Securely delivering transactions since 1999...
EFTLink™ EFTPOS Terminal Interface Software
EFTLink™ is a "middleware" product that allows Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) to be added easily to most DOS or Win32® based point of sale application programs.
Interfacing with Win32® based programs
The Win32® version of EFTLink is provided in two forms to make interfacing to the Windows 95, 98 and NT applications a simply operation: as a DLL module, and as an self-registering OLE Server component.
Interfacing with DOS based programs
The DOS based product only uses 7K of base DOS memory. This makes it safe to use with modern feature rich DOS software that requires most of base memory to operate.
There are three methods of interfacing POS application software with the DOS based EFTLink: API, File and Legacy methods.
API Method
With the Application Program Interface (API) method, EFTLink is invoked by an interrupt call within the POS application program which passes transaction type (purchase, cash out or refund) and the EFT and sale amounts to EFTLink.
Once called, EFTLink takes control of the PC application and communicates with the COMM2000™ terminal. It independently, and without affecting the underlying POS application, displays its own screens, prompts the operator for input and uses the same receipt printer used by the point of sale application. Optional customer display, audit and slip printers may also be connected.
Finally, the results of the transaction are passed back to the POS application program.
File Method
With the File method, EFTLink is invoked by running the program and passing it information using an interchange data file. The EFTPOS results are returned in a nominated output file. This method proves useful in interfacing to programs that don't provide low level system calls, but can run external programs.
Legacy Method
The technology used in the Legacy method allows EFTLink to interface to POS application programs without any modification whatsoever to the POS application! Here, EFTLink is invoked by a hot key which can only happen at a nominated point in the POS application, as defined in the setup. EFTLink screen scrapes the EFT amount information directly from the screen.
On conclusion of the EFT transaction, EFTLink places the results of the transaction into the PC's keyboard buffer and then returns control to the underlying POS program. The effect of this is that upon a successful EFT transaction, the amount of the transaction is transparently 'typed into' the POS program.
This approach is ideally suited to adding EFTPOS to legacy POS application software where there is no ability to modify the application.
Compliance
The combined POS application/EFTLink software needs to be certified by the Commonwealth Bank before it can go live. CardGate.net manages the certification process with the Bank as a service provided with the EFTLink Software Development Kit.
Licensing
The EFTLink software licence fee is charged on a per terminal basis. In other words, a store with ten EFTPOS terminals on one site which are all interfaced using the EFTLink software will require ten licences.
Updated: Wednesday, 17-Nov-2004 15:14:35 AEDT