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Collecting Data While Offline

Internet connectivity issues are a common reality on the manufacturing floor, whether it be unreliable Wi-Fi, harsh environments, or temporary outages. To help maintain continuity of operations, GS allows Users to collect and save data even when a stable internet connection is not available. Offline data is cached on the User’s workstation until connectivity is restored.

Offline Data Collection

To collect data while offline, a User must be assigned to a Role that has the Allow Offline Data Entry setting enabled. By default, only the Data Entry role permits offline data entry. The User must also be logged in to GS prior to losing connectivity.

Running Inspections

GS allows Users to run Inspections offline using resources stored in the browser’s cache.

Before an Inspection can be run offline, the User must open that Inspection at least once while online on the same device. This ensures that GS can cache all elements required to run the Inspection.

Submitting Sub-Inspections

To submit data offline, click Submit as usual when running an Inspection. GS will display a warning message informing the User that the dataset will be held locally and can be resubmitted to GS after an internet connection is available. Note that Real-time checks cannot be calculated and Alerts cannot be sent while offline. These will be calculated and sent later, when the dataset is stored in GS.

An image showing the toast about submitting data when you are back online

Accountability Schedules

Status updates for Accountability Schedules do not occur while offline. These updates will be automatically retried when the User reconnects.

Inspection Scripting

Defensive scripting practices can be found in the guide on Inspection Scripting Principles.

Submitting Data when Online

When GS detects that a User has offline datasets waiting to be submitted, a notification bar will appear at the bottom of the screen.

An image showing the notice about unsaved data

To review and submit these datasets:

  1. Click the notification bar to open the Unsaved Data overlay. An image showing the unsaved data overlay
  2. To inspect a dataset or add notes, select View on the desired row. An image showing the unsaved data overlay view button
  3. The overlay will change to show metadata about the dataset, the dataset's note, and a summary of each record.
  4. After reviewing the dataset and optionally adding a note, select one of the buttons to
    • Save the dataset to GS,
    • Delete the dataset without saving it to GS, or
    • Close the preview and return to the list of Unsaved Data. An image showing the view dataset overlay
  5. In the dataset list, individual datasets can also be Saved or Deleted row-by-row. Use Save All or Delete All buttons to perform these actions in bulk. An image showing the unsaved data overlay save and delete buttons
    • When you save a dataset, real-time checks are recalculated.
    • If a recalculated check requires a note, GS will prompt for it before submission.
    • After the dataset is submitted to GS, real-time alerts are sent as usual.
  6. Select Close to exist the overlay and return to GS.

Security Considerations

Users with Allow Offline Data Entry will cache a large amount of Inspection and other setup data directly on their device. In environments where device security cannot be guaranteed, consider limiting this permission to minimize the risk of unauthorized access to cached information.

See Also