Here we describe how you can use an InputRequest
to ask the shopper or your staff to select a menu option, such as an answer to a multiple choice question. You can use this, for example, to create a customer survey. You can show a header (your question), and optional second header (for example, an instruction), and up to 15 scrollable option buttons. Each option button can contain one or two text lines.
To allow users to select more than one option, you can use a multiple-answer question.
The terminal continues to show your input request until one of these events occurs:
- The user has provided input.
- The maximum input time expires. You can set this time in the request.
- On the terminal, Cancel
is selected.
- The terminal receives a request to cancel collecting input or any other request from the POS app.
Examples
The following illustrations show a menu screen on a portrait, small portrait (e285p), and landscape display.
The following illustrations show a menu screen with a second header line on a portrait, small portrait (e285p), and landscape display.
And finally these illustrations show a menu screen where the option buttons have a second line of text.
Make a single-answer MenuButtons input request
We support two MenuButtons input requests:
- Multiple choice—single answer: ensures no more than one answer is selected.
- Multiple choice—multiple answers: allows selecting more than one answer.
To use the payment terminal to show a menu that allows the user to select only one option:
-
Make a POST request to a Terminal API endpoint, specifying:
MessageHeader
: the standardSaleToPOIRequest.MessageHeader
object. This includes:
Parameter Required Description MessageClass
Device MessageCategory
Input ServiceID
Your unique ID for this request, consisting of 1-10 alphanumeric characters. Must be unique within the last 48 hours for the terminal ( POIID
) being used.SaleID
Your unique ID for the POS system component to send this request from. POIID
The unique ID of the terminal to send this request to. Format: [device model]-[serial number]. -
InputRequest.DisplayOutput
: this part of the request body defines what is shown on the terminal.Parameter Description Device
CustomerDisplay InfoQualify
Display OutputContent.OutputFormat
Text OutputContent.PredefinedContent.ReferenceID
MenuButtons OutputContent.OutputText
An array of one or two Text
fields to specify the header. The second text field is optional; you can omit it from the request.
For example, you can use the first text field to specify the question or menu name, and the second text field to add an instruction. -
InputRequest.MenuEntry
: an array of up to 15 items representing the options to choose from. The terminal shows these items as a scrollable list of buttons that the user can tap to select. Each item in the array has:Parameter Description OutputFormat
Text OutputText
An array of one or two Text
fields to specify the answer or menu button. The first text field will show in bold. The second text field is optional; you can omit it from the request.
For example, you could write a short-form answer in the first field, and the long-form answer in the second field. -
InputRequest.InputData
: this part of the request body handles the user input.Parameter Description Device
CustomerInput InfoQualify
Input InputCommand
GetMenuEntry MaxInputTime
(Integer) Time-out in seconds. This is the time that the user gets to finish their input.
The following example asks the shopper to respond to a survey question. There is a second header below the question, and the answer options have only one line.
{ "SaleToPOIRequest":{ "MessageHeader":{ "ProtocolVersion":"3.0", "MessageClass":"Device", "MessageCategory":"Input", "MessageType":"Request", "ServiceID":"0207111104", "SaleID":"POSSystemID12345", "POIID":"V400m-324688179" }, "InputRequest":{ "DisplayOutput":{ "Device":"CustomerDisplay", "InfoQualify":"Display", "OutputContent":{ "OutputFormat":"Text", "PredefinedContent":{ "ReferenceID":"MenuButtons" }, "OutputText":[ { "Text":"How was your visit?" }, { "Text":"Please tap one of the options below:" } ] }, "MenuEntry":[ { "OutputFormat":"Text", "OutputText":[ { "Text":"Excellent" } ] }, { "OutputFormat":"Text", "OutputText":[ { "Text":"Good" } ] }, { "OutputFormat":"Text", "OutputText":[ { "Text":"Not so good" } ] }, { "OutputFormat":"Text", "OutputText":[ { "Text":"Bad" } ] } ] }, "InputData":{ "Device":"CustomerInput", "InfoQualify":"Input", "InputCommand":"GetMenuEntry", "MaxInputTime":120 } } } }
SaleToPOIRequest saleToPOIRequest = new SaleToPOIRequest(); MessageHeader messageHeader = new MessageHeader(); saleToPOIRequest.setMessageHeader(messageHeader); InputRequest inputRequest = new InputRequest(); DisplayOutput displayOutput = new DisplayOutput(); displayOutput.setDevice( DeviceType.CUSTOMER_DISPLAY ); displayOutput.setInfoQualify( InfoQualifyType.DISPLAY ); OutputContent outputContent = new OutputContent(); outputContent.setOutputFormat( OutputFormatType.TEXT ); PredefinedContent predefinedContent = new PredefinedContent(); predefinedContent.setReferenceID("MenuButtons"); outputContent.setPredefinedContent(predefinedContent); OutputText headerLine1 = new OutputText(); headerLine1.setText("How was your visit?"); OutputText headerLine2 = new OutputText(); headerLine2.setText("Please tap one of the options below:"); outputContent.getOutputText().add(headerLine1); outputContent.getOutputText().add(headerLine2); displayOutput.setOutputContent(outputContent); MenuEntry menuEntry1 = new MenuEntry(); menuEntry1.setOutputFormat( OutputFormatType.TEXT ); OutputText option1Line1 = new OutputText(); option1Line1.setText("Excellent"); menuEntry1.getOutputText().add(option1Line1); displayOutput.getMenuEntry().add(menuEntry1); MenuEntry menuEntry2 = new MenuEntry(); menuEntry2.setOutputFormat( OutputFormatType.TEXT ); OutputText option2Line1 = new OutputText(); option2Line1.setText("Good"); menuEntry2.getOutputText().add(option2Line1); displayOutput.getMenuEntry().add(menuEntry2); MenuEntry menuEntry3 = new MenuEntry(); menuEntry3.setOutputFormat( OutputFormatType.TEXT ); OutputText option3Line1 = new OutputText(); option3Line1.setText("Not so good"); menuEntry3.getOutputText().add(option3Line1); displayOutput.getMenuEntry().add(menuEntry3); MenuEntry menuEntry4 = new MenuEntry(); menuEntry4.setOutputFormat( OutputFormatType.TEXT ); OutputText option4Line1 = new OutputText(); option4Line1.setText("Bad"); menuEntry4.getOutputText().add(option4Line1); displayOutput.getMenuEntry().add(menuEntry4); inputRequest.setDisplayOutput(displayOutput); InputData inputData = new InputData(); inputData.setDevice( DeviceType.CUSTOMER_INPUT ); inputData.setInfoQualify( InfoQualifyType.INPUT ); inputData.setInputCommand( InputCommandType.GET_MENU_ENTRY ); inputData.setMaxInputTime( BigInteger.valueOf(120) ); inputRequest.setInputData(inputData); saleToPOIRequest.setInputRequest(inputRequest); terminalAPIRequest.setSaleToPOIRequest(saleToPOIRequest);
For a complete list of fields you can pass in a MenuButtons input request, see the API reference.
-
Wait for the user to supply the requested input.
The provided input is not validated against a format.
- If there is input provided to the terminal, the
InputResult.Input
contains:MenuEntryNumber
: an array that indicates the option that the user selected. For example, if the third option is selected, the third item in the array is1
and all other array items are0
.
{ "SaleToPOIResponse": { "InputResponse": { "InputResult": { "Device": "CustomerInput", "InfoQualify": "Input", "Response": { "Result": "Success" }, "Input": { "MenuEntryNumber": [ 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 ], "InputCommand": "GetMenuEntry" } }, "OutputResult": { "Device": "CustomerDisplay", "InfoQualify": "Display", "Response": { "Result": "Success" } } }, "MessageHeader": { "ProtocolVersion": "3.0", "SaleID": "POSSystemID12345", "MessageClass": "Device", "MessageCategory": "Input", "ServiceID": "0207111104", "POIID": "V400m-324688179", "MessageType": "Response" } } }
-
If the input request times out, the
InputResult.Response
hasAdditionalResponse
: message=Screen%20timeout,Result
: Failure, andErrorCondition
: Cancel. -
If you make a payment request while the input request is waiting for input on the terminal, the payment request overrides the input request. The
InputResult.Response
hasAdditionalResponse
: message=A%20higher%20priority%20request%20has%20been%20received,Result
: Failure, andErrorCondition
: Busy. -
If the user declined to respond (selected the Cancel key
), the
InputResult.Input.MenuEntryNumber
field is empty. TheInputResult.Response
hasResult
: Failure andErrorCondition
: Cancel.
For a complete list of fields you can receive in a MenuButtons input response, see the Menu InputResponse API reference.
- If there is input provided to the terminal, the
-
Pass the relevant data from
InputResult.Input
to your system for validation and further use.