iii
Tips on choosing a program for Data Collection
The TriCoder comes with 3 programs pre-installed. Program #0 is a simple
un-editable program prompting repeatedly for an ITEM. Program #2 is
identical to Program #0 except that it allows for customization (i.e. the
Upload Prefix and Upload Suffix). See
Chapter 8
;
Creating custom
programs
for details on what the
Upload Prefix
and
Upload Suffix
can do
for you.
Program #1 differs from Program #0 and #2 in that it has two prompts -
"
ENTER ITEM NO.
" and then "
ENTER QUANTITY
". Program #1 is
also fully editable and lends itself well to the use of several features in
particular.
The tutorial on Program #1 includes explanation of two safety features. The
first safety feature,
Data Security
, confines the user to data collection mode
ONLY. The user is not allowed into any mode other than DATA
COLLECTION mode. In addition to using
Data Security
to restrict the user
to DATA COLLECTION mode, you can use the second security feature
,
Program Restriction
, to confine the user to one particular program in the
TriCoder. For details on how to use these
Data Security
features, see
Chapter 6;
TriCoder Setup
.
Another useful programming feature explained in the tutorial is the
Xtra
Statement
, which works with the "ENTER QUANTITY" prompt by
automatically entering a quantity of “1” if the user enters another ITEM
number instead of a quantity. See
Chapter 8
,
Creating a custom program
for details on the Xtra program statement.
Program #1 is extremely versatile. Use it if you can, making modifications
to fit your application. If you require a customized program, these are just a
few of the options and features offered by custom programming:
•
Additional user prompts for other types of data
•
Program timing delays to facilitate uploading directly into an
application
•
Branching to different areas in the program, depending on the
input from the user
•
Downloading tables of data to validate or edit into the
TriCoder
•
Recording customized Voice Messages
If any of the above features (or anything
not
offered by Program #1)
appears to be something you are interested in, move on to the
PROGRAMMING
section of the manual. The
Chapters 8 and 9
in the
PROGRAMMING
section cover all aspects of creating and maintaining
custom programs in the TriCoder.
