Utilities & Tools

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BSI provides several tools and utilities to monitor BSI. Some tools, such as working with Server Locks, are only available to administrators. All users can view the Job Queue and receive system messages.

Job Queue

This utility gives users the capability to view the current job queue. To display the Job Queue dialog, select Job Queue from the Manager menu of the main window.

The main component of the Job Queue dialog is the table listing the jobs. Generally, the jobs shown in this table are data entry jobs. This table displays the Job ID, User ID, Batch ID, Time Submitted, Time Started, Time Completed, and Status. By default, the jobs are presented in order by Job ID.

Users must have permission to access this module.

Example: Let’s say Dr. McCoy wants to verify the time and day last week on which a particular Data Entry batch was committed. He has permission to access the Job Queue manager, so he locates the particular batch ID on the manager. Data associated with the ID shows the date and time the batch was submitted for processing and, where applicable, when the processing was completed.

Server Locks

For administrators, the capability to view and remove batch and requisition locks is accomplished via the Server Locks dialog. Launch this dialog by selecting Server Locks from the Manager menu of the main window.

Locks Table - The main component of the Locks dialog is the table that lists the locks. This table displays the Lock ID, Object ID, Session ID, Lock Count, User Name, and the Date Created (which is the time the batch or requisition was locked).

Delete Button - Removes the currently highlighted lock.

Example: Let’s say that Mr. Jones is a Local Administrator for Repository A. A user contacts him regarding a Requisition which he needs to complete work on, but has no access to open. Mr. Jones checks the server Locks manager and realizes that another user already has this requisition open. He notifies both users and asks them to remember to close the editor window when they are finished working on an item in BSI.

Messages

The Messages tab displays all messages sent to the client from the system. This includes messages sent by System Administrators as well as messages that are sent to notify the client of success or failure when attempting to commit a batch or transfer containers. Failure messages are highlighted in red to appear different than success messages.

The Messages tab can be displayed by selecting Messages from the Manager menu on the main window. The Messages manager tab always displays a system notification on the user’s screen when committing a batch, transferring containers or creating multiple new containers at once. If the notification is of a success, the Messages manager will open in the background, remaining behind other open manager tabs. If the notification is of a failure, BSI will display the system notification and open the Messages manager tab, which will take focus.

Example: Dr. Smith is creating several new freezers with racks and boxes in BSI. He notices that when a container is successfully created, a notification dialog pops up on his computer. He accidentally pastes multiple boxes with IDs which conflict with existing box IDs. The Messages module takes focus away from the Locations manager, displaying the failure notification in red and listing his previous successful notifications.