. Used when launching. 
Code=1

SSConfig.xml

File with scene settings for the second screen. For each cash desk state/mode, a condition scenario should be specified, and then scenes are launched upon the relevant condition fulfillment.

SSConfig.xml basic parameters

• Scenes

Scenes are tagged with <SceneList> and can be configured in the <SceneList> ... </SceneList> block.
Possible scene types are:

Type=“Gallery” – gallery (specify a dish group code, or a single dish code)

Type=“Image” – an arbitrary image, not linked to RK7 directories

Type=“Video” – a video in flv format

Note: the scene with id = {-1} can be used to display the dish, that has just been sold, only if the ShowNewItem=1 parameter is set. Add any scenario without scenes to the Mode 3_2.

If a specific caption is required when displaying a certain category, e.g., if "Don't forget to order a beverage" should be displayed for the "Juices" category, user the Slogan parameter.

This parameter has the following characteristics:
Slogan="Taste the dessert... and you'll long for more!" SloganAlign="center" SloganX="150" SloganY="680" SloganWidth="500" SloganHeight="20" SloganBackground="" SloganFontSize="25" SloganFontColor="0xFFFFFF" SloganPadding="0"

These characteristics are responsible for the caption display — alignment, upper left point coordinates (X,Y,Z), width, height, background, font size and color, indent.

Note: if you need the dish, that has just been added to the order, display on the second screen not for a short while (a couple of seconds), add the Duration="10" attribute for the scene with Id="1" in SSConfig.xml. This is the required display duration in seconds.

Note: starting from version 1.0.0.146, you can set an effect for a scene by means of adding a child element to it.

Example:

<Scene Id="{-1}" Type="Gallery" Name="LastItem" DishCode="0" Description="Added to order" Price="0" Currency="" Background="Advert/Background.png" PriceSubstrate="Advert/Price.png" Padding="40" NameFontSize="72" NameFontColor="0xfff9d4" DescriptionFontSize="25" DescriptionFontColor="0xf3d7b7" PricePadding="30" PriceFontSize="90" PriceFontColor="0xfff9d4" CurrencyFontSize="60" CurrencyFontColor="0xfff9d4" Effect="2" Animation="0" NameAlign="center" DescriptionAlign="center" PriceAlign="right" Slogan="" SloganAlign="center" SloganX="0" SloganY="0" SloganWidth="0" SloganHeight="0" SloganBackground="" SloganFontSize="0" SloganFontColor="0xFFFFFF" SloganPadding="0" Duration="10"><EffectCase><CaseItem Category="category_code_without_effect" Value="0"/><CaseItem Category="category_code_with_steam" Value="1"/><CaseItem Category="category_code_with_frost" Value="2"/></EffectCase></Scene>

Frost and steam effects can be disabled by the parameter Effect="0".

• Scenarios

Scenarios are tagged with <ScenarioList>. A scenario allows configuring scenes depending on the cash station mode/state (modes are described below).
The <Scenario Id="{Q}" parameter reflects the scenario ordinal values (Q = 0...N).

For modes 4 (payment) and 5 (bill printing) you can also specify scenarios, e.g., advertise special offers For these modes, it is required to configure the advertisement area and make it visible (in media\skin.xml, set visible=0 for the <adverts> tag).

In these modes, scenarios can be additionally restricted with the Payment="true" attribute, which means that the scenario will be displayed, only if the payment has already been made, or with the Payment="false" attribute, which means that this scenario will be displayed, only if the payment has not been made yet (the so-called last offer). If there is no such attribute in the scenario, it is applicable in both cases.

• In the scenarios, you can specify a category-based hierarchy, for example:

• <Scenario Id="{4}" Last="22" With="6,9,7" Without="8" Comment="added dishes from the category with code 6, 9, 7; there are no dishes from category 8. Launching scene 6">
  <ShowScene Id="{6}"/>

• Instead of order, With and Without parameters take the collection of categories in the bill (the "AND" condition), formatted as a comma-separated list (without spaces). For the example above, the condition will appear as follows: if the order contains a dish from category 6, and a dish from category 9, and a dish from category 7, and no dish from category 8, then execute scene 6.
• The Last="22" parameter verifies that the last added dish belongs to to the category with code "22".

Note

If you need to check the availability of certain dishes, and not categories, use the following parameters: WithCodes, WithoutCodes and LastCode.

The Last and LastCode parameters can be applied, only if SecondScreen.ini has the ScenarioType=1 parameter.

Skin.xml

Skin.xml contains detailed characteristics for the second screen design (enabling/disabling areas and field, color formatting, base layers, font sizes and colors).

In this file, you configure the visual design of the second screen in different modes (mode_X).

Let us look at the parameters:

• <Advert X="0" Y="187" Width="768" Height="837" Visible="1"/> — the line responsible for the advertisement block
• <Check X="0" Y="0" Width="0" Height="0" Visible="1"/> — the line responsible for the bill area
• <QualityServise X="0" Y="0" Width="0" Height="0" Visible="0"/> — the line responsible for the service quality assessment block
• <QRCode X="0" Y="0" Width="0" Height="0" Visible="0"/> — the line displaying the QR-code block
• <Logo X="25" Y="187" Width="142" Height="74" Visible="0"/> — display logo
• <Ico X="0" Y="0" Width="0" Height="0" Visible="0"/> — display icon (e.g., in mode_4, it's a cart icon)
• <Display X="0" Y="0" Width="768" Height="193" Visible="1"> — display caption from "showtext"
• <Effect Visible="0"/> — enable/disable effects

These lines also allow editing the data arrangement coordinates, such as: X,Y — block coordinates Width — block width, Height — block height; and the Visible parameter (enable/disable).

The bill area transparency can also be adjusted in skin.xml, in the SecondScreen -> Screens -> Check element by the attributeAdvertAlpha="50" (0 — non-transparent, 100 — completely transparent).

Modes

Fig. 5. Mode operation principles (mode_X)

1. Mode_1— standby mode (before the cashier login)
2. Mode_2— main menu and other service forms (the cashier has logged in and is active)
3. Mode_3— the form intended for order editing, and order status changing
4. Mode_3_1— order collection mode, but without any dish selected
5. Mode_3_2— dish adding mode, when at least one dish is selected
6. Mode_4— the form intended for order editing, order calculation, and payment status

7.Mode_5 — the form intended for order editing, bill printing status

1. Mode_11— order creation form
2. Mode_18— logging form (after the cashier login, but before the activation).

Examples of second screen animation setup

Note

For the purpose of scenario implementation, use either dish codes, or category codes from the "Menu – Dish classifications" directory.

Task No.1. When adding a main dish to the order, start displaying dishes from another category on the second screen.

For example, when a dish from the "Hot meals" category is sold, start displaying dishes from the "Desserts" category.
Task No.1 solution

First, make necessary settings in the SSConfig.xml file, specifically in the SceneList group (a set of scenes to be displayed). In our case, we need to display the "Desserts" category when selling dishes from the "Hot meals" category.
For this purpose, create a new scene (in one line), for example:

<Scene Id="{4}" Type="Gallery" Name="DESSERTS" DishGroup="6" Description="" Price="" Currency="" Background="Advert/Background.png" PriceSubstrate="Advert/Price.png" Padding="40" NameFontSize="72" NameFontColor="0xfff9d4" DescriptionFontSize="20" DescriptionFontColor="0xf3d7b7" PricePadding="30" PriceFontSize="90" PriceFontColor="0xfff9d4" CurrencyFontSize="60" CurrencyFontColor="0xfff9d4" Effect="2" Animation="1" NameAlign="center" DescriptionAlign="center" PriceAlign="right" Slogan="" SloganAlign="center" SloganX="0" SloganY="0" SloganWidth="0" SloganHeight="0" SloganBackground="" SloganFontSize="0" SloganFontColor="0xFFFFFF" SloganPadding="0">
<SloganCase>
<CaseItem Category="6" Value="Taste the newest dessert!" />
<CaseItem Category="14" Value="Taste the newest pie!" />
</SloganCase>
</Scene>

The DishGroup parameter stands for the group that contains dishes to be demonstrated. It should match the category code from the "Dish classifications" directory.

Further, the group of parameters Mode_3_2 ModeId="3_2" is responsible for the algorithm of displaying scenes when adding dishes to and order, i.e.:

<Mode_3_2 ModeId="3_2"><Scenario Id="{2}" With="5" Name="Order a dessert..."><ShowScene Id="{4}"/></Scenario><Scenario Id="{1}" Name="Scenario 1"><ShowScene Id="{1}"/><ShowScene Id="{2}"/><ShowScene Id="{3}"/></Scenario>

The behavior algorithm is top-to-bottom; if the With=category_code (i.e. dish code from a category) condition is fulfilled, then the scenario with Id=4 is executed, if not — the program executes everything below it.

Task No.2. The following scenario has to be implemented:
1) display dishes from category 6 until a corresponding dish is added
2) if a dish from category 6 has been added, display dishes from category 9
3) if dishes from categories 6 and 9 have been added, display dishes from category 7
4) if dishes from categories 6, 9 and 7 have been added, display dishes from category 8, for example, etc.

Task No.2 solution

SSConfig.xml should contain the following scenario:

<SecondScreen>

<SceneList>

...cut...

<Scene Id="{6}" Type="Gallery" Name="Desserts" DishGroup="6" AltDishName="Our desserts"...cut... />

<Scene Id="{7}" Type="Gallery" Name="Burgers" DishGroup="5" AltDishName="Our burgers" ...cut... />

<Scene Id="{8}" Type="Gallery" Name="Fish" DishGroup="7" AltDishName="Our fish" ...cut... />

<Scene Id="{9}" Type="Gallery" Name="Beverages" DishGroup="4" AltDishName="Our beverages" ...cut... />

</SceneList>

<ScenarioList>

<!--...cut...-->

<Mode_3_2 ModeId="3_2">

<Scenario Id="{1}" With="5,7,4" Without="6" Comment="there are Burgers(5) AND Fish(7) AND Beverages(4), but no Dessert(6), display cat. Dessert(6)">

<ShowScene Id="{6}"/>

</Scenario>

<Scenario Id="{2}" With="5,7" Comment="there are Burgers(5) AND Fish(7), but no Beverages(4), display cat. BEVERAGES(4)">

<ShowScene Id="{9}"/>

</Scenario>

<Scenario Id="{3}" With="5" Without="7" Comment="there is a dish from category Burgers(5), but no Fish(7), display category Fish(7)">

<ShowScene Id="{8}"/>

</Scenario>

<Scenario Id="{4}" Without="5" Comment="there are no dishes from category Burgers(5), display dishes from category Burgers(5)">

<ShowScene Id="{7}"/>

</Scenario>

</Mode_3_2>

<!--...cut...-->

</ScenarioList>

</SecondScreen>

System operation

Launch

1. Start the RK7 cash desk as usual. If secscr7.dll has been loaded to the cash desk, RK7 will call for SecondScreen.dll at startup. secscr7.dll is the 'Second Screen with XML interface' driver file at the cash station. It will be preloaded to the station.
2. SecondScreen.dll triggers SecondScreen.exe.

Configuring a second screen remotely on another PC

If it is implied that the second screen is launched on a station (PC2), meanwhile the cash desk is located on another station (PC1), perform the steps as described below.

1. Folders with images should be available on both PCs, and their paths should match (the paths to the win\media directory should also match completely).
2. On PC2, remove "Second Screen with XML Interface" from the device list in the manager section.
3. On PC2, specify the IP address of PC1 in the file [RK7 path]\bin\win\media\Settings.xml ("Settings" element, "Host" attribute).
4. Restart PC2.
5. After PC2 startup, launch manually the file [RK7 path]\bin\win\media\SecondScreen.exe (you can also create a shortcut in the autoloading menu, so that you would not have to do it manually every time).
6. On PC1, configure the Second Screen as usual, and then delete or rename the file [RK7 path]\bin\win\media\SecondScreen.exe.
7. Restart PC1.

If you need to launch a second screen on a PC without the manager station (PC2), create the same path to the win\media directory, as on PC1, and then copy the "media" folder there from PC1. After that, perform the actions as described above.

Note

Geometric characteristics (height, width, upper left corner coordinates) of SecondScreen.exe on PC2 should be specified in SecondScreen.ini, located on PC1 in the cash station folder.

Reports

1. You can review the Service Quality Index, if it is used in RK7 reports (available in the "Bills" data set , ID=14).
2. The quality index can take the following two values: good=1, bad=5.
3. You can find the quality index in RK7 database, table [PRINTCHECKS], field [SQI].

Quality index

1. After the order is paid, you can provide a feedback (corresponding buttons are available).

Configure the corresponding buttons in the \media\skin.xml file, in the following block:

<QualityServise Enabled="1" Text="ASSESS OUR WORK" FontSize="32" FontColor="0xfff9d4" Image="qs_image.png" BtnNegativeA="qs_negative_a.png" BtnNegativeB="qs_negative_b.png" BtnPositiveA="qs_positive_a.png" BtnPositiveB="qs_positive_b.png"/>

1. After the data is assessed, it will be written into the database, and the user will receive the following message.
2. You can print SQI or its associated text in virtually any document (in this case, it is usually necessary to edit the relevant layout).