RATS 2 Documentation

This page serves as documentation for how to use RATS 2. As bugs are fixed and new features are added, this page will be updated.

Basics

To use RATS 2, you need to log in with your Research account and password, and to have administrator privileges you must be part of the Research administration LDAP group. When you first log in to RATS 2, your RATS 2 profile is automatically created and paired with your Research account. Your RATS 2 profile will however be missing important data such as your SFU library card barcode. See below for how to match your profile with your library card.

Viewing, Filtering and Searching for Items

Click on an item in the menu on the left, such as Objects, Purchases, Categories, etc.. These links will bring you to a page where you can view a list of all the Objects, Purchases, etc., and where you can filter or search for more specific ones.

• To view an item's details, simply click on its name.
• To search for a particular item, enter your search term in the search bar (top right) and click Enter.
• To filter the items by a particular property, click on the property you want to filter by on the right. If you don't see the property you want to filter by, click Show All and a list of all existing properties will be displayed.

Adding a User or Matching a Profile to a Library Card

Click on User in the menu on the left. Here you will see a list of everyone who has previously logged in to RATS 2, meaning that their RATS 2 profile has been created. If you see a library card number underneath their name, this means that their profile has already been matched to a library card. If you only see their name, follow these instructions for matching their profile to a library card:

• Click on their name. You will be brought to the Profile Details screen.
• You will see the message: "No library card matched to this user. Match now." Click on Match Now.
• Enter the person's library card bar-code and click Finish. Phone number is optional.

There is also a second option for matching an existing profile to their library card:

• In the navigation menu on the left, click on Add next to User. Alternatively, you could also browse to Users from the navigation menu on the left then click Add new or match existing profile to library card.
• Start typing the persons' name in the box labeled "Search for a profile...".
• Select the profile you wish to match from the list that pops up. If no profiles are found, you must add the new user (see below). Click Continue once selected.
• On the next screen, enter their library card bar-code and optionally their phone number. Click Finish.

Adding a completely new user requires an extra step and the actual presence of the user (their password is required):

• In the navigation menu on the left, click on Add next to User. Alternatively, you could also browse to Users from the navigation menu on the left then click Add new or match existing profile to library card.
• Ask the new user to enter their Research user name and password in the required fields, then click Add & Continue.
• On the next screen, enter their library card bar-code and optionally their phone number. Click Finish.

Adding Items

Information You Need

Before starting:

• If you are adding a new category, you will need a Manufacturer to be already created. Check whether the manufacturer of the object exists in the database, if not add it.
• If you are adding a new purchase, you will need a Vendor to be already created. Check whether the manufacturer of the object exists in the database, if not add it.
• If you are adding a new purchase, you will also need to know the purchase date and total. Other optional information that is good to have are the purchase order, invoice number, requisition number, or any other relevant details.
• This goes without saying, but the object you want to add should also have a yellow Research barcode sticker attached to it :)

Step-by-step

Step 1 - Selecting or adding a category:

• Click on Add next to Objects in the menu on the left.
• Start typing the name of the category for the object in the box.
• If the category is found, click on it then click Continue.
• If the category is not found, click e "...or, add a new category +" to expand the form. Fill in the information then click Add & Continue. Note that the manufacturer must already exist when adding a new category.

Step 2 - Selecting or adding a purchase:

• Start typing the name of the purchase in the box.
• If the purchase is found, click on it then click Continue.
• If the purchase is not found, click on the "...or, add a new purchase +" to expand the form. Fill in the information then click Add & Continue. Note that the vendor must already exist when adding a new purchase.

Step 3 - Fill in the object form

• Type in the name of the object and use the barcode scanner to enter its yellow barcode. Fill in any other information and click Create Object.

Checking Items In and Out

To access the Kiosk for checking items in our out, click on Home in the menu on the left. To check items in:

• Select the textbox with the text "Enter barcodes here" by clicking inside it.
• Use a barcode scanner to scan the items you want to check in, one at a time.
• After you have scanned them all, click Check In.
• If the Check In button is grey-ed out, it means that some items have never been checked out. Click the red X next to their name to remove them from the list, and the Check In button will become active. See below for how to check items out.

To check items out:

• Select the textbox with the text "Enter barcodes here" by clicking inside it.
• Use a barcode scanner to scan the items you want to check out, one at a time.
• Scan the library card of an existing user whose library card is matched to their profile in the same way. See above for how to match a library card or add a new user.
• After you have scanned all items and a single library card, click Check Out.
• If the Check Out button is grey-ed out, it means that some items are still on loan and cannot be checked in. Click the red X next to their name to remove them from the list, and the Check Out button will become active. See above for how to check items in.

Editing or Deleting Items

The process for editing or deleting an item is quite simple. Find an item you want to edit/delete (such as an object, a category, etc.) and browse to its detail page. Then simply click the edit/delete link on the right-hand side of the page. Note that deleting an item does not remove it from the database, instead it just marks it as deleted. You can always un-delete an item (this is also easy - the delete button you used to mark it as delete it will change to 'un-delete' once deleted. Just click it!). You can also filter your searches when browsing items by including all items (default is only non-deleted items). Also note that it is impossible to check a deleted item out.