Milestone XProtect Transact - Manual (Page 5)

Milestone XProtect
®
Transact Getting Started Guide
www.milestonesys.com 5 Basic Concepts
Basic Concepts
This section defines some of the basic concepts which are important to understand when configuring
and using Transact.
Sources
A source is a data source through which transaction data is fed to the Transact Server and
subsequently stored in the Transact Database. Transaction data can originate from cash registers,
ATMs, etc. The connection between the Transact Server and the cash registers, ATMs, etc. is in the
Transact Administrator established through the definition of a source provider (see "Basic Concepts"
for a definition of the term "Source Provider").
The transaction data from sources is transformed into a presentable, reader-friendly form through
configurations (see "Basic Concepts" for a definition of the term "Configuration").
Source Providers
There are four different kinds of source providers through which the transaction data is fed from a PoS,
ATM or others to the Transact Server:

Troy Box Transact provider: Use when receiving transaction data from a Troy box on your
network through port 9100. Troy box is a popular name for a Troy serial server. Provided the
Troy box has been assigned an IP address, it is able to receive serial input from a cash
register, ATM or any other RS-232 source and relay it to the Transact Server through your
network.

Serial Port Transact provider: Use when receiving transaction da ta as input on the computer’s
own serial port.

TCP XML Transact provider: Use when receiving transaction data through a serial server
device and the transaction data is fed as XML packages. It is prerequisite that the content of
the XML packages includes a time stamp in the following format: date and time
according the RFC 3339 standard.

TCP Client Transact provider: Use when receiving transaction through any kind of serial server
device. This option also allows you to receive data directly from a PoS (Point of Sale) source,
such as a cash register, provided the PoS source can be configured for this purpose.
Additional kinds of sources may be available in customized Transact installations.
Configurations
Configurations transform received transaction data from sources (see "Basic Concepts" for a definition
of the term "Source") into a presentable, reader-friendly form. You are able to omit and substitute
characters and define where individual transactions begin and end, so end-users can view the
transaction data in a format matching real-life till receipts, ATM receipts, etc.
The initially received transaction data typically consists of a single long string of information, and
includes control characters or other characters that are irrelevant and confusing when end users want