You're in the middle of checking in a stack of books when your internet goes down. You wait for a few seconds to see if it'll come back up, but . . . no dice. There are a lot of things on your to-do list today, and leaving this project for later is quite unappealing. So what do you do?

Work offline.

Yep, you can do that now.

Offline Mode enables you to continue working in Circulation while your server is down. It has three functions: Check In, Check Out, and Inventory. It even works on mobile devices.

Yep, you can process inventory on your phone.

Offline Mode is triggered when communication with the server is lost.

Data is stored in your browser's local storage, so you can't begin working in Offline Mode in one browser and switch to another browser later. But if you accidentally close the tab or window and open it again, your unsaved offline data will still be there—that is, unless you clear your browser storage. Don't do that unless you really want to.

When the connection to your server is lost, Alexandria will ask if you want to work in Offline Mode. If

Offline Mode stores the transaction log in your browser's local storage. If you accidentally close the tab or window and open it again, your unsaved offline data will be restored—that is, unless you clear your browser storage, so don't do that unless you really want to.

Can they bookmark it on their phone to access it if their computer gets shut down?

If you close the tab or browser window or even quits the browser, when they bring it back up, it should restore their Offline data in the “log” area.  Browser data is specific to the browser, so one can’t start on one browser and move to another!

Offline Mode is automatically cached in your browser when you log in to Alexandria Librarian, but it isn't triggered unless your server becomes unavailable.

If and when your server becomes unavailable while you're working, Alexandria will ask if you want to work in Offline Mode.

How it works

• Offline Mode can be used even when your server is online.

• There may be times when you choose to use Offline Mode while your server is still online.

• Offline Mode is separate/independent from Alexandria.

• Alexandria will ping your server every 10 seconds.
• The data is stored in the browser database, so your data will still be there, even if the power goes out.
• You cannot log in without a connection. When your server is back online, when the connection is reestablished, you'll need to log in again before uploading your data. We just want to make sure you're still you.
• Offline Mode allows you to
  
  • Check In
  • Check Out
  • Inventory
    • Type the item barcode to

Select the action you want to perform: Check In, Check Out, or Inventory.

Mobile. The only good reason to use Offline Mode on your phone is for INVENTORY. That's right. You can process inventory from your phone.

GIF screenshot

Transaction Log

The transaction log lists all of the transactions you've processed since beginning Offline Mode. Select a transaction for the option to remove. You can either click the X or delete on your keyboard.

NOTE: Nice, but not a requirement: You should be able to select multiple lines at once using your system shortcut (shift, command).

After recording, the Item Barcode is cleared with every scan, and displayed in the log. During Check Out, the Patron Barcode persists. If the cursor is clicked in the Patron Barcode field, or if the mode changes, clear the Patron Barcode. 

How to use it

We don't want to interrupt what you're doing. When a connection is reestablished, the connection indicator at the bottom left of the screen will turn green. The General Alert sound will let you know your server is back online.

You cannot log in without a connection. When your server is back online, when the connection is reestablished, you'll need to log in again before uploading your data. We just want to make sure you're still you.

Switch Site

The Switch Site option will become available when connection to the server has been established and the user is logged in. On mobile, the site will show the site code instead of the name. Clicking the site name/code brings up a menu that shows the full site name and the option to Switch Site. When you switch sites, the data remains. (It does not upload automatically, it does not clear.)

When you're offline, we can't tell which site you're working on, so you can only use Offline Mode for one site at a time. If you are working

NOTE: Switch Site: You don’t know the site until you are online; so offline mode would only be used at one site at a time.  In the rare case the user will be working at multiple sites, they could save to file and move to another site.

While You're Offline

Save to File

Use Save To File to save your current transaction log to local storage.

• On a mobile device,

Are you finished for the day but the connection is still down? Save your progress.
You shouldn't have to use this option very often, if at all. But it's there in case you need it.

Save your transaction log to local storage.

Selecting ‘Save To File’ saves as a transaction file in plain .txt format, to your Desktop or Downloads or whatever your download behavior is. The transactions recorded in this file need to be in circulation script format and include all necessary commands to specify the modes as well the barcodes involved, just like the file that would be uploaded to the server when ‘Upload’ is selected.

When the v7 Server is available again, the transactions can be sent to the v7 Server to be executed via a Transaction Script process in the operations manager.

The name of your site is listed at the bottom left.

Back Online

We don't want to interrupt what you're doing. When a connection is reestablished, the connection indicator at the bottom left of the screen will turn green. The General Alert sound will let you know your server is back online.

You cannot log in without a connection. When your server is back online, when the connection is reestablished, you'll need to log in again before uploading your data. We just want to make sure you're still you.

Now that your server is back online, it's time to log in to your site and upload your transaction log so everything you did offline is

When you're offline, we can't tell which site you're working on, so you can only use Offline Mode for one site at a time. If you need to work at multiple sites

• In the rare case the user will be working at multiple sites, they could save to file and move to another site. Are the file names different? how can they tell what data is for what site if they've switched?

• When the v7 Server is available again, the transactions can be sent to the v7 Server to be executed via a Transaction Script process in the operations manager.

• The name of your site is listed at the bottom left.

Upload

Upload is available when

• you're logged in,
• there is a connection to the server,
• and there are transactions to be uploaded.

Uploading will process all transactions at the site you're currently logged in to, then it will clear all of the entries from the log.

When you upload, the log is cleared, the browser database is cleared, and a snackbar message tells you e.g. “15 transactions have been queued in Operations Management.” (NOTE: We know this number from the number of lines in the log.) NOTE: If this is a lot of work, note here, and skip for now.

Switch Site

Once you've logged in, the name of the site you're working in to is on the bottom left of the screen. If you find you're logged in to the wrong site, click the site name at the bottom of the screen to open the Switch Site menu.

When you switch sites, the data remains–it doesn't upload automatically, it doesn't clear.

The Switch Site option will become available when connection to the server has been established and the user is logged in. On mobile, the site will show the site code instead of the name. Clicking the site name/code brings up a menu that shows the full site name and the option to Switch Site. When you switch sites, the data remains. (It does not upload automatically, it does not clear.)

When you're offline, we can't tell which site you're working on, so you can only use Offline Mode for one site at a time. If you are working

NOTE: Switch Site: You don’t know the site until you are online; so offline mode would only be used at one site at a time.  In the rare case the user will be working at multiple sites, they could save to file and move to another site.