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Janam AI4100, User Manual

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Janam AI4100 User Manual Download Page 73

AI4100 Portable AEI Reader

 

 

 

67  

  March 2, 2015  

Track tags are standard AT5110 or AT5118 tags that are programmed in ASCII.  The 
following table is the format of the Track tag: 

 

Field 

Starting 

Position 

Field Size Data 

Tag Type Identifier 

1 

3 

TRK 

Track Orientation 

4 

1 

N = North to South 
S = South to North 
W = West to East 
E = East to West 

Sequence Number 

5 

2 

Two-digits 

Track Name 

7 

10 

Up to 10 
alpha/numeric 
characters 

Track has Spot 
Location 

17 

1 

Y = Has spot 
locations 

N = Does not have 
spot locations 

Track Spot Orientation 

18 

1 

N = North to South 
S = South to North 
W = West to East 
E = East to West 

 

Examples: 

TRKW99201       YW 

TRKW01101       NW 

 

8. SPOT TAGS 

Spot tags are AEI tags that are programmed with track spot location information.  Their 
purpose is to eliminate the need to manually enter information when taking track inventory. 

Before reading Spot tags, the operator would read the Track tag at his starting end of the 
track. 

Prior to reading the tag on the rail vehicle the Spot tag for the vehicle's location should be 
read.  When the rail vehicle's tag is read, the vehicle's location will be determined by the 
information in the last Spot tag read.   

Spot tags contain the track name associated with the spot location and the spot name. 

Summary of Contents for AI4100

Page 1: ...AI4100 Portable Reader User Manual March 2 2015 Copyright 2015 Softrail All rights reserved ...

Page 2: ...ortable AEI Reader ii March 2 2015 Softrail 1098 Venetia Road Eighty Four PA 15330 Tel 888 872 4612 toll free US and Canada only Tel 724 942 1473 Fax 724 942 1480 E mail aei signalcc com Web Page www aeitag com ...

Page 3: ...PLAYS 24 5 SETUP FUNCTIONS 25 5 1 Track Setup 26 5 2 AEI RR TCP IP Setup 31 5 3 Email Setup 33 5 4 Email Addresses 34 5 5 FTP Setup 35 5 6 Automatic Clock Update 36 5 7 Sending AEI Tag Data in Real Time 36 5 7 1 Bluetooth Tag Data Transmission 40 5 7 2 Bluetooth Pairing Instructions 40 5 7 3 Network Tag Data Transmission 43 5 8 Network Communications 43 5 8 1 USB Connection to a Windows Computer 4...

Page 4: ...6 3 Find Rail Vehicle and Rail Vehicle Movement History 65 6 4 Delete All Track Inventory 66 7 TRACK TAGS 66 8 SPOT TAGS 67 9 OEM FUNCTIONS 68 9 1 Accessing Tag Data 68 9 2 Sending OEM Data 73 9 2 1 Email Transmit Request File 74 9 2 2 FTP Transmit Request File 77 9 2 3 OEM Transmit Request Status 78 10 ABOUT 79 11 MAINTENANCE AND COMMUNICATION LOGS 79 11 1 Maintenance Log 79 11 2 Communications L...

Page 5: ...1 System Fields Dialog 19 Figure 22 User Fields Dialog 20 Figure 23 Rail Vehicle Data Field Display 21 Figure 24 Serial Numbers Edit Dialog 22 Figure 25 Rail Vehicle Serial Number Display 23 Figure 26 Screen Displays 24 Figure 27 Track Setup Dialog 26 Figure 28 Spot Name Setup Dialog 27 Figure 29 Rename Track Spot Dialog 28 Figure 30 T94 Track Data Dialog 28 Figure 31 Send Track Inventory Setup Di...

Page 6: ...Examples 53 Figure 56 Barcode Field Structure 54 Figure 57 Barcode Text Translation Dialog 55 Figure 58 Barcode Add Edit Dialog 56 Figure 59 Setup Password Dialog 56 Figure 60 OEM Folder Setup 57 Figure 61 Inventory Menu 58 Figure 62 Track Select Dialog 59 Figure 63 Track View Dialog 60 Figure 64 Rail Vehicle Data Dialog 61 Figure 65 Rail Vehicle Data Pop up Menu 61 Figure 66 Email Comments Dialog...

Page 7: ... 2 D imager for reading barcodes The AI4100 Portable AEI Reader can be used to verify AEI tag data capture track consist by reading the AEI tags on rail vehicles and record barcoded serial numbers from seals products or replacement parts Unlike previous portable AEI tag readers that have two separate components that must be Bluetooth paired with each other the AI4100 is a single piece unit see Fig...

Page 8: ...rmanently attached to the Janam XM2 mobile computer see Figure 2 Figure 2 AI4100 Side View The AI4100 AEI Portable Reader is shipped with a charging cradle which allows for a USB connection to a computer and a battery see Figure 3 Figure 3 AI4100 Components AEI Tag RF Antenna ...

Page 9: ...Paragraph 2 6 AEI data is sent in a comma delimited text file or a file containing T94 S9203A records Either of these file types can be attached to an email or uploaded to an FTP server The AI4100 Portable AEI reader can send AEI data files directly to as many as seven email addresses in addition to four FTP servers Some of the other capabilities of the AI4100 Portable AEI Reader are listed below ...

Page 10: ... rail vehicle see Paragraph 5 14 A barcode reader is integrated into the mobile computer Allows up to 40 barcoded serial numbers to be entered for each railcar see Paragraph 3 5 Allows for the easy development of custom applications Enables other vendors OEMs to develop special applications for the portable reader see Paragraph 9 The portable reader allows other applications to easily access tag a...

Page 11: ... of the unit see Figure 5 This will cause the computer to boot up and automatically start the Softrail AEI Portable Reader program This program must be running and shown on the display for the system to read AEI RF tags and barcodes The AI4100 information display will first appear see Figure 6 Figure 5 AI4100 Buttons Power Button Read Tag Read Tag Read Tag Read Barcode Read Barcode Read Barcode Wi...

Page 12: ...ortable AEI Reader 6 March 2 2015 Figure 6 AI4100 Information Display 2 2 Power Off To power down the unit press and hold the power button A power off display will appear see Figure 7 Figure 7 Power Off Screen ...

Page 13: ...r Software program must be on the screen If not press the Windows Flag button on the left side just below the screen see Figure 5 If the program list screen see Figure 9 does not appear press this button again Tap the AEI Reader icon to start the program A second way to start the Softrail AEI Tag Reader Software is to power down the unit by holding down the Power button until the Power Off screen ...

Page 14: ...cing Rail Vehicles on Tracks Prior to reading rail vehicle AEI tags track information should be entered into the portable reader There are two methods for assigning rail vehicles to a track The first method for assigning rail vehicles to a track is to manually enter the track information into the portable reader and then read the tags on the track To manually enter information about the track tap ...

Page 15: ...tory Dialog In the Start Track Inventory dialog you will either select a previously entered track name by selecting a name from the pull down list which appears when you tap on the down arrow located on the right side of the Track field or manually enter a new track name To enter a new track name tap on the keyboard icon located near the bottom right of the screen This will cause a keyboard to be ...

Page 16: ...to two tracks to be active at any given time The process described above is completed for each track on which tags are to be read and the Active Track display shown below is for a case where two tracks are active Figure 12 Active Track Display The second way to assign rail vehicles to a track is to read a special Track AEI tag before reading the tags on the rail vehicles on the track Track AEI tag...

Page 17: ... AEI tag will switch the vehicle from one track to the other Figure 13 Switch Track Button The portable reader will continue assigning the rail vehicles to either of the two active tracks until one of them is deactivated by the reading of a second Track Tag on the track or until the user issues a command to the portable reader to stop taking inventory on the track see Paragraph 2 5 The taking of i...

Page 18: ...e 15 will be displayed If you are using Track Tags reading the Track Tag at the end of the track opposite from which the first Track Tag was read will also end taking inventory for that track 2 6 Send Track Inventory The Send Track Inventory dialog see Figure 15 allows the user to enter the track inventory s file format and how the track inventory will be sent The portable reader can send track in...

Page 19: ...nd inventory Information on setting up the email or FTP functions can be found in Paragraphs 5 3 or 5 5 respectively Files can be sent to as many as seven email addresses For information on entering email addresses into the system go to Paragraph 5 4 Figure 15 Send Track Inventory Dialog The portable reader can also send track inventory to Softrail s AEI Rail and Road Manager program directly via ...

Page 20: ...nding transmission messages tap the View menu item near the bottom of the screen and select the Message Status item This will cause the Message Status dialog shown in Figure 16 to be displayed Figure 16 Message Status Dialog The Message Status dialog shows the status of all of the messages that are waiting to be sent and the last 100 messages that were sent ...

Page 21: ... Initial field or a new Vehicle Initial can be typed in using the keyboard If the keyboard is not displayed tap on the keyboard icon located near the bottom right of the screen This will cause the keyboard to be displayed Tap on the characters of the new Vehicle Initial Tapping the keyboard icon a second time will cause the keyboard to disappear After you have entered a new Vehicle Initial this ne...

Page 22: ...button is tapped the screen shown in Figure 18 will be displayed Figure 18 Manually Entered Vehicle Display This display shows that a vehicle s data was manually entered and when the entry occurred As with vehicles entered via tag reads manually entered vehicle information can be included in track inventory and can be sent to other systems via the internet ...

Page 23: ...his will cause a pop up menu to appear see Figure 19 Tap the Start Collecting Serial s menu item Figure 19 Start Collecting Serial Numbers When finished collecting serial numbers tap the Menu button again and tap the End Collecting Serial s item You will then be asked if you want to send the data If you answer Yes the Send Track Inventory dialog will appear see Figure 15 3 ADDITIONAL DATA FIELDS W...

Page 24: ...ds tap the Menu button on the screen This will cause a pop up menu to be displayed see Figure 14 Select the appropriate menu item for the type of additional data to be entered 3 1 Vehicle Comments When the Vehicle Comments menu item is tapped the Vehicle Comments dialog shown in Figure 20 will appear Figure 20 Vehicle Comments Dialog To display the keyboard tap the white keyboard icon in the botto...

Page 25: ...tem Fields Dialog To display the keyboard tap the white keyboard icon in the bottom right corner Tapping this icon a second time will cause the keyboard to disappear There are four system defined fields The user can enter any data into these fields or use each field s pull down list The system will remember all entries into these fields and add them to the fields pull down lists the next time this...

Page 26: ...ner Tapping this icon a second time will cause the keyboard to disappear The user can specify up to seven fields of data that will be maintained for a rail vehicle The name of each field can be entered using the User Field Name Setup dialog see Paragraph 5 13 The user can enter any data into these fields or use the fields pull down lists The system will remember all entries into these fields and a...

Page 27: ...d the AEI Tag display is shown see Figure 8 When data is entered into one of the vehicle s data fields the Rail Vehicle Data Field display in Figure 23 will be shown Figure 23 Rail Vehicle Data Field Display This display shows all user entered data for the rail vehicle with the exception of the Comments field ...

Page 28: ... be entered manually or via the barcode reader Please note that in order to associate barcoded serial numbers with a rail vehicle the vehicle must be assigned to a track When a vehicle is in a repair shop a track called Serial will be created if the Start Collecting Serial s menu item is selected after the Menu button is tapped see Paragraph 2 8 Please note that barcodes can also be used to enter ...

Page 29: ...ber Display will be shown see Figure 25 The display will show the last 20 barcodes read for the railcar with the latest shown in blue at the top of the leftmost column Figure 25 Rail Vehicle Serial Number Display The Serial Number Edit button will allow the user to display the Serial Number Edit Dialog see Figure 24 to add delete or modify the serial number s ...

Page 30: ...ctive Track Display Current Spot Tag Display only displayed if there is an active track which uses track spots Current Barcode Display only displayed if there has been no vehicle tag read or a barcode has been translated into a text entry in one of the vehicle s fields You can cycle through these displays in the above order by tapping anywhere on the top half of the screen Each time you tap the ne...

Page 31: ...P connection Contact information used when sending emails and maintenance information Default Values allows the user to enter a default vehicle initial for the manual vehicle entry dialog and default track orientation when the user starts taking track inventory Memorized Data Maintenance many data fields have pull down lists of previously entered data This function allows the user to edit the pull...

Page 32: ...7 Track Setup Dialog Previously entered track names can be deleted or renamed and new track names can be added To delete or rename a track first select the track by tapping on it and then tap the Delete or Rename button Only one track name can be selected at a time To add a new track name tap the Add button and an Add Track dialog will appear Tracks can be designated to have spot locations To desi...

Page 33: ...ill appear Figure 28 Spot Name Setup Dialog Up to 100 spot names can be assigned The user can specify the direction in which the spot locations are listed Spot names are by default given numerical names based on their position on the track see Position 005 006 007 etc in Figure 28 To assign a new name tap the spot position you want to change and the Rename Track Spot dialog shown in Figure 29 will...

Page 34: ... requirement for an AEI site identifier see Paragraph 2 1 5 in the S9203A standard This information is entered by selecting a track in the Track Setup Dialog Figure 27 and tapping the T94 Setup button This will cause the T94 Track Data dialog to be displayed see Figure 30 Figure 30 T94 Track Data Dialog ...

Page 35: ...an be found in the Association of American Railroads AEI Standard S9203 which can be obtained from the Association of American Railroads www aar org The second format is a comma delimited text file This format uses Electronic Data Interchange EDI type records This file has many different types of records and is generally used for computer to computer communications For information about the format...

Page 36: ...Softrail s web page at www aeitag com The user can cause the track inventory to be sent automatically when he finishes taking track inventory The portable reader will typically not send track data if the track does not contain any rail vehicles However this can be overridden by checking the Send empty track box in this dialog This will cause a message to be sent even if there are no rail vehicles ...

Page 37: ...ns from one track to another A limited copy of the AEI Rail Road Manager Program called AEI Rail Road Manager Express is shipped on a CD rom with each AI4100 Portable AEI Reader To send track data to the AEI Rail and Road Manager program the portable reader needs to know the IP address of the computer hosting the AEI Rail and Road Manager program and the port to which the program is listening for ...

Page 38: ...played Figure 34 AEI RR TCP IP Setup Dialog Enter the IP address and port information that was displayed in AEI Rail and Road Manager s AI4100 Portable Reader Setup dialog see Figure 33 The display shown in Figure 34 also shows the portable reader s mobile computer name and the current IP address of the mobile computer ...

Page 39: ...n the Email Setup button This will cause the Email Setup dialog shown in Figure 35 to be displayed Figure 35 Email Setup Dialog The Domain Name may not be required Some outbound email servers require a different Domain Name than the Reply Name Some outbound email servers do not require a password and this field can be left blank The reply address entered in this dialog is used as the reply address...

Page 40: ...information to as many as seven email addresses To enter the addresses to which emails will be sent tap the Communication Setup menu item under the Setup menu and then the Email Send To Addresses button This will cause the Email Address Setup dialog shown in Figure 36 to be displayed Figure 36 Email Address Setup Dialog ...

Page 41: ...u item under the Setup menu and then the FTP Setup button This will cause the FTP Setup dialog shown in Figure 37 to be displayed Figure 37 FTP Server Setup Dialog The FTP Server must have either a Server Name or an IP Address If both are present the portable reader will use the Server Name The Listening Port is almost always 21 The portable reader sends files to the FTP server It does not retriev...

Page 42: ...c Clock Update button This will cause the Automatic Clock Update dialog shown in Figure 38 to be displayed Figure 38 Automatic Clock Update Dialog 5 7 Sending AEI Tag Data in Real Time The AI4100 can send AEI tag data to other devices in real time via either a Bluetooth Serial or a Network TCP IP connection When either or both of the transmission functions are enabled the portable reader will send...

Page 43: ... AEI tag data check the Enable box If you want to send the data as soon as the portable reader reads the tag check the Automatic Transmission box If this box is not checked the portable reader will ask if you want to send the data If you decide to not send it you can request it to be sent at another time by tapping the Menu button when the tag s data ...

Page 44: ...Date and time when the tag was read The field is in the following format MM DD YYYY space HH MM MM month of year DD day of month YYYY year HH hour MM minute 2 Sequence Number Numeric 4 digits The sequence number of the file from 0 to 9999 This sequence number is incremented each time a new file is created When it reached 10 000 it is reset to 0 3 Data format code Two digits 51 standard rail vehicl...

Page 45: ... Left 161 4 1 0 01 16 2006 10 58 0003 51 1 19 CSX 987654 Right 193 6 1 0 01 16 2006 10 58 0004 51 1 19 DEFX 112344 Left 185 4 1 0 You can specify if the portable reader must receive an acknowledgement message from your device before deleting the AEI tag data message in the portable reader If this option is selected and it does not receive an acknowledgement message it will continue to try to send ...

Page 46: ...Reader tap the Window s flag at the bottom left of the screen then tap Settings and Bluetooth The screen shown in Figure 41 will appear Typically this display will list the names of the serial devices that are connected to the AI4100 Portable Reader In the screen shot below however there are not yet any serial devices connected to the portable reader Figure 41 Adding Bluetooth Device Make sure the...

Page 47: ... device or in the device s manual After entering the passcode the screen will show it as a disconnected device in the list of Bluetooth devices Figure 41 Tap the device s name which will cause the screen shown in Figure 43 to appear Check the Serial Port and then tap Save This will return you to the list of Bluetooth devices Figure 41 At the top of the screen tap COM Ports which will cause the scr...

Page 48: ...ction Figure 44 New Bluetooth COM Port Tap New Outgoing Port and on the next screen select your device s name and tap Next On the screen shown in Figure 45 select a port If you select Com1 then 1 must appear in the Port field of Figure 39 If you select Com2 then 2 must appear etc ...

Page 49: ...en the portable reader tries to send AEI tag data to your device it first will try to make a network connection The IP address of your device and port to which it is listening must be entered into the Network TCP IP Tag Transmission Setup dialog see Figure 40 5 8 Network Communications The AI4100 Portable AEI Reader can communicate with a network three different ways USB connection to a Windows co...

Page 50: ...status see Figure 46 These are standard Microsoft screens which are not important and can be ignored Click the Connect without setting up your device button to get a connection to your network If you do not click this button you will have a connection to your computer but not your network Figure 46 Window Mobile To change the IP address assigned to the AI4100 Portable Reader through the USB connec...

Page 51: ...n screen in Figure 47 to appear Tap the Wi Fi icon and the Wireless item at the top of the screen and then follow the instructions to find your wireless network and set it up Figure 47 Wireless Setup 5 8 3 SmartPhone Connection Many SmartPhones have the ability to create a Wi Fi hotspot The AI4100 Portable Reader can make a Wi Fi connection to the SmartPhone to obtain access to the internet Contac...

Page 52: ...n tap the Contact Information menu item under the Setup menu This will cause the Contact Information dialog shown in Figure 48 to be displayed Figure 48 Contact Information Dialog Information entered in this display is used in the body of some email messages and in maintenance messages sent to Softrail ...

Page 53: ...n either be selected from a list of previously entered initials in the Vehicle Initial field s pull down list which appears when you tap on the down arrow located on the right side of the Vehicle Initial field or a new Vehicle Initial can be typed in To enter a new Vehicle Initial tap on the keyboard icon located near the bottom right of the screen This will cause a keyboard to be displayed Tap on...

Page 54: ...ists of previously entered data To access this function tap the Memorized Data Maintenance menu item under the Setup menu This will cause the Memorized Field Select dialog shown in Figure 50 to be displayed Figure 50 Memorized Field Select Dialog The Memorized Field Select dialog displays all of the fields on which the portable reader maintains memorized lists of data entries To edit a particular ...

Page 55: ...ed Fields Data Dialog Previously entered values can be deleted or new values can be added to each particular field s memorized list To delete an entry first select the entry by tapping on it and then tap the Delete button Only one entry can be selected at a time ...

Page 56: ...s not assign an identifier the portable reader will use the last four characters of its mobile computer serial number as the identifier To access this function select the Portable Reader Identifier menu item under the Setup menu This will cause the Portable Reader Identifier dialog shown in Figure 52 to be displayed Figure 52 Portable Reader Identifier Dialog ...

Page 57: ...ained with the vehicle and can be sent to other systems in text file format The user can specify unique names for these fields by using the User Field Names Setup function To access this function tap the User Field Names Setup menu item under the Setup menu This will cause the User Field Names Setup dialog shown in Figure 53 to be displayed Figure 53 User Field Name Setup Dialog ...

Page 58: ... are automatically entered into the current vehicle s serial number list see Paragraph 3 5 To read a barcode press the second button from the top on the right side of the AI4100 the OK button or the ENT button see Figure 5 Please note that the barcode reader will not activate if the reader is attempting to read a tag To enable or disable barcode translations select the Barcode Setup menu item unde...

Page 59: ...rcode to determine if the barcode is to be translated If these two digits are not the same as those entered into the Default Start Code field 99 in this example in the Barcode Setup dialog see Figure 54 the data from barcode reads are automatically entered into the current vehicle s serial number list see Paragraph 3 5 In Figure 55 the UPC label at the bottom left does not have 99 in the second an...

Page 60: ...a Field 7 11 5 Five digits of data that will be entered into the field specified in the Field Code field Check Digit 12 1 Barcode check digit not user specified Figure 56 Barcode Field Structure Based on this structure the barcodes in Figure 55 cause the following Barcode 0 9930100010 9 00010 entered into the User 1 field Barcode 0 9920000051 4 00051 entered into the Status field Barcode 0 9921100...

Page 61: ...ld the text string empty would appear To enter barcode text translations select the Barcode Text Translation item in the Setup menu This will cause the Barcode Text Translation dialog shown in Figure 57 to appear Figure 57 Barcode Text Translation Dialog To add a new barcode translation tap the Add button and the Barcode Add Edit dialog in Figure 58 will appear To delete or edit a translation sele...

Page 62: ... users to enable password protection so unauthorized personnel cannot make changes to any of the Setup Parameters in the portable reader To set up password protection select the Setup Password menu item under the Setup menu This will cause the Setup Password dialog shown in Figure 59 to be displayed Figure 59 Setup Password Dialog ...

Page 63: ...applications to send their data to other systems via email attachments or as a file transfer to an FTP server Data transfer between the portable reader and an OEM s application is through a set of text files that are written into a specific folder in the portable reader s mobile computer The folder to which the files are written can be specified by using the OEM Folder Setup function To access thi...

Page 64: ...access the inventory functions tap on the Inventory menu item and the pop up menu shown in Figure 61 will appear The inventory functions are View Track Inventory Move Track Inventory Send Track Inventory Send All Track Inventory Find Rail Vehicle Delete All Track Inventory Figure 61 Inventory Menu 6 1 View Track Inventory To access the View Track Inventory function tap the View Track Inventory men...

Page 65: ... after the track s name in the list You will notice that at the end of the track list there is a track name called Phantom The Phantom track is a fictitious track that is used as a temporary storage area in the portable reader for vehicles that have been deleted from one track but have not yet been moved to a new track To view a track s consist tap on the track name in the list and the Track View ...

Page 66: ...g shown in Figure 17 will then be displayed 6 1 2 Delete Rail Vehicle To delete a vehicle tap on the vehicle to be deleted and then tap on the Delete button The Delete All button will delete all rail vehicles on a track 6 1 3 Change Rail Vehicle Position on Track The Advance button is used to change the position of a rail vehicle on a track To change a position of a rail vehicle tap on the vehicle...

Page 67: ...lay the other data about the rail vehicle tap the Menu button and a pop up menu will appear see Figure 65 Figure 65 Rail Vehicle Data Pop up Menu By selecting one of the pop up menu items the user can view and change the system defined fields see Paragraph 3 2 the user fields see Paragraph 3 5 and the vehicle comments see Paragraph 3 1 for the displayed vehicle ...

Page 68: ...comments about the track in the body text of an email if the message is being sent via an email To access this function tap the Comments button in Figure 63 and the Email Comment dialog shown in Figure 66 will appear Data entered into this dialog will be saved and used in all sent messages until it is changed by the user Figure 66 Email Comments Dialog 6 1 7 Send Track Inventory Track inventory me...

Page 69: ...will then appear The Move Track Inventory function is very similar to the View Track Inventory function with two exceptions First it allows rail vehicles to be moved from one track to another Second it allows multiple rail vehicles to be selected at the same time After a track is selected in the Track Select dialog the Move Rail Vehicle From dialog shown in Figure 67 will appear Figure 67 Move Rai...

Page 70: ... bottom of the list of existing rail vehicles You can also replace the existing rail vehicles with the moved vehicles If you replace the existing vehicles on the track you will be asked if you want to move the existing vehicles to the Phantom Track see Paragraph 6 1 6 2 2 Move All Rail Vehicles to Another Track To move all of the rail vehicles on a track to another track tap the Move All button 6 ...

Page 71: ...h 6 1 5 6 3 Find Rail Vehicle and Rail Vehicle Movement History To access the Find Rail Vehicle function tap the Find Rail Vehicle menu item in the Inventory menu The Find Rail Vehicle dialog shown in Figure 69 will then appear Figure 69 Find Rail Vehicle Dialog All of the rail vehicles in the portable reader s database will be displayed in alphabetic order in the Find Rail Vehicle dialog To find ...

Page 72: ...er reading all of the rail vehicles tags the operator would read the Track tag at the end of the track When reading the second Track tag the portable reader will end taking inventory for the track and either send the track consist automatically see Paragraph 5 1 for setting up automatic transmission or ask the operator if he wants to send the inventory Track tags contain the track name the orienta...

Page 73: ...tation 18 1 N North to South S South to North W West to East E East to West Examples TRKW99201 YW TRKW01101 NW 8 SPOT TAGS Spot tags are AEI tags that are programmed with track spot location information Their purpose is to eliminate the need to manually enter information when taking track inventory Before reading Spot tags the operator would read the Track tag at his starting end of the track Prio...

Page 74: ...plications the portable reader has several functions that allow OEM s to access tag data read by the portable reader and to send OEM application generated data to other computer systems as a file transfer to an FTP server or as a file attachment to an email 9 1 Accessing Tag Data When the portable reader reads a tag or barcode it writes a record into a text file called tag data txt This file is lo...

Page 75: ...the rail vehicle tag Field Description Values 1 Date and time when the tag was read The field is in the following format MM DD YYYY space HH MM MM month of year DD day of month YYYY year HH hour MM minute 2 Record Designator RAIL 3 Data format code Two digits 51 standard rail vehicle identification format see AAR Specification S 918 for all codes 4 Frame Marker One digit The number of the frame th...

Page 76: ...e indicator Left or Right 9 Length in decimeters 1 to 4 digits 10 Number of axles 1 to 2 digits 11 Bearing code 1 digit from 0 to 7 see AAR Specification S 918 for codes 12 Platform code for railcars only 1 to 2 digits from 0 to 15 see AAR Specification S 918 for codes The following are examples of RAIL records 01 16 2006 10 58 RAIL 51 1 5 NS 1526 Left 183 4 1 01 16 2006 10 58 RAIL 51 1 19 UP 1234...

Page 77: ...ntation none North South South North West East East West 5 Sequence Number A two digit number that represents the tag s position from the starting end of the track The tag nearest the start would be 00 and the farthest 99 If the track is oriented North to South the North most tag would be 00 and the South most 99 5 Track uses spot location no spots spots 6 Spot Orientation none North South South N...

Page 78: ...en the tag was read The field is in the following format MM DD YYYY space HH MM MM month of year DD day of month YYYY year HH hour MM minute 2 Record Designator SPOT 3 Track Name Up to 10 alpha numeric characters 4 Spot Up to 5 alpha numeric characters The following are examples of SPOT records 01 16 2006 10 58 SPOT 101 2A 01 16 2006 10 58 SPOT 101 2B ...

Page 79: ... OEM Data An OEM application can send data to other computers over the wireless LAN via the portable reader s software OEM data can either be sent as a file attached to an email or in a file that is transferred to an FTP server To send data as an email file attachment the OEM application writes a transmit request text file into the folder the user has specified as the Transmit Folder in the OEM Se...

Page 80: ...er of record segments These segments must be written in the following order SETUP FROM TO up to 10 TO segments TO TO SUBJECT BODY FILE OEM Application Data The following is the layout of each segment record SETUP Segment Field Description Values 1 Segment code SETUP 2 Transmit type EMAIL Example SETUP EMAIL FROM Segment Field Description Values 1 Segment code FROM 2 Reply email address 1 to 40 alp...

Page 81: ... code TO 2 To email address 1 to 40 alpha numeric characters Example TO sales signalcc com TO aeitag signalcc com Up to 10 TO segments SUBJECT Segment Field Description Values 1 Segment code SUBJECT 2 Subject text 1 to 40 alpha numeric characters Example SUBJECT Test Portable Reader Email ...

Page 82: ...he FILE segment the OEM application writes its data into the transmit request file The amount of user data that can be written is limited by the amount of free file data area in the portable reader s mobile computer The portable reader software will write this data to a temporary file and attach it to the email The name of the attached file is the file name specified in the FILE segment The follow...

Page 83: ...rtable reader will use the FTP server setting in the FTP Setup dialog see 5 5 If no value is in this field the portable reader will use the value in the IP address field to connect to the FTP server 4 IP address of the FTP server IP address format xxx xxx xxx xxx where XXX is any number between 0 and 255 5 Listening port 1 to 4 digits usually 21 6 Directory on the FTP server in which to store the ...

Page 84: ...est file checks the file for errors If it finds an error it writes an error record into a file called oem status log txt which is located in the same folder as the transmit request files The following is the format of an error record Error transmit request file name error description The following are examples of error records Error testftp txt no FTP file name in the first record of the OEM FTP t...

Page 85: ... events occurred and if internal problems were detected To view the maintenance log tap the Maintenance Log menu item under the View menu The following is an example of information contained in this log 12 29 2005 12 48 Start of program 12 29 2005 12 48 TCP IP Initialized Name Tom_Levine IP 127 0 0 1 12 29 2005 12 48 Request to turn off wireless radio 12 29 2005 12 48 Could not open comm log file ...

Page 86: ...ile computer and other devices including the internal AEI RF reader The internal RF reader is connected to the mobile computer s serial communications port To view the communications log tap the Communications Log menu item under the View menu The following is an example of information contained in this log 12 29 2005 12 49 R COM1 Received P H 8MQD S 12 29 2005 12 49 R COM1 Received FXO3 XD H1D S ...

Page 87: ...00 bytes Deletes oldest records to maintain this size Communications Log comm log txt Does not allow file to exceed 200 000 bytes Deletes oldest records to maintain this size OEM Tag Data tag data txt Does not allow file to exceed 20 000 bytes Deletes oldest records to maintain this size OEM Status Log oem status txt Does not allow file to exceed 20 000 bytes Deletes oldest records to maintain thi...

Page 88: ...I text file consists of a number of segment records which are each terminated with a carriage return character hex 0D and line feed character hex 0A There are seven segment record types The following defines the segment types and their associated codes Segment Code Maximum Number in File Description START 1 Message header segment TRACK 1 Track segment contains the track name and the orientation of...

Page 89: ...2015 Segment code field 1 field 2 field 3 carriage return character line feed character The segments are written in the following order START TRACK USER RAIL1 RAIL2 RAIL3 optional RAIL4 optional RAIL1 RAIL2 RAIL3 optional RAIL4 optional END ...

Page 90: ...Y year HH hour SS second ST4 Sequence Number Numeric 4 digits The sequence number of the file from 0 to 9999 This sequence number is incremented each time a new file is created When it reached 10 000 it is reset to 0 Example START 0001 12 19 2005 12 11 0021 TRACK Segment Field Number Data Name Data Format Description TRK1 Segment Code TRACK Segment code TRK2 Track Alpha Numeric 1 to 10 characters ...

Page 91: ...eld 2 USR4 Field Name 3 Alpha Numeric 1 to 20 characters Name of user field 3 USR5 Field Name 4 Alpha Numeric 1 to 20 characters Name of user field 4 USR6 Field Name 5 Alpha Numeric 1 to 20 characters Name of user field 5 USR7 Field Name 6 Alpha Numeric 1 to 20 characters Name of user field 6 USR8 Field Name 7 Alpha Numeric 1 to 20 characters Name of user field 7 Example USER commodity not assigne...

Page 92: ...Date Time MM DD YYYY space HH MM SS Date and time the vehicle was moved to the track MM month DD day of month YYYY year HH hour MM minute SS second RAIL107 Track Spot Alpha Numeric 0 to 5 Spot name or None if spot locations are not used RAIL108 Spot Position Numeric 1 to 3 digits Spot position on the track starting with one RAIL109 Manual Entry Yes No Yes indicates that the vehicle s identificatio...

Page 93: ...1 RAIL 2 Segment Field Number Data Name Data Format Description RAIL201 Segment Code RAIL2 Segment code RAIL202 Position Numeric 1 to 3 digits 1 to 200 Position of the vehicle from the beginning of the track RAIL203 Equipment Code Numeric 1 to 2 digits Type of vehicle 5 locomotive 19 railcar RAIL204 Vehicle Initial Alpha 4 characters Vehicle initial reporting marks The field is filled with spaces ...

Page 94: ...Numeric 0 to 20 characters User field 4 RAIL210 User Field 5 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters User field 5 RAIL211 User Field 6 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters User field 6 RAIL212 User Field 7 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters User field 7 Example RAIL2 1 5 NS 1526 coal ...

Page 95: ...AIL305 Vehicle Number Numeric 1 to 6 digits Vehicle number RAIL306 Comments Field Alpha Numeric 0 to 200 characters Vehicle comments field Example RAIL3 1 5 NS 1526 Broken glad hand RAIL 4 Segment Field Number Data Name Data Format Description RAIL401 Segment Code RAIL4 Segment code RAIL402 Position Numeric 1 to 3 digits 1 to 200 Position of the vehicle from the beginning of the track RAIL403 Equi...

Page 96: ...umbers 3 thru 39 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters Serial Numbers 3 thru 39 RAIL445 Serial Number 40 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters Serial Number 40 Example RAIL3 1 5 NS 1526 981726252 15124261 161712 END Segment Field Number Data Name Data Format Description END1 Segment Code END Segment code END2 Segment count Numeric 0 to 4 digits Number of segment records in the file not including the END seg...

Page 97: ...le consists of a header record and data records The first record in the file is the header record which gives a description of data in each field of the data records Each record is terminated with a carriage return character hex 0D and line feed character hex 0A The following is an example of the header record Vehicle ID Track Position Type Time Manual Status Consist Maint 1 Maint 2 User 1 User 2 ...

Page 98: ... day of month YYYY year HH hour MM minute SS second 6 Manual Yes No Indicates if the vehicle was entered manually into the portable reader Yes or read from an AEI tag no 7 Status Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters Status field 8 Consist Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters Consist field 9 Maintenance Field 1 Alpha Numeric 0 to 20 characters Maintenance field 1 10 Maintenance Field 2 Alpha Numeric 0 to 2...

Page 99: ...ortable AEI Reader communicates to Softrail s AEI Rail and Road Manager program using TCP IP and a unique protocol Other developers can use this protocol to write software to communicate with the AI4100 Portable AEI Reader without going through the AEI Rail and Road Manager program The AEI Rail and Road Manager program acts as a server and listens for connections from portable readers which act as...

Page 100: ... P1 Segment Code PORTABLE Segment code P2 Portable Reader Identifier Up to 10 alpha numeric characters Identifier the user entered into the portable reader s mobile computer see Paragraph 5 12 P3 Portable Reader s Mobile Computer Serial Number Up to 20 alpha numeric characters Serial number of the portable reader s mobile computer Example PORTABLE Yard 1 2CK55005TR When the AEI Rail and Road Manag...

Page 101: ...haracters The number of bytes sent in the track data files The Portable and Finished record segments are not included Carriage return and line feed characters in the track data files are included Example FIN 677 When the AEI Rail and Road Manager program receives the Finished segment it will send an acknowledge message which consists of a three character response ACK followed by a carriage return ...

Page 102: ...19 UP 002289 Yes No No No 01 14 2009 10 53 24 TCP IP unknown R END 9 01 14 2009 10 53 24 TCP IP unknown R FIN 00673 01 14 2009 10 53 24 TCP IP unknown T ACK 01 14 2009 10 53 24 TCP IP unknown Close of S4 socket 0 The portable reader s mobile computer also contains a communication log see Paragraph 11 2 15 TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND UPDATES Periodically Softrail issues maintenance releases and new versi...

Page 103: ...k 200 Maximum Number of Tracks 100 Maximum Number of Messages Pending Transmission 200 Maximum Character Size of Track Name 10 Maximum Number of User Fields 7 Maximum Character Size of User and System Defined Fields 20 Maximum Vehicle Comments Field s Character Size per Vehicle 200 Maximum Vehicle Comments Field s Character Size per System 50 000 ...

Page 104: ...ress 32 name 32 serial number 78 network communications 42 OEM accessing tag data 66 folder setup 55 functions 64 65 66 sending data 72 sending email 73 sending FTP 76 sending status 77 overview 1 password 54 power off 6 rail vehicle add 58 adding to track 8 additional fields 17 change position on track 58 comments 18 delete 58 delete all vehicles 64 find 63 maintenance fields 18 manual entry 14 r...

Page 105: ... 65 spot locations 65 starting program 7 T94 sending track inventory 12 29 track comments 30 60 TCP IP communications 92 real time AEI tag transmission 35 setup 30 technical support 95 track email comments 30 60 inventory 56 57 inventory text file 81 move inventory 60 reverse inventory 60 sending inventory 12 spots 65 T94 comments 30 60 track tags 64 USB 43 user names 48 version 78 Wi Fi 35 43 ...

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