Introduction

This document outlines the operation and concepts behind the Intouch Rentals program. It will give the reader an explanation of the terms and definitions used by the program so that they can follow the examples used in the tutorial. It assumes a working knowledge of the concepts and terms used in the Intouch Resources program, which is used to set up products sold in the SalesPoint application.

Application

The Intouch Rentals program has been designed for generic application. That is, it is not restricted to the tracking of any specific equipment but could be applied to any business where the rental of equipment and inventory tracking is required, eg. rental cars, snow sports rentals, mountain bikes, etc.

Definitions

In order to demonstrate the concepts and definitions of terms used in this program, we will work through the configuration of a small ski & snowboard rental shop as well as point out how the generic terms can be applied to other types of rental businesses.

Inventory "What does the business own"

Before renting can occur, you must define the physical items you will be offering for rental. These items constitute the inventory and must be organised into some definable categories called classes. The first thing to do is define some base classes, which are the main categories. For example, a ski shop will have skis to rent, however, there are many different types of skis and many things that can be used to categorise these differences. These other categories are also called classes. To illustrate this concept, let's look at some items available for rental.

From this table we can see some examples of classes. These are:

• Type of item
• Brand of item
• Model of item
• Size of item
• Color of item

It's a matter of deciding which of these classes will become the base class under which the others will be grouped.
An example of the way these items could be categorised is shown in the following figure:

This shows that Skis would become the base class; the ski brands would be grouped under that, the models under that and lastly the sizes. There are many brands of ski, many models of the same brand and many sizes of any particular model. A general rule of this categorisation is that a class belongs to the one above it (its parent). For example, there are many models of Rossignol Skis so the make is the parent class for the all the models.
This is only one example of the classes that may be required to categorise the items for rental. Another example of the same equipment is listed here:

This table shows another class that may be important. The "level" of the equipment might be introduced as another class for item grouping. There is no limit to the number of base classes that can be defined and no limit to the number of classes belonging to the base class. It all depends on the way a particular facility operates and what is important in terms of how they carry out the business of renting the items.

Setting up Inventory

The figure below shows the Inventory form of the Intouch Rentals program along with some descriptions defining key parts of the form.

There are eight main modules accessible from this form, each one providing a different function. The modules are selected using the Module Tabs. The Inventory Window normally begins as a blank form; however, it is shown here with an example of the way in which the ski & snowboard shop inventory could be arranged.

The Inventory Tree View

The Inventory Details Window is displayed in what is commonly known as a Tree View. The base class forms the root or the beginning of the tree and each branch of the tree belongs to the root. For example, by clicking on the small cross next to the word Skis, we expand the tree and see which classes belong to it. A small cross, displayed next to the name of the branch, marks the existence of additional classes. For example, clicking on the cross next to Skis, displays several brand of skis and clicking on a particular brand displays different models of that brand and finally clicking on any particular model of ski displays several sizes of ski within that model type. For example, clicking on the cross next to Skis displays several brands of skis. Clicking on the cross next to a particular brand displays different models belonging to that brand. Finally, clicking on any particular model of ski displays several sizes of ski in that model type. The final level displays the Item Types that are further explained later in this tutorial. This expanded inventory tree view is illustrated in the next figure:

Adding Base Classes & Classes

This view also indicates the total item quantity in stock, in the Qty In Stock column. Notice the terminology used to describe the structure of the tree view (ie. Base Class, Class and Item Type).

When starting from a blank form, base classes must be entered first. To do this, click on the Options Menu and select Add New Base Class, or right click the mouse while pointing anywhere in the Inventory Window and select that option from the pop up context menu. This will be the only option when you have nothing in the inventory window.
Selecting Add New Base Class will present you with the following form:

Type in a description for the Base Class (In this example, we will use Skis) and click OK.
You can either add more base classes at this point, or add classes below base classes. To add a class under a base class, you must first select the base class then choose Add New Class from the options menu. Again, you can right click the mouse after selecting the base class and the options menu will appear under the mouse cursor. Selecting add from this menu will display the following form:

To add another class under the Rossignol class, select the Rossignol class and choose Add New Class from the options menu. You will see the now familiar Add New Class menu prompting you for a description of the new class. We will add the class 9.6 Cut under the Rossignol class.

You can make classes into Base Classes or move classes after they have been defined without deleting them and adding them back again. See headings at the end of this section for details.

Adding Item Types

The final level of categorisation occurs when Item Types are entered. The Item Types group the actual items available for rental. In the Ski example above the final grouping is the ski sizes. The size is therefore the item type. For example, there may be many individual skis that are of the same size that must be uniquely identified. This allows tracking of an individual item's lifecycle.
The next step in our example is adding the Item Type under the class. There are a number of details that must be entered for each Item Type that we have not yet covered. Item Types are also entered with the Option Menu (or you can use the right button on the mouse) and the process is the same as adding classes. Select the class that to which the item type is to belong and choose Add New Item Type from the menu, as shown in Figure below:

The following form (shown with example contents) is then displayed:

You can use the Options Button to Add a new item to this form. Following our example, the first Item Type we would enter will be the 150 cm size ski. For the Description field above, we will type in 150 cm. We now need to expand on the definition of the Rent Item Group field.

The Rent Item Group Field

Rent Item Groups make up the items included in every rental package. In other words, when a rental package is created, the items designated as part of the package must be identified. For example, an Adult Ski Package may include Skis, Boots, and Poles. Therefore, Skis are a Rent Item Group, as are Boots and Poles. All skis then belong to the Skis Rent Item Group; similarly all boots belong to the Boots Rent Item Group and all poles to the Poles Rent Item Group.
You may choose to create a Ski Equipment Rent Item Group whereby all ski equipment belongs to the group and the package would simply require ski equipment as its items available. Rent Item Groups are important when deciding how you want to package a collection of items, and the specific types of reports you desire.
Another feature of Rent Item Groups is the ability to assign icons (pictures) to each group. This provides a quick, visual cue to the rental operator when handing-out or picking-up equipment.
It is important that you read the Packages section before starting on any Inventory design.
Groups can be defined 'on-the-fly' or they can be defined from the _Setup - Groups_ command in the command menu. Choosing the Select Button (shown in Figure above) displays the following form (example contents shown):

Selecting the Options Button from this form displays the now familiar Add/Edit/Delete options. Selecting Add displays the following form:

You must type in a name (description) for the group and optionally select an Icon for this group. Clicking on the Icon button will display a file browser for you to browse and locate a suitable icon for the group. These are normally located in the c:\intouch\icons folder. Any standard 32 x 32 pixel icon can be used. This should be a graphic that represents the group meaning. The check boxes that you see in this form are explained below:

Item groups can also be added to from the command menu using Setup – Item – Groups. When adding to the list by this method, the form also includes the ability to make groups inactive (or invisible).

Click Ok on this form and then Ok on the Select Item Group form. You will then see a form like the one shown below:

Adding Single Items

This figure shows that the Options Button has been selected. Choosing Add will display the Add New Item to Type form as shown below:

The fields in this form are explained in the following table:

Adding Multiple Items

Multiple items may be added in one step by selecting the Add Multiple option as shown in Figure 10. The form displayed after selecting this option is similar to the one shown in Figure 11 with the addition of the increment check boxes as shown below:

This shows check boxes not previously displayed along with a quantity field at the bottom of the form. This allows you to increment the Identity number as well as the Scancode assigned to that number by the number you enter into the quantity field. You can enter alphanumeric codes in these fields and the system will increment the last part of the code so long as it ends with a number.

Note that when this command is executed, data existing in the remaining fields will be duplicated as well.

Deleting Multiple Items

Multiple items can be deleted from the Item Type form by selecting records with the mouse. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse to highlight several records. Once selected, if the right mouse button is clicked, the Options Menu appears with Delete Multiple as one of the commands. This is illustrated in the next figure:

Location Filter

In reference to Figure 7, the Location Filter is used to filter this list by the location assigned to the items. For example, you may have many skis of the same size, which are all in the Skis Rent Item Group but are stored at different locations. You can view only those items at the desired location with this filter.

Adding a Service Item

After adding an item to the Item Type form (Figure 10), you are now able to record any service or maintenance history for that item. This means you can record any work that may have been carried out on the item to repair it or service it (often done at regular intervals). For example, testing of skis to determine if they pass certain performance criteria is often necessary for legal purposes. This is where these tests are recorded. To record a service item, you can either double click an item or select it and choose Edit from the Options Menu. The program will then display a service summary form and display any service items that have been recorded for the selected item. This is shown below:

Choosing the Options Button from this form will display the full service item form as illustrated in the next figure:

The fields shown in this form are explained in the following table:

Completing the Inventory List

You can keep adding base classes, classes, item types and items to build up your inventory list. Note that to add further base classes, you must first pick any existing base class before the Add New Base Class will appear on the options menu in the Inventory Window.

Making a Class into a Base Class

There are times when you will find that a class has been defined under a base class when in fact it should have been a base class (or it may have been moved in error). There is an easy way to turn a class into a base class. Click on the class you want to make into a base class. Right click the mouse and the options menu will display the Make Base Class menu item. Select this menu item and the program will move the class to the root (i.e. base) level of the inventory tree.

Moving Classes under another

You can also move base classes under other classes if required. You do this by clicking the class you wish to move and dragging it on top of the class you want it to belong to. This applies to any class, not just the base class. If you accidentally move a base class to a class, you can re-instate it as a base class using the technique explained above.

Changing Class and Item Type Order

As of version 1.19 there is the ability to move classes and item types in the tree. This is done by clicking on the class and then clicking on the up or down blue arrows in the Inventory Tree module. The same concept applies to changing the order of package classes and packages themselves.

Inactivating or Hiding Classes

As of version 1.18, the program has the ability to allow classes to be made inactive. This setting causes the class to become invisible but not deleted. This is important when items have been included in a rental contract but are no longer available for rental. It is not possible to delete classes that contain items that have been rented on a contract but it is now possible to hide them. Clicking on a class and selecting edit from the options menu shows the following form:

Selecting the Active box, removes the check mark, rendering the class invisible. An inactive class will not be visible in the tree view unless the Active Only check box is unchecked as shown in the next figure:

Notice the visibility of the inactive Salomon class above (light grey in color) when the Active Only box is unchecked. A check mark in the Active Only box will make the inactive class disappear from the tree view. Packages classes can also be made inactive.

Packages "What can I rent?"

Inventory Rent Item Groups should be defined before the packages module is used. This is because packages are made up from Rent Item Groups. You should therefore read the Inventory section before proceeding with this section.

Packages are the items, or collection of items that are available for rent. The Packages module is the part of the application where collections of rental items are put together so that they can be rented in this way. In fact, all items, even single items, must be added to a package so that they may be added to a contract, as will be explained in the next section.
If you click on the Packages Button in the Module Selector (see Figure 2) you will see a form similar to the one shown in the next figure:

The Package Tree View

Package Tree View

In a similar approach to the Inventory form, packages are shown in a tree view. When defining packages, categories must be set up into which the packages will be grouped. Remembering how Inventory is placed into different classes, so too are packages. There can be any number of base classes with classes belonging to those base classes. Analogous to Item types belonging to classes in Inventory, we have Packages belonging to classes as well.
Let's take a look at the product list for a rental shop operating at a ski area.

Packages and the Intouch Multi-List

The packages that are defined in the Rentals program must be related to the products defined in the SalesPoint resources. This is one of the most important steps in the set-up process. It is these products that are sold in the SalesPoint program and form the revenue data stream in the Intouch system (for revenue reporting, etc.) Each package has a related SalesPoint product. Let's look at an example resources list and how packages are defined based on this list.

Amongst other things, the above figure shows the products offered at the Spruce Ski Rentals shop. This indicates that our first base class in the definition of a package would be Spruce Ski Rentals since everything available at that location is listed under that category in the Resources multi list. The three base classes shown in Figure 18 imitate the categories in the multi list shown above. The order that the base class appear in the list is not important. Expanding the Spruce Ski Rentals tree from Figure 18 reveals the following:

This figure shows the arrangement of the tree and the items in it. Let's go through each part of the list in turn. The class entry of Adult matches the Adult Ski Package attribute in Figure 19. Under this class you can see that the icon changes to a package. Since packages consist of items (or collections of items) and prices, the next two levels define the actual make-up of the package. The collection of items included in the 'Skis, Boots, and Poles' package above consists of 1 pair of skis, 1 pair of boots and 1 pair of poles. The second level below the package is prices. Notice the various price choices in the example above; 1day, 2 day, etc. These price choices are then linked to specific products in SalesPoint as shown in the figure above. The items shown under Prices in the above figure are taken directly from the active resources multi-list.

When the Rentals program is started it looks for the RESOURCES key in the datasets.ini file. This tells it which resources to use when working with packages

Adding a Package

Let's go through an example of adding a package to the Spruce Ski Rentals base class. In the multi-list above (see Figure 19), the second attribute (middle list) of the Spruce Ski Rentals category (first list) is Child Ski Package. Since children have the option of renting 3 unique packages (Skis only, Skis/Boots, or Skis/Boots/and Poles) we must first create a Child class, under which we will create packages for each option. First click on the base class titled Spruce Ski Rentals and from the Options menu choose Add Class. In this case, this is Child. Then select Add Package from the Options Menu or right click on the Child class and select Add Package. After doing this, the Add New Package dialog will appear as shown in the next figure:

The Description field prompts you to add a name for the package (Skis, Boots, and Poles). The Allowed Ages field allows you to restrict the age of the renter based on renter age configurations located in the Setup menu at: Setup/Renter/Ages.
Version 1.18 also provides a Scancode field is for setting up the ability to associate a scancode with a package so that it may be scanned at the registration station or point of sale terminal from a code 'cheat sheet'. This is faster than having to select it manually from a list.

Setting a Scancode Rule for the Package

The system needs to know when it has scanned a package scancode. That is, if a code is scanned in the contract module, it could represent a renter number, a contract number, an item of equipment or a package. In order for the system to distinguish what the code represents, a rule must be defined. This is set up under the Setup – Scancode Rules menu.

If more than one age group is assigned to the package, any renter in these age groups can potentially be auto allocated the package. If a renter is in a different age group than is assigned to the package, they will not be allocated this package.

Notice the two sub item headings under the package name. These are the Items and Prices headings.
The next step is to add Rent Item Groups under the Items heading. Select this heading and click on the Options Menu, or right click the mouse, and choose Add Item. The following dialog box will appear:

The actual Rent Item Group shown in this figure will vary depending on previously defined Item Groups. The important thing to realise is that items making up a package are not individual items, but item groups. It is most unlikely that you will know the exact item (eg. serial number) that will be assigned to the customer, but you will know the type of equipment they want. For example, when you give the customer a pair of skis, the skis may belong to the group called Skis but the actual individual item is only known when the skis are given to the customer (and scanned into the system), not at the time they filled in their contract.

The Rent Item Group is a drop down list previously defined in the Inventory Module (see the heading 'The Rent Item Group Field'). Rent Item Groups can be added to the list by clicking on the Select Button or by using Setup – Items – Groups from the command menu. Choose the appropriate Rent Item Group and indicate the quantity of the Rent Item Group that will be in the package. This quantity can become important when a rental package is part of an advance sale. The system can calculate the quantity of items required in advance, if the number used in a package is defined. For example, if the above package was called "Group of 5" package then you would have a quantity of 5 pairs of skis in the package.
The next step is to add the prices for the rental packages. Prices are based on the duration of the rented items. You do this by clicking on the Prices heading under the package and selecting Add Price from the Options Menu. However, first we should make mention of duration.

Renter Duration

When something is rented, it is usually rented for a given period of time (eg. 2 Days). Prices are typically based on the length of time that something is rented. Often there is no mathematical formula that links the change in price with the duration of rental. Therefore the program allows you to define different prices depending on the duration of the rental. In order to continue with this part of the setup of packages, you must define a list of durations. This is done from the Setup – Renter – Durations menu item. Selecting this item will display the following dialog box (example contents shown):

This figure shows some example entries, which are common for a ski rental shop.
The list shown in this dialog is an example of the durations that may be used. The entries in this list will normally match the rental products' duration from the SalesPoint Multi-List. For example, looking at Figure 19 you can see that there are a series of rental periods for the Adult Ski Package and there would need to be a corresponding duration in the Duration list shown in Figure 24. The actual unit is not defined in any other way. To add durations, select the Options menu icon and choose Add.
The Renter Duration dialog box will appear as shown below:

These entries are merely descriptions for the duration and don't actually represent any physical unit.

You may also add to this list from the command menu by selecting Setup – Renter - Duration. If you do add to the Durations using this method, you may also toggle any of the entries between Visible and Non Visible.

Getting back to our example, you are adding a 1 Day rental package so you should select the 1 Day duration or add it to the list if not already there. Once selected, the following dialog box will appear (shown with example contents):

The actual lists you see in this form will vary depending on your own SalesPoint resources set. The concept is the same. You need to choose the entries from each list that match the rental product you will be selling. In our example, this is the 1Day product from the Spruce Ski Rentals, Adult Ski Package. The price as defined by the current price timeline for the selected product from the multi-list. Select the product that corresponds to the rental duration and click the OK button. You can continue to add prices for each of the multi day products that are available. An example of this is shown in the next figure:

This shows four price entires for the Spruce Ski Rentals - Child - Skis, Boots and Poles package. The actual price is not shown in this view since the price may vary over time. This time dependent price will display at the time the package is selected as part of a contract. This is further explained in the Contracts section.

Packages & Auto Allocation

Many rental businesses allow their customers to pay after they've selected their equipment. This requires the system to allocate a package based on the chosen equipment and the age of the renter. The system will consider the renter age to determine if they qualify for children or adult pricing (based on age configurations as described in the previous paragraph). The system will also consider the rental items selected based on the item's Rent Item Group. Since Packages consist of Items (as defined by their Rent Item Group) and Packages allow age restrictions, the system can automatically consider the variables and select an appropriate Package.

Adding a Package below a Base Class

There may be instances where you will not need a class under a Base Class to define a package. An example of this is shown in the next two figures:

As can be seen from the above list, there is no need for a class for Adult or Child since there is no separate price for renting a helmet to adults or children. This is reflected in the package set-up in the Package module of the rentals application as shown in the figure below:

In this example, the age groups assigned to the package will be all age groups. This tells the program that no matter what age group the renter is in, if they select a helmet it will be auto allocated to them.
If so desired, you could define a helmets package under the Child and Adult classes and select the same duration and product (ie. Spruce Ski Rentals, Helmet, Full Day) for the package under each class. What is important to remember is the way that you get to the package must match the product in the Multi-List. The examples described above illustrate that the base class, class and package do not have to match the way the product is laid out in the Multi-List, but they still have to match the product itself. For example, we showed that the Multi-List described the Spruce Adult Ski Package as Spruce Ski Rentals – Adult Ski Package – 1 Day, but is laid out in the Packages tree view as Spruce Ski Rentals – Adult – Skis, Boots and Poles with the 1 Day showing under the Prices branch of the tree.

Inactivating or Hiding Package Classes

As of version 1.18 the ability to hide or make package classes has been added.
From the Package module, if you click on a package class and choose Edit from the Options menu, the following form is displayed:

By unchecking the Active check box, the class becomes inactive. This is shown in the package tree view as follows:

With the Active Only check box unchecked, the inactive class is shown in a light grey colour to indicate that it is inactive. As soon as the Active Only check box is checked, the inactive class will not appear in the tree view. That is, it will be hidden from view. Inventory classes can also be made inactive.

Setting up Package Extensions

As of version 1.19 the ability to extend packages has been added. For example, if someone comes back with their equipment before their current rental is due for return and wants to extend their rental contract for one or more days, this is now easier to achieve in the program. To set this up, go to the Packages module and click on an existing package (or you can add a new one). The following example illustrates the extensions section of the package tree view:

To add another extension, select the package and click on the Options menu and select the Add New Extension menu item. This will display the Renter Duration form. An example of this is shown in the next figure:

This allows you to select the duration of the extension you wish to add to the package. This will depend on how you want to charge the customer for the extension. For example, some businesses might decide that they will charge a flat daily fee for each day's extension to the package. Another business might decide to charge a sliding scale fee for each additional day's extension. The system allows for both of these scenarios.

Flat Rate Fee

Let's take an example where the customer gets charged $45 per day for each day's extension. To set this up, we would select 1 Day for the first extension we want to define. After clicking on Ok in the above form, the multi list product selector is displayed as shown in the next figure:

We then choose the product that has been previously defined for charging the additional day in the SalesPoint application (the POS system used in conjunction with the Rentals program). Notice there is a Quantity field at the bottom of this form which will be explained later. Clicking on Ok takes us back to the form shown in the next figure:

This example shows a customer choosing to extend their package by 1 Day, therefore the corresponding product used to "price" the extension will be the Add Day product for the Adult Package. To add a 2 Day extension, we go through the same process (starting from the first step as shown in Figure 32) until selecting the Quantity setting as displayed in Figure 40 above. In this case we set the Quantity to 2, which means that a 2 Day extension will cost the customer twice the cost of the Add Day product. A three day extension will cost three times the cost of the Add Day product and so on.

Sliding Scale Fee

If the cost of each additional extension day is not proportional to a one day price, a different product is needed for each additional extension day. For example, we may decide that the cost for two days extension is the same as renting for two days from the start of the contract. That is, two days extension costs us the same as if we were renting on a new contract. Or we may decide that two days extension costs an amount unrelated to the normal two day rental fee. In either case, a new product would be added which would be put under an extension attribute. The products could be called:
Ski Rental / Extension / 1 Day
Ski Rental / Extension / 2 Day
Ski Rental / Extension / 3 Day etc.
Each can have its own new price that would most likely be less than the corresponding 'normal' rental product that is purchased at the start of the contract.

Summary of Adding a Package

1. Add the Base Classes that describe the main categories of packages available. These will likely match the rental related category list in the multi-list of the SalesPoint program
2. Add Classes to the base classes. These will likely bear some relationship to the rental related attribute list in the Multi-List of the SalesPoint program. This is not mandatory as it may be appropriate to add a package directly beneath a base class. There is nothing stopping you defining a package beneath a base class
3. Define the package names that are available under a class. The name of this package should reflect the rent items available in the package
4. Remember that the path to the items in a package (ie. base class, class and package) must match the product in the Multi-List since the prices are taken from this list
5. Add the appropriate age group or groups to the package
6. Add an optional scancode to the package
7. Add the prices for the package durations (corresponding Salespoint products)
8. Add optional package extension products to the package

See the discussion under Sales for how to actually extend the package already assigned to a renter.

Contracts "Who is renting what?"

Packages must exist before contracts can be fully defined. If there are no packages then nothing can be rented. You should have read the Inventory and Packages section before proceeding with this section.
A contract is the basis for the rentals system. It identifies the person taking responsibility for all the equipment to be rented. It also records the details of the rental agreement and the items rented. In summary, the contract records:

• Name & address of the principal person entering into the rental contract agreement
• The names of all people participating in the rental agreement
• The start date and duration of each renter in the contract agreement
• The optional details (height, weight, age, ability etc.) of each renter
• The location at which each renter is picking up and dropping off equipment
• The items rented (ie. packages) by the people in the rental agreement
• The sales and payment details for the rented items

Adding a New Contract

The contract module is used to create a new contract or look up an existing one. The following figure is displayed after selecting the Contract icon in the Module Selector and selecting Add Contract from the Options Menu (displayed after clicking on the Options Button) or by clicking on the Add button.

We will look at the addition of a new contract first and explain each step of the process. As stated earlier, the above figure shows what is displayed after selecting the Add Contract button. The items labelled in the above figure are described in the following table:

Contract Section Selector

Contracts are broken down into certain sections. The way these sections are used depends on the way the rental business is run. Generally a contract represents the legal agreement between one or more persons and the rental agency. It records:

1. The name for the contract (usually the principal contract holder) and contract details such as the contract number
2. The name and address details for the principal contract holder
3. The details of the people in the agreement and the packages they want to rent
4. The financial transactions relating to this agreement

The Intouch Rentals program displays the above parts in separate sections. The Contract Section Selector is used to display these sections of the contract.

The Details Section

This section records the major details of the contract. It gives the contract a name and a number and records any address and contact details for the contract holder. The fields in this section are described in the following table:

When adding a new contract, the last name field has the cursor placed in it. As the operator types in the last name for the group holder, this name is automatically entered into the Group field. It can be changed afterwards if this is not appropriate. For example, if the last name is Smith but the contract was being "owned" by the Sierra Club, the Group Name could be changed to Sierra Club.

Contract Wizard Buttons

The following table describes the functions of the buttons along the bottom of the Section Details Window. These buttons remain in place for each section of the contract.

The Renter Section

A Renter can be added to the contract in three ways:

1. By scanning a renter number from a paper rental agreement. The Rentals program will automatically create a new renter with the generic name of "Renter" and display an empty Renter Section to be filled in. This method would usually be used with written rental agreement forms completed by the renter.
2. By using the Renter Menu (as shown in Figure 36) and selecting Add Renter (also available as a pop-up context menu from the section selector). In this instance, Rentals can be configured to automatically generate a renter number for the new renter. This would be the case if printed rental agreement forms were produced after the renter's details were entered.
3. Use the Add Group Renter function, which will add a series of renters with the option of giving them the same start date, duration, insurance, and package. The system will allocate the renter numbers from an internal generator.

The Renter Contract Section Window is used to record the name of the renter and other relevant details such as weight, height, ability and style. An example is shown below:

The fields of the Renter Section are described in the following table:

If renter parameters (such as height and weight) are available as scan codes on the renter form, the operator only needs to scan them and the correct field will be automatically selected and the renter's corresponding parameter will be entered. This is achieved by the system relating the scancode to the parameter. See the discussion under the section 'Setup – Renter (Main Menu Option)'.

Default Renter Parameters

Each of the above parameters (items under the Setup – Renter menu) can be set to use a default value that will appear automatically when a new renter is added. See section "Setting up Renter Default Parameters".

Adding Multiple Renters

To add further Renters to the contract, use the Add Renter item in the Options Menu at the top right of the Contract Section Selector. This button can also be used to delete Renters from the contract.
Alternatively, you may use the Add Group Renter function which will auto generate the renter numbers using an internal number generator.

Deleting Renters

To delete a Renter from the contract, select the Renter and choose Delete Renter from the Options Menu at the top right of the Contract Section Selector. Note that you cannot delete Renters if they have existing transactions.

The Transaction Section

This section is used to display the transactions of packages selected in the Renters Section. It also records the details of the sale of products that were made in the SalesPoint program. An example of the Contract Section Window for the SalesPoint Section is shown in the next figure:

The details of the items in this window are outlined in the following table:

Adding a Group of Renters

When adding a group of renters, the cashier selects the Add Group of Renters option (as shown below) and the system will prompt for information shown in Figure 40

The Start date of the contract, the duration and optional insurance requirement is defined along with the packages that each group renter needs.
When this command is completed, each renter is assigned a renter number automatically generated in sequential order. The numbers are controlled by a generator inside the rentals database. This generator must create numbers that fall into the scancode rules for renters. There can be more than one scancode rule for renters. That is, one for group renters (automatically added by the system) and one for individual renters where the number comes from a renter form. When the Quantity is more than the list of names entered, a default value of Renter X – Renter n will be used.

Enabling the Group Renter function

This is enabled at the terminal level and is defined in the Contact Point settings. Go to the Setup Contact Points menu item. Select an existing Contact Point or create a new one. Edit the terminal you need in order to display the Edit Contact Point form. Use the Options menu on this form to add a new setting. The setting is called Group Functions and the value is Enable=Yes. This is shown in the following figure:

The following figure shows an example of a contact point set for Group Renter functions:

Ticket Tokens for Group Renters

There is a specific ticket token designed to allow the printing of the renter number on the renter's ticket. This can be printed as a barcode so that the ticket can be used to identify the group renter details in the Rentals program. The token is called:
%ITEM RENTER LOCATOR%

Finding Existing Contracts and Renters

Existing rental contracts can be recalled in a number of ways

1. Go to the contract module and type in the last name of the person and click on the Enter button.

This may identify several contracts under the same last name. In this case you must search through the list until you identify the contract. The list can be narrowed down to contracts in a specific time range using a combination of the Start (date) field on the contract module and the button to its immediate right. Selecting this button displays a menu which gives the option of displaying contracts which are, with respect to the Start field:

• Current
• At any time in the past
• Up to one year in the past
• Up to one month in the past
• Up to two weeks in the past
• Up to two weeks in the future
• Up to one month in the future
• Up to one year in the future
• At any time in the future

1. Alternatively, stay in the Pickup module and scan the barcode representing the renter number (or optionally type it in to the field at the top of the pickup form). This is shown in the next figure

Pickup "Issue equipment to customers"

This module is used to record the individual items the Renter takes and to allocate those items to the renter contract. Before detailing the Pickup module it is necessary to discuss two fundamental concepts to the way this module operates as it has an effect on the way the whole rental shop operates. These concepts can be titled the Pay As You Leave concept and the Pay Before You Take concept.

Operational Concepts

Pay As You Leave

In this process, the customer is not required to choose a package when filling in their contract agreement. This is because they will be paying after they have picked up their items. The equipment they pick up as they travel through the rental shop will determine the package they end up paying for. This means they can change their mind many times without alteration to the contract. When arriving at the checkout counter they will be allocated a package or packages made up from the items scanned at the various rental stations.
The following discussion assumes the renter is coming for the first time and has completed a renter form and their information has been entered into the system.

The areas of this module are explained in the following table:

The Package / Renter Tree View

This view shows each renter in the contract, the packages and the individual equipment that the renter has taken. The tree view consists of categories under which equipment will be listed. These categories in the Renter/Package window are explained in the following table:

Scanning an item of equipment will identify the equipment (as long as it is a valid inventory item) and this will be listed under the "unallocated" category. As each item is scanned it will be listed here. An example of this is shown in the next figure:

The purple square shown against each item of equipment indicates that the item has been rented out on a contract. This icon changes to a green dot when the equipment is returned (by scanning the equipment of manually returning it from the pop-up context menu). Unallocated indicates that the equipment under this category has NOT been assigned or allocated to a package. Also notice that the system displays information about the item in the status bar at the bottom of the Renter/Package window. Of particular use is the scancode.

Also, notice that the DIN, Ski Length, Sole Length and Allocated Boot Sole Length are shown alongside the Contract Details for the currently selected Renter. The first three fields are calculated based on the DIN table configured for use. The "Allocated Boot Sole Length" field is only populated when an equipment item of the correct type (i.e. Boots) has been assigned to the Renter, and the equipment item has had its "Boot Sole Length" correctly specified in its parent "Item Type".

Manually Assigning Equipment Using the Options Menu

You don't have to scan equipment or know its number to assign it to a renter. You can "lookup" the item directly. You do this from the Options Menu or right clicking on the Renter you wish to assign equipment to. The displayed menu is shown in the next figure:

The top four items in this menu are discussed in detail under the Sales Section. In this options menu, you can see the bottom four menu options that pertain to items. To manually select an item, choose the Select New Item menu option. This will display a search form, an example of which is shown in the next figure:

You can perform an exact search or a partial search. The search field has a number of options for searching. These are:

• Scancode
• Identity
• Any of the 5 spare fields (defined in Global Settings)

Any found items matching your search would be listed in the form as shown. The column headings in this form are described in the following table:

If your item is found then you select it and press the OK button

Someone Has Their Own Boots

In the example contract we have been looking at, Graham Smith is the contract holder and renter for the contract. Let's say Graham's wife, Harriet, shows up and decides she wants to rent some snow sports equipment. She provides her completed paperwork, you click on the Contracts Module, and then scan her renter form under the same contract as Graham. Harriet also has her own ski boots. The Contracts Module window would look like this:

Note that there is an entry for the Boot Length field shown to the right of the Ability field. This is required for the system to calculate the DIN for Harriet.

The contents of the list for the Boot Length field are set-up from the Setup – Renter – Boot Sizes main menu command. The DIN index relates the boot length to the DIN chart. See Appendix A

You would then return to the Pickup Module and scan Harriet's equipment. The operator at the ski station would first scan Harriet's renter form to identify her to the system and then scan the equipment. After scanning the Skis and Poles for Harriet, the pickup module window will look as shown below:

Note that Harriet is shown with (Own Boots) beside her name indicating that she is a renter with her own boots.

Removing an Incorrect Item

If the wrong item is inadvertently scanned or the renter changes their mind about the type of equipment they want after it is assigned, you can easily remove it. The first step is to return the item back into Inventory (ie. Turn it from purple to green). There are 3 ways to do this:

1. Highlight the item you want to delete and then right click the mouse to access the pop-up options menu and choose the Return Item option
2. Highlight the item you want to delete and then choose Return Item from the Options Menu
3. Alternatively, the item may be scanned which will automatically return the correct item (ie. It does not need to be selected first)
4. Now that the item is returned (has turned green) it can be deleted using the Options Menu or pop-up menu

Notice that the Delete menu option is not available until the item is returned.

Moving Equipment between Renters

Assigned inventory items can also be moved between renters. For example, if you scanned a pair of skis but had highlighted the wrong renter, you only need to highlight the item and drag it into the unallocated branch of the correct renter or into the allocated package of another renter.
The next step is to allocate the packages and have the customer pay for them. This is done via the Sales Module, which is explained next.

Sales "Selling a package to the customer"

Allocating Packages

This module is used to allocate the picked up items to a package. Using the contract for Graham and Harriet Smith, we see the following form under the Sales Module

This figure shows you that the contents of the Renter/Package view are identical to the one seen in the Pickup or Return Module. It shows each renter and the items of equipment they have taken. The primary difference is the addition of the three buttons you see along the right side of the form. These buttons are explained below:

The modules a user has access to can be controlled by the Setup of security for that particular user. For example, if "Operator A" logs in on a terminal, he may only get to see the Contracts and Pickup modules but when "Operator B" logs in to the same terminal, he may only get to see the Return and Sales modules.

Package Auto Allocation

It is now time to allocate the packages to Graham and Harriet. There are four ways to do this

1. Click on the Allocate button
2. Allocate package for Current Renter
3. Allocate packages for ALL renters

Options 2 and 3 are menu options shown in Figure 45. If you choose option 1 or 2 then you first must select the renter you wish to allocate a package to. In the following example, we have clicked on the Allocate button. The result of this is shown in the next figure:

The system looks at the items that the renter has in the unallocated category and works out which package matches best with what has been picked up. It works out the duration of the package based on the duration of rental that was chosen when adding the particular renter. If it is an age based package, the program considers the renter's age range to select the 'appropriate package' The package, when first allocated, is shown in the color red to indicate that the package has not been paid for.
If no age was assigned to the renter, the program will not be able to allocate a package since it expects to compare this age with ages assigned to a package. If a package has no ages assigned, currently it indicates that no auto allocation will be possible for that package. We need to change this so that if a package is not assigned any ages, it can be auto allocated to any renter even if they have no age parameter assigned to them.

Manually Adding Packages

There may be times where you want to manually add a package to the renter. In fact, if you are not using auto package allocation or you require customers to select their package before picking up the equipment (whether they are booking in advance, or you are using the Pay Before You Take method) then this will be necessary. You should read the section that discusses this process in more detail. The menu shown in Figure 45 has an option for manually adding a package. This can also be done from the Renter section of the Contracts module by clicking the Add Package button. Choosing this option from within the Contract, Sales or Pickup modules will display a form similar to the next figure (as an example):

You simply select the appropriate package and the duration for the package. This may be different than the duration selected for the renter, but would most likely be the same. There are two ways to manually add a package:

1. Before equipment is picked up:
   1. Any equipment picked up for a particular renter will be added to the package if the items belong to the item group that makes up the package. Otherwise the equipment will be assigned to the 'Unallocated' category.
2. After equipment has been picked up:
   1. Equipment belonging to the item group that makes up the package will be automatically moved out of the 'Unallocated' category and placed into the manually added package.

Advance Bookings and Availability

In some rentals operations customers wishing to pre-book their rental equipment is commonplace. This can happen days or weeks in advance of the customer picking up their equipment. In this case, it is unlikely that you will know the physical items which the customer will be taking; however it is more than likely that they will wish to book a particular type of item.
When a customer has booked something well in advance of picking the item up, they expect there to be one available when they arrive. Because of this, Rentals can be configured to allow item types to be "pre-allocated" to packages which have been selected for the customer. Rentals uses these pre-allocations to calculate the future availability of inventory item types. When enabled (see section Global Settings), after adding a package to a renter the form below will be displayed:

This form shows the items which are in the package which has just been added. Selecting one of these items and clicking on the Assign button, or double clicking on the item, displays the form shown below:

An item type can now be selected which is then assigned to the package item. The Rentals program checks that there will be at least one of the selected item types available over the entire rental period before allowing this allocation to be made. The other items belonging to the package can now also be assigned.

When a package has had items allocated to it, "Allocated" is appended to the package description in the Contract module. Details of the allocation appear next to package items on the Pickup, Return and Sales modules as shown below. This gives an easy visual reference for the operator when the customer arrives to pick up the items which they have previously booked.

Paying for Packages

When all renters have been allocated a package, the package must be paid for. This is achieved by clicking on the Pay button (see Figure 49). If the SalesPoint program is already running and a session active (ie. Someone is logged into a sales session), the corresponding package products will be automatically selected and put into the sales screen. This is illustrated in the next figure:

You simply pay for the products as you do any other product in SalesPoint. You can discount the packages or pay for them on account. After the transaction is complete, SalesPoint will return the payment information back to Rentals (via Beamer) and the package description will be displayed in black to indicate that the package has been paid for (see Figure 57).

Refunding Packages

In some situations, it will be necessary to refund packages which have been paid for in SalesPoint. This may occur for many reasons, including a customer changing their mind and wanting to rent a different package to that for which they have already paid.
To refund a package which has been paid for, simply select the package in the Pickup, Return or Sales module. Right clicking or selecting the options menu will display a menu similar to that shown below.

When Refund Package is selected from this menu the text description for the selected package changes pink and "Refund Pending" is added to the description. The refund can now be processed in SalesPoint using the same method as paying for a package.

When the refund has been processed through SalesPoint, the package description will appear grey with "Refund Pending" replaced by "Refunded".

Printing Contract details

When all payments have been made for a contract you may wish to print off contract details, whether to form the written rental agreement or simply as a receipt for the customer. This can be achieved by selecting the Print button from the Contracts module. The menu which pops up is configured in the contact point settings for each terminal (see section Setting Up Contact Points), each entry allowing different information to be printed.

Moving Equipment to Prior Rental

Let's say that Graham Smith comes back after 1 day of his rental contract and wants to change his boots, as they are not comfortable for him. The steps you would take in dealing with this scenario are:

1. Go to the Return module in the Rentals program
2. Scan either his rental form, or his current rental boots in order to identify his contract. Or you can look up his contract by name under the Contracts Module
3. Once identified, switch to the Returns module
4. Scan the boots he wishes to swap which will return the boots to the system
5. Drag the returned boots down to the Prior Rental branch

The window should look like the following:

There is now an empty Item Group for Ski Boots since the original boots have been taken out of the package. The system is now ready to accept a new pair of boots.

1. Scan the new boots to assign them to the package. The boots will be automatically inserted into the package next to the Ski Boots Item group
2. This has now recorded the fact that Graham Smith had previously rented a different pair of boots than he will return

Note that this can only be done after the package has been paid for

This method can be used to exchange any type of equipment. However, if the new item belongs to a Rent Item Group not available with the current package, a new package must be added or allocated to the renter. You would scan the new equipment and click on the Allocate button to assign the equipment to the new package. Alternatively, you could manually add the package and add the new equipment to that package.

Return (check in) - taking the equipment back

Rental equipment is returned on the Return tab page. It is also used to 'Finish' and close the contract, so that no more rentals can occur on it.

The steps for returning rental items are as follows:

1. Click on the Return tab page
2. Scan the renter's form to identify the contract. Alternatively you can scan an item of equipment or go to the Contracts tab page and search by the contract name.
   

3. Once the contract is identified you can scan each item of equipment in any order. The system knows which item belongs to which renter and returns it accordingly.

4. As each item is returned, the purple square changes to a green dot indicating that the item has been checked in (returned).
   
5. After all items have been returned, click on the Finish button to close the contract. The background of the Renter/Package tree will turn to grey indicate that the rental has been closed

The following warning will be given when an item of equipment is scanned or manually entered that is not part of the currently open contract:

1. The item is not currently rented and is in stock.
   
2. The number entered does not match with any inventory items. The scancode is returning an invalid number or you have entered the number incorrectly.
   
3. The item belongs to a different contract. You are given the option of switching to that contract if you wish.
   
   The following features on this Confirmation message should be noted:

   1. Press the Switch & Check In button to switch to the contract for the scanned item and automatically check the item in

   2. Press the Switch button to switch to the contract for the scanned item, but do not check the item in

   3. Press the Cancel button, to close the confirmation message, and go back to the Return tab page.

   4. The Pass icon (top right) indicates that this form supports scanning.

   5. Scan the same scancode (on the confirmation message) and the system will switch contracts and automatically return the rental item.

   6. Scan a different scancode where the item is not on the current contract, then a new confirmation message is shown for the new item.

   7. Scan a different scancode where the item is on the current contract, then the item is automatically returned.

   8. The 'Hide this Confirmation' allows the operator to hide (suppress) the display of this dialog so that it is no longer displayed (during the life of the program). The system will instead switch contracts and automatically return the entered rental item, when an item not on the currently opened contract is scanned.

Note: The behaviour of the system on the Return tab, when returning rental equipment and the item being returned is not on the currently open contract, is configurable via the Manager setting: Rentals | Pickup / Returns / Sales tab pages | Options | Return (Rental Item) On Different Contract.  This setting controls whether scanning is supported on the Confirmation dialog and whether the 'Hide this Confirmation' checkbox is available. It is also possible to configure the system to never display the dialog and always return an item on a different contract.

Returning Items in Bulk

In many instances, equipment may be returned to the rentals location but not actually returned in contract order. For example, a school group that has 3 contracts may dump their equipment back to a central point and the rental shop doesn't actually scan the equipment in at the time of return but decides to do it all at once at a later time. In this case, the operator scanning the returns doesn't want to be asked if they want to switch to the contract that the equipment belongs to (see Table 13). Instead they just want the system to return the items after each item is scanned. The setting for this bulk return mode is shown in the figure above, just under the Clear button.
Checking the Bulk check box will prevent the system from prompting the operator if they wish to switch to the contract that the scanned equipment belongs to. Instead, it will change to that contract and immediately return the item back into the system.

Setting Up Contact Points

Contact points are synonymous with terminals. That is, they represent the names of each terminal that the rentals program will be running on. To set up a contact point, use the Setup – Contact Points option from the main command menu.

To illustrate the set-up details of a particular terminal, we will edit one of the terminals from the list shown in the figure above. Editing the Terminal 1 terminal displays the following form:

Each field name in the Edit Contact Point Form is explained in the next table:

The settings available for each terminal are described below:

Setting the Scan Rules

There are rules that must be configured in order for the system to make decisions about the numbers it receives (either scanned or manually entered) when operating. From the Setup Menu, choose Scancode Rules.

Use the Options Menu to Add a scan code rule. The following is displayed:

Enter the first scancode for the start of the range and the last scancode for the end of the range.

If no scancode rules are defined then the system will default to the following logic:
The system checks if the code has any alpha characters in it. If it does have alpha characters in it then it checks to see if it is a Contract number. If there is not a matching Contract number, then it assumes the scan is an item code. If it finds no matching item codes then an error is displayed to indicate this.

To find renter numbers, at least one rule must be defined to dictate the definition of a renter number.
Note: Scancode Rules only match scans with a length that falls within the lengths of the starting and ending scans. For example:

If a rule for a renter number is 00001 to 99999 and a scancode of 01 is scanned, it will not match the Renter number rules.

Setting up Module & Button Scancodes

The system is designed to allow scanners to be used to switch between the seven rentals modules making up the program. It also allows the various buttons that appear on forms to be activated by scancodes. The following table lists the modules and the codes that switch to them when scanned:

The button scancodes are activated as follows:

Setting up Renter Default Parameters

Each of the Renter parameters (items under the Setup – Renter menu) can be set to use a default value that will appear when a new renter is added. The following provides an example of how this default can be set.
Choosing Setup – Renter – Insurances will display a form that shows any existing entries and also allows you to add, edit or delete items. If you wish to make YES (yes I want Insurance) appear as the default option, simply right click (or use the options menu) on the YES item in the list and select Default from the menu. The program will display a (Def) label on the item:

In this example above, when a new renter is added to the Renter Section of the contract, the Insurance item YES will appear immediately. In the above example, Clear Default is displayed as a menu item since the (Def) is already set. If the Default item was not set then the lower menu item would read "Set Default".

Global Settings

Global settings define some of the properties of the way Rentals operates on all machines in an organisation. They are accessible through the Setup - Global Settings command menu. The following table lists the global settings which pertain to Rentals:

Intouch Manager Settings

The settings available in Intouch Manager on the Settings tab for Rentals includes:

Keyboard Wedge Scanner for Renter Form scanning

Typically a serial scanner is the preferred scanner with the Rentals application. It is easier to target the correct fields in the renter contract section (see Figure 37) when scanning paper renter forms (assuming the rentals shop is using these type of forms). However, a keyboard wedge scanner can be used if it is programmed appropriately. Essentially the scanner needs to have the STX character pre-pended to the scan and an asterisk or carriage return appended to the scan so the Rentals application will know the scan is not a keyboard entry.

Appendix B – Method of DIN Calculations

The Rentals program is designed to automatically calculate the DIN setting for bindings. The current version uses the Rossignol DIN chart as the method for the calculations. The DIN chart uses the following Renter variables:

1. Age
2. Weight
3. Height
4. Ability
5. Boot Sole Length

These variables are represented in a chart as shown below:

eg. A 17-year-old boy is 150 cm in height, 70 kg in weight, type 2 skier type and has a 295mm boot sole length.
Begin by finding the cells containing the skier's weight range and then the skier's height range. Choose whichever cell is nearest the top of the chart. In the case of the boy in the example above, his height range is nearest the top in row 'I', so we will begin from there. Notice the heading for columns 1-6, Boot Sole Length (measured in mm). Choose the column (1-6) containing the range in which the boys boot sole length falls. In this example our boot sole length is 295 mm so we select column 4. Now follow this column down until you locate the cell at the intersection of Row I and Column 4. Here we find an initial binding indicator setting of 3.5. The DIN chart is built assuming a type 1 skier. Since our example is a type 2 skier, we must make a correction and drop down one more row on the chart. We have now discovered the binding initial indicator setting to be 4.5.
Below is a list of the corrections for skier type:

1. Type 1 – No correction necessary
2. Type 2 – Move down the chart one row
3. Type 3 – Move down the chart two rows
4. (Type 1-) – Move up the chart one row
5. (Type 3+) – Move down the chart three rows

Age is also considered when calculating initial indicator settings (DIN). If the skier is over 50 years of age you must move up the chart one row.

How the Program Calculates the DIN Value

In order for Rentals to simulate this chart, each renter variable that effects the DIN calculation must be given a DIN Index which is used to "lookup" the rows and columns in the DIN chart.

Setup – Renter (Main Menu Option)

This menu contains the following items:

*The entries marked with an asterisk effect the DIN calculation

DIN Chart Set up

Refer to the Appendix D

Abilities

An example of the Abilities dialog is shown in the next figure:

This figure shows an example of the entries that might be defined for Abilities. Editing the first entry displays the next figure:

The fields shown in the dialog are explained below:

Ages

An example of the Ages dialog is shown in the next figure:

The format of this dialog is exactly the same as seen for the setup of abilities. Editing one of these entries will display the same dialog format as shown in Figure 64. The DIN index for the first two entries is zero and –1 for the 50 and over entry. This tells Rentals to move down one row in the DIN chart if the person is in this age range.

This setup is continued for each of the entries shown in Table 18 except for Genders where no DIN index is required since it has no bearing on the DIN calculation

The DIN index is also entered against a Rent Item Group. This is particularly relevant to boots. The Setup – Renter – Boot Sizes command is used to set-up a list that appears for renters that bring their own boots. The same DIN index concept applies to boot sizes that are associated with an inventory item, belonging to an Item Group, which in turn has a specific DIN index. See Figure 9 for reference.

For each parameter, the DIN index is entered to represent its contribution to the chart. For example, the Weights list will have 13 entries and the DIN Index will start at 1 and go to 13.

Boot Sizes

Note that this list is set-up to allow the entry of a boot sole length for a renter bringing their own boots.
Choosing Boot Sizes from the Setup – Renter command menu will display the following form:

We strongly recommend setting up boot sizes as boot sole lengths. Boot sizes are an interior measurement of the ski boot. The sole measurements don't correspond to the size at all. In fact the sole length measurement stamped on the side of the boot varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. All boots brought into the rental shop will need to be measured by an operator and they will want to enter that length into the system for the DIN calculation.

If you choose the Add item from the Options menu, a form will be displayed as shown below:

The Boot Sole Length label should also have underneath it (or DIN Index if less than 7)

Boot Size, Boot Sole Length and DIN Index

The DIN index relates the boot size to the column of the DIN chart that refers to the Boot Sole Length. So the relationship between boot sizes and boot sole length is through the DIN index. For example, if the boot size of 22 actually has a boot sole length of less than 250mm, then it's DIN index will be 1. There are generally multiple boot sizes that fall into the same Boot Sole Length range. The following table is an example that illustrates this relationship:

The grouping of boot sizes in this table has NOT been verified. It should NOT be used when actually setting up the DIN indexes for boot sizes

The Boot Sole Length ranges are hardcoded into the program. If you set a value for the Boot Sole Length in Figure 68 that is greater than 6, the program will assume that the value represents a Boot Sole Length. If the value is 6 or less then the program will take the value to represent a DIN index. If the boot sole lengths are entered then the system will check which range the sole length fall into and lookup the appropriate column in the DIN chart

The purpose of this table is to indicate that you can represent a boot size to an DIN Index value

Missing DIN Parameters

Rentals will indicate if there are missing parameters necessary for the DIN calculation. This is illustrated in the following figure:

This renter is missing entries for weight and height and these would need to be entered for this renter for the system to display a DIN.

Appendix C – Metadata updates for version 1.18

ALTER TABLE RENT_PACKAGE ADD SCAN_CODE VC20;
and a new record is added to the Rent_Scancode_Type table;

insert into rent_scancode_type (id, description) values (7, 'Package');

alter table rent_package_product_link
add is_extension boolean_yn,
add quantity short;

update rent_package_product_link set is_extension = 'N';
update rent_package_product_link set quantity = 1;
alter table renter_lineitem add parent_lineitem_id fk_id;

Appendix D – DIN Chart Set up

Overview

DIN Charts used to be hard coded and was calculated from an old predefined chart. To make it more user definable and changeable, a Manager setting was added and the rows of this setting in turn is being used by the DIN calculations.

Manager Setting

A new manager setting was added to give the user the ability to customise the DIN Chart:
In Manager -> Settings -> Program Settings -> Rentals -> User Settings -> DIN Charts, an Admin setting was added. This setting will only be visible if logged into Admin Mode. This setting will take XML Data to define a customised DIN Chart.

XML Layout

The XML must be in a specific layout to be recognised by the IntouchRentals application. The following is the layout of the xml
<dincharts>
  <dinchart index="0">
    <columns>
       <column index="0">
         <description><=230</description>
         <minsize>0<minsize/>
         <maxsize>230</maxsize>
         <rows>
              <row index="0">0.75</row>
              <row index="1">1.00</row>
         ...
         <row index = "6">3.50</row>
       </rows>
     </column>
    <column>
      ...
  </column>
 </dinchart>
</dincharts>

This XML can be added for All Users, a Specific User, Equipment, Locations etc…It gives the flexibility to allow a specific user or terminal to use a specific calculation.

The "description" under column is used to Display the boot length on the screen. Use this to either display metric or imperial. The min and max size should correspond to what the description is displaying.

The XML is uses indexes to determine the column and row numbers. An index always starts at 0. In the example above the row of 0.75 is for Column 1, Row 1 and row 6.00 is for Column 1, Row 7.

Intouch Rentals

The Intouch Rentals application will use the DIN Chart defined in Manager. If there is no chart, the original chart will still be used as normal, but when a valid chart is defined, the chart will be used for all DIN Calculations. The DIN Calculation is only used on the Pickups Tab.
Note that the DIN Label will display the DIN Row and the Boot Length Label will show the Description defined from within the XML. If no Description is given, the assumption is made that all rows are given in metric and the minsize and maxsize rows will be used to populate the description and displayed in metric.

Complete XML for Salomon 2016/2017 DIN Chart

Below is the full XML Settings for the Salomon 2016/2017 DIN Adjustment Chart:
<dincharts>
<dinchart index="0">
<columns>
<column index="0">
<description><=230</description>
<minsize/>
<maxsize>230</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="0">0.75</row>
<row index="1">1.00</row>
<row index="2">1.50</row>
<row index="3">2.00</row>
<row index="4">2.50</row>
<row index="5">3.00</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="1">
<description>231-250mm</description>
<minsize>231</minsize>
<maxsize>250</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="0">0.75</row>
<row index="1">0.75</row>
<row index="2">1.25</row>
<row index="3">1.75</row>
<row index="4">2.25</row>
<row index="5">2.75</row>
<row index="6">3.50</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="2">
<description>251-270mm</description>
<minsize>251</minsize>
<maxsize>270</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="0">0.75</row>
<row index="1">0.75</row>
<row index="2">1.25</row>
<row index="3">1.50</row>
<row index="4">2.00</row>
<row index="5">2.50</row>
<row index="6">3.00</row>
<row index="7">3.50</row>
<row index="8">4.50</row>
<row index="9">5.50</row>
<row index="10">6.50</row>
<row index="11">7.50</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="3">
<description>271-290mm</description>
<minsize>271</minsize>
<maxsize>290</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="1">0.75</row>
<row index="2">1.00</row>
<row index="3">1.50</row>
<row index="4">1.75</row>
<row index="5">2.25</row>
<row index="6">2.75</row>
<row index="7">3.00</row>
<row index="8">4.00</row>
<row index="9">5.00</row>
<row index="10">6.00</row>
<row index="11">7.00</row>
<row index="12">8.50</row>
<row index="13">10.00</row>
<row index="14">11.50</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="4">
<description>291-310mm</description>
<minsize>291</minsize>
<maxsize>310</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="3">1.25</row>
<row index="4">1.50</row>
<row index="5">2.00</row>
<row index="6">2.50</row>
<row index="7">3.00</row>
<row index="8">3.50</row>
<row index="9">4.50</row>
<row index="10">5.50</row>
<row index="11">6.50</row>
<row index="12">8.00</row>
<row index="13">9.50</row>
<row index="14">11.00</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="5">
<description>311-330mm</description>
<minsize>311</minsize>
<maxsize>330</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="4">1.50</row>
<row index="5">1.75</row>
<row index="6">2.25</row>
<row index="7">2.75</row>
<row index="8">3.50</row>
<row index="9">4.00</row>
<row index="10">5.00</row>
<row index="11">6.00</row>
<row index="12">7.00</row>
<row index="13">8.50</row>
<row index="14">10.00</row>
<row index="15">12.00</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="6">
<description>331-350mm</description>
<minsize>331</minsize>
<maxsize>350</maxsize>
<rows>
<row index="5">1.75</row>
<row index="6">2.00</row>
<row index="7">2.50</row>
<row index="8">3.00</row>
<row index="9">3.50</row>
<row index="10">4.50</row>
<row index="11">5.50</row>
<row index="12">6.50</row>
<row index="13">8.00</row>
<row index="14">9.50</row>
<row index="15">11.00</row>
</rows>
</column>
<column index="7">
<description>>=351mm</description>
<minsize>351</minsize>
<rows>
<row index="9">3.00</row>
<row index="10">4.00</row>
<row index="11">5.00</row>
<row index="12">6.00</row>
<row index="13">7.50</row>
<row index="14">9.00</row>
<row index="15">10.50</row>
</rows>
</column>
</columns>
</dinchart>
</dincharts> Rentals Administration and User Guide#_Toc491072981