Layouts

Initial Transaction layout

When the operator has been signed on, Centara loads automatically the initial layout that has been defined as the Transaction layout. That layout will contain the initial components that the operator will use.

The design of the initial Transaction layout is fully configurable. The picture below shows just an example.

No.	Name	Description
1	Amount due	Shows the amount due for payment so far.
2	Information display	Displays messages and other operator instructions. Values keyed in are a also displayed there.
3	Numeric pad and entry	Allows the operator to input numeric data such as price, Item number, bar code, quantity etc. The Clear button clears the input area while the Delete button deletes the last entered digit. The * button is a times or multiplication button. The PLU button tries to sell an item with the item number or the bar code that has been entered.
4	Menu navigation	Moves the operator to the last or the next menu.
5	Menu button area	Buttons in this area perform an action. This action can be sell a specific item, store and retrieve a transaction, seek for an item or a customer. A green arrow in the bottom right corner of a button indicates pressing that button will open another menu. In some cases pressing a button will open up a dialog – an example being searching for a customer.
6	Quick command	Displays an actions menu that contains additional functions such as end of day and reporting.
7	Date and Time	Displays the current date and time.
8	Receipt information	Show if receipt printing is on or off and which receipt would be printed. When set up this can also act as a button to turn printing on and off.
9	Price level	Displays the price level currently active.
10	Workstation and operator number	Displays the workstation number as well as the operator number for the current operator.
11	Current operator	Displays the name of the current operator. Pressing this button causes the Operator Sign On / Off window to be displayed. Should a number be keyed in prior to pressing this button an attempt is made to sign the current operator off and the operator with the entered number in.
12	Journal window	Shows information about the current transaction. Clicking on the window open the Journal menu
13	Transaction data	Shows the time the transaction was started in a semi fuzzy way. When a customer is assigned to the sale, the customer information is displayed in below the transaction start information. Any data that is entered for the transaction may also be displayed there.

Journal menu layout

Pressing the Journal window will expand the Journal window and open the journal menu beside it. There you will typically find buttons that execute on selected items; sale or payment lines.

Select a line and the line will change color to indicate that it has been selected. Pressing somewhere within the Journal window will activate the Journal layout, which ideally should be designed to display a grid with buttons that execute macros that operate in the context of selected transaction lines (sales or payment). Adding a new line to the grid clears the selection.

Normally the journal grid is in multi selection mode which means more than one line can be selected.

If a operation is executed on those selected line(s), the grid enters a persisted selection mode, giving the selected line(s) a lighter color, which means that the selection is persisted allowing other line specific operations to be executed on those selected lines. How ever pressing a a line for selection in this mode with reset the previous selection.

In order to get back to the sales menu press the Back button either on the Journal menu itself or the Back button at the bottom of the Journal window.

Quick menu layout

The Centara logo is usually placed in the bottom right corner of the Transaction layout. Pressing that logo will display the Quick layout.

The intended use of the Quick menu layout is to give easy access to functions which are used on a regular basis, but, not something that is used in most sales. To access the quick menu press the Centara logo on the bottom right corner of the screen, and the quick menu will appear as shown below:

The quick menu has the following options:

Workstation X-report

This will print an X report for the current workstation and the current date on the A5 printer.

Open drawer – no sale

This will open the cash drawer without the necessity to sell an item, should a cash drawer be attached to the workstation.

Transaction viewer

This option opens up panel that shows the last transactions for the current workstation. Choose the transaction in the upper half of the screen, and the details of that transaction will be shown on the bottom half of the screen.

Pressing the Print receipt will reprint the receipt for the selected transaction.

Toggle item return mode

It is also possible to have the till in return mode, which would mean not having to press the Return item button each time. This is done by opening up the Quick menu and then pressing the Toggle Item Return mode button. This will place Centara in return mode. To return to normal sales

Single item return

Sets the workstation so it is ready to accept one item as a return item.

Void after

Post void a sale that has already been finalized.

End of day for till

For an end of day procedure and printing a report with the days totals.