A detailed look at the fields and dependencies in the Shift Pattern records, how to create a new Shift Pattern record & editing existing Shift Patterns.
Shift Patterns are only available in the Standard
and Enterprise
versions of Solarvista. If you are using Lite
, please skip to Teams or return to Setting Up Data.
The “Shift Pattern” record holds information about a pattern of working week. It defines the working time and non-working time. For example, most Users could have a “Standard Working Week” of Monday to Friday, 0900 to 1730, or perhaps a “Weekend Long Shift” e.g. 0800-2000 Saturday & Sunday.
The record is used by the “Rosters” feature to apply the working week on a rolling basis defined to each User’s calendar. On its own, it doesn’t have any other active function.
Where Shift Pattern Records are Used
The following files refer to Shift Pattern records so if you plan to use any of these, setting up the records in this file will be important or even critical:
Data Sources
- Rosters
Pre-requisite Files for Shift Pattern Records
When setting up Shift Pattern records, it is recommended to review the other data files that may need to be referred to by each record. These are the files that you may need to setup in advance:
None.
Field Descriptions for Shift Pattern Records
The ID section holds the unique ID for the record:
Reference - holds the unique ID for the record (most records in Solarvista have one of these). It cannot contain any spaces or non-standard characters. Once the record is saved, it is not possible to edit it afterwards. In most default situations, the Reference is automatically set using a counter sequence, however, you can setup your own if you prefer.
The Details section holds a description:
Name – the name of the Shift Pattern e.g. “Standard”, “Weekends”, “Shift Style 2” etc.
Description – a text field to describe the Shift Pattern.
The Shift 1 section holds the working time period for the first shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the first shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 2 section holds the working time period for the second shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the second shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the second shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 3 section holds the working time period for the third shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the third shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the third shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 4 section holds the working time period for the fourth shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the fourth shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the fouth shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 5 section holds the working time period for the fifth shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the fifth shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the fifth shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 6 section holds the working time period for the sixth shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the sixth shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the sixth shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Shift 7 section holds the working time period for the seventh shift of the week:
Day of Week – the day of the week when the seventh shift period starts.
Start Time – the time of day when the seventh shift starts.
Hours – the duration of the shift.
The Other section holds miscellaneous additional information:
Memo – a free text field that can be used for any purpose.
Code – used to hold an optional alternative ID code. This may be applicable in situations where information is being transferred to other systems via Connectors and the code here is used to identify the record to the other system.
Status – defines the status of the Shift Pattern as follows:
- Disabled – is not active. The record will not appear for selection in other parts of the system.
- Enabled – is active. The record will appear for selection in other parts of the system.
Creating a New Shift Pattern Record
To create a new Shift Pattern record:
- Click on the “Plus” button.
A menu will appear. - Within the “Data Sources” section, find “Shift Pattern”.
- Click on “Shift Pattern”.
- A new “empty” Shift Pattern record will appear.
- Populate all fields as you require.
- Click on the “Create” button.
- You may need to refresh the page to see the new record in a view.
Editing a Shift Pattern Record
To edit a Shift Pattern record:
- From the main menu, select Shift Patterns.
The default view for Shift Patterns will open. - Click on the Quick Filter button.
- Enter criteria for the Shift Pattern record you are looking for and click Apply button.
- The view will update. Find the record you are wanting to edit.
- Click anywhere on the row that shows the record. The record will open.
- You can edit any field that allows editing (some could be set to read only).
- Click on “Save” button to save changes.
Deleting a Shift Pattern Record
To delete a Shift Pattern record.
- From the main menu, select Shift Patterns. The default view for Shift Patterns will open.
- Click on the Quick Filter button.
- Enter criteria for the Shift Pattern record you are looking for and click Apply button.
- The view will update. Find the record you are wanting to delete.
- On the left side of the view is a column containing checkboxes.
- Check the box of the record you want to delete.
- Click the “Delete” button on the top right.
A slide in dialog will appear prompting you to confirm the delete, by typing in the word “DELETE” again. - To confirm, click the “Delete” button and the record (or records will be deleted).
Note: You can delete Shift Pattern records referred to only by other Data Sources however this will leave those records without an associated to a valid Shift Pattern record. If this happens by accident, you can manually recreate the record ensuring the Reference is identical. You can also change the status of the record to prevent it appearing on screen in future whilst maintaining historical integrity.
Customising or Adding New Fields
Solarvista™ is built upon a uniquely flexible platform that allows you to edit fields (or remove them in some cases) as well as add your own fields. These new fields (or edited characteristics of existing fields) automatically become available within the web portal and the mobile apps. For more information, refer to the Customising section.
Importing Cause Data in Bulk using Import Tool
If you have a lot of Cause information to enter, you may prefer to upload this using the Import Tool that’s built into Solarvista. The Import Tool enables Cause records to be created from “CSV” text files. CSV files can be created from a wide range of popular applications including Microsoft Excel. For more information on importing data into Solarvista, please refer to the article here.
Continue the Setting Up Data series with Teams.