Working Off-Line

If you have multiple tills you can allow the tills to work off-line in the event of a network problem or if there is a problem with the server. It is only the retail modules that can work offline.

Note: If you choose to enable the off-line mode there are some processing overheads involved even when the system is not off-line as the off-line databases needs to be kept up to date. If is suggested that you only use this feature if you really need to continue to do sales if your network or server is off-line (if you do not have a stable network that frequently goes down).

To allow the retail modules to work offline, you need to set up an offline database for each till. This will require the till to keep the offline database up to date with any changes that was done on the server. This is done each time a user logs in and will result in the log in process taking longer. For this reason, you should only install the offline database on tills that really need to work offline.

Working offline is an emergency measure only and tills should not be used in this mode for longer as needed. The network problem or server problem should be fixed as soon as possible. Once the problem has been fixed, the POS Retail modules need to be restarted so that the tills can work online again. Tills in offline mode will have limited functionality.

Installing the Off-Line Database

Only install the off-line database on computers (tills) that are not the server. Installing an offline database on a till that is also the server is possible, but will serve no purpose and will only slow the system down.

To install the offline database, open the retail module and click on File > Setup Offline Database. The Wizard will be started that will install the offline database on the local computer.

Working Offline

If a network error occurs or if there is a problem, error messages stating that there is a network related error will appear in the Retail Modules. The modules needs to be closed and opened again. When the retail module is opened again, it will connect to the offline database and the cashiers can continue with sales.

Once the problem has been fixed, the Retail modules needs to be restarted again. When they are started, the sales that was done during offline mode will automatically be uploaded to the server.

The sales that was one in offline mode will be allocated to the drawer of the user that is logging in on the computer that was offline (another reason why working offline is only a short temporarily measure).

Slip ID's (Sale ID's)

Each sale is allocated a unique Sale ID or Slip ID. When offline, each sale will be allocated an offline ID. The offline ID will be: OFFLINE#COMPUTERNAME#SALEID

When sales are uploaded to the main server, they will be allocated new Sale ID's. It is however possible to look up a sale or to reprint a slip using the offline sale ID. Simply enter the full offline ID in the 'Sale ID' search field in the 'Sale View and Print' screen in Manager.