Situations where taking shortcuts actually cause problems.
Recently, I had an issue with a customer who used a laptop that was set-up to run OLTE (Offline Ticket Entry), and was routinely taken on the road to various trade shows. There were multiple issues with the machine that mainly had to do with the data in the offline database not synchronizing with the database on the main application server when the laptop was connected to the network.
These situations were later determined to have been artificially created by the user attempting to take shortcuts because they were in a hurry, and trying to do an end run around automated processes that were either not initiated properly, or terminated before they were complete.
Some of the specific issues at play were.
1. After being at a show, the user was powering up the laptop before connecting it to the network. Because the Radiant Services on the Laptop were trying to sync-up with the server and could not locate it, they were shutting down because a connection could not be established with the main servers database. This meant that the data in offline mode was not updating the server, and no new data was going to the laptop. Also, when plugging the network cable in, since the Radiant Services on the PC were not running, an error would be received when trying to connect into a normal Counterpoint session.
2. After having disconnected the laptop from the network, the user would routinely add new customers and data to the servers main Counterpoint database, Because the laptop was disconnected from the server, some of the Radiant Service would shutdown. When the user would reconnect the laptop to the network, since the Radiant Services were no longer running, no data synchronization was done. When getting to the trade show, the user determined that none of the new data was on the laptop.
3. Frequently, when the laptop was restarted, the user was trying to access Counterpoint before all of the required services had started (or loaded completely), so connection errors would be generated, causing the Counterpoint session to be terminated with errors.
4. The user had also been running the OLTE "Rebuild" option on the server and expecting it to update the laptop while the Radiant Services were not running on the laptop because of the above mentioned issues.
In this particular case the resolution was simple – Plug the laptop into the network while the laptop is still off, then start the laptop, and login, and then leaving it alone for several minutes. Doing this gave ample time for all of the Radiant Services to start, and allowed the offline data to be synchronized with the server BEFORE trying to access Counterpoint. Subsequently, any data update tasks that required the Radiant Services to be running would function properly because these services were running on both the server and the laptop.
If you would like some more information on the Offline Ticket Entry option, please contact the CCS Sales Department.
– John