FAQ
Our most Frequently-Asked Questions!
How do I change my network Password?
My Session Log says something about UNKNOWN documents or InForms. What do I do now?
Somebody grabbed my Session Log off the printer. How can I see what happened during Communications?
The Shipping Department needs copies of the Releases - can I reprint them?
Do I have to manually enter everything into my Parts file before I use AutoLine?
Is there a way to see what my short-term requirements are? How about long-range forecasts?
How do I get my EDI data into my manufacturing/accounting system?
Q. How do I change my network Password ?
A. Click on Communications|Start Comm. Highlight the Network whose password has expired and click on CHANGE. There are 2 important things to remember when dealing with passwords:
1. The new password MUST be entered in the New Password field on the left (Level 1) side of the Changing Our Mailbox Record screen. Never enter it in the Password field, or the network will not recognize you.
2. Never change anything else on the Changing Our Mailbox Record screen unless instructed to do so by BASE2 support technicians.
Once you have entered your new password, you can either click on the TEST button or click on OK and then click on the START COMMUNICATIONS button on the Changing Our Mailbox Record screen. Either method will send your new password to the network, assuming that you have a successful communications session.
Q. OK, I've passed my testing with my Trading Partner and now I need to send and receive live production data. What do I have to do?
A. It depends on the Trading Partner. To receive documents, you shouldn't have to do anything. If your Trading Partner uses separate mailboxes for test data and production data, you'll need to switch mailboxes for sending data. Here's how you do this:
1. Click on File | Maintain | Trading Partner, and highlight the Trading Partner you want to work with.
2. Click on Outgoing Forms.
3. Highlight an Outgoing Form and click on CHANGE.
4. At the bottom of the dialog box, you'll see fields for Our Mailbox and Their Mailbox. Click the ellipsis button for Their Mailbox and you'll see a screen displaying all the Mailboxes for the Trading Partner. Highlight the Production Mailbox and click on the SELECT button. If your Trading Partner does not use different mailboxes for Test and Production, you just need to do the following:
5. Click on the EDI Info tab. Click on the Test Document box at the bottom of the screen to remove the checkmark.
6. Repeat this procedure for each Outgoing Form. Once you do this once, you won't need to do it again.
Q. My Session Log says something about UNKNOWN documents or InForms. What do I do now?
A. There are several reasons why a document may come as UNKNOWN:
1. AutoLine is not set up to handle that Trading Partner. If this is the case, give us a call and we can send you a self-installing program to add it.
2. You received another company's documents. We've seen this happen on several occasions! Call your Trading Partner and judiciously point out that it might be more efficient for you to receive your own data.
3. The document did not come in 'as advertised' as the Trading Partner's EDI specifications. Perhaps they changed the addressing information or version number, or this document was sent from a plant that uses different addressing information. In this case, here's what to do:
a) Click on File | Maintain | Trading Partner from the Main Menu.
b) Check to see if you have a Trading Partner called UNKNOWN. If not, click on the INSERT button to add it. In the Trading Partner Code, type in UNKNOWN, then tab across to Spec and type in UNKNOWN again. Click on OK.
c) Highlight the UNKNOWN Trading Partner and click on the Trading Partner Mailboxes button at the bottom left of your screen.
d) You will see one or more Mailboxes listed. Try to match this information with what you already know about your Trading Partners. If what you see doesn't seem to make sense, just give us a call, and we'll help you figure it out.
e) Once you or we have figured who sent you the document, click on CHANGE for that Mailbox. Change the Description to reference that Trading Partner (you can use whatever you want) and then change the Trading Partner field to match exactly the spelling that appears in your Trading Partner list. Watch your spelling - it must match exactly!
f) Click on OK to save the change. As you do this, you will see a screen flash briefly indicating that the Unknown documents are now being identified as belonging to a bona fide Trading Partner, and the Mailbox record will disappear from the Mailboxes screen, as it is no longer unknown. Close the Trading Partner Mailbox screen.
g) Click on Communicate | Start Com from the Main Menu, then on the ADVANCED button. Boxes #4 and #6 should be checked. Click on OK, then START PROCESSING. You should see several progress bars displayed on the screen as the documents are processed. The documents will also be printed out on the printer if you have automatic printing turned on. You will not have to go through this procedure again, unless the Trading Partner changes how they're sending documents.
Q. Somebody grabbed my Session Log off the printer. How can I see what happened during Communications?
A. Panic not. AutoLine keeps a record of everything it does. Click on Help on the right-hand side of the Main Menu bar. Slide down to View System Log and click on it. Put the mouse pointer on the square between the Up and Down Arrows on the right-hand side of the screen and pull it down to the Down Arrow. This will show what just happened in the system. Click on the Up Arrow to go up gradually, or on the space above the square you moved to go up a page at a time. Call us if you see any error messages.
Q. The Shipping Department needs copies of the Releases - can I reprint them?
A. No problem.
1. Click on File | Maintain | Trading Partner, and highlight the Trading Partner whose documents need reprinting.
2. Click on Incoming Documents at the top right of the rows of buttons.
3. Find the document to reprint and click on the PRINT button. You can either print just this one document in which it you can display it on the screen first, or you can print all the documents of this type for the day, in which case it will go directly to the printer.
Q. My bar code label printer jammed with only 2 labels left to go. How do I reprint just that range of serials?
A. First we need to locate the serials to re-print. To do this,
1) Click on Ship | Bar Code Labels from the Main Menu. Click on the Printed tab. Highlight the Part whose labels need reprinting and click on Change. Write down the current Starting and Ending Serial Numbers on the right side of the screen, including the prefix. (You are going to change this information, which is why you want to write it down!)
2) Change the Starting and Ending Serials to the numbers that need reprinting. Click on OK.
3) From the Browse screen, click on PRINT LABELs. When the printing is finished, highlight the Part again and click on CHANGE. Change the Starting and Ending Serial back to what they were originally, (including the prefix!)
Q. Do I have to manually enter everything into my Parts file before I use AutoLine?
A. No. Every time you pull data, AutoLine will check the Parts file to see if the there are any new parts contained in the data you are pulling. If so, it will add the part to the file, along with any part information it finds in the data it pulled. It will make a note in the System Log of every new part it adds. You will probably need to add some information, however, such as Part Weight and Shipping Weight, Container Type, Qty per Master, etc.
Q. Is there a way to see what my short-term requirements are? How about long-range forecasts?
A. It's very simple. But you do need to have Microsoft Excel™ running to see how this works. So first start Excel, then minimize it. Let's start with the Short Term Requirements:
1) Click on Ship | Firm Orders
2) Click on PRINT REPORT
3) You can either produce the forecast for 1 Trading Partner by entering it in the Trading Partner field, or across all Trading Partners, by putting an asterisk (*) in the Trading Partner field.
4) Enter the Starting and Ending Dates for the report. The times will default to 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM.
5) Click on Short Term Forecast to Excel and indicate the type of data to included on the right of the screen. Click on the OK button.
To produce the Long Term Forecast:
1) Click on Plan | Browse Planning Data.
2) Click on Print Report.
3) You can either produce the forecast for 1 Trading Partner by entering it in the Trading Partner field, or across all Trading Partners, by putting an asterisk (*) in the Trading Partner field. Enter the Starting and Ending date range for the report, then click on OK.
Q. How do I get my EDI data into my manufacturing/accounting system?
A. AutoLine offers you several ways to do this, depending on which MRP/ERP system you are using. Give us a call!
FAQ - Documentation
Frequently Asked Questions about Documentation
Where can I find documentation for AutoLine and all subsystems?
- Your documentation is located in your ALWIN\DOC (or BASE2\DOC) folder on your computer.
- Check our online Documentation page.
- If you need additional documentation or you do not have documentation that you need, please contact BASE2 support.
FAQ - Lexicom
Frequently Asked Questions about Lexicom
I can't communicate and I'm getting a java exception error in Lexicom. What do I do?
- Make sure that you have a working internet connection from the computer that is trying to do communications.
- Check to see if anything changed security wise on your computer or network.
- See if there has been a recent JRE update.
- Try communicating from a different computer (if possible).
- Contact the VAN and see if they are down.
- If you have a valid support contract (and you should!) with Lexicom, contact them via email.
I need more information about Lexicom. What is their website address so I can obtain more information (i.e. documentation)?