CloudPRNT
CloudPRNT is Star Micronics’ protocol for internet-connected receipt printers. Instead of a computer sending a job to the printer, the printer polls a web address by HTTP POST every few seconds to ask whether there is anything to print, and prints what comes back. The default polling interval is five seconds on current models, and nothing in the shop has to act as a print server.
In practice
CloudPRNT is Star Micronics’ protocol for internet-connected receipt printers. Instead of a computer sending a job to the printer, the printer asks a URL every few seconds whether there is anything to print, and prints what comes back.
The operational benefit is that there is nothing in the shop to log into, patch or restart after a power cut. The printer needs a network connection and the address of the service; everything else lives on the server.
The details that matter in practice are authentication — the token belongs in the request headers, not in a query string somebody could copy — and what happens when a print fails. Every job should stay in a queue that can be reprinted, because paper runs out mid-rush and jams at the worst moment.
Also called: cloud printer, Star CloudPRNT, network receipt printer.