VersaKey with USB-HID Reader Interface
The first time the keyboard is plugged into a specific USB port, the MagStripe
reader is recognized as a separate device, and Windows presents a pop-up
dialog box. The pop-up box guides one through the process of installing the HID
device driver for the reader. After this process is completed once, Windows no
longer request this process as long as the device is plugged into the same USB
port. The device driver that Windows installs for this device is a driver used for
HID devices and it is part of the Windows operating system. Most Windows
systems finds the drivers needed without additional prompts. In some cases, the
Windows system needs to know the location of the drivers.
2.2
Operation
The keyboard and reader operate as outlined in the VersaKey Quick Start
Manual, Part Number: 80074502-001.
Although, the reader communication data interface is separate, the reading
operation remains the same. The card data is accepted into the Windows
system USB HID input report where the card data can be used by a specific card
operations application. Card data is not mixed with the keyboard character
information.
3.0
The HID interface, Technical Information
The reader conforms to the USB specification revision 2.0. This device also
conforms to the Human Interface Device (HID) class specification version 2.0. The
reader communicates to the host as a vendor defined HID device. The details
about how the card data and commands are structured into HID reports follow later
in this section. The latest versions of the Windows operating systems, Windows 98,
Me, 2000, and XP all come with a standard Windows USB HID driver. Windows
applications that communicate to this reader can be easily developed. These
applications can communicate to the reader using standard windows API calls that
communicate to the reader using the standard Windows USB HID driver. These
applications can be easily developed using compilers such as Microsoft’s Visual
Basic or Visual C++. A demonstration program and its source code, written in
Visual Basic, that communicates with this reader is available. This demo program
can be used to test the reader and it can be used as a guide for developing other
applications.
Developers should become familiar with the HID specification and the USB
specification before attempting to communicate with the reader. This document
assumes the developer is familiar with these specifications. Specifications can be
downloaded free from
www.usb.org
.
Copyright © 2006, International Technologies & systems Corporation. All rights
reserved.
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