Sierra Offline Circulation

Overview

Sierra Offline Circulation allows you to perform basic circulation and patron registration when the Sierra server is not available.  Offline Circulation operates on a PC workstation and connects to the Sierra server when you manually upload the offline transaction files.

Using Offline Circulation

Install Offline Circulation

  1. Download Offline Circulation (http://csdirect.iii.com/downloads/offline_circ.shtml) 
  2. Run the .exe file and follow the prompts to install the program
  3. Find the file C:\Millennium\Offline\offlinecirc.lax and open in Notepad
  4. Change the port number in the file from 4600 to 64001 and save: lax.command.line.args=ip=<YourIP> dataport=64001 $CMD_LINE_ARGUMENTS$

Set Offline Preferences

  1. Launch Offline Circulation
  2. Select View | Preferences
  3. Assign your statistics group, specify a date format, enable/disable barcode validity checking and printing of due slips, and set the system prompts for patron registration.

Using Offline Circulation

  1. Check-Out:  Follow the prompts to enter the Patron Barcode, Due Date, Hourly Loan Rule (if needed), and Item Barcode.
  2. Check-In:  Scan the barcode(s) and press Enter.
  3. Renew:  Follow the prompts to enter the Patron Barcode, New Due Date, Hourly Loan Rule (if needed), and the Item Barcode.
  4. Patron Registration:  Follow the prompts to enter the patron information and click Add to complete.

Upload Offline Transactions

  1. When the Sierra server is available again, go to File | Upload circulation and patron data.  The system prompts you to verify that the server can accept data.  Choose Yes.
  2. When upload is complete, Offline Circulation will display the number of uploaded transactions and will prompt you to erase the files from Offline Circulation.

Process Offline Transactions

Update Patron Records:

  1. In Sierra, choose Data Exchange from the Function List
  2. Choose Load PATRON records for Offline Circulation (ppc)Import the patron records.

Update Circulation Transactions:

  1. In Sierra, choose Offline File Processing from the Function List
  2. Click View to see the file(s) you want to process
  3. Click Process All Files to update the item and patron transactions.