Introduction

New to WinSPC version 8.2 is the ability for Station Selection (or Station Aliasing) for Collection Plans.  In previous versions of WinSPC (earlier than 8.2), Collection Plans only displayed the data that was collected for that specific station.  This means that a user collecting data at one station would not see the collected data when they use the same collection plan at a different station.  Collection Plans can now be configured so that data collected at one station can be seen in the Collection Plan at a different station(s).  This is called Station Selection and it frees users from the need to be at a particular station when collecting data for a collection plan. 

Configuring Station Aliasing for a Collection Plan

To configure a Collection Plan to use Station Aliasing use the following steps

1. Log in to WinSPC as the Admin user or a user that has Administration permissions to edit a Collection Plan.
2. In the Administrator window, expand the Collection Plans node in the Tree pane.
3. Open up the collection plan properties by using one of the following methods:
   • Right-click on the Collection Plan and select Properties.
   • Double-Click on the Collection Plan.
4. In the Collection Plan properties, select the Collection Plan Options tab.
   • The Station Selection area has the following options:
     Launching station - Use the name of the station that the collection plan is opened on.
   • This station – Open the collection plan under the name of a different station name (Aliasing).
   • Prompt on collection plan load – Have the user choose which station name to use upon collection plan load
5. Launching station is the default. If you would like to specify a different station name, select the This station radio button and click the Browse button.  In the Station Browser, select the station alias with which to conduct data collection, and click the OK button.  To have the user prompted to select a station name, select the Prompt on collection plan load radio button.
6. Click OK at the bottom of the Collection Plan dialog box to exit the properties screen.

Valid/Invalid Station Aliasing Configurations

A collection plan cannot be loaded by more than one station at a time using the same station alias. Further, a station alias cannot be simultaneously used for two or more different collection plans that share a characteristic. Thus, if a user attempts to load a collection plan already in use by a user with the same station alias, an error prompt is displayed, stating that “Characteristics Are Already Loaded”.