The Order an Item Command
(a look under the hood)

Back in the good old days, when life was simple and a subroutine was a subroutine, the command Order an Item was pretty straight forward. When executed, it simply looked up the appropriate PLU from its memorized copy of the Product Database, and added it to the list of ordered items, pricing it using the method specified when the command was set up. In fact, this command was often the first command learned by a new stylist during initial training.

Until recently, the only thing that tripped up the stylist with the Order an Item command was that, when displayed in Editnet, it did not say Order an Item. Instead, what you saw was something like +0:Burger. The experienced stylist had no problem with this, as he/she eventually learned that the first symbol was always + or – to signify adding or subtracting price from order. The second symbol represented the pricing method selected as per this table:

    *

      0 – Price Level 0 as set in Product Database
    *

      1 – Price Level 1 as set in Product Database
    *

      2 – Price Level 2 as set in Product Database
    *

      3 – Price Level 3 as set in Product Database
    *

      M – Main Price Level as defined by the global Main Price Level setting
    *

      A – Auxiliary Price Level as defined by the local Auxiliary Price Llevel variable.
    *

      % – Percentage of entire order interpreting price level 0 as a percentage.
    *

      ? – Enquired Price using value in Amount variable.

The first thing that complicated the Order an Item command was the addition of the Order Item Instruction in Local Options. This option was particularly powerful for tasks like updating customer displays, because you could put in a command like Chain to ORDERITM once in Local Options, instead of having to add it to every zone for every menu item. But, as with any new feature, came a new complication. Many a stylist pondered the mysterious behavior of a newly created instruction chain, not realizing that the innocent Order an Item command embedded in the middle was now causing another chain to execute. Causing some additional confusion was the fact that in Version 4 the Order Item Instruction didn’t kick in until all other commands were completed.

Version 5 changed the Order Item Instruction to always execute immediately after the Order an Item command. This simplified styling and eliminated a lot of confusion. Of course when Touch Menus found out that everybody actually understood the Order an Item command, the decision was made to add another feature to muddy the waters. This feature is now known as the Modifier Sequence. Whenever a PLU is ordered, it calls up a Modifier Sequence. The Mod Sequence consists of 1 to 5 Modifier Groups, each of which execute a chain. You can read up on this feature in the KBase document called Styling With Modifier Sequences.

Today’s Order an Item command can get very complicated with a lot of confusion as to what occurs in what order. I have to give Darrin credit, though. When this feature first came out I did a lot of testing to see if I could get TouchPro confused, but no dice. It correctly unraveled my styling every time. In general, here is the order that everything executes when the Order an Item command is encountered by TouchPro:

  1.

      Order Item Instruction from Local Options.
  2.

      Modifier Sequence from PLU in Product Database
  3.

      Remaining commands in chain, if command is in a chain.
  4.

      Remaining commands in zone.

Be careful not to created an infinite loop when setting up these features. Make sure that the Order Item instruction does not itself Order an Item and don’t have a Modifier Sequence that allows you to add items that use that same sequence. Be aware that the Order Item Instruction is going to kick in for items ordered in the Modifier Sequence. Here is an example to illustrate a typical sequence.

Product Database
Steak Dinner using a Steak modifier sequence that calls for the Meat Temperature mod group followed by the Soup/Salad modifier group.
Rare,Medium, and Well Done modifiers with no assigned menu sequence.
Soup modifier with no assigned menu sequence.
Salad modifier wth a Dressing modifier sequence that calls just the Dressing modifier group.
Ranch, 1000 Island, and House Dressing modifiers with no assigned menu sequence.

If a Steak Dinner, rare, salad w/ranch dressing is ordered, here is the order everything occurs after the Steak Dinner button is pressed. For now we will assume the Steak Dinner button is part of an autozone and there are no additional chains or commands on that zone. We will further assume that the Order Item instruction says Chain to ORDERITM and does some harmless activity that won’t affect anything else.

Order an Item – Steak Dinner

    *

Chain to ORDERITM

    *

Mod Sequence STEAK

> Run chain for Mod Group Temperature

> Order an Item – rare

> Chain to ORDERITM

> Run chain for Mod Group Soup/Salad

> Order an Item – salad

> Chain to ORDERITM

> Mod Sequence DRESSING

> Run chain for Mod Group Dressing

> Order an Item – ranch

> Chain to ORDERITM

Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t feel bad if this still is a little confusing. You can see now why the seemingly simple Order an Item command has caused some grey hairs and lost sleep. However, if you remember what Mod Groups and Sequences are used for, and don’t try to get too fancy with the Order an Item instruction, you shouldn’t have too many problems.