Generic Ordering App: Alice Instructions

Before using Alice, two files are required:

1.  item.csv This is a CSV file that contains the item list.  Each line of the file must contain the following:

<item_name>,<item_code>,<unit>

For example, a business that is involved with groceries may contain the following lines in its item.csv file:

Bears Brand Powdered Milk 33g,BB33,case
Bears Brand Powdered Milk 80g,BB80,case
Cofimate Original 80g,CM80,case
Cofimate Original 170g,CM170,case
Nescape 3in1 Brown N' Creamy,NESBRN,case
Nescape 3in1 Creamylatte,NESCRM,case

It is recommended that item codes are short, so that it does not take too much character space in the SMS the app sends.

2.  customer.csv This is a CSV file that contains the customer list.  Each line of the file must contain the following:

<customer_name>,<customer_code>

Again, as an example of a business involved in groceries, the file may contain the following lines:

Seven Eleven Twelve,7112
Mini Go,MINGO
Lawton,LAW
Family Supermart,FAM
Puresilver,PUR
Shopsmart,SHOP

Similar to the reasoning in item.csv, it is recommended to keep customer codes short.

Open Alice, and a directory "2_alice" at internal storage is created.

Copy the CSV files in 2_alice.

Open Alice.  Tapping the three vertical dots on the upper right corner of the screen reveals the menu.  Tap "Import Client File", and "Import Item File".  The CSV files are loaded into the app's internal storage.  After doing this, you may delete the CSV files.

Before using Alice, the mobile phone where the SMS orders shall be sent must also be set.  Do this by opening the menu again, and tapping "Edit Send Number".  The phone's directory opens, where you can select the contact to send the orders.

Once setup (importing item and client files, setting the send number) is complete you may start using Alice.

Selecting a customer is easy.  Just type the customer name at the text box on the screen.  It is autocomplete, so once suggestions appear after two characters are typed, select the customer name.  You won't be able to send SMS orders if clients are not selected from the suggestions.

Adding orders is done

by tapping the plus icon at the title bar.  Doing so opens the "Add Order" screen where you can specify the quantity and item the customer wants.  Type a number in quantity.  Similar to the customer text box, the item text box is also autocomplete, so typing any initial two letters within the item's name brings out suggestions.  Select the item name from the suggestions, and you will be back at the main screen with the order in the list.  You may also scroll the item list to manually look for the item.  There is an index to the list's right for faster searching.

You may change the order quantity by long pressing an order to make a context menu appear, and tapping "Edit".  A dialog box "Edit Order" appears.  Edit the quantity, and press "OK".

Delete an order by selecting "Delete" from the context menu.

When you're done with taking a customer's order, and you're ready to send the orders to the main office, just tap the paper airplane icon, or open the menu and tap "Send".  A message confirming the orders are sent through SMS appears.

The sent message appears like this:

<customer_code>
<quantity>-<item code>

or a more concrete example is:

71112
3-BB33
7-CM170
1-NESCRM

which means client Seven Eleven Twelve ordered:
3 cases of Bears Brand 33g
7 cases of Cofimate Original 170g
1 case of Nescape 3in1 Creamylatte

As a company goes along, clients, and items may change.  You may edit clients by opening the menu, and tapping "Edit Client".  A list of client names, and client codes appears.  To add a client, tap the plus icon on the upper right of the screen, and the "Add Client" dialog appears.  Fill up the name, and code fields, and press "OK".  Not filling up one of them cancels the addition process.

To change a client's name, or code, long press the client entry in the "Edit Client" screen to show a context menu with "Edit", and "Delete".  Tap "Edit" to show the "Edit Client" dialog, which is similar to "Add Client" dialog.  Edit the fields you want, and press "OK".  The client entry is updated.

You may also delete clients by long pressing the client entry, and selecting "Delete".

Editing item entries is similar to editing clients.  You may start editing items by selecting "Edit Item" at the menu of the main screen, and following similar steps as editing clients.

 Exit the app by doubling tapping the back button.

Generic Ordering App: Alice

Alice is a generic products ordering app that uses SMS to send orders from clients to the main office.  The app was created to address issues of documentation, response time, and mobile internet availability in certain areas where clients are located.  Its simple user interface enables roving agents to accurately receive orders from customers, and immediately send these to be fulfilled by the main office.  The SMS Alice generates are in the form of compact quantity-item code pairs, which is well suited for the 160 character limit.  Sending orders via SMS is much more reliable than using mobile data, which may not be available in some remote areas, or whose signal may be too weak to be efficiently used.  An added benefit of using SMS is documentation of client orders, so mistakes can be avoided making products delivered to the customers are what they specified.

This app is intended for companies, which employ agents, who are deployed to remote areas to receive client orders.  The app also assumes that the organisation using this has clients codes, and item codes for each customer, and SKU, respectively.  Moreover, it may also be used by customers, who may conveniently select the orders by themselves instead of spelling out the whole product name, and quantity on SMS.

GPS Tracking Android App: Loc Instructions

The app requires Location Service to be enabled.

To start GPS tracking:
If Auto Start is enabled, opening the app starts GPS tracking.

Tap the driver name field to show a driver name input dialog.  Type the driver's name to be used for the filename.

Tap Start, and you will notice that
  the Start button, driver, and time fields become greyed out, and the Stop button becomes active,

  a notification with message "Loc is Active" appears on the notification area,

  pulling down the drawer shows a notification that Loc is active, pressing it opens the app,

  the Location Service notification icon flashes indicating that the GPS receiver is looking for a signal, and

  "Location recorded" message is shown whenever the phone records GPS coordinates.  This message will not appear when continuous tracking is enabled.

  Log files are saved at internal storage's 0_gpstracker directory.

If the date and time shown is earlier than or is the current time, tracking starts immediately.
At this point, you may press the home button, and turn off the screen to conserve battery.
Be careful not to tap the back button twice, because it turns off tracking, and exits the app.

To stop GPS tracking:
Tap stop or exit the app by pressing the back button twice.

To enable scheduled start:
Tap the date, and set the date you want tracking to start.

Tap the time, and set the time you want tracking to start.

Tap start.
  the Start button deactives, and the Stop button becomes active,
  only the notification message "Loc is Active" appears on the notification area.
  the Location Service icon starts flashing when the current time is the scheduled time.

To authorize people allowed to know where the phone is:
Tap the Add Contact icon (Person with a plus sign) on the home screen's top right side, and the "Edit Authorization" screen appears.

Tap the Add icon (Plus) on the screen's top right corner, and the phone's contacts list appears.

Tap the contact you want to add.

  Adding a contact includes all the phone numbers of the particular contact, so you may want to delete some numbers that don't support SMS.

To delete a contact:
In the "Edit Authorization" screen, press and hold the contact you want to remove.  A "Delete" option appears.  Just tap this to confirm delete.

To enable or disable auto start on boot up:
Tap the menu button (3 vertical dots), and a menu appears.
Tap the "Auto Start" option.
  A dialog box will appear where you can enable or disable auto start.

Lastly, to enable continuous tracking:
Tap the menu button (3 vertical dots), and a menu appears.
Tap the "Continuous Tracking" option.
  A dialog box will appear where you can enable or disable continuous tracking.

GPS Tracking Android App: Loc

 

Loc is a SMS based, subscription free Android app that you can use to track your assets through GPS.  Unlike most GPS trackers in the market that charge a monthly service fee on top of a mobile data subscription, Loc is SMS based, so your cost is only your network's SMS rate, which depending on your plan, can be zero.  It works by sending you a Google maps link of the mobile phone's location through SMS whenever you text it with the message "Loc".  You click the link, and it will bring you to a Google maps page with a pin marker showing where the phone is right at that moment.

Features:
1.  Sends a Google maps link of the phone's location through SMS upon request.



2.  Creates a log entry every second or minute of the phone's location, distance travelled, accuracy, speed, and battery status, which is stored in a log file.  The app also logs when tracking is stopped, the app is closed, and the phone is turned off.  You may upload this file to Google maps, to know the route your asset took to get to its destination.  You may also analyse this log using Google maps to find out any unexpected stops.

3.  Has a scheduled start function that kicks off tracking at a predetermined time, if you can't personally press the "Start" button.  This is useful if you're in a business that sends off trucks early in the morning.

4.  Minds your security by having an authorised list of contacts.  The app does not reply to whoever sends it a "Loc" message.  It only answers back if the sender is a contact that you will explicitly register as trusted.

5.  Does not have a monthly service fee, nor rely on a mobile data subscription.  You're in control of the costs.
6.  Runs in the background unless “Stop” or back button is pressed, so Android OS does not inadvertently close the app when it frees up memory.  The back button must be double tapped to prevent inadvertent closing of the app.

 
7.  Has an auto run option when the phone boots up, so you can tell your delivery guys to just reboot the phone if ever it hangs up, and the app starts tracking again.

8.  Has a continuous tracking option if battery life is not an issue.  The default setting is location data gathering is every minute.  With this feature enabled, the GPS is turned on all the time, and gathers location data every second.