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Tracer Eyes User Guide

This is an internal User Guide for staff supervising the Tracer Eyes software at the workstation set up in the entrance. Tracer Eyes is the general name for the front desk component of the overarching Tracer project.

Application

Access Services Staff

Once access services staff have logged into the Workstation they can begin using the Eyes application.

 

Getting Started

  • Single click the Icon in the top left of the desktop to start the Eyes application.  This will also restart all services it uses.
  • If something goes wrong you should try restarting the application.  Simply make a note of what you think went wrong, so technical staff can investigate later.
  • If the application reports a FAILURE! Bad user data when a card is swiped you should ask for their 901#, because their keycode is either invalid or too new for OCLC to have it.

 

The Screen

Once Eyes is running you will see a white screen with text and sections drawn on it.  The sections' format will change as data is written to the screen.  Do not be alarmed when the areas resize themselves and affect the layout.  The following section outlines the layout.

 

 

Layout

In summary incoming and outgoing transactions are logged to the top sections of the application.  They will expand as they fill with information.  If they grow too much you will need the scroll bar to access the 901# entries in the bottom of the app.  To avoid cluttering the screen you should use the clear buttons in the lower left quadrant of the application frequently.

 

Incoming Transactions (top left)

  • This area logs card swipes and 901 # entries for patrons during Ingress.
  • Transactions will say they wrote either a keycode or a banner id to file, and it will provide the time of the transaction in a format similar to a digital clock's output.  This area will expand vertically as needed pushing the second row down in the window as it grows.

 

Outgoing Transactions (top right)

  • This box acts identically to the Incoming Transactions box, but it logs swipes and 901 # entries for patrons during egress.

 

Clear Buttons (bottom left)

  • In the bottom (looks like middle) left of the screen you can find the buttons "Clear Incoming!" and "Clear Outgoing!".
  • These buttons clear all data buffered in their respective section from the top row of the window.
  • Even though we can scroll, it is probably better to clear those sections when they get really crowded, because that makes it easier to see that people's swipes are getting registered in the system.

 

Patrons by Banner ID (bottom right)

  • This section holds two boxes used for entering a patron's Banner Identification number.
  • Commonly referred to as a nine-o-one number (901#) at EKU.
  • Like the sections in the top row of the window, these boxes correspond to ingress/egress as one would expect.
  • As a convenience, 910 is already entered into the text fields.
  • If a user has an older 900#, then simply replace the "1" with a "0" in the text field.
  • Numbers beginning with "900" and "901" are accepted and logged into the top row of the application.
  • The message "Success!" is displayed below the text field when a 9 digit number starting with "900" or "901" is entered followed by the enter key.
  • If a malformed banner id is entered, an error message (Bad 901#. Pleas try again!) is displayed below the text field, the value in the text field is reset to "901", and nothing is logged to the transaction boxes.

 

Scrolling (right side)

After the accumulation of many transaction logs in the first row of the window, the scrollbar on the right is likely to become useful.  If you find the application in this state, please be nice and clear the transaction boxes with the clear buttons.  It will be easier for you and the Workstation to work together in harmony.  Currently, there is no functionality to scroll with the center mouse wheel.  Guy gives you his deepest apologies for this.  It is unlikely to be possible with the current software, but a click-and-drag scrolling feature is on the way.

 

Exiting

  • Generally you shouldn't need to exit, but the 'x' button in the window border controls will exit the application.
  • In rare cases this might not work!
  • If the application won't close gracefully, you may click the Eyes icon again, and close the application after it restarts.
  • For persistent problems contact Guy Gastineau at Guy.Gastineau@eku.edu or at 1 (859) 314 6367

 

Screenshots

Here are some more screenshots of the Eyes application in use in my development environment.  Expect some more detailed and annotated screenshots in the future.