The Personal Discount System — hereinafter PDS — is aimed to maintain a base of personal payment and discount cards, and manage the work with different elements of the loyalty system, such as discounts, bonuses, savings, etc.
Details of PDS installation and configuration are described in the Installing and Configuring PDS article.
Before reading this article, please follow the instructions from Installing and Configuring PDS and start PDS as independent software. |
The CARDSERV version should be 5.08 — version 14 protocol — or later. If the Farcards card repeater is used, its version should be at least 3.02 |
Standard installation and configuration of the card server is described in the Installing and Configuring PDS article.
After CARDSERV standard installation and configuration, to connect the system to r_keeper 7, do the following:
cardsserv.ini — a prepared file located in the \bin\For cardsserv\ini\ directory. This file is adapted exclusively for the connection of the card server with r_keeper. If there is no connection with r_keeper 7, then use this file.
If there is no corresponding archive in the standalone\ folder of the r_keeper 7 version, but there is a cash desk installer RK7_Cash_Setup_7.5.X.exe, the set of libraries must be taken from the directory specified during installation, and be sure to click the "Add" button after choosing the path to save the pds_netk.dll. |
Add the pds_netk.dll link library to the [LinkDLL] section for interaction with r_keeper 7:
[LinkDLL] ... 3 = pds_netk |
Add the [pds_netk] section with the parameters of the pds_netk.dll library:
[pds_netk]
NetServerName=PDS_CARDSERVER_1 ;; card server network name, the same name must be specified in the PDS interface properties on the cash server, find the details below
ERRORLOG=pds_netk.stk ;; log file name
ININAME=netk.ini ;; name of a separate configuration file with protocol and netkern settings, optional parameter
PROTOCOLS=netkprot\*.dll ;; netkern protocol library search mask, used if ININAME parameter is not specified
Timeout=120000 ;; timeout in milliseconds, the maximum allowed time for the server to execute a request; before pds_netk version 5, the default value was 10000
;; starting from version 10 (7.10.0.32) the parameter value is ignored, there is no timeout on the server; only the timeout is checked, which is configurable
;; in the properties of the PDS driver/interface for the cash server
DebugMessages=0 ;; if set to 1, logs basic information on all queries |
Remember that the RTCP protocol is required for the interaction between the card server and the card editor. |
An example of loaded link libraries on the card server version 7.22.02:
Standard installation and configuration of the card editor are described in Installing and Configuring PDS.
The card editor — PCards.exe — and the r_keeper 7 cash server midserv.exe use configuration files with the same name — RKEEPER.INI, so they should be installed in different directories. If you need to install applications in one directory, you should use a different configuration file for the cash server and force the name of this file to be specified on the command line when you start the cash server. |
After PCards standard installation and configuration, to connect the system to r_keeper 7, do the following:
Add the [PCGET] section with the parameters of the Pcget.dll library:
[PCGET] Server = RK7_REF_SRV - the name of the RK7 reference server Client = PCARDS_CLIENT1 - the unique client name ShowMarkups = 0 – to load(1) or not(0) markups to the list of discounts LastLoginName= - the name of the last user who logged into the card editor, is filled in automatically |
Add the [NETKERN] section for network settings — see Supported Protocols and Network Configuration for more details.
[NETKERN] PROTOCOLS= tcpsoc.dll |
Add the [TCPDNS] section with parameters specifying the location of the r_keeper 7 system reference server:
[TCPDNS] RK7_REF_SRV = AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD:1234 - where AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD is the IP address of the machine on which the reference server is running, and 1234 is the port of the reference server. |
Launch the card editor. If the database is new, then use the following login details: user = ucs, password = ucs.
The rights in the card editor are editable for the role, so you need to give all rights to the Administrator group. To do this, go to the File > Users reference, select a role and allow all operations. |
Next, you need to check the availability of discounts and bonuses in the client data editing mode. Read more about how to add a client and a card in the user manual.
In the properties of the PDS server name parameter, in the Basic section, specify the name of the card server in the String line. This name should match the value of the NetServerName parameter from CARDSERV.INI, but is not an optional condition.
Setting the PDS server name parameter is not relevant when using several PDS interfaces on one cash server. The priority of this server name is lower than that of the name specified in the interface properties on the cash server, as in the figure below. |
In the Service > Stations and Devices menu, select the required cash server, and add the PDS Interface on the Drivers tab
In the interface properties, specify the name of the card server — the PDS Server name parameter, the value of which should correspond to the value of the NetServerName parameter from the card server configuration file — CARDSERV.INI
If necessary, fill in or configure other interface parameters:
Currency Rate Class Code = 1 — PDS currency rate class code. 1 – national currency class.
Tax Code = 1 — tax code.
Call Timeout = 120 — timeout for accessing the PDS server in seconds.
Maximal Discount Value=0 = Discount limit spent totally — interpretation of the zero value of the discount limit returned by the map server:
Discount limit spent totally — the discount limit has been fully used up, is the default value. No limits — ignore the discount limit.
Defaulter Type Code as = Defaulter type code - interpretation of the defaulter code:
Defaulter type code - use as the defaulter type code, is the default value. Currency subaccount base - addition to the subaccount number, i.e. for different cards, different numbers (codes) will be added to the subaccount number.
In the manager menu Service > Interfaces, select the logical interface Personal Discount System (PDS) and check the established correspondences for POS servers and PDS interfaces, then restart the POS server.
Properties of the logical interface Personal Discount System (PDS):
In the manager menu Tools > Device signal processing > MCR algorithms configure the MCR algorithm.
The MCR algorithm of the PDS must have the Interface area, the object is the pre-installed logical interface Personal Discount System (PDS).
The MCR algorithm parameter is a string containing the card code in decimal form, if the reader transmits the code in hexadecimal form, it must be converted to decimal using the inttostr and strtoint functions.
For example: Parameter:=inttostr(strtoint('$'+Parameter)).
Parameters of the MCR algorithm for use with the PDS interface:
It is allowed to use employee cards as PDS cards - in this case, there should be two MCR algorithms:
One with interface area
Other with scope Worker
In the MCR order editor, the worker algorithm will be ignored if the temporary registration form is not entered.
For more information about MCR algorithms, see the document Configuring MCR algorithms.
Payment and replenishment of PDS cards at the cash desk of RK7
To be able to pay and replenish PDS cards at the RK7 checkout, you must:
Launch the manager station, open the Settings > Parameters menu and go to the section Station operation parameters > Order editing > Order settlement/payment.
Select the Payment by payment card option and select the Ask option for the Value property.
In the manager menu Money > Currencies, select the currency for the PDS and in the Interface property specify the PDS logical interface, also set the Transaction ID property to 0.
The Interface section is only available for dealers.
Currency properties for PDS:
The Interface required parameter is deprecated in versions 7.5.3.260 and higher.
In the manager menu Money > Discounts and Mark-ups, create an amount mark-up that will be used when replenishing the card, set the Transaction Code property to 0.
The Interface section is only available for dealers.
Margin properties for replenishing VDS cards:
In the manager menu Money > Reasons for depositing/withdrawing money, create a reason and fill in the following properties:
Balance replenishment - Fiscal
Depositing money - Yes
markup - you
take the markup created in the previous step.
Properties of the reason for depositing/withdrawing money for replenishing VDS cards:
In order for the amounts paid in not to be reflected in the fiscal registrar as a deposit, in the properties of the print scheme Balance replenishment for the property Class main. printer, specify a different printer, or select Do not print.
Print scheme properties Replenishment of balance:
To print the layouts of Replenishment of balance and Withdrawal of money from the PDS card, it is necessary to make copies of the layouts of Replenishment of balance and Withdrawal of money from the PDS card, then set the TRAINING flag in the properties.
Properties of the Balance replenishment and Withdrawal of money from VDS card layouts:
Read the card at the cash station in the order editing mode - a window with information on the card and its owner should appear (in this example, the card is not in the database).
An example of a window at the cash station RK7 after reading the VDS card:
If the client has a photo in the card editor, but it is not displayed at the checkout, then it is necessary to enable the parameter [All] - [Setting] - [Communication with other systems] - [Personal cards] - [PDS Show picture] in the manager station r_k 7 .
Debugging the interaction of the RK7 cash server via the PDS protocol
In some cases, it may be necessary to debug (advanced logging) the interaction of the cash server r_k 7 (MIDSERV) via the PDS protocol (Farcards, Cardserv).
Prerequisites for using debugging:
The version of pds_netk.dll must be at least 7.0.29.0. The current version of the library can be taken from any current binary distribution of RK7 in the \bin\For cardsserv directory
When updating pds_netk.dll, it is recommended to also update a set of related libraries: errors32.dll, Netkern.dll, etc. - see the full list above.
Libraries need to be updated in all working directories where they are used: RK7, Cardserv, Farcards, etc.
To enable debugging, you need to:
In the FARCARDS.INI and/or CARDSERV.INI configuration file, add the DebugMessages=1 parameter in the [pds_netk] section:
[pds_netk]
...
DebugMessages=1
...
Add the DebugMessages=34 parameter in the [Config] section of the RKEEPER.INI POS server configuration file:
[config]
...
DebugMessages=34
...
Restart all applications: cash server, Farcards, Cardserv, etc.
Extended logging will be recorded in the pds_netk.stk file.
If necessary, pass the debug result, e.g. to the support service, in addition to the pds_netk.stk file, you will also need the logs of the cash station (cash.stk), cash server (midsrv.stk), Farcards (Farcards.LOG) and/or Cardserv (Cardserv.log).