POST OFFICE WINDOW SYSTEM WITH PROGRAMMABLE PROMPTS

A Post Office Window System having two modes of operation and comprising a scale having a load cell for providing an analog output proportional to the weight of an item to be mailed, circuitry for providing a digital signal corresponding to the analog signal, a scale CPU for receiving the digital signal, for processing the digital signal to determine the weight of the item to be mailed, and for transmitting that weight, a processor operatively connected to the scale, to a keyboard and display, and to a postage meter. In the normal mode of operation the processor computes the appropriate postage value for the item to be mailed from the item's weight and from information entered by an operator through the keyboard and transmits that value to a postage meter which prints appropriate indicia. The processor also displays messages, or "prompts" on the display to elicit the necessary information from the operator. In the second, or editing mode, which is entered in response to a command from the operator, the operator may selectively edit all or portions of the prompts so that the edited prompts will be displayed upon return to the normal mode. In one embodiment, prompts may include protected fields which may not be edited by the operator.