micros Systems, Inc.

Interface- and Protocol

Specifications

micros 8700
Asynchronous Serial and TCP based SIM/ISL interfaces

Copyright 1999
MICROS-Fidelio Software GmbH & Co. KG
All rights reserved
1st Edition

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Table of contents

TCP INTERFACE ........................................................................................................................................... 3

TCP CONNECTION .......................................................................................................................................... 3
PINGING .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
TCP INTERFACE CODE EXAMPLE ................................................................................................................... 3
MESSAGE FORMAT ..................................................................................................................................... 3

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TCP Interface
This interface is designed to connect the 8700 System to systems using the TCP/IP networking
protocol. You can also use this interface to facilitate communications between the POS
application and the third party applications that reside on the same UNIX platform as the 8700
System Software. The interface is compatible with many forms of Local Area Networks (LANs)
and Wide Area Networks (WANs). When running across WANs make sure that the timeout is
set accordingly.

TCP Connection
The 8700 interface connects to the TCP port as a client. The third-party Server should accept
TCP connections from the 8700 interface client on the default port 5009. This port can be
changed to any value above 5009 if needed.

Pinging
The TCP connection has a typical keep-alive time-out of two hours, In order to detect a
down interface more quickly and re-establish the connection, the 8700 interface periodically
sends a ping message to the server about every 5 minutes. The server should detect the ping
message and return the message in its original format.
The format of the ping message should be as follows:
SOH

<ID>

STX

ETX

EOT

The ID source segment contains a null address: the POS UWS number will be zero and the
interface name will be blank.

TCP Interface Code Example

we provide sample code samples that might help you to get started. Please contact your local
micros dealer in case you want to get hold of these code samples.

Message Format
The form of message initiated by the MICROS POS System and the PMS Computer have the following
format:

SOH

SOH

<ID>

STX

FS

<Application_Sequence> <Application_Data>

ETX

<CKSUM>

EOT

The SOH character (Start Of Header) serves a message lead-in character that identifies the start
of a new message. The SOH character is represented by the 7-bit hexadecimal value 01h, plus a
parity bit, if applicable.

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<ID>

The <ID> character field identifies the source (when sent by the POS-System) and the
destination of a message (when sent by the PMS computer).
The format of this segment is as follows:

Field
POS UWS
Number

Length
9 bytes

Format
9 ASCII Digits

Interface Name

16 Bytes

16 ASCII Characters

Remarks
Contains leading zeroes and is
between 1 and 999999999.
This is the object number of
the UserWorkStation in the
8700 database
Uses IBM PC character set

STX

The STX (Start of TeXt) serves as a data field lead-in character that identifies the start of the
message data block. The STX character is represented by the 7-bit hexadecimal value 02h, plus
a parity bit if applicable.

FS

The FS (Field Separator) identifies this message as a SIM message data block. The FS
character is represented by the 7-bit hexadecimal value 1Ch, plus a parity bit if applicable.

<Application_Sequence>
The Application_Sequence segment comprises a two-digit sequence number and a
retransmission flag. Each POS UWS application increments its own sequence number with each
message. When a message is being retransmitted, the same sequence number will be used as the
original message. In addition, a retransmission flag character is provided.
The format of this segment is as follows

Field
Applications
Sequence
Number
Retransmission
Flag Character

Length
2 Bytes

Format
2 ASCII digits

1 Byte

Space or R

Remarks
May contain leading spaces or
zeroes and is between 01 and
99
R character (ASCII 52h) is
placed in this field if this is a
retransmission message

The Application_Sequence number is initially set to 01 when the applications starts. The
application rolls the sequence number back to 01 after 99.
If the third-party system receives a message containing the same sequence number as the
previous message and the retransmission flag is set, the third party should retransmit the last
response.

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<Application_Data>
The total size of the message can be 32K from the SOH to the EOT. There are a maximum of
37 bytes overhead, which means that the maximum byte count of all fields and field separators
is 32768 37, or 32731 bytes.

Note
While the asynchronous serial interface messages are not limited, it is
recommended that they be no more than 1024 bytes in length, so that the
interface remains responsive.

Multiple fields can comprise this segment. Individual fields within the Application_Data
segment are separated by the ASCII field separator character (1Ch).
In addition, the first field within the Application_Data segment defines the name of the 8700
interface procedure to execute when processing the response message.

ETX

The ETX character (End of TeXt) serves as a data field lead-out character that identifies the
end of message data block. The ETC character is represented by 7-bit hexadecimal value 03h,
plus a parity bit, if applicable.

<CKSUM> The CKSUM field is only used when communicating over an asynchronous serial interface. A
TCP-based interface will ignore this field, so it can be omitted from the message format. When
the CKSUM is part of the message, however, the CKSUM field contains the checksum
characters of the message. This field is 4 numeric ASCII-hex characters represented by the
ASCII character codes in the range 30h through 39h (0 through 9) and 41h through 46h
(A through F), plus parity bits, if applicable. The <CKSUM> field always follows the ETX
character.
The checksum (initially set to zero) is a 16-bit binary addition (excluding parity bits, if
applicable) of all characters after, but not including, the SOH character and through, including,
the ETX character. The checksum accumulation is then encoded into the equivalent ASCIIHEX character representation (plus parity bits, if applicable) so the <CKSUM> field is suitable
for transmission over the communications channel.
For example, if the resulting 16-bit checksum has the hexadecimal value of D2B9, it would be
encoded into ASCII characters D (44H), 2 (32H), B (42H) and 9 (39H) with the
character D transmitted first.

EOT

The EOT (End Of Transmission) serves as a message lead-out character and identifies the end
of a message. The EOT character is represented by the 7-bit hexadecimal value 04h, plus a
parity bit, if applicable.

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