The last part I needed to work on for my #RetroChallenge project was the “kiosk” interface that ties all of the separate pieces I’ve been working on together.  It’s all one program, but I had written it in chunks that each had a separate task/function.  Now I’ve completed the work on the “Kiosk” interface program and put all of the pieces together, effectively completing my Retro Challenge project!

Here’s a video of the fully operational program, as seeing it is better than reading about it. 🙂

The program loops a screen that prompts for the visitor to press any key then asks them to hit P to print a business card (this prevents accidental printing).  The screen randomly changes colors to attract attention, as part of this, the program also ensures the text is always a different color than the background/border so the prompt doesn’t “disappear”.  It also floats the prompt around the screen so it can loop all day without the risk of screen burn-in.

The print prompt times out back to the initial screen if a user doesn’t hit P within a few seconds.  There is also hidden functionality secured with a password to enable me to print a business card with complete contact information.

As part of the kiosk mode, the visitor can’t break out to basic using the keyboard (although there is hidden functionality for this if I want to escape the program).  I’ve also prevented listing the program just in case someone figures out how to escape.  This doesn’t prevent someone from hitting the power switch on the Commodore, but it still prevents someone accidentally escaping the program.