Peripheral device communication

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a software container element associated with peripheral device connection data that enables the software container element to have access to and communicate with each peripheral device of a plurality of predetermined peripheral devices, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from a module comprising first executable software that is executable on one or more processors of a computing device, first data indicative of at least one class of peripheral device connectable to the computing device, whereby each class is associated with a plurality of predetermined peripheral devices; and

providing a software container element that contains second executable software that is executable on said one or more processors of the computing device, whereby the software container element is associated with peripheral device connection data that enables the software container element to have access to and communicate with each peripheral device of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the first data as data indicative of a single class of peripheral device connectable to the computing device, whereby the single class is associated with a plurality of predetermined peripheral devices connectable to a self-service terminal or point of sale terminal.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to a new peripheral device being connected to the computing device or to a peripheral device being disconnected and reconnected to the computing device, determining, by the software container element, that the new or reconnected peripheral device is connected to the computing device.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

storing second data, indicative of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class, in memory accessible by the computing device.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to receiving the first data, sending a query to the module querying which peripheral devices are connected to the computing device.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the first data at a software application responsible for managing software container elements on the computing device.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing the module as a module that is configured to communicate with connected peripheral devices.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing the module as a software container element that contains the first executable software, wherein optionally the module is a device plugin module.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to receiving the first data, sending at least one command to the module commanding the module to prepare each of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class for assignment to the software container element.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the module, third data indicative of at least a respective peripheral device pathway for each of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing the peripheral device connection data as data representative of at least a respective peripheral device pathway for each of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the peripheral device connection data in a control group associated with the software container element.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

upon execution of the second executable instructions, determining, by the software container element, which peripheral devices, of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class, are connected to the computing device.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising:

responsive to determining, initializing, by the software container element, each peripheral device connected to the computing device.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising:

responsive to initializing, sending, by the software container element, one or more commands to at least one of the connected peripheral devices.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing the first executable software and the second executable software as software that is executable independent of computing environment.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

via the module and the software container element respectively, executing the first executable software and the second executable software in an isolated computing environment.

18. A computing device comprising one or more processors configured to execute a software application responsible for managing software container elements on the computing device, wherein the software application, when executed, is configured to:

receive, from a module comprising first executable software that is executable on one or more processors of a computing device, first data indicative of at least one class of peripheral device connectable to the computing device, whereby each class is associated with a plurality of predetermined peripheral devices; and

provide a software container element that contains second executable software that is executable on said one or more processors of the computing device, whereby the software container element is associated with peripheral device connection data that enables the software container element to have access to and communicate with each peripheral device of the plurality of predetermined peripheral devices associated with each class.

19. The computing device as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the computing device is a point of sale terminal or self-service terminal.