The Warehouse Data Collection is used by all the processes. The end user selects a process from the scanning client menu and enters data according to the process configuration. In the scanning client, data is entered one at a time. Depending on the process configuration, the scanning client will behave differently. For more details, see the Warehouse Data Collection Configuration About description.
IFS/Warehouse Data Collection offers three different scanning clients for different purposes and operating systems:
The Warehouse Data Collection page can be divided into different parts: menu, input description, input field, information table, scanning session toolbar, media pane and messages.
The scanning client menu is used to select the process and its configuration. The user can also switch site or continue old sessions from the menu. The available sites are the user allowed sites.
The default menu is built dynamically depending on the process configuration settings and whether or not the user is granted access to perform the process. The first menu that is visible to the user is the process menu form where the user selects the process. The caption of the process folder can be configured in the Data Collection Process page. When the user selects the process and if more than one process configuration is available, the configuration processes menu is opened and the user has to select the configuration. The caption of the configuration processes can be configured in the Data Collection Configuration page.
The other option is to configure a menu, this is done from the Data Collection Menu page. The menu can consist of folders, processes, and/or configurations in an n-level structure. The data collection menu will be available from the scanning client as soon as a company or site is added to the menu and the user using the scanning client has access to the configurations added to the menu. All configurations added to the menu must also be released. If no menu is created, all released configurations that the user has access to will be available from the scanning client directly in the root or via a process.
The input description at the top displays the data that should be entered. The order that the data should be entered in is configured by setting the input order in the Data Collection Configuration page. If display loop count is selected for a data item, then the input description will end with a number showing which entry this is.
The input field is the field below the input description where the data is entered either via a scanner or the keyboard. Press Enter to commit data. If the data is committed correctly, the information table is refreshed and the input description is changed. If not, the user will receive an error message at the top. The List of Values can also be used which can be opened by using the toolbar. The user can select a value from the opened List of Values by using the arrow keys and pressing Enter. The List of Values consists of two columns: value to the left and description to the right. The description might be empty depending on the List of Values. Once a value is entered in the input field, the List of Values will get filtered.
The information table is manly used to give feedback to the user. The table shows scanned data and details attached to the data. This is set in the Data Collection Configuration page. The information table consists of two columns: the description and the entered data. Depending on the configuration, data items will be shown in the information table. Feedback items can be null if no value could be found. This depends on the configuration and entered data.
The List of Values is available for most of the data items with a number of values and where the configuration setting has been enabled for it. To learn more about the configuration possibilities of the List of Values see the Warehouse Data Collection Configuration About description. The List of Values can be opened in the scanning client by the toolbar. Once opened, the values are displayed in the left column and any additional information is displayed in the right column. The values can be filtered by entering data in the input field and clicking List of Values. It is also possible to filter while inside the List of Values, by entering data in the input field and search. If one wants to clear the filter, just delete the filter expression and search.
For processes with a data item with signature, the scanning client will open a signature pane where the user can enter a signature. When the process is executed the signature is attached to a media library corresponding to the scanned data. The setting has to be enabled on the Details tab in the Data Collection Configuration page. For the signature to be saved it is important that the media library is enabled for the defined object where the signature should be saved. This is only supported by the Delivery Confirmation of Customer Order process.
If the Camera-Enabled option is enabled, it is possible to save pictures taken by the device to a defined media library. The user can take and save several pictures in a scanning session. Where the pictures are saved depends on the defined object and the scanned data. For the picture to be saved it is important that the media library is enabled for the defined object where the picture should be saved. Taking pictures is only supported by the Count Handling Unit per Count Report, Count Part per Count Report, Deliver Customer Order, Process Shipment, Receive Dispatch Advice, Receive Handling Unit on Dispatch Advice, Receive Part on Dispatch Advice and Register Arrivals processes.
There are toolbar options available in the scanning client below the information table. These toolbar options are used to go back to the menu, enter numeric/text values using the on screen keyboard and/or the List of Values, undo entered data and to exit a loop. Depending on the situation, some toolbar options may or may not be enabled.
The media pane displays any available media in the scanning client, connected to the data item value that is entered. This is only possible for data items Part_No and Location_No.
Messages in terms of error messages or those confirming completed transactions, are shown at the top of the scanning client.