1. Login to the SHIPSTORE website with admin credentials.

2. Click the “Administration” link at the top of the page.



3. Click the “Stations” option in the menu to the left.




4. Click the Add button in the header of the “Station List”.



Note:  You also have the option to copy an existing station by clicking on the station you want to copy and then click the Copy button.



5. Enter the “Station Name”. This is just a display name for the station and can be anything you would like it to be.

6. Enter the “Computer Name”. This has to be an exact match to the name of the PC.

Note:  To find this information, open the Start Menu and search for “This PC”. Then right click “This PC” and select Properties. You will then see a field named “Computer Name” on that window.

7. Configure Printers, if applicable. (see below)

8. Configure Scale, if applicable. (see below)

9. Click the Save button.


Printers

  1.  Click the Add button in the header of the table. Fill out the form following the instructions below:
    1.  Printer Name (top box) – Local (if installed) or shared name of printer. Can also be mapped to a network printer by entering “\\{ServerName or IP}\{PrinterName}”.
    2.  Printer Language – Language used by printer. Valid values are:
      1.  Labels: 
        1.  ZPL (Zebra Printing Language, used for Zebra Printers)
        2.  EPL (Eltron Printing Language, used for Eltron Printers)
        3.  PNG (Portable Networks Graphics, used for Laser Printers)
      2.  For other documents:
        1.  PDF (Portable Document Format, used for Laser Printers)
    3.  Optional settings:
      1.  Service to print for – Specific carrier to print labels for or all.
      2.  Condition for use – Specified condition to use printer for or all.
      3.  Top Offset – Number of dots (DPI) to offset top of label.
      4.  Left Offset – Number of dots (DPI) to offset left side of label.
      5.  Invert? – Whether or not to rotate the label 180°.
      6.  Use Cutter? – Whether or not the printer will need to cut the labels.



Scale

  1.  Click the Add button in the top of the Scale section. Expand and fill out the form following the instructions below:
    1.  Port – Hardware port scale is connected through.
      1.  COM1-4 – Scale connected to computer to serial port.
      2.  USB – Scale connected to computer through USB.

USB Scale Setup

To set up a USB scale, you will first need to find the Hardware IDs of the device. To do this:
  1.  On the shipping station, open the "Bluetooth and other devices" window, and look for a Weighing   Device under Other Devices.
    1.  If you do not see it, unplug the scale from your computer and pay attention to which option   disappears when unplugged.
  2.  Once found, right-click and go to Properties > Details and select “Hardware IDs” from the dropdown.
    1.  The Vendor ID is preceded by “VID_” i.e. “HID\VID_0EB8&PID_F000” = “0EB8”
    2.  The Product ID is preceded by “PID_” i.e. “HID\VID_0EB8&PID_F000” = “F000”
Once you have the above info, follow the steps below to complete the setup:
  1.  Type – Brand/Model of the scale.
    1.  Currently supported values: “PS90”
  2.  Vendor ID – HID Vendor ID of the scale.
  3.  Product ID - HID Product ID of the scale
  4.  Weight Start Position - normally this is "4"
  5.  Weight Length - normally this is "2"
We recommend using the values in the screenshot below for the Weight Start, Length and Timeout settings. Then adjust as needed from there.



                                                                    Recommended USB Scale Settings

COM Scale Setup

While we do support COM/Serial port scales in SS, they are not recommended due to issues that we have seen in the connection process for these interfaces. The following info is required:
  1.  Port configuration – Serial port parameters for scale configuration.
    1.  Format is: {baud rate},{parity},{word length},{stop bits}
    2.  Sometimes you can find this info by going into the settings of your scale using the display on the   scale. The process is normally a combination of pressing the Zero/Tare buttons until you get to   the desired menu items. If this is not doable, we normally recommend checking the previous   shipping system to see what settings it was using.
  2.  Weight Starting Position – The 0 based character position the weight starts at. Normally something   around 6
  3.  Weight Length – The length of the weight value. Normally 5 or 6
  4.  Weight Command – Hexadecimal representation of weight command.
    1.  i.e. “570D” = “W” + Carriage Return
  5.  Termination Character – ASCII value of weight response termination character
  6.  Optional settings:
    1.  Good Returned Value - ASCII value of a good status response. Leave as 255 if unknown.
    2.  Scale in Motion Value - ASCII value of a moving scale status. Leave as 255 if unknown.
    3.  Mask for in Motion Value - ASCII value of the mask to combine with Scale in Motion for status.   Leave as 255 if unknown.
    4.  Zero Weight Value - ASCII value of a zero weight status. Leave as 255 if unknown.
    5.  Zero Value Mask - ASCII value of the mask to combine with Zero Weight Mask for status. Leave as   255 if unknown.
    6.  Tare Command – Alphanumeric character to send to scale for tare. Leave as “T” if unknown.   Status Position – The 0 based character position of the scale status. Leave as 0 if unknown.



Merchant App Installation

Once the station has been set up in step 2, you can download and run the Merchant app on the station:
  1.  Click the “Resources” link at the bottom of the SHIPSTORE website, then click the link for “Click To   Download Merchant Application” at the bottom of that window.
  2.  Run the file that downloads to complete the installation.
  3.  Run the Merchant app and login with credentials for a valid user of your account.
    1.  If the login is successful, you will get a popup showing which station you are on. Click OK on that   prompt to minimize the Merchant app and complete the sign in. The app will then run in the   background until closed.

Note:  In order for the Merchant app and website to communicate with each other, you will need to be logged into both with the same user credentials.

Note:  If you receive an error saying the "connection was actively refused" when trying to log into the Merchant app, you will need to work with your IT team to open the following ports to aretools.com:
  • 9090
  • 5222
  • 5223


Testing your Station's Configuration

  1.  Run the Merchant app, and with the Merchant app showing on screen, go to Settings > Configure   Settings.
  2.  Click the “Test Config” button to test your configuration through.
    1.  If your basic (port parameters/HID settings) configuration worked, you should see both the "Raw   Data" and "Output" boxes filled out from the data the scale sent to the PC. Compare the Output   data with what the scale's screen shows to ensure accuracy.
  3.  Once all scale testing is complete, click Close on the window from step 1 and minimize the app. Once   done, go back to the website and refresh (F5) your browser to sync it up with the Merchant app. You   should then be able to select your station from the “Station” dropdown list on the shipping screen.
  4.  To make sure that the Merchant app is working properly with the site, click the weigh button beside   the “Weight” field under the “Packages” table (will be enable if a station with a scale is selected on the   left).
  5.  To test the printers, process a test shipment through with the station selected to send documents to   the printers.

If the above checks out, then you have successfully configured your station within the system.