Warehouse Wizard Series

Developed with proven RF experience by Omega Technologies, Inc.

This solution is comprised of four (4) component applications: RF~Server, RF~Monitor, RF~Designer, and RF~ClientPC.

Download the user guide for Merlin RF.

Merlin is a data collection software catered to your needs through a mobile/wireless PDA environment.

Warehouse/Wizard is a series of Windows™ NT/98 ME 2000 XP based software modules that can design, control, and monitor wireless network and RF portable terminal warehouse applications.

RF~Design Wizard creates and modifies your Warehouse/Wizard solutions. Information fields and portable screens (forms) can be defined and designed for use in applications created by you using RF~Design Wizard's graphical button and pull-down menu controls.

In addition, the RF~Portable Server and RF~Portable Monitor modules complete the Warehouse Wizard RF-based data collection solution.

• Merlin Software
• RF~Design Wizard
• RF~Portable Monitor

Merlin Software

The RF~Design Wizard allows the operator to utilize step-by-step cue cards (Help Wizard) to create and/or modify your applications. The Help Wizard allows you to design your applications based upon tips and techniques used by Omega Technologies to implement RF-based warehouse data collection systems for their clients. The RF~Design Wizard lets you benefit from these years of barcode and data collection systems experience to create your applications.

Just follow the Wizard, and select from the displayed options, or enter the necessary information when prompted.

RF~Design Wizard features are designed for the everyday manager; network adminstrators need not apply!

RF~Design Wizard Feature Summary

RF Applications

• Titles, menu/prompt sequences, methods of input
• Define function keys to access prompts and menus
• Validation of data entered such as length, type, lookup
• Branching rules to display prompts to handle exceptions

Form Designer

• Create or modify portable screen forms
• Control screen attributes such as reserve video the screen header or underline input fields when displayed.
• Display pertinent information on each field used
• Build common forms to be used by all applications (Logon, Main Menus, etc)
• Control the size of form to use via menu selection

Data Fields

• Define data fields to be used on forms and for storage
• Data types, length, input format can be defined in one place to be used by all forms and RF applications.
• Data Storage
• Map data fields to fields in your host database tables using ODBC drivers (Oracle, SQL-Server, Access)
• Retrieve information from tables to be mapped to data fields displayed on forms.

This is the design tool that provides the means to:

• Add or modify business rules that pertain to data capture, validation, and displaying
• Add or modify data rules that control reading and writing to multiple data sources
• Create Forms used by hand held portable terminals
• Create Data Fields to contain/process special barcode labels such as AIAG, UCC128, or PDF417 barcode standards.

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RF~Design Wizard Requirements

• Microsoft's Windows 98 ME 2000 XP™ operating system
• Symbol Technologies' Spectrum 24 RF products
• Intel Pentium 350 MHz
• 64 Megs RAM
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.50/ Netscape Navigator

RF~Portable Server is included with the monitor and both must be installed on the PC workstation connected to your RF network Ethernet backbone.

The RF~Design Wizard can be installed on a different PC workstation to create and maintain your RF based applications. Once designed, simply copy the Warehouse/Wizard design files onto the RF~Portable Monitor PC workstation to complete or update your installation.

RF~Portable Monitor Feature Summary

Tools

• Activate RF~Design Wizard to perform modifications to your applications, or create new ones.
• Start and Stop the RF~Portable Server
• Automatically start the RF~Portable Server when the monitor is started (When used in Window's startup menu provide recovery from power outages or workstation reboot).

System Properties

• Transaction Log file name and directory
• Select printer for reports (activated from RF portables)
• Select label printers to be used to generate barcodes (activated from RF portables)
• Displays all environment settings for remote database connections via ODBC F~Portable Server version/build and license information
  Security
• Utilizes up to five different security levels (groups)
• User, password, and security level database
• Dynamic control of user access to application menus on the RF portable

It has a monitor tool that displays for administrators and support personnel the event activity that has occurred by all connections to the RF~Server application.

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The monitor tool displays the activity for the connected portables and the state of the RF~Server.

It allows the viewing of all attempted SQL commands for debug and performance analysis, and viewing of the state of each portable that had been connected and the number of system errors encountered (if any).

It controls the properties used by the RF~Server that pertain to its installation configuration. It allows the starting and stopping of the RF~Server.

It also provides a quick launch menu/button to execute the RF~Designer and RF~ClientPC applications.

RF~Portable Server / RF~Portable Monitor Requirements

Each Warehouse/Wizard module is designed to work on Microsoft's Windows 98 ME 2000 XP™ and or Windows NT™ operating system andwith Symbol Technologies' Spectrum One and or Spectrum 24 RF products. Different configurations exist depending on the type of network and host systems that are installed. The following are Warehouse Wizard's minimum requirements that must be met:

With Connect's PowerNet/NT administrator

• TCP/IP Networked Windows NT Server or Workstation
• Intel Pentium 133 MHz
• 24 Megs RAM
• Microsoft Web Server
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• 802.11 or 802.11b compliant Backbone
• Supported 802.11 or 802.11b compliant Terminals

With Symbol's TCP/IP Enabler

• TCP/IP Networked Windows NT 98 ME 2000 XP Server or Workstation
• Intel Pentium 233 MHz
• 64 Megs RAM
• Symbol Spectrum 802.11 or 802.11b compliant Backbone
• Symbol Spectrum Supported 802.11 or 802.11b compliant Terminals

With Symbol's Serial Enabler

• Windows 95 or NT Workstation
• Intel Pentium 133 MHz
• 24 Megs Ram
• Symbol Spectrum One Network Control Unit (NCU)
• Symbol Spectrum One Transceiver(s)
• Symbol Spectrum One Portable Terminal(s)

A dedicated PC host will be used by RF~Wizard applications as the "RFServer" which handles all communications and business logic for the RF Portable Terminals. This application must be executed on the PC in order for the hand held portable terminals to execute the installed RF applications.

It has the ability to connect as a single user to all ODBC compliant database servers and database files. The tested SQL servers include: MS-SQL, MySQL, Oracle80i, DB2, Providex, and Pervasive SQL.

This software was development as a 32-bit multi-threaded application for sole purpose of providing a high-level of: performance, scalability, and control over all connected clients.

Each connected client runs independently within its own application thread thereby allowing individual performance results based on the work done by each client. The main thread for memory resource usage and processor control manages all client threads.

It automatically adjusted workloads between connected clients so that a single client transaction performance does not tie up the server's processing of all other client transactions.

RF~ClientPC

It has a virtual PC portable client that can be used to test and debug application designs. It can be used on wired or wireless PC and Laptop computers for fixed station solutions without the need for actual hand held portable terminals.

The RF~ClientPC behaves just like a hand held portable terminal so that all design requirements can be tested before put to use.