Doorgaan naar de website
OCLC Support

Offline Client

Find information about downloading and using the Offline Client, which is an application that allows you to perform circulation transactions while the WorldShare Circulation system is not available and upload them when the system is available again.

To access this screen, sign in to Service Configuration using your OCLC Services Account.  See Sign in with your OCLC Services Account (WorldShare Users) for more information.  Once signed in, open the WMS Circulation left navigation, select Integrations, and then select the Offline Client link.

The Offline Circulation client is an application that allows you to perform circulation transactions while the WorldShare Circulation system is not available (system maintenance, outage, etc.) and upload them when the system is available again. To use this application, download and install it on your local workstation.

Guidelines

  • You must download the Offline Circulation client when WorldShare Circulation is available. If WorldShare Circulation is unavailable, you cannot download the Offline Circulation client.
  • You must have a WMS NCIP Service WSKey in order to download the Offline Circulation client. See Request a Web Service key (WSKey) for details.
  • The only circulation transactions you can perform with the client are checking in and checking out items.
  • The Offline Circulation client does not apply loan polices, trigger holds, honor patron restrictions, etc. because the connection to the system that applies such policies is unavailable.
  • All transactions are automatically saved when you exit the client.
  • If you forget your username or password needed to access the client, you must repeat the download process.

Download and run the Offline Circulation client

You must download the client when WorldShare Circulation is available. If WorldShare Circulation is unavailable, you cannot download the client.

System requirements

If downloading or using Java results in a security warning, stop the process and report this issue to OCLC Support. See Offline client support.

Step 1: Request a Web Service key (WSKey)

In order to download the Offline Circulation client, you must have a WMS NCIP Service WSKey.

 Caution: If you have previously requested a WSKey but it has expired, you will need to request a new WSKey and re-download the Offline Circulation Client.  

Request a WSKey

  1. On the Developer Network homepage, click Manage your API Keys.
  2. On the Sign in screen, enter the same user name and password you use to sign into OCLC Service Configuration.
  3. On the WSKeys screen, click Request a WSKey.
  4. On the Request a WSKey screen, select Request a Custom Key.
  5. Fill in the following fields. Click Next after each selection. 
    • Type of Request: Select Production.
    • Select Machine-to-Machine (M2M) App.
    • Services: Select WMS NCIP Service from the list. You may need to scroll through the list.
    • WSKey Name: Enter a name for the WSKey. If you do not enter a name, it will default to "Web Service Key YYYY-MM-DD." The date will be the date the key was requested.
    • What is the reason for this request?: Enter WMS offline circulation.
    • Terms and Conditions: Select to agree with the WorldShare Platform Developer Terms and Conditions.
  6. Click Create Request.
  7. You will receive an email response to your request within twenty-four to seventy-two hours.

Step 2: Download the client

You must have a WSKey in order to download the client. For details on requesting a WSKey, see Request a Web Service key (WSKey), above. WSKeys are usually available within twenty-four to seventy-two hours after requesting them.

 Caution: If you have previously requested a WSKey but it has expired, you will need to request a new WSKey and re-download the Offline Circulation Client.  

Offline client

Download the client

  1. Sign into OCLC Service Configuration. For information on how to sign in, see Signing In.
  2. On the left navigation, click WMS Circulation > Integrations.
  3. Select Offline Client.
  4. On the Offline Client screen, fill in the fields in the following order:
    • Branch: Select the branch the offline client will be used for. The Offline Circulation client must be downloaded at each branch that needs to use it.
    • User to act as: Search for the user account that will use the client. Click the radio button next to the name to select the account.
      • Select the account used for normal Circulation activities.
      • Make sure the user account has a Circulation role. For more information, see Circulation roles.
    • Password: Enter a password for the account.
      • This password enables use of the Offline client when WorldShare Circulation is unavailable.
      • This password does not need to be the same one used for the user account, above.
      • Make sure the staff who will be using the client know this password.
    • Select WSKey to use: Any WSKey listed can be used. Click the radio button next to the WSKey to select it. If none are listed, you need to request a WMS NCIP Service WSKey. For details, see Step 1: Request a Web Service key (WSKey).
  5. Click Download client.
  6. Save the client to your workstation. Select a location that is easy to find and known to the staff who will be using the client. To install the client, follow the steps in the Step 3: Install the client section, below.

Step 3: Install the client

Once you have downloaded the client from Service Configuration, you must install it on your computer.

  1. Open the client by double clicking wms-offline-circulation.jnlp (in the location you chose in step 5, above).
  2. Java runs. The application automatically updates itself if there are new features or bug fixes made.
  3. Click OK if you see a window asking, "Do you want to update the application?"

Problems downloading or starting the Offline client

Occasionally you will see warnings or messages when starting the client. Some problems you may encounter:

  • Your version of Java is out of date
    • Solution: Install Java 8. You may have Java configured to automatically download for you, or you may need to contact technical staff to resolve the issue. Consult technical staff if you see a window with the message, "Application Blocked by Security Settings."
  • You do not have Java installed
  • The application is untrusted and a warning occurs
    • Solution: If the application is not trusted you will see a security warning. OCLC recommends you report this issue to OCLC Support and click Cancel rather than continuing. See Offline client support.

Step 4: Run the client

Once you have downloaded and installed the client, you can access the client from the application shortcut installed on your machine.

To run the client:

  1. Locate the application shortcut either on your desktop or from the Start menu (Windows) or using Launchpad (Mac).
  2. Click WMS Circulation Offline Client.
  3. For information on using the client, see Use the Offline Circulation client.

Use the Offline Circulation client

Follow the instructions below to check in items, check out item, or delete transactions. The Offline Circulation client does not apply loan polices, trigger holds, honor patron restrictions, etc. because the connection to the system that applies such policies is unavailable.

Offline circulation client

Check out items

  1. Select the Check Out tab.
  2. In the Patron Barcode field, scan or type the patron barcode.
  3. In the Item Barcode field, scan or type the item barcode.
  4. In the Due Date field, type the due date or click the down arrow and use the calendar to select it.
  5. Click Check Out or press <Enter>.
  6. The item appears in the transaction area with a status of Awaiting Sync.
     Note: The patron barcode and due date are retained until you change them.

Check in items

  1. Select the Check In tab.
  2. In the Item Barcode field, scan or type the item barcode.
  3. Click Check In or press <Enter>.
  4. The item appears in the transaction area with a status of Awaiting Sync.

Delete transactions

You can delete transactions in the Offline client if they have been successfully uploaded, entered by mistake, or failed to upload but cannot be resolved. 

 Note: Deleting transactions is permanent and should be performed with caution. Deleted transactions cannot be recovered.

  1. On either tab (Check Out or Check In), click the transaction row you want to delete. To select multiple rows, highlight the first row and drag the cursor over the other rows. Or hold down the < Control > key while selecting the rows you want to remove.
  2. In the bottom left corner of the client, click Clear.
  3. A window will appear asking you to confirm the removal.
  4. Click Yes.
  5. The transactions are deleted.

Synchronize (upload) transactions

In order to synchronize transactions these conditions must be met:

  1. There must be at least one transaction (check in or check out), to make the Upload buttons active at the bottom right corner of each tab.
  2. WorldShare Circulation must be available.

Upload transactions

  1. On either the Check Out or Check In tab, at the bottom right corner of screen, click UploadNote: All transactions with the status Awaiting Sync are processed when Upload is clicked, regardless of which tab you used or what kind they were (check in or check out).
  2. In the The Enter Password window, type the Password of the account used to download the Offline Circulation client. Click OK.
    • If you forget or do not know the username or password needed to access the Offline Circulation client, repeat the download process.
  3. The upload process starts. The upload can take a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the amount of transactions that need to be uploaded. You can continue to use the client while transactions are being uploaded. If your library has multiple instances of the client that have more than one transaction for the same item, only the most recent transaction for that item is uploaded.

To delete items after they have been uploaded, see Delete transactions.

Status of transactions after uploading

The following table describes the three statuses transactions can have after you upload them:

Setting Description Action
Comms failure WorldShare Circulation was not available or there was a network connection or internet problem. Try uploading again at a later time.
Uploaded The transaction was successfully uploaded. Successfully uploaded transactions can usually be deleted. Follow local practice.
Upload failed The patron or item barcode did not match the patron or item in WorldShare Circulation. Hover over the status to see more information.

If this error results from a data entry error, find the correct data, delete the transaction, and enter the transaction again.

If this error results from patron or item barcodes not being in WorldShare Circulation, then add them to the system and use the client to upload the transactions again.

'securityContext is null' occurs when the 'User to act as' that the library selected when downloading the Offline Client could not be found. Please download the client again using an existing user with a circ role. The pending transactions won't be deleted, and they will be able to upload.

Problems with uploading

Sometimes transactions cannot be uploaded to WorldShare Circulation. These are some reasons why this may occur:

  • WorldShare Circulation is not available. If the network or system is still down, it is not possible to upload transactions. These transactions will be marked as Comms failure, and you can attempt to upload them once the system is back up.
  • The barcode of the patron or item is unknown. This means that the system could not find the related patron or item for the given barcode. This could be a typing mistake or the patron or item has not yet been created in the system.
    • If the barcodes are typos, delete the transaction and reenter the information with the correct details.
    • If the barcodes are correct, but not yet in the system, upload the transactions after the barcodes have been entered into the system.
  • Patrons have the same barcode. Note: This error only applies to WMS libraries with group aware. If the client encounters a barcode that belongs to more than one patron within your group, it will be unable to upload the transaction.
  • Transactions that are uploaded in the wrong order for the same item will be ignored. For example, if two patrons borrow the same book when the offline application is being used, but the transactions are uploaded in the wrong order, then the transaction that occurred at the latest time will be recorded by the system.

Offline client support

If you need to contact OCLC Support, be ready to supply this information:

  1. The name and version of the operating system you are using.
  2. The version of Java installed. Run the following command in a command-line shell and send us the result: java -version
  3. The Offline Circulation client creates a log file (offline-circ.log) that is found in the wms-offline-circ subfolder of the user’s home folder, for example: C:\Users\[myusername]\wms-offline-circ\offline-circ.log