Micros 3700 Printer Question/Problem

[ZeBrain1]

I am trying to add a new IDN kitchen printer for expediter use only when needed. This means we want to turn this printer on when the going gets tough in order to assist at peak times in the kitchen by enabling this new printer to run in conjunction with the Hot printer already printing orders. I have it printing just fine until we turn it off, at which time it redirects or uses a backup printer that is NOT administered for this printer! Under the devices, I have erased the option for backup printing on this new printer and yet it still prints a backup on some other unrelated printer?

Can you help me understand if the system will even allow a printer to come into play when needed and not have errors when it goes offline?

Bryan

 

[Wildbar]

In Managers Procedures enable it when you need it and isable it when you don't Should solve the errors when it's off line

 

[Wildbar]

Disable" it should say. Guess i should preview my posts

 

[ZeBrain1]

Thanks Wildbar. The procedure that you describe is what I actually ended up doing because I could not force the backup to be none....if that makes any sense.

What you have done, is made it alot easier to deactivate by showing me an alternative way of redirecting the printer in question. For that I am totally grateful becuae after discussing it with the Chef, he agreed that the procedure was simple enough that he could incorporate the process into his routine.

I would like the printer to behave as it it should, meaning that if I do not have a backup printer administered, that there really is no backup! Therefore the printer switch becomes the on/off of this particular printer without generating errors to the workstation.

I really do appreciate your promptness too! You are awesome!

Regards,

Bryan

 

[ZeBrain1]

Sorry Wildbar, I meant to say that I figured exactly what you described, but the hard way by logging intot the server and going into pos configurator, devices, order devices and redirecting in there. I forgot that you could also do it from workstations..my stupidity, that's all!

Thanks again!

 

[regilobo]

We have a separate Printer Redirect screen available for managers to use which simplifies the process of redirection and enabling/disabling order devices.

1. Create a script to update the database order device table

This batch file does the trick. Add it to your scripts directory: redirect_order_device.bat

:: Redirect Order Device
:: Arguments: Source_Device_Object, Destination_Device_Object
::
:: Example: redirect_order_device.bat 1 2
::		Redirects order device 1 to 2
::
:: How It Works ::
:: Echo the sql statement to a file embedded with script arguments, then execute it against the db
::
:: Replace isql with dbisql for ver 3.0 and above

echo update micros.order_device_def set redirect = %2 where ord_dvc_seq = %1 > redirect_order_device.sql
dbisql -q -c "uid=support;pwd=support" redirect_order_device.sql

2. Setup External Programs
Create as many external programs as you have printer redirections.
Use the following settings:
[ul]
[li]User Interface: None[/li]
[li]Run Style: Normal[/li]
[li]Run in separate virtual machine: unchecked[/li]
[li]Object Range Type: blank[/li]
[li]Working Directory: ..\Scripts[/li]
[li]Command Line: (varies, see below)[/li]
[/ul]

DISABLE EXPO (order device #3)
..\Scripts\redirect_order_device.bat 3 NULL
ENABLE EXPO (order device #3)
..\Scripts\redirect_order_device.bat 3 3
REDIRECT Line to Pantry
..\Scripts\redirect_order_device.bat 1 2
RESET Line
..\Scripts\redirect_order_device.bat 1 1

3. Setup a touchscreen with buttons for each redirection.
We use a popup from the manager screen with separate buttons to:
[ul]
[li]Disable Expo: --> External Program: (406) Disable Expo Printer[/li]
[li]Enable Expo: --> External Program: (407) Enable Expo Printer[/li]
[li]Line -> Pantry: --> External Program: (408) Redirect Line->Pantry[/li]
[li]Reset Line --> External Program: (409) Reset Line[/li]
[li]Pantry -> Line: --> External Program: (410) Redirect Pantry->Line[/li]
[li]Reset Pantry --> External Program: (411) Reset Pantry[/li]
[/ul]

 

[Wildbar]

Regilobo,
Have you a similar script for changing kitchen themes?
Cheers

 

[regilobo]

Wildbar:
Sorry, I don't know anything about kitchen themes! Never used KDS.

If I had to guess, I'd look at the kds_theme_def table, assuming that's the table that is responsible for the active theme.

You could mess around with something like:

update micros.kds_theme_def set theme_active = 'F' where theme_active = 'T';
update micros.kds_theme_def set theme_active = 'T' where obj_num = 2;

If that works, then you could adapt the printer redirection stuff accordingly.

Good luck!

 

[ZeBrain1]

Wow Regilobo!

You are DAMN good! That is another real cool way to accomplish the same task! Awesome and thanks for the detail!

Speaking of KDS, we don't currently have a kitchen display and would like to know what are the system requirements for implementation? I can't seem to find any documentation that would help me understand the cost to add displays in the kitchen? Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!

 

[regilobo]

ZeBrain1: You can read up on KDS in the Feature Reference manual...it has quite a bit of info that should give you the lay of the land, hardware requirements, etc. You're basically going to have to get a license for KDS, plus a client license for each connected device. The KDS devices are usually touchscreen PCs, or a standard PC with a monitor and a connected bump bar.

For more info, I'd post a separate question...make sure to provide your current version of RES.