iVend Retail - Offline Terminal POS Data Synchronisation with the Store server

This document describes the Offline Terminal POS feature and the data synchronisation with the Store Server.

· This feature allows the Terminal POS to function even if the connectivity between the it and the Store Server is broken or interrupted.

· As a part of the setup, the user will have the option to configure offline POS Terminals. When a Terminal POS is configured to work in offline mode, then the transactions done at the POS will reside in the local database of the POS system itself and will then be synced with the Store Server.

· There are two ways by which the data sync may happen:

· Can be set periodically between the Store and the Offline Terminal POS 

· The user has the option to trigger a sync process manually from the POS to the Store Server. 

Note:

· The Offline Terminal POS feature is available with iVend versions 6.5 and above.

· The Database technology that is used for running Terminal POS in Offline mode is SQLLocalDB.

To understand, let us have a look at the following landscape with POS Terminals configured as Offline POS (highlighted in the following image – see the encircled POS/Store):

To enable the Offline POS feature, log into the Management Console and go to: Administration > IT Administration > Enable Offline Store.

Note: - You must run the iVend Management Console with “Run as Administrator” selected.

On selection of the option, a confirmation message window will pop-up from the system, and when accepted, the Microsoft Sync Framework will be installed for the Offline POS feature, which will help to synchronise the data with the Store server.

After enabling Offline Store, you will then have to enable a POS to run in Offline mode. To do this, you will have to select the checkbox, “Off-line Enabled” in the POS setup screen (see highlight in the image below). To enable this, go to: Administration > Retail Configuration > POS, then open the POS, which you wish to enable for Offline mode functionality.

Note: - Click on the  [Custom Series] button from the button panel to define a custom series for offline Customers, which will be created at the POS. Furthermore, when you save the POS screen, the document number series window will pop-up to define a series for the transactions that will happen from the Offline POS.

When you run the POS application for the first time in Offline mode, it must be with the “Run as Administrator” option. You will see the selection message such as below as to whether you want to run the POS in Offline mode or not.

If you select [Yes], then you will be presented with a pop-up screen to select between two options; select accordingly and continue.

There are two (2) options to setup the Offline database that will be maintained at the POS local database:

· Synchronize with Store – If you choose this option, then a sync happens with the synchronisation service known as the POS Synchronisation Service, which will sync the data between the store DB and POS local DB.

· Import Database – If you choose this option then you need to take a backup from the Management Console, transfer it to the POS machine and then select this option to continue.

Note: - If you wish to choose the Import Database option, then you need to perform a backup from the Management Console using the [Create Offline Backup] button in the POS screen as shown below. Save the backup file, then browse to this file on the POS machine. Select the Import Database option and choose the file location to restore the database.

When the POS is started in Offline mode, it will appear as per the screen below to let you know that it is running in Offline mode.

POS User Menu – Two New Menu Options

There are two (2) new menu options under Store Operations located in the User Menu of the POS (see below).  Here, you can switch back to Online mode by using the menu option, “Enable Online POS”. The other menu option is “Synchronize Data from Store”, which is used whenever a synchronisation of the data from the Store is required.

More information about SQLLocalDB.

· Checking SQLLocalDB instance:

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· Connect to SQLLocalDB from the SQL Management Studio:

· If you receive any error messages regarding permissions on connecting with SQLLocalDB, then you should assign the Sysadmin role for the ‘cxspos’ SQL User.