Foodman. Do-it-yourself Point-of-Sale (POS) Software Systems for Restaurants, Pizza, Fast Food, Delivery, corporate catering.
Modern computers are really ridiculously fast. Even the slowest
computer made today is much more powerful than a simple point-
of-sale system requires. This is good, it means you can buy
the cheapest computers you can find. The smallest hard-drive
which you can buy today (April, 2004) is about 10GB - big enough
to save all your POS stuff for several years. If you have old
computers sitting in the closet dig them out. If they will run
Windows (any version from 3.1 thru Windows 7 (32-bit only)
they will run Foodman.
Try them out to see if they work out OK. You need a minimum of
512mg of RAM to run dependably. Foodman will not run on 64-bit
versions of Windows without using XP compatibility mode which
is provided in the more expensive versions.
Search the Internet for your best hardware buys. You can buy
all the hardware you need at low-cost and just hire someone
to install it and set it up for you.
When you do it yourself, you don't have to pay anyone for
hardware support. If something breaks, just throw it away
and buy a new one - the hardware is inexpensive.
Refurbished equipment usually comes with a six-month warranty.
The odds are that if it survives the warranty period, it will
have a normal life-span. So, give refurbished stuff serious
consideration.
Just about all you need to know about hardware basics follows, if
you have questions, just call 800-971-3663.
Just Click on the following Links to go to a particular Topic.
Input Methods (Keyboard/Touchscreen).
Computers .
Monitors and Touchscreens.
Printers.
Cash Drawers.
Cables.
Black on Blue?
Networking.
Preparing to Install.
Microsoft Windows.
Typical Problems.
MSCONFIG
Windows Command (DOS) Prompt
Testing Parallel Printers
-INPUT METHODS-
Foodman gives you the choice of using either the keyboard
or a touchscreen monitor to enter orders. Before
deciding on which method to use, it is best to buy the
software first. Then, complete your Menu and decide which
to use.
You should also be aware that you can use the Mouse on the
Foodman touchscreens. Using the Mouse is a viable alternative
to using a touchscreen. The Mouse will work on a regular
(non-touchscreen) monitor.
Using the touchscreen is easier to learn and use, but the keyboard
can be faster.
-COMPUTERS-
Your minimum requirements for a PC running Foodman, either
single-user or network are:
1. Any Windows PC with any 32-bit version of Windows, including Windows 7).
2. One hard-drive. (Even a 10gb drive is MORE than adequate.)
3. One CD drive to load Windows.
4. At least 1GB of RAM.
A machine with insufficient memory will run slowly and may crash.
5. As many parallel ports as are required for your configuration.
6. A mouse.
7. A keyboard.
8. We strongly recommend having a "Memory Stick" flash drive to
make backups on.
Even the most basic computer sold today will typically meet these
requirements for less than $300.00.
See our home-page for sources of hardware.
-MONITORS-
Foodman requires your monitors to be set to 1024x768 resolution.
Touchscreen monitors start at about $360.00 retail. Shop
around on the Internet to look for the best deals. Be sure
you get the right cables and drivers for the one you choose.
IMPORTANT: If you have specified Large Fonts or changed the
colors of the desktop, you may have readability problems (Like
black letters on a dark-blue background!).
To fix this just change your settings back to the default settings.
You may also get improperly displayed screens if you are not using
True-Color 32bit colors.
To change your monitor settings, right-click on the Desktop,
click on Properties, click on Settings.
Touchscreen monitors can attach to either a serial port or
a special port provided by the manufacturer. The serial port
model is easier to install.
Touchscreen monitors pretend to be a mouse. You can use
your mouse on the Foodman touchscreens to see how a touchscreen
works - just click instead of touching.
-PRINTERS-
Please Note: Firewalls on your computer can cause printers not to work.
Google "firewall printer problems" to see numerous example of Firewalls
stopping printers from working. Anti-Virus software and screensavers
can also cause weird problems. Get rid of all that stuff which you
should not need anyway, since your POS computer(s) should NOT be on the
Internet.
There are dozens of printers. Epson, Star, Citizen are the big-
three.
There are three types of printer: Serial, USB and Parallel. Older
computers may have parallel or serial ports but the newer ones
will only have USB ports so your choice of printers is restricted
depending on the available ports.
Foodman will work with any type of printer but you may require
additional drivers depending on the exact configuration.
Feel free to call us to discuss your printer requirements.
See our Hardware link for printer dealers.
On networks, printers should be installed on the physically-
closest computer. Any computer can print to any printer on
a network.
Buying printers depends entirely on how much you want to spend
and what you need. They are all basically the same. They are
all dot-matrix and use either ribbons or thermal paper. The
cost of ribbons and paper may influence your decision - ask
about those items before you buy.
You can also easily acquire converters, for example, say you
had an old parallel printer but your new computer only has
USB ports. Cables are available which will connect your USB
port to the parallel printer.
IF you only have USB printers, you will need to acquire drivers
for them. If you have a single-user version of Foodman, you
need to download the driver from WWW.DOS2USB.COM.
If you have USB printers or some combination of Parallel, Serial
and USB printers and the multi-user version of Foodman, you
need to download the driver software from WWW.PRINTFIL.COM.
When using PRINTFIL,note that there are batch files in the Foodman
folder which will setup Printfil (PFSETUP.BAT) and start Printfil
(which you would do each day as you turned the PCs on). This is
called PFSTART.BAT. You only need to run PFSETUP.BAT once.
Also note that in System Setup/Printer Setup, the printer file
names to be used with PRINTFIL are at the bottom of the screen.
-CASH DRAWERS-
Cash drawers must be physically attached to the PRINTER, not the
computer. For this reason, be sure to specify which printer you
are using before ordering a cash drawer.
-CABLES-
The odds are that you will have to run cables, the cables may
have to be custom-made, so you might want to consider hiring
someone to do the installation for you, especially if you
require long cables.
-BLACK ON BLUE-
If you have changed your colors in Windows, you might get unreadable
combinations. Just change your colors back to the Windows default
to fix this problem.
-NETWORKS-
We do not recommend the use of a wireless network. Based on our
tests, a wireless network can be too slow. Furthermore, having
a wireless network can leave your network open to hacking.
On a network, the Foodman software is installed on the
computer designated as the FILE-SERVER, the other
computers are called WORK-STATIONS.
Foodman does NOT require a dedicated FILE-SERVER.
The Foodman software is EXECUTED on each WORK-STATION, but takes
the software and the data from the FILE-SERVER. In other words,
it does not use its own hard-drive, but the one on the FILE-SERVER
via the NETWORK.
On a network, Foodman is installed on drive C: on the FILE-SERVER.
That drive must be designated as a SHARED DRIVE. When the drive
is so designated, it will have another letter assigned to it.
When the software is run for the first time on a network, it will
prompt you to enter an unique User Number. Be sure to make the
numbers unique to each PC. If you need to change a User Number
for any reason, delete the file C:\FFM93A.DAT.
To assign a drive-letter to drive C: on the server, click on
start, click on my computer, then right click drive c:, then click
Properties. The following shows drive C: being given the shared
drive-letter of K. (you don't have to use K, you can use any
unused letter.)
(This image is from XP, Vista differs for no imaginable reason.)
ON THE SERVER, the SHORTCUT to run Foodman will specify
drive C: as the TARGET. E.g., C:\XSS\SS.EXE would run
Server-Station. Be sure the START-IN directory is either
C:\XOD, C:\XSS or C:\XHD appropriately.
The SHORTCUTs ON THE WORK-STATIONS would specify drive K:
appropriately. For example, K:\XSS\SS.EXE. DO NOT USE the
computer-name in the SHORTCUT TARGET on the WORK-STATION.
DO NOT INSTALL FOODMAN ON ANY WORK-STATIONS.
Foodman is installed in one of the following directories
(Folders): C:\XOD, C:\XSS or C:\XHD appropriately.
The NET USE command can be used to assign a drive-letter
on workstations, e.g. NET USE K: \\SERVERNAME\K
This command has to be given at the command prompt.
NOTE: If running Windows Vista, Foodman must be
"Run as Administrator" since it writes data to drive C:
To eliminate this annoyance, you need to turn off "User Account
Control". Turn it off in the Control Panel under "User Accounts".
-PREPARING FOR INSTALLATION.
The versions of Windows which come with computers from
the big companies like Dell, HP, etc. have customized
versions of Windows which may not be compatible with other
hardware. Also, when in need of support you have to call
the appropriate manufacturer. For this reason, we recommend
buying computers which do not have Windows installed and
buying your own version of Microsoft Windows. Those computers
also come pre-loaded with lots of software which you
will probably never use (or even know about) and which
may well cause problems. And, you can get support directly
from Microsoft rather than the manufacturer.
You can tell if there is other software running on
your computer by running MSCONFIG (See below).
You need to get rid of that extraneous software which
will free up resources on the computer and make it run
faster. Most computers come with all sorts of stuff
installed which you will never use and which are
hogging resources.
That other software can also interfere with Foodman. So,
before you install the system in your business, it may
be a good idea to REFORMAT the hard drive to get rid of
software you neither need nor want, and install the SAME
VERSION of Windows on all computers.
You should also take care to prevent installation of other
software on your computers by your employees either with
or without your consent. You might wish to remove the CD
drive from the computers since you will rarely use it.
It is not a good idea to have your POS computers on-line to
the Internet. To do so exposes your computers to risk of
viruses, and other types of nasty software. In addition, you
do not want your employees surfing the Internet on your POS
system.
When short of space, be aware that you can hang computers on
the wall or stand them on their side.
-MICROSOFT WINDOWS-
When you buy a computer, buy one that does not come with
Windows already installed. Just buy a legitimate copy of
Windows (any version) on eBay or elsewhere and install it
yourself. This will entitle you to support directly from
Microsoft in case you need it.
After installing Windows on the re-formatted (see above) drive,
be sure to run MSCONFIG (See below).
-TYPICAL PROBLEMS-
1. GENERAL PROTECTION FAULTS.
These are always caused by conflicts with OTHER software running
on the PC. To make the problem go away, do the following.
Run MSCONFIG (See below) to rid your PC of this problem.
2. LOAD FAILURE (on xxxxxxx).
This should only happen on networks and indicates that there
is something wrong with the shortcut to the software on the
server. See: Networking.
3. FONTS
Foodman uses the standard Windows Fonts which SHOULD be on every
Windows PC. Unfortunately, because of bugs in Windows, the fonts
on the Foodman screens may not display correctly.
Foodman uses the Britannic Bold font.
If you have changed the colors in Windows, you may get unreadable
screens with black text on a blue background.
See: Fonts and Colors.
4. NOT INSTALLED PROPERLY.
On some Vista machines, there can be an occasional machine which
gives a message to the effect that the software did not install
properly. When you run Foodman after this message, Foodman gives
an appropriate message. If this happens, right click on the Foodman icon
on the desktop, then click properties, then click "Run as Administrator".
MSCONFIG.
MSCONFIG is a utility provided with Windows (except Windows 2000).
Virtually every PC which one could buy these days comes loaded
with free software and other stuff of dubious value.
That software is set to automatically run when you turn the
PC on. Needless to say, having all that stuff running at
the same time with Foodman can cause problems.
Basically, you don't want any of the free stuff to run automatically
since all it does is slow things down and mess things up.
So, turn it all off, as follows:
Click on Start
Click on Run
Enter 'MSCONFIG'
Click on Startup Tab
Click on Disable All
Click on apply
Click on OK
then, reboot your PC. You should do this about once a month,
because, as you will learn, things turned-off turn themselves
back on again which is very annoying.
Here is a screenshot of MSCONFIG:
- TESTING PARALLEL PRINTERS -
You can test to see if a parallel printer is working by using
the command 'DIR>LPT1' at the command prompt. If nothing prints,
then the printer or something is not working.
Do the same test for printers on the other parallel ports:
'DIR>LPT2' and 'DIR>LPT3'.
Sometimes, for unkown reasons, even though you may have only
one parallel port and logically assumed that it woudl be LPT1,
it might have installed itself as LPT2 or LPT3.
- WINDOWS COMMAND PROMPT -
There will be times when it is either necessary or desirable to
use the Command prompt. To get there, do the following:
Click on Start
Click on Run
Enter 'CMD' or use 'COMMAND'
or, for Vista:
Click on Start
Enter 'CMD'
A black command prompt window will then appear. To get into the appropriate
Foodman folder, enter one of the following:
CD\XSS for Server-Station
CD\XHD for Home-Delivery
CD\XOD for Office-Delivery
The prompt will then become either: C:\XSS>, C:\XHD> OR C:\XOD>
You can then type the following commands:
DIR/P - will list the contents of the folder.
Assuming that you have a memory stick, you can backup the entire
Foodman folder to the stick by using the COPY command. Assume that
the drive-letter of your memory stick is 'E:'.
COPY *.* E: this will copy the entire folder to the stick.
COPY FFM*.* E: this will copy all the data files to the stick.
In normal practice, use the Foodman File Manager to make backups
of your data files.
If you suffer a power outage there is a possibility that you will
damage the day's data file (Invoice File). In that case you have
to rebuild the file and that is done at the Command prompt.
If a file becomes damaged, the following screen will appear. This
screen explicitly states how to rebuild the damaged file. Just
follow the instructions.
