General
BlueWorx provides the ability for users to Sync with SAP and get back delta information in a timely fashion. It does this by associating BlueWorx profiles with users and pre-assembling flattened data in SAP /soltius/ tables. This means that when a user syncs with SAP the assessment of master data that the user needs for that device is accelerated because the process does not need to evaluate all the SAP change objects and then 'flatten' the required data. To support this sync functionality a number of permanent tables exist in the /soltius/ SAP namespace. These tables are populated in two ways:
1. When a BlueWorx administrator triggers the generation of a Profile. They would do this after creation or editing and time the generation out of hours to impact on as few personnel as possible. This 'regeneration' will trigger a full Sync of all profiles with SAP where a user has been allocated that profile.
2. When SAP users update relevant objects then this triggers change events in SAP. These change events are linked to BlueWorx functions that evaluate if the object is associated with an Active profile and amends the assembled BlueWorx master data as required. For a list of the tables used in this process see the article BlueWorx Master Data Tables.
What Data is User Specific and What's Shared?
Some of the sync data is unique to users and some is shared by all BlueWorx users on the device. The logic for this is as follows and has been changed (improved) post initial BlueWorx Base release:
User Specific
All data related to Work Order and Notification is specific to the User on the device.
Shared Data
All master data and the Outbox is shared. Examples of master data are the Functional Locations and Equipment. The reason that the master data is shared is to reduce large data volumes on the device and because it's most likely that personnel sharing a device would have the same profiles.
The reason that the Sync data is deliberately shared is because otherwise data could become 'lost' - i.e. if a user hands their device over to another, without Syncing, then all their data would remain unseen and unprocessed on the device until such time as they got that specific device back again - which can not be guaranteed. This is seen as being a bigger concern to proper maintenance operations than the implications below.
Implications
- Users can edit/ remove updates left by others - the exception being time confirmation which are blocked from edit/ removal from the BlueWorx Outbox except by the user that entered them.
- Because processing in SAP is performed by the user that Syncs, all updates will be made using that users SAP ID. Which is not different from an administrator doing updates from notes on a paperwork order
- Procedural personnel should Sync before handing their devices back and clear any errors.
Crew Orders
Where customers are making use of the Crew functionality and a User has been marked as a Crew Supervisor for one or more Work Centres then on Sync they will take their own assigned Orders and those, within a limited timeline, that are assigned to their Crew.
Important: Regardless of the Crew Managers Order Assignment Type and that of their Crew the Crew Orders that are downloaded are always based on the Work Centre at the Operational Level.
How is the Sync Process with SAP Initiated?
The sync process with SAP is always initiated by one or more of the following:
- Initiation by the user - which can be prompted through configuration settings
- In the background - where so configured and when the user is in a menu or list screen.
For further details on the sync settings see Settings Tab - Synchronisation (Sync)
The Sync Process
The following illustrates the sync process along with the preceding steps to maintain the data used:
The total size of BlueWorx related data to support effective synchronisation is reported in the Administration settings tab.