MagTek MT-215232 RS-232 - Manual (Page 8)

MT-215232 Insertion Reader
2
MODES OF OPERATION
The Reader can operate in either unbuffered or buffered mode. The descriptions are as follows:
Unbuffered Mode
When a card is inserted and removed, a read attempt is made during both insertion and removal.
Upon removal of the card if the read is successful, data (including the two sentinel characters) is
sent to the Host. The data is transmitted immediately and not retained in the Reader.
When operating in the unbuffered mode, the Reader does not need to received commands from
the Host in order to transmit data or status characters; however, the Reader does respond to an
“Inquiry Command” by sending status characters. The inquiry command that requests the
transmission of status characters is the ESCAPE (ESC) character followed by the ASCII
character “I”.
The Reader must be turned off before selecting the operating mode. Refer to Section 2 for
switch settings.
Note
The insertion and removal of the card must be done in a
continuous motion. If not, the Reader may not read the encoded
data properly. In that case, the Reader responds by either
transmitting the ASCII character “E” representing an error, or by
not transmitting any character, which indicates that the Reader
has not detected data and the card was not completely inserted.
Buffered Mode
When a card is inserted and removed, a read attempt is made during both insertion and removal.
Upon removal of the card if the read is successful, data (including the two sentinel characters) is
stored in a memory buffer on the Reader and is not transmitted until the Reader receives an
“Inquiry Command” from the Host. This command is the ESCAPE character followed by the
ASCII “I”. The Reader cannot read another card until the buffer is cleared. To clear the buffer,
the Host must transmit the ESCAPE character followed by The ASCII “R”.
The Reader must be turned off before selecting the operating mode. Refer to Section 2 for
switch settings