Qash blog

Follow Qash on twitter

2011-06-22T21:34:00.001+02:00

Just a short notice!

You can follow Qash on twitter. News about Qash will be posted there for your convenience.

- The @Qashapp team!

The summer brings a breeze

2011-06-15T21:47:00.000+02:00

Since winter the team behind Qash has has something coming along - a brand new cash register interface for Qash. We are almost there - just 5-6 weeks left.

Why a new user interface?
During the development of the current interface, it became clear that the technology we were using worked, but required to much effort for even simple things. We have a lot of ideas we want to bring to life but we could not find the time.

Therefore we chose to go down a path that makes it easier for us developers, while giving the customers an even nicer experience using the product.

When we finally release the new interface we should be able to find more time for nifty new features. :)

The new interface is coming along nicely

2011-04-01T18:02:00.000+02:00

The new interface is really progressing nicely. The new tolls we have used gives us more flexibility and it much faster for us to develop. We are looking forward to present you all with a beta of this new sweet interface.

Check out the screenshot. It's possible to edit directly in the table of orderlines and to make it easier for you to work with we have thought well of flow of focus between fields should be - so you dont have to use the mouse so much. You should simply automatically move to the next natural element you want to use when you leave a field.

Again. Feedback appreciated. :)

We are developing a new User Interface

2011-03-17T22:24:00.000+01:00

The current User Interface has some technical issues that makes it very hard to develop the features we really want. Therefore we are prototyping a new development framework while also taking time to optimize the interface.

The attached screenshot is a nonfunctional prototype we are working on, but feedback is appreciated.

New version: 1.3.4

2011-01-27T07:54:00.001+01:00

Qash has been released in a new version: 1.3.4

This is just a bugfix version:
- App has got more translations in place
- Quicker boot time for the system(less downtime when upgrading)
- Ensuring correct printer selected when printing.
- more....

Try it out: http://qashapp.com

Qash 1.3.2 is out

2011-01-11T22:39:00.000+01:00

The last couple of weeks has some small but convenient features.

We have compiled these into a new release: Version 1.3.2.

New features
- Better exception information in the Client.
- Better information concerning low stock hold when completing orders.
- Allow confirmation for completing orders when not enough items are in stock.
- Alert user when completing order with negative balance.
- Alert user if logged out of the system.

Bugs fixed
- Some platforms might get an exception when printing caused by security exception. (fixed)
- Unable to search for orders. (fixed)
- Unable to extends list of orders. (fixed)

Feel free to try it out. :)

Best Regards
Qash Dev Team

Qash 1.2 is out!

2010-12-18T19:31:00.001+01:00

Just about 8 weeks after we pushed Qash 1.1 out the door we now 1.2 available. But what has happened in those 8 weeks?

A lot:

Added better audit strip support by extending the postings export.
Added daily turnover information.
Fixed bug causing not being able to add samme item to an order twice.
New shops has a default order and a default item upon creation.
Added help system
Added more margins on receipts.
Refactored business logic to the correct code layer.
Changed the security model from a home built system to Spring Security.
Implemented a hibernate backend to replace the Datanucleus one.
Added som better admin tools
Lots of bugfixes....

Try it out now: http://qashapp.com

(Or install as Chrome Web App)

Qash available at Chrome Web Store

2010-12-10T14:24:00.000+01:00

Chrome Web Store is in the air and Qash is the first online POS application to be available there.

You can install Qash as an application here.

Qash 1.2 comes with optimized codebase

2010-11-17T10:41:00.000+01:00

I you want to follow whats going on with Qash towards the 1.2 release, feel free to take a look at the issues. It gives an in depth view of what is up for the next release.

Some of the important stuff we are going to include are:
- Daily fund status
- Audit strip
- Editable startnumbers for orders and invoices.

In the backend, and more technical part:
- Spring Security model
- Serverside code restructuring
- Change from JDO(Datanucleus & Compass) to JPA(Hibernate & Hibernate Search)

Qash Release 1.1 is up!

2010-10-27T08:04:00.000+02:00

After months of work we have released Qash 1.1.

As we wrote earlier on this blog, this contains some important features regarding prints. It is now possible to switch between invoices(normal printer) and receipts(dedicated receipt printer). Furthermore the groundwork is made to add features like 'Email Invoice as PDF', 'Download Receipt as Png' etc.

We have build a complete framework around Html-rendering which renders to several formats(PDF, Svg, Png, Html, Zipfiles) and many more can be added.

Next up is version 1.2. You can already check out some of the currently planned features. We are especially excited about the Audit strip, the daily fund status and the new spring based security model.

New release coming up!

2010-10-23T09:13:00.001+02:00

It's exciting times. We have been working hard on a new release(v. 1.1) for a couple of months, and this this is by far our most important release in a long time.

One of the things a lot of customers has been asking for is support for printing invoices on a standard printer. The new release will support this.

Furthermore we had to rewrite the hole receipt printing stuff. Until now they were completely generated by the applet that controls printing, but this was limiting us in some ways. Now they are generate on the server, and sent to the applet.

These changes has made it possible for us to generate invoices and receipts in many formats fx. PDF, SVG, PNG, Html and more.

We will keep you posted as soon as the new release is uploaded.

Demo videos of Qash available showing how to use the free online cash register

2010-08-25T20:18:00.000+02:00

The demo page at qashapp.com is now updatet with new videos.

I have embedded them here for easy access.

How to create a Shop

How to create items in the stock

How to create orders

Online Cash Registers are getting more popular

2010-08-24T15:07:00.000+02:00

It looks like we chose the right time to hit the market. When surfing the web for cash registers and Point of sale systems, its clear that people are getting more used to applications available on the web.

That trend is seen in our statistic for our application (Qash - the online cash register) as well - the last month we have experienced a 18% increase in traffic - each week.

If you havent experienced a profressional online Cash regsiter yet, then try Qash now or watch the demo of Qash.

Tablet's might be good alternatives to traditional POS hardware

2010-07-30T14:09:00.001+02:00

A new trend started when the Apple's tablet, the iPad, was announced. Now several others are announcing their tablet or are already selling their version of a tablet: This goes for the JooJoo, HP SLate, Asus eee tablet and others.

Related to Qash, the online cash register, I have found the JooJoo both interesting and disappointing.

Interesting because it has USB and could be connected to printer, barcodereader etc., but its format makes it possible to unplug the usb and use the tablet around a store which is great in some POS setups. This would not be possible with an iPad.

Disappointing because the software on the JooJoo has gotten a lot of negative feedback.

But the trend is cool. It gives us brand new possibilities.

More translations added

2010-07-19T12:55:00.001+02:00

We have spent the last couple of weeks on preparing the codebase for more translations.
Our first initial approach worked, but adding a new language was complicated.

This is fixed now(a few things are temporarily english only though). And we added
some new translations - translated via Google translate. So translations are not perfect,
but should be usable.

If you want to help improving the translations, please feel free to contact us.

The languages supported by Qash now are:
- Danish
- English
- French
- German
- Icelandic
- Italian
- Japanese
- Norwegian
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Swedish

Translation

2010-07-08T16:01:00.001+02:00

Qash will soon be translated to other languages. We are refactoring some of the I18N bit and pieces which will make it a lot easier to translate afterwards.

These are the translations we are focusing on first:
- German
- French
- Spanish
- Norwegian
- Swedish

If you want to contribute by translating from English to one of the languages mentioned, please feel free to say so - We will be very thankfull.

Qash is online!

2010-06-12T20:13:00.000+02:00

It's finally here. Qash is officially online.

What does it mean?
I means that everyone can jump to qashapp.com and create their own store for free - and easily have their own cash register.

What now?
We have a list of features on our roadmap which we will implement over time. One of them is creating a default platform for the hardware we are going to sell(which may very well be a KDE-based platform).

A year passed by...

2009-12-07T20:32:00.004+01:00

Wow. Did´nt 2009 just start? And now its ending.

And what have happened to Qash in the meantime?
It changed - totally.

I realized that I had over engineered it - and it killed it.
I had to go back to basics, think about it and simplify it.

I threw nearly everything away and started over.

This means that Qash is now a webapp instead - living
online only. Its written in Java using GWT for the webapp.

A test is up and running here(except when the server isnt):
http://test.qash.dk

Arora, browser printing and stuff

2008-09-30T08:05:00.004+02:00

Qash(my POS project) is coming along nicely. As pointed out earlier, it is now GWT based and runs in a browser, and Im planning to recommend KDE as platform and use it on preinstalled appliances.

While GWT made things a lot more flexible and simple for me, compared to Java+Swing, I still have some real challenges.

Pointed towards Arora
As Konqueror is not supported by GWT, I had planned to use Opera as my recommended browser. Aaron, however, told me about Arora. Arora is a really nice fit for this project. It is fast and simple and uses the rendering engine which in my opinion is the best engine for GWT.

Browser printing
Another obstacle to overcome is printing. Sure printing is supported, but for a POS system, direct printing(without a dialog) is a really really nice feature. I know I can dot this by using a Java Applet, but I rather not as Java applets is not supportet by Arora yet. Im try to figure out if I can do it using flash, which Arora will support as soon as QT 4.5 is out.

Furthermore support for empty printouts would be nice too!

"Empty printouts? U crazy?"

Nope! Me sane! (kinda)
Most cashdrawers opens automatically on a printout - controlled via a cabel connected to the receipt printer. This is clever because each new receipt means a new buy and cash is therefore most likely needed. But sometimes you just want to open the drawer. This could be done in Java by just printing 0(zero) pages.

If you have a good solution to this, please post it! :-)

Qash has been webalized!

2008-08-14T08:21:00.003+02:00

History

When I started developing Qash I was aiming for an interface with a native feel and a nice UI + I wanted the possibility of controlling which components should be enabled.

I started developing in Java using Swing for GUI. And I must say now - it really can be a timeconsumer. If you want to create a standard desktop GUI, it might be ok, but the API is in my opinion not that easy to use when creating custom components. Swing really was a blocker in my project and nearly made me give up on it.

The pluginframework I created was ok, but I had a lot of trouble making it work in applets, which would be great to have for demo purposes. But it also made the whole developing process more complicated as I suddenly had to maintain a core codebase AND 3 or 4 plugins.

Furthermore I made the mistake of overdesigning the whole thing. I tried to take everything into account, but that is just to big for a one man show. I would have taken years before I reached a stable version.

So what now.

Well as the title says: Qash has been webalized (or in real words: It is now a Web application)

I will still use Java for developing, but it will be using GWT. It will use MVC to create a better overview over the GUI code and make it simpler to reuse. I will keep it simple. And I will plug into existing server backends - starting with oscommerce.

This means Qash can work directly as a frontend to an existing webshop - but designed for retail stores supporting barcode-scanning and printing receipts.

It also makes it VERY simple to have an online demo of the thing. And it should soon be ready for that. I will post on this blog when ready.

Im almost well

2008-03-07T18:14:00.002+01:00

So Im feeling a lot better know. And I actually got some work done today also.

The techie stuff is this:

ConfigurationManager got a rewrite - now it is a lot simpler and more logical way to use retrieve and write configuration.
ControlPanel behaves well now.
Receiptprinter supports the configuration(signature can be changed and barcode turned on/off)

It is really starting to look great.

I have been thinking of skipping the jdbc repository and go with another solution. I have the following 2 issues with the jdbc repository right now:

It needs a refactoring - I fear its rather big.
Even if it were great, it will some day have caused some data errors - and those hard to correct off-site in a DB.

So im thinking of a Virtual File System instead(Apache VFS) on a netshare. All data could be saved as Jsoni seperate files. This way it will still be very easy to edit via fx. a texteditor.

I caught a nasty cold. :-/

2008-03-05T18:29:00.001+01:00

I've been sick a couple of days. However today I was in fact able to get out of bed. :-)
And, best of all, clear enough in my head to actually get som work done.

On top of my head, this has been the progress since the last blog:

Barcode reading works nicely
Barcodes are printed on the receipts for easy retrieval of order.
Cashdrawer can open without having to execute a print
System keys are enabled(HOME=Main menu, Escape=go back, End=Open cashdrawer)
Default template for receipt is almost done.
Orderlist for pausedorders is done
OrderList for archivedorders partially done
Lots of bug fixes.

And because a picture says more than a lot of words:

Status of the hardware integration

2008-02-26T09:00:00.003+01:00

Last night I spend a couple of hours writing some Java code for handling the Receipt printer and the barcode reader. And here is the status:

Receipt printer:
It works! :-) I started out going for the "big" solution using Apache FOP and all that, but after some time I decided to go fore a more simple implementation. I means no templating at this point - at most fonts and logo can be changed. The benefit is that it was done in about 2 hours and the API is very easy to use(like in "PrintFacade.printReceipt(invoice);")

I dont do any setup on the printer. I take it that the printer has been setup as it should be via the systems print service(fx. CUPS) and set as the default printer. Later on I will make it possible to choose which printer, but for now I just use the default one.

Cash drawer:
This was an easy task. Plugged it into the printer and i worked - even with the default printer settings. When a receipt is printed the drawer opens.

Barcode reader:
The barcode reader emulates a keyboard. It makes it very simple to read the data. The firstobstacle, however, was how to implement a "global" keyevent listener. I want to be able to receive a barcode reading no matter which dialog I am at in the application.

I found out that its possible to implement a KeyEventDispatcher and add it to the default KeyboardFocusManager. I will use this to implement "barcodelisteners" making it possible to receive events upon barcode reads.

Testing hardware

2008-02-25T14:44:00.002+01:00

I received some of the hardware the other day - the printer, scanner and cashdrawer.
So now its time for some fun developing. :-)

Im planning on having barcode reading and simple receiptprinting ready tonight.

Here is some pictures of the scanner and printer:

Firewall-penetrating network ready.

2008-02-17T22:03:00.003+01:00

This afternoon I decided to try out XMPP as a network between the stores. It required that an employee is able to look up stocks etc. in other stores.

The problem with this has been having a reliable setup for this, which also wont require a lot of manual work(setting up routers etc.).

Using the Smack API I have developed a client-server solution which uses the Intent/Outcome style already in use by Qash Retail and converted into JSON under transportation like promoted by Freemote.

The API for this client-server solution is plain simple.

Server
ConnectionConfiguration conf = new ConnectionConfiguration("talk.google.com", 5222, "gmail.com");
XMPPConnection connection = new XMPPConnection(conf);
connection.connect();
connection.login("", "");

IntentServerManager manager = IntentServerManager.getIntentServerManager(connection, new IntentListener() {

public Outcome processIntent(Intent intent) {
return new Outcome(Result.Ok);
}
});

Client
ConnectionConfiguration conf = new ConnectionConfiguration("talk.google.com", 5222, "gmail.com");
XMPPConnection connection = new XMPPConnection(conf);
connection.connect();
connection.login("", "");

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction("qash.action.QuantityInStock");
IntentClientManager manager = IntentClientManager.getIntentManager(connection);
manager.sendIntent("jabberid", intent);

Added link directly into view of recent changes

2008-02-16T17:54:00.005+01:00

Just a small post to let everybody know that I added a link to the right on this blog - directly to recent changes in the code. If you're fluent in Java, then check it out.

It'll give you a good idea of the pace the development is going at.

Killing time in the airport

2008-02-15T23:39:00.001+01:00

Im sitting in the airport, waiting for my wife. And they have free
wifi. ;)

While killing time i found this:
http://barcode4j.sourceforge.net/

- Michael Krog

Printing receipts

2008-02-15T22:13:00.005+01:00

Was I in for a treat or what? I spent a couple of hours this afternoon, trying to learn Java's printing API. Seems it's a part of Java that is not that well documented.

Well. I had some success. I even succeded in converting an xsl-fo document into postscript and printing that, which is an awesome setup for templated receipts.

But(always a but).. Then I discovered that receiptprinters just dont follow the normal standard(or so it seems). I havent found any that is supported by standard Java printing API, and I dont understand how it would either, as
a receipt print never has a size of the printout until the printing is done - and its needed in the Java Printing API BEFORE the printing starts.

Luckily some of the printers (fx. Star Microtronics TSP100) comes with driver for JavaPOS and/or just plain Java API.

Oh.. And searching on the salespanel was fixed today. Uses some neat regular expressions.

UPDATE
And then again. I just received the Star Microtronics TSP100 which comes with a cups-driver for Linux(and also drivers for Mac and Windows). Using this driver it should be possible to use standard Java Printing. I'll look into it tonight.

Sales view almost done

2008-02-15T09:32:00.003+01:00

So more work went into the Sales view last night. This makes it almost feature complete.

It now only lacks this:

Reciept printing support (Started - Need a real reciept printer for test) (DONE)
Better search among items. (DONE)
Polishing look and feel (Code for renderers is done)
Bar code scanner support
Cash drawer support (DONE)

Solution for Media handling in Retail Stores (Video/Music)

2008-02-15T09:20:00.002+01:00

Some day in the future Qash Retail will get the ability to control music in the store and perhaps video showing on well placed screens.

But I had yet to descide how to control it. It must be possible to control it directly from Qash Retail, see what is playing etc. Freemote will make this happen.

It is a project in its early stages, but the flexibility of the API will make almost any remote controlling possible.

Everything is better after refactoring

2008-02-13T18:40:00.003+01:00

As you may have noticed in my earlier posts I did some refactoring the last couple of days. This refactoring has made the Qash Retail application a lot more flexible and it is now a lot easier to write new plugins from scratch.

It has inherited the "Start-Activity-By-Intent" idea originally from Android. It is really cool. It still needs a lot of testing, but its already a lot easier to separate stuff. Actually Qash Retail contains no activities now. All activities are available through plugins - even the main menu.

I did loose a bit of the design during the refactoring because I decided to trash most of the custom look and feel I had done, and instead find a suitable look and feel and then use Painters from SwingX for the rest of the looks.

It now looks like this(though it will change a bit):

Example of bloatness

2008-02-09T19:57:00.001+01:00

After just a quick cleanup, this is my svn status for Qash Retail:
M plugins/Qash_Base_Plugin.jar
M plugins/Qash_Sales_Plugin.jar
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailPanel.form
D src/apaq/qash/qpclient
D src/apaq/qash/event
D src/apaq/qash/panels/input
M src/apaq/qash/panels/MainMenuPanel.java
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailApplet.java
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailForm.form
D src/apaq/qash/swing/QashTableUI.java
D src/apaq/qash/swing/BlackButton.java
M src/apaq/qash/swing/actions/ItemListAction.java
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailPanel.java
D src/apaq/qash/handlers
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailForm.java
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailApplet.form
D src/apaq/qash/QashRetailApplet.html
M src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/SearchCustomerDialog.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers/UITest.form
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers/UITest.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/delegates
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/delegates/QashMenuButtonUI.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/delegates/buttons
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/delegates/buttons/ImageComponent.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/delegates/buttons/ControlPanelButton.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/plugin
D src/apaq/qash/coplanclient
D src/apaq/qash/coplanclient/http
D src/apaq/qash/coplanclient/dummy
D src/apaq/qash/coplanclient/CompanyFactory.java
D src/apaq/qash/util/TestForm.java
M src/apaq/qash/util/PanelNavigator.java
D src/apaq/qash/util/TestForm.form
D src/apaq/qash/util/Calculation.java

It really needed it! :-)

UPDATE:
Even more cleaning :-)
M src/apaq/qash/dialogs/ControlPanel.java
M src/apaq/qash/dialogs/ControlPanel.form
M src/apaq/qash/panels/MainMenuPanel.java
M src/apaq/qash/panels/SearchTable.java
A + src/apaq/qash/Messages_da_DK.properties
A + src/apaq/qash/swing/ToolbarLayout.java
A + src/apaq/qash/swing/QashTableCellRenderer.java
A + src/apaq/qash/swing/ToolbarButton.java
M src/apaq/qash/MainForm.java
M src/apaq/qash/Retail.java
A + src/apaq/qash/Messages.properties
A src/apaq/qash/events
A + src/apaq/qash/events/ItemActionListener.java
A + src/apaq/qash/events/QashMenuEvent.java
A + src/apaq/qash/events/QashMenuListener.java
A + src/apaq/qash/events/ItemActionEvent.java
A src/apaq/qash/config
A + src/apaq/qash/config/ConfigurationKey.java
A + src/apaq/qash/config/ConfigurationManager.java
D src/apaq/qash/base
D src/apaq/qash/base/input
D src/apaq/qash/base/input/NumpadPanel.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/input/NumpadPanel.form
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/AddressBookTableModelColumn.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/AllAddressBookAction.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/SearchCustomerDialog.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/AddressBookTableModel.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/SearchCustomerDialog.form
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/StarShape.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/ContactShape.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/SearchPersonPanel.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/VIPAddressBookAction.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/dialogs/customer/SearchPersonPanel.form
D src/apaq/qash/base/toolbar
D src/apaq/qash/base/toolbar/QashToolbar.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/toolbar/ToolbarLayout.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/toolbar/ToolbarButton.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/events
D src/apaq/qash/base/events/ItemActionListener.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/events/QashMenuEvent.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/events/QashMenuListener.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/events/ItemActionEvent.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/config
D src/apaq/qash/base/config/ConfigurationKey.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/config/ConfigurationManager.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers/QashTabPanelRenderer.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers/QashTableCellRenderer.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/ui/renderers/QuantityHolder.java
D src/apaq/qash/base/translation
D src/apaq/qash/base/translation/Messages.properties
D src/apaq/qash/base/translation/Messages_da_DK.properties
D src/apaq/qash/util/SplineEditorStarter.java
D src/apaq/qash/util/Alignment.java

Keep It Simple (KIS)

2008-02-09T19:39:00.000+01:00

Pheew.

Just used almost my entire Saturday in cleaning up stuff.

After I...:

integrated an Android-based Activity framework.
incorporated some stuff from SwingX.
decided to use more components directly from the look and feel instead of just creating my own.

..., I think I might get rid of half the codebase in Qash Retail. It was getting bloated so it was needed.

I have already commited most of the changes, but I still need to remove the unneeded classes.

Swingx Painters rulez

2008-02-07T12:12:00.000+01:00

I have been using a lot of time on making Qash have som nice Swing components. Nice buttons etc.
Then the other day I discoveres what SwingX was all about - and that it included something called painters.

It is REALLY neat.
Check out this tutorial and the images.

It really enables a lot of great GUI potential.

Plugin API change UPDATE

2008-02-07T11:58:00.000+01:00

So I have almost finished the changes in the plugin API. It is now a lot easier to make a plugin plus the plugins a more reuseable. I took some inspiration of the Android project and implemented "Intents" for switching between views.

Basicly it means that a "view" implements the Activity interface. When ever an Activity needs to show a new view it creates an Intent of what it wants to do. Say you want to choose an order and the system comes with an Activity to choose an order.

Then you would create an Intent showing that you want to choose(PICK_ACTION) an order(content="orders"). Then you use the intent to start the new activity and "BOOM" - its done.

Code-example(not final API):

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.PICK_ACTION,"orders");
startActivity(intent);

Not to hard is it? :-)

Well.. Anyways.. When the API is more solid, I will post a small tutorial here.

Change in plugin API

2008-01-31T08:54:00.000+01:00

Im going to change the plugin API in Qash Retail a bit. Why?

First let me show you an example of how a Qash Retail plugin is created today.

First you need to make a class implement the Activity interface:

public class NetworkWidget implements Activity {

public String getName() {
return "Name"
}

public String getDescription() {
return "Description";
}

public ImageIcon getIcon() {
return null;
}

public JComponent getComponent() {
return new NetworkPanel();
}

}

This is a class that gives basic information about the plugin. But this might be a bit confusing, because the real Activity is the component returned by getComponent(). Which means that we have to do another class that extends JComponent so we can create and return it here.

Further more to make it all work we need som configuration in the plugin.config(which is in the META-INF package in the jar).

This is an example of plugin.config:

{
id:"qash_base_plugin",
name:"Qash Base Plugin",
author:"Michael Krog",
created-by:"Apaq",
major-version:0,
minor-version:1,
micro-version:0,

extensions:[{
id:"networksetup",
class:"apaq.qash.plugin.base.network.NetworkWidget",
type:"QashRetailControlWidget",
category:"configuration"
}
]
}

This is just plain studip API design from my part. If you think about it both the plugin.config file and the class implementing Activity describes the plugin. All info should be placed in the plugin.config instead.

After looking into Android, I have seen how much easier it is to create an Android activity, and it is mainly because you have to extend a class instead of implementing an interface. The class you extend gives you access to a lot of cool protected methods.

To conclude it, the API will change to something like this.

plugin.config:

{
id:"qash_base_plugin",
name:"Qash Base Plugin",
author:"Michael Krog",
created-by:"Apaq",
major-version:0,
minor-version:1,
micro-version:0,

extensions:[{
id:"networksetup",
name:"Name",
description:"Description",
icon:"",
class:"apaq.qash.plugin.base.network.NetworkActivity",
type:"QashRetailControlWidget",
category:"configuration"
}
]
}

And the Activity:

public class NetworkActivity extends Activity{
public void onCreate(){
//do initialize
}

public void onStart(){
//do start
}
}

First video teaser of Qash

2008-01-28T19:07:00.000+01:00

At last. I made the first video clip of Qash in action. It demonstrates some configuration and the sales picture.

Give it a look - and a comment if you like.

Qash will most likely use the Nimbus L&F

2008-01-26T16:14:00.000+01:00

Nimbus is a really cool look and feel for Java. It looks great and will be cross platform. Furthermore a GTK theme is available to, so the systems entirely based on Linux/BSD/Solaris and Java can get a very consistant interface. But the application will still look the same on those not-so-open systems like Mac OS X and Windows.

Logo is almost there

2008-01-26T16:10:00.000+01:00

The logo is coming along rather nicely. I borrowed some ideas from the net, fired up inkscape, and badabim-badabom - 2 hours later - there it is.

Or.. Here it is ! :) (Click for a larger view)

Featuring uSplash screen for Qash

2008-01-25T00:18:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I had one of my random surfings through descent linux-related sites.
Gnome-look, KDE-look, Linux.com, Linuxdevices.com and more.

A guy had posted a Mac OS X like boot splash for uSplash. I liked it; I grabbed it. :-)

Shortly after I had the image showing here as my boot splash. I thinks it's ok! :-)

Finally - I took my time to reinstall!

2008-01-23T13:40:00.000+01:00

My macbook really needed a fresh Linux installation. It started out as a test of Xubuntu. But i didnt really like it so I added the ubuntu packages. Then when KDE 4.0 Beta arrived, I added those packages as well.

It has been a mess. :(

So I decided to reinstall. But its a bad time. What I really want is
KDE 4, but not before 4.0.1. Guess I'll do it again in a couple of
months. :)

UPDATE:
Looks like I need to reinstall once more. I used a beta of Ubuntu(the ISO I had) and upgraded the packages. This has caused some stuff not to work properly. Half the times my gfx card will not initialize. And somehow Flash doesnt work. :-(
(When will KDE 4.0.1 arrive?)

Animating via Scene Graph

2008-01-21T18:28:00.000+01:00

I just took a look at Project Scene Graph. I looks really awesome.

It makes it possible to easily animate movements, transparency etc.
of existing Swing components.

It will be perfect for making some sweet animations in Qash. :-)
An iPhone like animation for the main menu would indeed be nice!

Made my first Digg

2008-01-20T18:03:00.000+01:00

I just did my first Digg. And of course it was about - Qash :)

How to celebrate it?
By doing my first mobile blogpost of course!
(from iphone)

You digg it? Digg it here!

Updates to documentation

2008-01-20T17:31:00.000+01:00

I finally started creating some real and public documentation for Qash. Until now its only been Javadocs and some internal documents. I have started creating wiki-pages on Qash's google project page. Take a look. :-)

It even has a screenshot. Here is a teaser. See a bigger one at the project page. :-)

The first post at the Qash blog.

2008-01-19T16:16:00.000+01:00

This is the first post at this blog. The purpose of this blog is to tell a little about what's going on at the Qash project - the opensource POS.

Here is a starter:

The project is hosted at http://qash.googlecode.com
Its all written in Java and will support all platforms supported by Java 6. Linux will have most focus though.

Qash consists of the following modules:

CoPlan

An interface API whichs implements all logic towards orders, invoices, payments, stock control, accounts and more.

Qash Jdbc Repository

An implementation of CoPlan that makes i possible to persist all the data within the CoPlan interface to a Jdbc database. Mainly focused on the Derby Database.

Qash Retail

This is a swing application for Point Of Sales(POS) usage. Its just a shallow shell that loads plugins for the UI. It offers these plugins access to the CoPlan implementation(fx. Qash Jdbc Repository) in use, plugin management, Configuration manager and more. Furthermore it handles the transition between the plugins.

Qash Base Plugin

Holds the most basic plugins for Qash Retail. Right now that is a plugin for configuring, a ClockWidget for the bottom panel and a widget for showing current connection status for the CoPlan implementation in use.

Qash Sales Plugin

Holds the plugins related to sale. Actually thats currently 3 "Activities": (1) A sales view with a table over the current order, itemlist and more and (2) a paused order view with a list of orders currently in process and (3) a history of orders, making it possible to traverse through completed orders.

Plugins to come

In the future the following plugins will be added:

Stock control (Already implemented in CoPlan and Qash Jdbc Repository but needs this UI plugin)
Media control (For controlling a media server that plays music or video in the store)
Customer plugin (For controlling customer lists)