FooodPosWiki

The pole display

The small two-line display on a pole facing the customer. Switch it on under Hardware, Pole display, choose the COM port (Windows) or the USB device (Android), the baud rate, the command set and the characters per line, type your two lines for between bills, and press Test. What it shows at each moment of a bill.

Who uses it:OwnerManagerWhere:Windows POSAndroid POS
On this page

A pole display is the small screen of two lines of letters, on a pole by the counter, facing the customer. While the cashier rings up a bill it shows each dish and its price, then the total, what was paid and the change. Between bills it shows two lines of your own, such as WELCOME and your outlet's name.

It is not the big second screen: that is the customer display. A POS can have both at once, and both follow the same bill.

Everything about the pole display is set on the POS itself, under Hardware, Pole display. Nothing is set in the back office: the settings are kept on that device only, saved at each press, and stay there even if the POS is paired again.

Before you start

  • The display is plugged into the POS:
    • Windows: on a serial (COM) port, or on USB. A USB display shows on Windows as a COM port too.
    • Android: on the device's USB port. The device must be able to host USB devices.
  • Find in the display's manual which command set it understands and at which baud rate (speed). If you do not know, start with ESC/POS (Epson) and 9600, and use Test.

Open it

  1. On the POS's Tables screen, press ⚙️ (Settings) at the top right.
  2. Press Hardware.
  3. In the list on the left, press Pole display, after Customer display.

The page, part by part

Hardware, Pole display, on a Windows POS, switched on.
  1. Pole display: its page in the Hardware list.
  2. Use a pole display: the switch, Off until you switch it on. While this is off, nothing is sent to any port. The rest of the page shows only while it is on.
  3. The state line: Off, No port chosen, or the port, the speed and the command set, such as COM3 · 9600 · ESC/POS. It turns amber when the display did not answer.
  4. COM port: the serial ports Windows lists, each with what Windows calls it: the only clue to which cable is which. Press one to choose it. A port chosen before that Windows does not list now stays shown in amber, such as COM4 (not found now), so you can see it and change it.
  5. Refresh: lists the ports again, after you plug the display in. It says Looking… while it looks.
  6. Baud rate: the speed: 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200. 9600 at first.
  7. Command set: what the display understands: ESC/POS (Epson) (the first choice), CD5220, AEDEX or Plain text.
  8. Characters per line: 20 (the first choice) or 16, as the display is made.
  9. When no bill is being rung: your two lines, Line 1 and Line 2, shown between bills. Until you type them: WELCOME and the outlet's name. An empty box is a blank line. A line cannot be longer than the characters per line.
  10. Centre: puts the line in the middle; off, it starts at the left. On for both at first.
  11. On the display: your two lines exactly as they are sent, spaces included.
  12. Test: sends FooodPos and 1234567890 to the display for 5 seconds. It says Working… while it sends. Dimmed until a port is chosen.

Every press is saved at once, and the display follows straight away: what you type in Line 1 appears on the pole as you type it.

On Android

On Android the display is on the device's USB port, so the page has USB device where Windows has COM port. The rest of the page is the same.

Pole display on an Android POS: the USB device.
  1. USB device: what is plugged into the device's USB port. The USB cable the display is plugged in with. Choosing it makes Android ask whether this POS may use it: tap Allow.
  2. Refresh: lists the USB devices again, after you plug the display in.
  3. A device: its name (or USB device and its numbers when it gives none), then the kind of serial chip FooodPos found in it and its numbers, such as CH340 · 1a86:7523. FooodPos drives cables with a CH340, PL2303, FTDI or CP210x chip, or a standard CDC-ACM one.
  4. A greyed device: Not a serial display this POS can drive. It cannot be chosen.
  1. Plug the display into the device's USB port, then press Refresh.
  2. Press the display's device.
  3. Android asks whether FooodPos may use it. Tap Allow.
  4. Choose the baud rate, the command set and the characters per line, then tap Test.

A device that cannot host USB devices shows only This device cannot connect a pole display.

Set it up

  1. Plug the display in, and switch it on.
  2. Open Hardware, Pole display, and switch Use a pole display on.
  3. Choose the port (Windows) or the USB device (Android). Press Refresh if it is not listed.
  4. Choose the Baud rate, the Command set and the Characters per line from the display's manual.
  5. Press Test. The display should show FooodPos and 1234567890. The page says Sent. Look at the display.
  6. Nothing, or odd signs? Try another Command set, or another Baud rate, and press Test again.
  7. Type your two lines under When no bill is being rung, and choose Centre for each or not.

What it shows, moment by moment

The display follows the bill open on this POS's own order or payment screen, like the customer display. Its words are English capitals whatever the POS's language: the display cannot show the others.

WhenLine 1Line 2For how long
No bill with a dish on this POS's screenyour Line 1 (WELCOME)your Line 2 (the outlet's name)until a dish is rung
A dish is rung, or its quantity changesthe dish's name2 x 14.90 and the line's amount, RM 29.803 seconds, then the total
The bill is opened, a dish is removed, a discount or voucher changesTOTALthe bill's total, RM 41.10until the next change
The payment screenTOTAL (BALANCE once part is paid)what is still duewhile paying
The bill is paidPAID and what was handed overCHANGE and the change5 seconds
ThenTHANK YOUyour Line 28 seconds, then your two lines

How the lines are written:

  • Every message is both lines whole, each filled with spaces to the full width, so nothing of the last message is left behind.
  • An amount has two decimal places, with the currency before it when it fits on the line (RM 29.80), and without it when it does not.
  • A dish's name is shown as the display can show it. A name with nothing it can show (a name in Chinese) is shown by its second name; with neither, ITEM.
  • The next bill's first dish ends the thank-you at once: the customer in front of the display is the next one.
  • A payment is never played back late. Switch the display on, or start the POS again, a while after a payment, and it does not thank for it.

What if…