Please visit our new TrackAbout Knowledge Base at https://supportkb.trackabout.com for the most-up-to-date documentation on TrackAbout and TrackAbout Mobile.
Difference between revisions of "Certificate of Analysis (COA)"
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
== Method 1: Link to COA in another system == | == Method 1: Link to COA in another system == | ||
| − | In this case COA documents are | + | In this case, COA documents are served from a web server external to TrackAbout, typically a system the customer has set up and manages. The customer provides a URL to TrackAbout that can be used to fetch any COA from the remote system. |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | It’s not possible for TrackAbout to know if any particular cylinder has a COA associated with it in advance when TrackAbout is not hosting the COAs. Therefore, TrackAbout devised a system to dynamically check for the existence of a COA on the remote web server while dynamically constructing an asset’s detail web page. | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | Within the TrackAbout application web site, on the Asset History page for a particular asset, TrackAbout can show a link to fetch the COA from the external system, if the COA exists on the external system. | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | Both internal customer users and their Follow-On Tracking users can fetch COAs from the TrackAbout web site. FOT users can only view assets that are currently in their possession, and so can only fetch COAs for assets that are currently in their possession. | |
| − | |||
| − | === | + | ===External URLs=== |
| − | + | A COA may be fetched from a remote system using a variety of identifiers such as an asset’s Lot Number, Serial Number, or perhaps a combination of identifiers. It really depends how the customer made it possible to fetch their COAs. | |
| − | + | A token is a placeholder in a generic web address or URL. We currently support fetching COAs from remote systems using the following identifiers: | |
| + | *Lot Number: The current lot number of the asset. The token is [LOT_NUMBER] | ||
| + | *Serial number: The serial number of the asset. The token is [DOC_NUM] | ||
| + | *Delivery ticket number: The most recent delivery ticket number used to deliver this asset to a customer. The token is [CROSS_REF] | ||
| − | + | ====Example==== | |
| + | So for example you might have a url that is something like: | ||
| + | http://www.not-our-server.com/COAs/[LOT_NUMBER].pdf | ||
| + | If an asset has a lot number of 123456 then this url will be presented as | ||
| + | http://www.not-our-server.com/COAs/123456.pdf | ||
| − | + | ===Showing the Link=== | |
| − | + | Not every filled asset has a COA. From the Asset History page, TrackAbout will do a quick check to see if there is a file at this destination address. If there is a file then TrackAbout will show a link to fetch the COA. If there is no file present at the formed URL then no link will be shown. | |
| − | + | ===Multiple URLs=== | |
| + | One of our customers has COAs stored in two systems. Specialty Gas COAs are in one system, and other gas COAs are in a different one. Each system has a different URL style and uses different identifiers to fetch the COAs. We made it possible for TrackAbout to check multiple external systems for the existence of a COA document for a given asset. | ||
| + | If there are multiple URLS, Trackabout will try them in sequence until one is found that links to an actual file. Then this link will be used. | ||
== Method 2: TrackAbout to store COAs generated by another system == | == Method 2: TrackAbout to store COAs generated by another system == | ||
Revision as of 11:30, 27 December 2012
Overview
A Certificate of Analysis (COA) is a document that is attached to one or more assets to certify that they passed an analysis.
There are 3 ways that this module can work
- TrackAbout provides a link to download a COA stored in an external system
- TrackAbout stores COAs generated by another system
- TrackAbout generates the COA
Method 1: Link to COA in another system
In this case, COA documents are served from a web server external to TrackAbout, typically a system the customer has set up and manages. The customer provides a URL to TrackAbout that can be used to fetch any COA from the remote system.
It’s not possible for TrackAbout to know if any particular cylinder has a COA associated with it in advance when TrackAbout is not hosting the COAs. Therefore, TrackAbout devised a system to dynamically check for the existence of a COA on the remote web server while dynamically constructing an asset’s detail web page.
Within the TrackAbout application web site, on the Asset History page for a particular asset, TrackAbout can show a link to fetch the COA from the external system, if the COA exists on the external system.
Both internal customer users and their Follow-On Tracking users can fetch COAs from the TrackAbout web site. FOT users can only view assets that are currently in their possession, and so can only fetch COAs for assets that are currently in their possession.
External URLs
A COA may be fetched from a remote system using a variety of identifiers such as an asset’s Lot Number, Serial Number, or perhaps a combination of identifiers. It really depends how the customer made it possible to fetch their COAs.
A token is a placeholder in a generic web address or URL. We currently support fetching COAs from remote systems using the following identifiers:
- Lot Number: The current lot number of the asset. The token is [LOT_NUMBER]
- Serial number: The serial number of the asset. The token is [DOC_NUM]
- Delivery ticket number: The most recent delivery ticket number used to deliver this asset to a customer. The token is [CROSS_REF]
Example
So for example you might have a url that is something like:
http://www.not-our-server.com/COAs/[LOT_NUMBER].pdf
If an asset has a lot number of 123456 then this url will be presented as
http://www.not-our-server.com/COAs/123456.pdf
Showing the Link
Not every filled asset has a COA. From the Asset History page, TrackAbout will do a quick check to see if there is a file at this destination address. If there is a file then TrackAbout will show a link to fetch the COA. If there is no file present at the formed URL then no link will be shown.
Multiple URLs
One of our customers has COAs stored in two systems. Specialty Gas COAs are in one system, and other gas COAs are in a different one. Each system has a different URL style and uses different identifiers to fetch the COAs. We made it possible for TrackAbout to check multiple external systems for the existence of a COA document for a given asset.
If there are multiple URLS, Trackabout will try them in sequence until one is found that links to an actual file. Then this link will be used.
Method 2: TrackAbout to store COAs generated by another system
In this method COAs are generated in another system. This other system creates an output COA file. This file is transferred to TrackAbout and attached to the assets. This file is then available as a link from the Asset History page within TrackAbout. It is visible to both internal users and external Follow-On Tracking users.
Sequence
The workflow is as follows:
- The assets are assigned to a lot using TrackAbout
- The COA is generated in another system
- The COA is uploaded to TrackAbout
- TrackAbout finds assets that match the lot number of the COA*
- TrackAbout links the COA to these assets
- Users can now download the COA from the Asset History page of the asset(s)
- Note that it is important that the assets are assigned to the lot before the COA is uploaded. In practice this means that any non-wireless handhelds should be synced before pushing COAs to TrackAbout.
File transfer mechanism
Today FTP is supported to transfer COA files into TrackAbout. Contact TrackAbout support to have an FTP site setup and hosted by TrackAbout. TrackAbout will check this FTP site regularly (generally about every 15 min) to see if any new files have been added.
Naming convention
The logic expects the following naming convention for the COA: [LOT].[FileExtension] So for example a pdf file for lot 123456 must be named: 123456.pdf
Method 3: TrackAbout generates the COA
In this method, the COA is generated by TrackAbout using gas analysis data.
This is a powerful and fast way to create COAs right from scanning data. This method requires custom programming to make a custom COA from gas analysis and fill data being collected.
Please contact TrackAbout Support for more information on this. This will involve a project to collect requirements and customize the software to create a custom COA.