v0.11.0 (beta) — backgrounds, Evergreen shelves

What's new

• Backgrounds. Theme at the top of the screen now opens a menu with two choices: Light or Dark, and a Background. Evergreen shelves shows a bookshelf with one book for each Evergreen Indiana library, sized by the population it serves. There are also 12 photos of famous libraries. Each PC remembers its own choice.
• Photo backgrounds download once. The photos are not in the file. The first time a PC opens the app while online, it downloads them (about 5 MB) from GitHub and keeps them, so they are there during an outage. Open the app once on each PC before an outage. With no internet and nothing downloaded, the menu offers None and Evergreen shelves. Nothing about your sessions or patrons is sent. Every photo is credited in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt, and the menu credits the one in use.
• Move the panel. With a background, drag the middle panel by its edge or any empty space in it, for example to uncover your library's book. Double-click that space to put it back. It always stays inside the window.
• One-row status bar. The buttons are on the left, and the session, clerk and totals on the right. It wraps only on narrow windows. Finish patron first now appears beside End patron, so the scan field never moves when a patron starts.
• Sessions kept safer. The app asks Chrome to keep its sessions even when the disk is nearly full. Chrome decides for itself and may not agree.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions, the printer and the workstation name are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no change to how sessions are stored (the photos use a separate store). The pairing format is still OC3 and no session records changed, so 0.11.0 and 0.10.0 desks work together. Keeping every desk PC on the same release is still the advice. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: c7195d12eca49d287606969db4be12db89ec194d4303f249c39ea6eece3611b9
• offline-checkout-v0.11.0.zip: 5d0970c44ab5e76e29b33dbcc813b4a84f90018fc55c731b4e791f1814115fc8

Beta

This is a beta. The scanner, camera and connection code has not changed in this release, so it adds no field probe re-run, but the checks listed for 0.7.0, 0.8.0 and 0.9.0 still apply.

v0.10.0 (beta) — combine sessions, dark theme

What's new

• Combine sessions. An outage can span several sessions. On the Summary, Add to this session adds another session on this PC, or exported Excel, Evergreen or CSV files, so everything can be uploaded to Evergreen once. Every source is shown in a preview first, and Your name is required. An addition can't be undone, and the sources are never changed. See Combining sessions in README.txt.
• Upload warning. If items are added after an Evergreen download, the Summary warns about uploading twice.
• Dark theme. Theme at the top of the screen switches between light and dark, even in the middle of a patron. Each PC remembers its own choice. Receipts and QR codes look the same in both.
• Design review changes. The newest item is at the top of the scan list, and the status bar shows not connected beside a desk PC that dropped, so it no longer relies on colour. Void patron asks first if the patron has items. The Summary is laid out in two columns, the pairing steps are clearer and dialog text is shorter.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions, the printer and the workstation name are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC3, so 0.10.0 can pair with 0.9.0, but update every desk PC together. A 0.9.0 desk rejects the records that combining sessions creates, and the other desks keep resending them every 10 seconds. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 9062fd5c70e329d932c3ff6d64a36df31994a0971df03d98cacf2a158dee3d83
• offline-checkout-v0.10.0.zip: d8a8a46a0ef9739b45ae1f55b194ffa8a25d49cb043cd897e44ce64d2fbbb41f

Beta

This is a beta. The scanner, camera and connection code has not changed in this release, so it adds no field probe re-run, but the checks listed for 0.7.0, 0.8.0 and 0.9.0 still apply. Before rollout, try combining sessions with real exported files and upload the result to a test Evergreen system.

Photo backgrounds, set 1

Photo backgrounds for Offline Checkout. These files are not the app: download the app from the latest release.

The app downloads these once per PC from GitHub Pages and checks each SHA-256. Each is the Wikimedia Commons 1920 px rendition re-encoded as WebP.

Credits

• loc.webp: Main Reading Room, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (Carol M. Highsmith Archive). Public domain. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LOC_Main_Reading_Room_Highsmith.jpg
• peabody.webp: George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland (LCCN2013646464). Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (Carol M. Highsmith Archive). Public domain. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Peabody_Library,_formerly_the_Library_of_the_Peabody_Institute_of_the_City_of_Baltimore,_is_part_of_the_Johns_Hopkins_Sheridan_Libraries._Baltimore,_Maryland_LCCN2013646464.tif
• longroom.webp: Long Room, Old Library, Trinity College Dublin. Photo: Diliff. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Long_Room_Interior,_Trinity_College_Dublin,_Ireland_-_Diliff.jpg
• admont.webp: Admont Abbey Library, Austria. Photo: Jorge Royan. CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Austria_-_Admont_Abbey_Library_-_1326.jpg
• admont-books.webp: Books in Admont Abbey Library, Austria. Photo: Marco Almbauer. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Admont_Abbey_Library_books.jpg
• strahov.webp: Theological Hall, Strahov Library, Prague. Photo: Jorge Royan. CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strahov_Theological_Hall,_Prague_-_7585.jpg
• ottawa.webp: Library of Parliament, Ottawa. Photo: Tony Webster. CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Library_of_Parliament,_Ottawa_(14579996318).jpg
• nypl.webp: Rose Main Reading Room, New York Public Library. Photo: Nan Palmero. CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_Public_Library_Rose_Reading_Room_(40430028925).jpg
• nypl-pano.webp: Research room, New York Public Library. Photo: Diliff. CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_Public_Library_Research_Room_Jan_2006.jpg
• stockholm.webp: Rotunda, Stockholm Public Library. Photo: Bermax. Public domain. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stockholms_stadsbibliotek_rotundan.jpg
• indy.webp: Atrium, Indianapolis Public Library Central Library. Photo: Serge Melki. CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indianapolis_Central_Library_(3440328630).jpg
• binhai.webp: Tianjin Binhai Library, China. Photo: H2v5o68z. CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tianjin_Binhai_Library_1.jpg

v0.9.0 (beta) — pairing codes as files, 15 minute codes

What's new

• Pass pairing codes as files. On Add workstation and Join session, Save to file saves the join or reply code as a small text file on a shared network drive or a flash drive. On the other PC, Load code from file (or drag the file onto the code box) reads it. This works alongside copy and paste, the QR code and the printed barcodes. The files are temporary: each works once. Delete it after pairing.
• Codes last 15 minutes instead of 5, so there's time to carry a code file between desks.
• Fixed: a reply code stopped working after about 3.5 minutes in Chrome, whatever the expiry said. It now works for the full 15 minutes.
• Field probe (probe.html): pairs the same way as the app.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions, the printer and the workstation name are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is now OC3: 0.9.0 cannot pair with 0.8.x or older. Update every desk PC together, and don't update during an outage. An older desk shows a "different version" message instead of pairing.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 00da470c1d699c629cf6878840f3beb7a9ec35da1e050b4fb18efefb870e6bba
• offline-checkout-v0.9.0.zip: 7f19a18b72f3ef5a72ba780f41324712941cc3afaab5708e1ea15523106aa369

Beta

This is a beta. Before rollout, re-run the field probe on the library PCs (the connection handshake changed), and try pairing two PCs through a file on the network share, carrying the reply back after a few minutes. The checks listed for 0.7.0 and 0.8.0 still apply.

v0.8.1 — Change clerk and field probe fixes

What's new

Fixes only. Nothing new on screen.

• Change clerk now closes if another desk closes the session while the dialog is open. Before, saving it renamed the closed session's clerk in the status bar and the session lists. Records, the PDF and the downloads were never affected.
• Opening sessions is more robust: two opens that overlap can no longer leave a session marked "already open in another tab".
• Field probe (probe.html): pressing Start over while it says "Preparing the code..." no longer turns into a false FAIL, and a failed camera re-test no longer leaves the old scanner on screen.
• Behind the scenes: simpler code for the PDF and downloads (the files are unchanged) and for building the release zip.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions, the printer and the workstation name are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, and 0.8.1 works with 0.8.0 desks, but update every desk together when you can. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: f237c0f6776e7fe1874bf1502ec2832733c6be2b3b48cbe2b35daadb2c17ff8b
• offline-checkout-v0.8.1.zip: 812a26582db885cb085a21298a715e67827659e8f2647c175b07be7d8b7da71a

Before rollout

This is a pre-release. The checks listed for 0.7.0 and 0.8.0 still apply.

v0.8.0 — workstation names, open sessions first, delete closed sessions

What's new

• Workstation names. The first time Offline Checkout opens on a PC it asks for a Workstation name, such as Front desk 1. Every scan records it. The Summary counts per desk PC, and the PDF, CSV and Excel files show the workstation. Rename on the start screen changes it; earlier scans keep the old name.
• Open sessions come first on the start screen. A session that is still open and had a scan in the last 3 days is at the top, ready for the clerk's name. Start new session sits below it.
• Other workstations on the start screen lists the other desks in an open session whose scans have synced to this PC, with the time of each desk's last activity.
• Delete session on the Summary of a closed session. It lists each export (PDF, CSV, Excel, Evergreen) with who downloaded it, where and when, and warns if the Evergreen file was never downloaded. Drag the slider to the end to delete. Connected desk PCs delete their copy too.
• Faster catch-up sync when a workstation pairs into a busy session, and a faster PDF for large sessions.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions and the chosen printer are kept. The PC asks for a workstation name the first time it opens. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, so 0.8.0 can pair with 0.7.0, but update every desk together: a 0.7.0 desk doesn't understand the new export records and isn't removed from a deleted session. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 255e015cdb68dd56d885326510b0d1334a5250eadead55988ccb389ce8d21fee
• offline-checkout-v0.8.0.zip: ea87e0740781170c81c43962574944a1f6156ab8060cf2c5cd0c490ba7be240e

Before rollout

This is a pre-release. The checks listed for 0.7.0 (Windows and Mac shortcuts and printing, Linux, Evergreen upload) still apply. Also check on real library PCs:

• Name two desk PCs, pair them, and confirm the Summary counts each desk.
• Delete a closed session with both desks connected and confirm it goes from both.

v0.7.0 — CSV, Excel and Evergreen downloads, Change clerk, Mac and Linux setup

What's new

• Download CSV and Download Excel on the Summary. One row per item, in the PDF's order: Patron, Item, Scanned at, Clerk, Session. In the Excel file, barcodes keep their leading zeros, Scanned at is a real date, and a second Summary sheet has the totals and the count per clerk.
• Download for Evergreen on the Summary saves the session as an Evergreen offline transaction file (.xacts). Load it with Import Transactions on Evergreen's Offline Circulation page. Evergreen works out due dates from the library's loan rules. README.txt has the steps.
• Resuming a session asks for the clerk's name. The field is always empty, so a new shift can't carry on under the last clerk's name.
• Change clerk in the toolbar switches the clerk without leaving the session or dropping paired workstations. Earlier scans keep their clerk.
• Exit session in the toolbar goes back to the start screen. It asks first only while other workstations are connected. It replaces the Summary's Back to start button.
• Mac and Linux setup. The zip now has one setup script for each system: Windows - Create shortcuts.cmd, Mac - Create shortcuts.command and Linux - Create shortcuts.sh. The zip is now offline-checkout-v0.7.0.zip, without -windows.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: extract the new zip and run the setup script for that system. Sessions and the chosen printer are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, so 0.7.0 pairs with 0.6.x, but keep every desk on the same version. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 06eb0c2e885cf200007d05246970c9c17d7cd413c4127d86f03acad50621008f
• offline-checkout-v0.7.0.zip: 48c91a219b7d30ae37ac51ae6c971546d367969986db6e51803f7c198e22cea3

Before rollout

This is a pre-release. Check on real hardware:

• Windows: run Windows - Create shortcuts.cmd. The icons are now in an icons\ subfolder. Confirm that both shortcuts show their icons and that receipts still print without a dialog.
• Mac (Apple Silicon if possible): go through Gatekeeper's Open Anyway, check the app icons, then set up the printer and use the everyday launcher. Receipts should print without a dialog.
• Linux: test Ubuntu with Snap Chromium, and a KDE desktop.
• Evergreen: on a server where offline upload works, run Create Session, Upload and Process with a .xacts file. Import Transactions has been checked; the training server's upload step returns errors on the server side.

v0.6.0 — app icon, closed sessions on the start page

What's new

• The app has its own icon: an evergreen tree in a red no-entry sign, for "when Evergreen is down". It shows on both desktop shortcuts, in the browser tab and next to the title on the start screen. The printer setup shortcut's icon has a small printer in the corner, so the two shortcuts are easy to tell apart.
• Closed sessions are marked on the start page. Every session in the Resume list shows who started it and when. Closed sessions are tagged Closed with the time they were closed, including sessions closed before this version or from another workstation.
• Resuming a closed session opens its Summary, not the scan screen.
• The scanner card offer closes once the first patron is scanned. The card is still on the Summary.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: run the new zip's Create shortcuts.cmd. That is what gives the shortcuts their new icons. Sessions and the chosen printer are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file. Those PCs get the new tab icon and logo, but not the shortcut icons.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, so 0.6.0 pairs with 0.5.x, but keep every desk on the same version. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 8364c4540092a5246d0ad940be1facc352fc5d8076a839879703f7a0c6e3e526
• offline-checkout-v0.6.0-windows.zip: 5841ac8a9d94518ad986c75139e2482296cf7fb882e91ef4f88b63c328f490c1

Before rollout

This is a pre-release. Check on the desk hardware:

• Run Create shortcuts.cmd on a library PC and confirm both desktop shortcuts show the new icons, and that the everyday shortcut still prints a receipt without a dialog. The script changed to install the icons, and it has not been run on Windows yet.

v0.5.1 — open source, with license notices

What's new

• Open source under the GNU AGPL, version 3 or later. The source is on GitHub, and LICENSE.txt in the zip is the license.
• License notices ship with the app. The open-source libraries the app includes (Vue, jsPDF, zxing and others) are now credited in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt in the zip and in a comment at the top of offline-checkout.html, as their licenses require.

Nothing changes on screen or in how the app works.

Install

Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: run the new zip's Create shortcuts.cmd; sessions and the chosen printer are kept. New desk PC: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, so 0.5.1 pairs with 0.5.0, but keep every desk on the same version. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 01d3a44a9e59bce27bdede1bf3a0001d856e76d47aa021303188ccecdfe57ebf
• offline-checkout-v0.5.1-windows.zip: 6bb1ce67ec1d2d667bfce1296cedff4adb96e222357879e76c9605151f8c89ff

v0.5.0 — desk setup from a Windows zip

What's new

• Desk setup from a Windows zip. Download offline-checkout-v0.5.0-windows.zip, extract it and run Create shortcuts.cmd. It installs the app for the Windows user and creates two desktop shortcuts: Offline Checkout for every day (receipts print without a dialog) and Offline Checkout - printer setup for choosing the receipt printer once. The zip includes README.txt with the staff instructions.
• The version is shown next to the title on the start screen and on the Summary. When a pairing code comes from a different version, the message now says which version this workstation has.
• README describes the receipt workflow. Staff keep the receipt printed at the end of each checkout and scan it into the library system when it's back up. The session PDF is the complete copy. Any receipt printer for 80 mm rolls should work; the Star TSP143 is the tested one.
• Camera QR reading rewritten on the latest zxing-wasm, without vue-qrcode-reader. Nothing changes on screen, and the file is about 39 KB smaller.

Install

New desk PC, or moving to the shortcuts: follow Setting up a desk PC in README.txt (in the zip). Updating a PC that already has the shortcuts: run the new zip's Create shortcuts.cmd; sessions and the chosen printer are kept. offline-checkout.html is also attached on its own for PCs set up by hand: copy it over the old file.

Sessions are kept: there is no IndexedDB schema change. The pairing format is still OC2, the same as v0.4.0, but keep every desk on the same version. Don't update during an outage.

SHA-256:

• offline-checkout.html: 398a4e980c0f20e575e59640e0d24881e27ae9b2ab9df07f0ed503c876891a10
• offline-checkout-v0.5.0-windows.zip: 05154cbbad02cf657fc24856777932cf2733f940b4522fa62878d3c42f79984c

Before rollout

This is a pre-release. Check on the desk hardware:

• Run Create shortcuts.cmd on a library PC, choose the receipt printer with the printer setup shortcut, then confirm the everyday shortcut prints a receipt without a dialog.
• Run the field probe's camera check on a real library PC, and join two PCs by webcam (the QR reader changed).
• Scan a printed checkout receipt into the library system.