[Mitazake]

Hey guys,
I am currently working on a POS system for the gift shop at a hotel I work for. It is going pretty well and I am slowly seeing that this will be a very useful and helpful program for the frontdesk staff. I do however have a few ideas that maybe some of you here may have a better way or view on doing things.
Here's my functionality:

-Calculate cost including taxes for each sale
-Keep a running inventory of all items(includes number available, price, wholesale cost, number sold, maybe more not sure yet) all being saved on a remote access database file
-Multiple logins, one for each employee using the system. Debating on using a plain text file or database for this
-Keeping another database for the sales based on day/week/month/year for accounting purposes
-Making each sale recieve its own sales number so it can be looked up for reference
-And anything else the owners want on it or anything sugested here

So far I have basic functionality(records all sales into a text file) for easy lookup based on date/time. This is work in progress and will take some time to complete, but like I said I am open to your comments and opinions. Thanks for your time, happy coding!

Cory

[Curtis Rutland]

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Multiple logins, one for each employee using the system. Debating on using a plain text file or database for this

Neither would be my best answer. If they have separate windows logins, use that. That way, you don't have to be in the business of managing passwords at all (nasty business, since it's so sensitive).

If you absolutely have to manage the users yourself, don't use a flat file. That provides no security and is way too easily corruptible. Use a database. But make absolutely sure to salt and hash your passwords!

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Keeping another database

No. One database, multiple tables. Sql Server Express is free and powerful. I suggest using it.

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Making each sale recieve its own sales number so it can be looked up for reference

This should be the Sales table's primary key, and the DB can handle automatically assigning the unique and sequenced number.

[Mitazake]

Thanks for the quick response Curtis!
Yeah the login part is still up in the air, I'd like to track each employees transactions but will probably just end up making it a single login for all the frontdesk staff to save me the hassle of individual accounts.

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One database, multiple tables. Sql Server Express is free and powerful. I suggest using it.

Would you recomend having a dedicated computer for this or just run it virtually? I agree though, Sql is the way to go. Wasn't even thinking that. Thanks for your input though, will help a lot!

Cory

[Curtis Rutland]

It doesn't have to be completely dedicated to being a DB server, though that would be nice. But it's probably a good idea to have it running on a machine that's not the client machine.

As to logins, if they're logging into windows each with a different account, it's very easy to grab the current login name and use that as the agent's id. Otherwise, it's a good idea to implement some sort of login system.

Actually, have you considered making this a web application? Then you could easily use Forms authentication.

[Mitazake]

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It doesn't have to be completely dedicated to being a DB server, though that would be nice. But it's probably a good idea to have it running on a machine that's not the client machine.

Im sure I can get a dedicated computer for the server, doesnt need much plus I can run other things I have installed on other systems.

I havent even considering making it a web based app. Honestly I haven't worked with any web based programming yet(Im still in the learning phase) but that does sound much easier to control user logins. Unfortunately we do not have indiviual logins for the users, just one for each front desk computer. But I forgot to mention I was planning on having a computer dedicated for the POS, a touch screen tablet to make things easier.
I really appreciate your quick responses and great ideas!
Thanks,
Cory

[tlhIn`toq]

I can understand why you might want a separate POS logon system than the Windows logon. In theory if the hotel has implimentated a proper logon policy Curtis is right about using it. But very often I see places like that use a single Windows logon. All the clerks log on with "clerk/clerk" and that doesn't get you a good audit trail for money transactions.

I use a basic POS/cash registry model as a basis of a couple tutorials. Maybe there is some stuff in them you might find useful.

Bulding an application - Part 1
Building an application - Part 2

[Mitazake]

Nice, I'll take a look at your tutorials, thanks. We use a 3rd party program for the bookkeeping which requires user logins per employee, just the computers themselves have only 1 user so security really isnt an issue. Also they are on the satellite which has its own secured and monitored network(Im not saying its bullet-proof but it works)seperate from the hotel guests unsecured network. Thanks again for the ideas and opinions, I will keep this updated as I progress and run into more issues.

Cory