Marker application

Owned by Timothy Hitchcock
Last updated: Mar 05, 2021
3 min read

The Marker application is designed for use by production workers to quickly view and check off Phase Markers without granting them access to the entire Crows Nest client application.

A 2-stage security interface requires users to enter an Employee ID and PIN.

Users can enter a Project and Phase number and then check Markers.

Crows Nest logs who checked the Marker and when.

The form has an automatic timer and will clear all fields 60 seconds after the login data (ID and PIN) is first authenticated to eliminate the possibility of users leaving the app with their credentials logged in.

The form can be manually cleared with the "Clear Login" button or by pressing Escape on the keyboard.

Marker app settings

The description of Phase Markers is user-defined and can be configured under Settings-->Options in the main CN client app. Any Markers named "N/A" will be considered "not available" and will not be displayed throughout Crows Nest.

When opening the Marker App for the first time, a settings window should open and allow you to enter a Server name and Database name. There is a link in the upper right corner of the app window titled "Settings..." that will open the settings window if settings need to be changed later.

There is an option to run the app when the user first logs in to Windows. This option is set per user login and uses the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

The Settings dialog box allows you to configure the database connection

Using the Marker app

  1. Enter an Employee ID. The Employee ID used for this app is the user-defined ID named "External ID" on the Employee form in the main CN app.

  2. Enter an Employee PIN which also configured on the Employee form. Once both the ID and PIN are validated, the text to the right of the PIN field should display the user's name. If it still displays "Enter a valid employee ID and PIN" then the ID and PIN entered were not recognized.

  3. Enter a Project ID. If the Project ID entered is valid, the text to the right of the Project ID should display the Description of the Project.

  4. Enter a Phase ID. If the Phase ID entered is valid, the text to the right of the Phase ID should display the Description of the Phase.

Note that the term "Phase" can be renamed in CN settings, so your form may display a different term than "Phase".

5. Once all 4 of the fields have been validated, the bottom of the window will list all of the defined Phase Markers for the Phase entered and their current status as shown in the image below.

Note that the Marker Descriptions are user-defined so your form should display the defined names instead of Marker 1, Marker 2, etc. Any Marker description set to "N/A" will be considered "not available" and will not be displayed.

6. The user can now check off any of the display Markers and the list should update showing their name and the current date and time. The Marker form is designed for users to check Markers only and they will not be able to un-check them. To un-check a Marker, use the full CN client app.

7. The user can press the Escape key on the keyboard, or click on the "Clear Login" button to clear the form so the next user will not be logged in with their credentials. The form will automatically clear itself 60 seconds after the employee credentials are first validated.