The Group Member tab on the Terminal Group form is used to add terminals to a Terminal Group.
A Terminal Group is needed if you are using multiple data collection systems with Shop Floor Time. All the terminals in the group will be set to online of offline status to ensure that the punch transactions coming from the different systems will be processed in order.
See Also:
How a Terminal Group Member’s Status is Determined
Group Member Field Descriptions
Add Terminals to the Terminal Group
Modify a Terminal in the Terminal Group
Delete a Terminal from the Terminal Group
Configuring Shop Floor Time to Use Multiple Data Collection Systems
If the terminal does not send a ping or any data to Shop Floor Time, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Offline.
If the terminal sends offline data to Shop Floor Time, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Offline Queuing. The TERMINAL_MONITOR service will also change the terminal’s status to Offline Queuing if the triggering terminal sends offline data or an offline ping to Shop Floor Time, or if the TERMINAL_MONITOR service does not receive a ping from the triggering terminal. This status indicates that any offline data that was sent is being placed in the terminal_offline_queue table.
When the terminal sends an online ping or online data, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status from Offline or Offline Queuing to Offline Processing. This status indicates the data in the terminal_offline_queue table is ready to be processed or is being processed by the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service.
If the terminal continues to send offline data, the terminal’s status will return to Offline Queuing. The TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Online when the following conditions are met:
The terminal sends an online ping or online data to Shop Floor Time.
The Terminal Group’s status is Online.
The OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_AGE and OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_NUM thresholds for the Terminal Group are not exceeded. These thresholds are defined in Terminal Settings for the triggering terminal. If a Terminal Group has multiple triggering terminals, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service looks at the OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_AGE and OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_NUM of each triggering terminal and uses the lowest value as the threshold for the group.
Note that you can view the status of a Terminal Group and its Group Members in the Terminal Monitor form as well as in the Terminal Group form. However, these fields may need to be enabled in your Form Profile for the Terminal Monitor form. The Group and Group Member status may also be different from the Terminal Status column in Terminal Monitor.
GID, DID
Group Identifier and Device Identifier for the terminal. Defined in the Terminal form.
Terminal ID
Terminal ID number. Also defined in the Terminal form.
Triggering Offline
Indicates whether this terminal is a triggering terminal. The status of the triggering terminal is used by the TERMINAL_MONITOR service to set the status of the other terminals in the group. When the triggering terminal goes offline, the status of the other terminals changes to offline. Likewise, when the triggering terminal returns online, the status of the other terminals in the group changes to online.
This setting can only be enabled for Web Service terminals if the TRIGGERING_OFFLINE_TERMINAL_TYPE setting is enabled for the Web Service Terminal Type.
A Terminal Group must have at least one triggering terminal in order for the TERMINAL_MONITOR service to monitor and update the terminals as a group. If a Terminal Group does not have any triggering terminals, the terminals in the group will not be able to go offline and online automatically. If a Terminal Group has more than one triggering terminal, all the triggering terminals must have the same online/offline status in order to affect the group.
Status
See Also: How a Terminal Group Member’s Status is Determined
When you add a Group Member teminal to a Terminal Group, its status will be blank. Once the TERMINAL_MONITOR service begins monitoring and updating the terminals in the group, its status will change to one of the following:
Offline – If the terminal does not send a ping or any data to Shop Floor Time, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Offline.
Offline Queuing – If the terminal sends offline data to Shop Floor Time, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Offline Queuing. The TERMINAL_MONITOR service will also change the terminal’s status to Offline Queuing if the triggering terminal sends offline data or an offline ping to Shop Floor Time, or if the TERMINAL_MONITOR service does not receive a ping from the triggering terminal. This status indicates that any offline data that was sent is being placed in the terminal_offline_queue table.
Offline Processing – When the terminal sends an online ping or online data, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status from Offline or Offline Queuing to Offline Processing. This status indicates the data in the terminal_offline_queue table is ready to be processed or is being processed by the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service.
Online – The TERMINAL_MONITOR service will change the terminal’s status to Online when the following conditions are met:
The terminal sends an online ping or online data to Shop Floor Time.
The Terminal Group’s status is Online.
The OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_AGE and OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_NUM thresholds for the Terminal Group are not exceeded. These thresholds are defined in Terminal Settings for the triggering terminal. If a Terminal Group has multiple triggering terminals, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service looks at the OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_AGE and OFFLINE_RECORDS_MAX_NUM of each triggering terminal and uses the lowest value as the threshold for the group.
Enabled
When this box is checked, the terminal is an active member of the group. When the Terminal Group and the Group Member are both enabled, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will monitor and update the individual terminal's status based on the status of the Terminal Group.
If this box is not checked, the TERMINAL_MONITOR service will monitor and update the Group Member's terminal status as an individual terminal, and not based on the status of the Terminal Group.
Update Date, Updated By
These fields display when the record was created or updated, and the person who created or updated the record.
Click Main Menu > Configuration > Terminal > Terminal Group.
Select the record for the Terminal Group to which you want to add terminals, and click the Group Member tab at the bottom of the form.
On the Group Member tab, click Add Terminals.
In the Add Terminals window, select the terminals you want to add to the Terminal Group. You can use the Filter fields to narrow your search. Press the CTRL key and click to select more than one terminal. Then click Save.
The Add Terminals window will close and you will return to the Group Member tab, where the terminals you added will appear.
Click Main Menu > Configuration > Terminal > Terminal Group.
Select the Terminal Group that has the terminal you want to modify and click the Group Member tab at the bottom of the form.
On the Group Member tab, select the terminal you want to modify and click Modify.
Change the Triggering Offline and Enabled checkboxes as needed. The Triggering Offline box can only be changed if the terminal is a Web Service terminal and the TRIGGERING_OFFLINE_TERMINAL_TYPE setting is enabled for the Web Service Terminal Type.
Click Save.
Click Main Menu > Configuration > Terminal > Terminal Group.
Select the Terminal Group that has the terminal you want to delete and click the Group Member tab at the bottom of the form.
On the Group Member tab, select the terminal you want to remove and click Delete.
Click OK to confirm the action.