User's Manual

PICS User’s Manual 07 June 2004
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maintainer. The top row of buttons are available regardless of which screen is selected.
The Enable button allows the service to communicate with the PICS Reader. If it is
unselected, the service will disconnect from the PICS Reader. The About button display
an about dialog which contains the software version number. The RF Test button places
the PICS Reader in a test mode, in which it will send RF test messages to a PIC. Any
activated PIC which receives an RF test message will immediately respond with an ID
message. This allows the maintainer to verify the Reader RF radiation pattern, as well as
troubleshoot general RF problems.
The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen contains four fields. The first field indicates
whether the service is communicating the PICS Reader. The second field indicates the
number of records in the database which need to be updated in the PICS Reader. The
third field indicates if service is communicating with the Interbase database.
3.3.1 Monitor Screen
The Monitor screen provides a means for the maintainer to view status messages from the
Reader. The maintainer can also send specific commands to the PICS Reader using the
command list and the Send button. The Connect and Disconnect buttons will cause
the service to connect or disconnect from the PICS Reader. The software will attempt to
reconnect automatically if the Disconnect button is pressed. Figure 6 shows the
Monitor screen. The Status Display Count field indicates the number of connected
PICS Status displays.