UcsFPHub

Unicontsoft Fiscal Printers Hub -- a REST service to provide remote access to locally attached fiscal devices

Description

Unicontsoft Fiscal Printers Hub repository builds the standalone UcsFPHub service executable that can run as a background process or an NT service and can provide shared access to some or all of the fiscal devices that are attached to a particular client workstation.

The wire protocols implementation is provided by the parent UcsFP20 component and supports serial COM ports connectivity to locally attached devices as well as TCP/IP (LAN) connectivity to remote ones. Most locally attached fiscal devices can be auto-detected on startup or on demand by the UcsFPHub service too.

You can use a settings file to allow and configure fiscal printers sharing, including the available endpoints on which UcsFPHub service is accessible as a JSON based REST service (local TCP/IP ports), a Service Broker queue (through Microsoft SQL Server connection) or a MySQL message queue (through as custom Poor Man's Message Queue™ implementation).

Command-line options

UcsFPHub.exe service executable accepts these command-line options:

Option	Long Option	Description
-c FILE	--config FILE	FILE is the full pathname to UcsFPHub service configuration file. If no explicit configuration options are used the service tries to find UcsFPHub.conf configuration file in the application folder. If still no configuration file is found the service auto-detects printers and starts a local REST service listener on 127.0.0.1:8192 by default.
-i	--install	Installs UcsFPHub as NT service. Can be used with -c to specify custom configuration file to be used by the NT service.
-u	--uninstall	Stops and removes the UcsFPHub NT service.
-s	--systray	Starts hidden with the application icon in the system notification area only.
	--console	Starts as a console application (no GUI) with output to console.

Configuration

The service can be configured via an optional UcsFPHub.conf file in JSON format. Not using a config file defaults to sharing all auto-detected devices on local COM ports and starting a REST endpoint on 127.0.0.1 port 8192/tcp that is accessible locally only.

Here is a sample settings file:

{
    "Printers": {
        "AutoDetect": true,
        "PrinterID1": {
            "DeviceString": "Protocol=DATECS;Port=COM2;Speed=115200",
            "Description": "Втори етаж, счетоводството"
        }
    },
    "Endpoints": [
        {
            "Binding": "RestHttp", 
            "Address": "0.0.0.0:8192" 
        },
        { 
            "Binding": "MssqlServiceBroker", 
            "ConnectString": "Provider=SQLNCLI11;DataTypeCompatibility=80;MARS Connection=False;Data Source=SQL-PC;Initial Catalog=Dreem15_Personal;User ID=db_user;Password=%_UCS_SQL_PASSWORD%",
            "SshSettings": "Host=ssh.mycompany.com;User ID=ssh_user;Password=%_UCS_SSH_PASSWORD%",
            "QueueName": "POS-PC/12345",
            "QueueTimeout": 5000,
            "SyncDateTimeAdjustTolerance": 120
        },
        { 
            "Binding": "MysqlMessageQueue", 
            "ConnectString": "Driver={MySQL ODBC 8.0 Unicode Driver};Server=localhost;Database=MyAppDatabase;UID=root;PWD=%_UCS_MYSQL_PASSWORD%",
        },
    ],
    "Environment": {
        "_UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_LOG": "C:\\Unicontsoft\\POS\\Logs\\UcsFP20.log",
        "_UCS_SSH_PASSWORD": "s3cr3t"
    }
}

%VAR_NAME% placeholders are expanded with values from current process environment. The Printers collection lists available fiscal devices while the Endpoints array defines where the service will be accessible from for new client connections. The Environment collection can be conveniently used to setup values in the service's process environment.

Currently the UcsFPHub service supports these endpoint bindings:

Binding	Description
RestHttp	(Optional) Starts a REST service to listen on HTTP endpoint on local IP and TCP port. (See PROTOCOL.md for protocol description)
MssqlServiceBroker	(Optional) Starts a Service Broker service on a Service Broker queue in a designated SQL Server database. (See db/combined-SQL-Server.sql stored procedures installation script)
MysqlMessageQueue	(Optional) Starts a listener on a custom message queue in a designated MySQL database. (See db/combined-MySQL.sql tables and stored procedures installation script)
Local	Always registers a local out-of-process COM server on UcsFPHub.LocalEndpoint file moniker. (Accessible via GetObject("UcsFPHub.LocalEndpoint") in VBScript/VBA).

With this flexible configuration options it is possible to setup none, one or several RestHttp endpoints to listen and be accessible on different IP addresses/TCP ports. Similarly you can setup several MssqlServiceBroker queues in different SQL Server databases to simultaneously share all (or some) locally attached fiscal devices.

Currently the UcsFPHub service checks these environment variables:

Variable	Description
_UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_LOG	Set to c:\path\to\UcsFP.log to log client connections/requests and communication with fiscal devices
_UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_DATA_DUMP	Set to 1 to include data transfer dump in _UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_LOG
_UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_FLUSH_LOG	Set to 1 to force flush log file to disk after each append
_UCS_FISCAL_PRINTER_USE_XMLHTTP	Set to 1 for PROXY protocol to use MSXML2.XMLHTTP instead of MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP for http requests
_UCS_SSH_PLINK	Set to full pathname to plink.exe to spawn when setting up SSH tunnels
_UCS_RC4_SALT	Set to correct string to decrypt passwords in external .ini files
_UCS_FP_HUB_AUTO_UPDATE	Set to full path and filename of an external bootstrapping executable

Device strings

The device strings are meant to configure the connection that is used for communication with the fiscal device. Each device string is a list of entries (Key=Value pairs) separated by a semi-colon which is a very similar concept to a database connection string.

Here is a short list of entries supported, all of which are optional unless marked required:

Key	Type	Protocol	Description
Protocol	string		(Required) See Available protocols below
Port	string		Serial port the device is attached to (e.g. COM1)
Speed	number		Baud rate of serial port used (e.g. 9600)
Persistent	bool		Keep serial port open after operation complete (default No)
IP	address		IP address on which the device is accessible in LAN (e.g. 192.168.10.200)
Port	number		TCP port to connect to (e.g. 4999)
Timeout	number		Protocol timeout for complete command execution (e.g. 15000 ms)
ConnectionTimeout	number		Connector timeout for connection attempt (e.g. 3000 ms)
RowChars	number		Total number of characters printable on paper roll (default to auto-detected)
CommentChars	number		Maximum number of characters available for a comment row (default to auto-detected)
ItemChars	number		Maximum number of characters available for product name (default to auto-detected)
MinDiscount	number		Minimum percent discount (default -100)
MaxDiscount	number		Maximum percent discount (default 100)
MaxReceiptLines	number		Total number of lines in a receipt supported by the device
MaxItemLines	number		Maximum number of lines to print for a PLU row (default 2)
CodePage	number		Code page to use when encoding strings to/from the device (e.g. 1251 or 866)
MaxPaymentLen	number	Datecs	Maximum number of symbols in a payment name (default 16)
PingTimeout	number	Tremol	Timeout for replay from fast online check (default 200 ms)
DetailedReceipt	bool	Tremol	For each PLU print quantity, price and total on separate lines like on invoices (default Off)
PrintVat	bool	Tremol	Include total VAT by tax groups in footer like on invoices (default Off)
DelayPrint	bool	Tremol	Spool receipt data to device before printing (default On)
BufferPrint	bool	Tremol	Buffer receipt data (default Off)
TemplateFile	string	Label	Label templates JSON configuration (default LabelTemplates.conf)
AllowUnstable	bool	Scales	When reading is unstable does not wait but returns current weight (default Off)
AllowZero	bool	Scales	When reading is empty does not wait but returns current weight (default Off)

Available protocols

Here is a complete list of implemented protocols with corresponding tested and supported models:

Protocol	Manufacturer	Tested models	Other supported models
TREMOL	Tremol Ltd.	M20	All
DATECS	Datecs Ltd.	DP-25, FP-650	A models, B models
DATECS/X	Datecs Ltd.	DP-25X	X models
DAISY	Daisy Ltd.	CompactM	All
INCOTEX	Incotex Ltd.	181, 777	All
ELTRADE	Eltrade Ltd.	A3	All
ESC/POS	Tremol Ltd.	EP-80250	ESC/POS "kitchen" printers
LABEL	Datecs Ltd.	LP-50, LP-50MX	EPL-2 label printers
SCALES	Bimco Ltd.	B6, B600	Elicom, Dibal, Mettler, Delmac & CAS
PROXY	Unicontsoft	UcsFPHub	All

REST service protocol description

All URLs are case-insensitive i.e. /printers, /Printers and /PRINTERS are the same address. Printer IDs are case-insensitive too. Each fiscal device is identified by :printer_id which can be either its serial number as reported by the fiscal device or an alias assigned in the service configuration.

See PROTOCOL.md in root on the repo for each REST service endpoint description and sample usage.