License Management for StockTake Scanners

The license is based on a hash code generated from the StockTake scanners hardware. A license file must be created using the licensing application which is located in s:\internal\stocktakeLicensing called ManageLicense.exe. This generates a license file called stocktake.lic which needs copying onto the Pocket PC devices ‘My Documents’ folder. A license lasts until the end of the current year, at which point a new license must be generated. I’ve put together a ‘step by step’ guide below.

Step 1 - Get the Devices Hardware Hash

When the application first runs it will look for a file called stocktake.lic in the ‘My Documents’ folder on the handheld device. The first time the application runs this file will not exist. The device will display its ‘device code’ on the screen.

Figure 1 - Displaying the device hash

TIP:: The system also writes out the device hash into a file called ‘stockhash.txt’ onto the ‘My Documents’ area of the Pocket PC whenever a license is detected as invalid. This is required for generating replacement licenses and its much simpler than rekeying the value on the screen.

Step 2 – Generate the License File

Run the ManageLicense.exe program. You want to enter the device hash into the top text box. You need to click the ‘Generate License’ button. Finally the resulting license needs saving. Click ‘Save License File’, the resulting stocktake.lic file will be dropped into your current directory.
You can now copy this into the ‘My Documents’ folder on the PocketPC device. The software will now run.

Figure 2 - The license generator

Using the Stock Take Scanner to perform a Stock Take in RMS

Create new stock take in RMS
Create new physical inventory count in RMS as normal. In Store operations Manger go to the Inventory Menu and select Physical inventory. Create a new physical inventory count and select which items you are going do a stock take on using the available options. Click OK and this creates a new physical inventory file. Click Okay to close the new physical inventory.

Export Stock Take to Scanner
Go to the Utilities Menu and select Addins. Select Export Stock Take for Scanner.

Figure 1. Export Stock Take File

This opens the Export Stock Take Screen. Select the stock take you want from the upper half of the screen and you can see the items on the stock tale in the button half of the screen. It shows the barcode, the price, the description, the quantity that RMS currently hold for that item and the quantity counted in the stock take. The quantity counted will be 0 as we have not yet performed our stock take. Click Export scanner file to export the file to the specified location.

Figure 2: Export stock take file

Load exported file onto the mobile device.
Put the exported .csv file in the My Documents folder on the mobile device. Run the Stock Take application. From the File menu select Load Stock Take from RMS. Browse to the .csv file that we just place on the device and click open. You should now see the stock filename at the bottom of the screen to show the file is loaded.

Figure 3: Loaded stock take file on mobile device

Stock Take
You can now begin your stock take. Scan an item. The Item description and price will show above the stock filename. You can also see the target count. This is how many you expect to have in stock according to the current RMS inventory. The Item Count shows how many you have counted so far. The item count is remembered for each item so you can scan your stock in any order and do not have to scan similar items together.

Figure 4: A scanned item with information from RMS.

Scan the same item again and the item count increments by 1. You can also manually increase the count using the buttons. For example if you know you have 10 in a sealed box and don’t wish to open it and scan them individually, then press +10. The item count increase by 10. You can also decrease the item count manually. For example if you accidentally scan an item more than once incorrectly then press the -1 button to correct the count.

If you scan an item that is not in the stock file then the Stock Take application will warn you so you can decide what to do. It may be that it is a new item that is not in RMS or it may be that it is just not in the stock take file that you exported because you are not doing full stock take.

You can check your stock take file at any point by clicking on the Check Count menu item. This brings up the Stock View. This shows the full stock take file. In order the columns are barcode, the current count for the item, the stock take date, the expected count, price, and description.

Figure 5: Stock view screen

To save the file Select File and Save As. Save the stock take file in the My Documents folder. You will need to save the file with a new filename not replace the existing one. If you save it with the same file name it will append to the existing file not replace it.

The save button on the main screen is intended for use when an item count is typed in manually using the keyboard on the scanner rather than using the touchscreen buttons on the application interface. You must press the save button to save the figure after each entry.

Load the Stock Take back into RMS
Run Store Operations Manager. Go to the Inventory Menu and select Physical inventory. Select your stock take and click properties to open the physical inventory count screen. Click import file to import the stock take into RMS.

Figure 6: Physical Inventory Count Screen in RMS

The File import wizard opens. Click next. Select the file to import. This will be in the my documents folder of the mobile device. You can either browse to it on the device or copy it back onto your computer if you want to archive the stock take files of the device. The file type should be Character delimited by default. If it is not select this option. Click next.

To specify the file format select comma as field delimiter and as comment delimiter. Leave start import at line as 0. Leave field is enclosed in quotes as unchecked. Specify field positions as follows. Item Lookup Code = 1, Quantity = 2, Create Date = 3. These settings should be remembered the next time you import a stock file. Click next.

Figure 7: Specify file format

You can now specify how you want to import the stock take. For items you can specify only to update the stock levels for items that are currently in RMS. Or you can have it add any items that do not exist. Best practice is to any new items in RMS before importing the stock take. For quantities you can add to existing counts or replace existing counts. Select replace existing counts. These settings should be remembered the next time you import a stock file. Preview the file and select import.

You can now click calculate on the Physical Inventory count screen to compute any quantity discrepancies. RMS will now show you the counted value, the expected value and the delta vale for items. Yu can check Hide items with no discrepancies to only show items where the count and the expected differ if you want. From here you can go back and re-count or you can commit the stock take.

Figure 8. Review stock take

Starting with a blank Stock Take
You can also create a new blank stock take from the scanner application. The advantage of this being that you don’t need to export it from RMS first. The disadvantage is you won’t get a warning when you scan an item you are not expecting and you won’t have the expected item count to guide you.

To import this back into RMS start a new blank Physical Inventory based on manual entry. From the Physical Inventory Count Screen select import and follow the previous process.

Requirements and Installation Instructions

The instructions below are based around Vista and Vista's ActiveSync. The same procedures apply if you are using Windows XP, but the screenshots may vary. The solution requires the scanner to be connected to the PC via USB, we do not support Wifi as we use ActiveSync to transfer the stock files. Connect the dock to the PC, but do not plugin the stock scanner.


Pre-Requisites

RMS 2.0 or 1.x

The database and SQL server collations must match. If they don't match DO NOT just change them as this can result in permanent damage to the RMS database.


Database

The system has a number of bugs regarding the handling of special characters. It is important to check that there are no special characters either in the barcodes, item descriptions or alias information. As a minimum the following apply:

None of the alias barcode fields can contain the string “master”None of the item description, alias or barcode fields can contain comma’s (“,”)


These should be checked prior to rollout. If someone writes the SQL script for this,


and emails it to me I will add this to the Blog.


ActiveSync


When using Windows XP, Search on Microsoft downloads for the latest version. With Vista the version built into the OS is adequate. Install this prior to connecting the scanner.


Instructions

Prepare Scanner


Dock the scanner device, this should start the ActiveSync connection wizzard. Click 'setup device'. Ensure the only items which are to be syncronised to the device is files. When prompted call the device RMS Stock Take Scanner 1. Where 1 is the number of the device (it will always be 1 unless you have multiple scanners in the store). Ensure 'Delete existing items on device and replace with items on the desktop is selected'.

The device will complete its initial syncronisation, and ActiveSync will create a shortcut on the desktop which can be used to copy files to the 'My Documents' folder on the device. For example:

"Documents on RMS Stock Take Scanner 1"

Install RMS Addin


Firstly fire up RMS and ensure a 'Physical Inventory' exists. The system requires at least one inventory count to exist, it is fine for this count to be closed. If one does not exist create a count for a single item, set the count level to the quantity in stock and close the count.

Extract the files from the ZIP file SetupStockTake.zip into a temporary directory. Run the setup.exe. Run it through on default options.

Browse to "C:\Program Files\CitrusLime\RMSStockTake".


Firstly edit the StockTakeRMSAddin.exe.config file to adjust the connection string with the details for the RMS database -


connectionString="Data Source=SQL_server;Initial Catalog=RMScitrdemo;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=sa;Password=my_password"


Right click on the executable file StockTakeRMSAddin.exe and create a shortcut.


Copy this shortcut into the RMS Addins directory. This would typically be located in


"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Retail Management System\Store Operations\Addins"


If an Addins folder does not exist, create one under the Store Operastions directory. Rename the shortcut to "Export Stock Take for Scanner"


Run SO Manager - Browse to Utilities - Addins. Run the "Export Stock Take for Scanner" . You should see a screen shot similar to one below displaying open stock takes.

Setup the Scanner


Copy the cabinet file 'SetupStockTake.CAB' contained in the zip file into the shortcut on the PC's desktop which is syncronised with the scanner. On the Pocket PC run this cab file.



Using Windows Explorer on the scanner browse into the applications folder. This should be inside the 'Program Files' folder, in a sub folder called 'CitrusLime StockTake'. Copy a shortcut to this icon onto the PocketPC's desktop.


Run the shortcut and ensure the application starts. Scan some barcodes - ensure the scanner makes a BLEEP when a barcode is scanned (this is essential to make the solution usable and this may require configuration of the PocketPC as the application does not generate the 'Bleep'!)

Ensure that the regional settings on the device match the PC it is being used with. Generally this will be UK settings. Also make sure the Time and Date are acurate. RMS checks the Time and Date of stockfiles it imports.

Description of Application and Prices

The RMS stock take software provides a Windows Mobile based RMS stock take solution. The system consists of two pieces of software, the first a utility that allows stock takes to be exported from RMS and loaded onto the scanner. The second the stock take application which runs on the Windows mobile unit which is actually used for the scanning.

Unlike 'basic' stock take scanning systems, once the scanner is loaded with data from RMS, the system will show an expected count level (although this can be disabled), the item cost and RMS item description. This allows members of staff to check pricing and product labels as they proceed around the store.

The application requires a Windows Mobile 5.0 based scanner, we currently support the Metrologic Optimus PDA which is a hardened PDA with built in scanner. Most Windows Mobile devices with scanners should work fine, however the quality and speed of the scan head is crucial.

The software costs £15.00 per month ( with a minimum years contract and annual yearly renewals), including support and updates.