As a Service Technician it is important have access to object information from different sites. All objects relevant to a technician should be synchronized and up-to-date in the mobile app. There are two mechanisms to synchronize objects to the mobile app.
Both the Service and Maintenance apps can switch between
Batch and Grouped Push sync policies for object synchronization,
based on business requirements.
The default object synchronization method is different
for the two apps.
A mobile user can review Events generated for Work Assignments
as well as for Work Tasks that are processed in the Mobile Client. Task Events
are only available when the user is online.
Synchronize Objects via Grouped Push Mechanism
All objects connected to user-allowed sites are synchronized to mobile via Grouped Push, including related supporting data such as Technical data, Measurements, Service Contracts, etc.
The default Object Configuration for the IFS MWO Maintenance App
The default delivery method of the following referenced entities are also set
to Grouped Push
The main advantage of this set up is that a mobile user
can view and work with any of the objects in their user-allowed sites, irrespective
of whether the device is online or offline.
This is a good option for customers who deal with a
smaller number of objects on their site/s and customers who focus more on offline
operations.
Synchronize Objects via Batch Mechanism
A limited amount of objects in user-allowed site/s will be synchronized to the mobile client. By default, only objects related to user-assigned work tasks will be synchronized but it is possible to use the OnDemand object download mechanism on the device to download further objects or to expand the default data set through an entity filter. Same as for Grouped Push, this setup synchronizes related supporting data such as Technical data, Measurements, Service Contracts, etc..
There are
some clear advantages to using Batch object synchronization method over
the Grouped Push.
The default Object Configuration for the IFS MWO Service App
The default delivery method of the following referenced
entities are also set to Batch
Expand Default Data Set
When using Batch object synchronization, it is still possible to expand the default dataset through an entity filter.
For example, if location CMB-FOSSIL-1 is known as an offline location, all objects belong to that location are needed to bring to technitions' devices who work in the loaction in addition to the work task objects. This can be achieved as follows.
Online Object Search
In the mobile client there is a separate search client
that allows users to search for objects online. A search can be performed using
parameters such as Object, Serial No, Location, Customer etc. The results in
the online search will still be restricted based on the user-allowed sites.
Once an object
has been found, the technician can view the object details online e.g. Object
Location, History, and the Structure.
OnDemand Object Download
When Batch sync is used and only user-assigned
work task objects are synchronized to the device the technician can use the
OnDemand Object Download to enable access to additional objects offline.
This is done by searching for the required object(s) through the online search and then clicking the download command. The download command is available in the online object list and the online object detail page. The Download command does not appear on any objects which are already downloaded.
When an object is downloaded entities EquipmentObject, LocationPartyAddress, and EquipmentObjectParty are immediately downloaded whereas additional related data will be sent through OnDemand Push. The following entities are handled through OnDemand Push.
EquipmentObjectParam
EquipmentObjectTestPnt
EquipmentObjectMeas
ObjectMapPosition
TechnicalObjectReference
TechnicalObjectTypeDesig
TechnicalSpecTypeDesig
TechnicalSpecification
Once an object is downloaded, it can be accessed in Downloaded Objects and All Objects.
If user has got multiple devices, the downloaded objects will be pushed to all active devices.
Downloaded objects are automatically removed from the device based on an expiry period defined on the Synchronization Rules table, or upon application initialization. The default expiry period is 7 days, but can be adjusted as required.
Online Search on LOVs
Objects that are only available online i.e. do not exist
locally in the device database can be found in the Online Object LOV, which
shows all objects in user-allowed sites. A technician can enable the Online
LOV by setting the Online Search toggle to true.
The Online Search toggle can be found in following places.
The toggle is set to false by default and the list of
objects will only display records that are downloaded to the device. Once the
toggle is enabled, the list of objects is shown.
If a technician
selects an object from the Online Object LOV it is downloaded to the device
in the background. The automatic download only happens if the object synchronization
method is set as Batch.
Display Object Structures
The way Object Structures are displayed in the mobile
client differs depending on the application and the object synchronization method
used.