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Performance Improvements at Point Of Sale - A Guide to Getting the most out of your 4690 System.

It is clear that many of the IBM 4690 POS applications could use an overhaul. But who has the time? And where would one start?

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KB00112 Terminal Concentrator Loop traffic vs. Native IBM PDF E-mail

This article provides information about the loop messages used in the Terminal Concentrator environment and how they compare to the traffic generated in a native environment where the Sales Application runs in the Terminal.

Topics discussed are:

  • Function of the TC environment versus the native environment
  • Factors that affect the traffic transmitted across the loop
  • Changes that can be made to the Sales Application to decrease TC loop usage.

The information in this article applies to:

  • QVS Terminal Concentrator in Loop environments

MORE INFORMATION

Function of the TC environment versus the native environment:

Terminal Concentrator (or TC) is an innovative QVS product that allows the Sales Application (usually EAMTS10L.286 or EAMTS11L.286) to be run in the controller instead of in the terminal.  This has a number of advantages, most notable of which are:

  • Much faster application load time
  • Faster processing:  Depending on the speed of the Controller used, customers will see a significant increase in throughput at the terminal
  • Faster file i/o: all file access done by the sales application is performe locally in the controller instead of being transmitted through loop or LAN.  Especially in the case of a loop connection, the difference is substantial.
  • Supports non-native terminals.  The terminal does not run the Sales Appplication:  Instead, it loads and executes a small .286 that communicates with TC.  As a result a variety of terminals can be employed in a given environment, from hand held PDA-style devices to POS terminals from different vendors, all using the same backroom environment and appearing to be native terminals.  This gives the retailer greater flexibility in shopping for POS, since the choice of a backroom environment does not restrict the choice of terminals.
  • Supports Legacy platforms:  Again, only a small .286 is loaded into the terminal.  As a result, older terminals that do not have the speed or memory required by today advanced Sales applications can perform on par with the latest hardware.

Factors that affect the traffic transmitted across the loop:



Changes that can be made to the Sales Application to decrease TC loop usage:
 
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