Offline Data Processing

Sometimes terminals lose connectivity with the application server and go offline. When a terminal is offline, employees can continue to punch transactions and the terminal will store the data in offline files.

Once the connectivity to the application server is restored and the terminal is back online, the offline files are moved to the terminal_offline_queue table. You can view these files on the Offline Data Queue form.

The OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service moves the data from the terminal_offline_queue table to the terminal_offline_queue_dtl table. You can view these records on the Offline Data Records form. The records will be sorted and processed in the order of their transaction timestamps. If a transaction is successfully processed, its status will be C (Complete).

Some terminals with offline data will not go back online until the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service runs (in order to ensure the time sequence integrity of the transactions). The status of these terminals will remain as Offline - Processing Offline Data until the service runs.

To run the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service immediately:

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Services > Service Monitor.

  2. If necessary, click the Filter button to display the filter fields.

  3. Select OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR from the Process Name filter. If there is more than one instance of this service, select it from the Instance Name field.

  4. Click Find.

  5. Select the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service instance from the grid in the middle of the form.

  6. Click Schedule Immediately.

To create a schedule to run the service automatically, use the Service Schedule tab on the Service Instance form.

 

Offline Data Forms

The following forms are used to view offline data. These forms are available in the Terminal menu (Main Menu > Administration > Terminal).

Form

Details

Table Name

Offline Data Queue

Used to view the offline data files that have been downloaded from the terminal to the application server.

The individual transactions in each offline data fill can be viewed on the Offline Data tab at the bottom of this form.

Once the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service runs, the individual transactions can be viewed on the Offline Data Records form.

terminal_offline_queue

Offline Data

A view-only tab on the Offline Data Queue form that displays the individual transactions in an offline data file.

terminal_offline_queue

Offline Data Records

Contains individual transactions that have been processed by the OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service.

The OFFLINE_DATA_PROCESSOR service processes the records on the Offline Data Queue/Offline Data form. The processed transactions can then be viewed on the Offline Data Records form.

terminal_offline_queue_dtl

Offline Records

Displays the offline data file content. This is the unprocessed, raw data from the terminal. In the event that you have an offline data record with an error, you can modify the offline data file content and re-process the record.

terminal_offline_queue_dtl

Offline Record Error

The Offline Record Error tab on the Offline Data Records form displays details about offline data records with the Record Status of Error. This tab displays the same information that is found on the Error Log form.

error_log

 

Appearance of Offline Screen

When the terminal is offline, the client screen will appear as "OFFLINE". 

Appearance of Online Screen

When the terminal is online, it will appear as "ONLINE".