Offline-Capable Mobile Data Collection for SyteLine
Warehouse and manufacturing environments frequently have Wi-Fi dead zones, especially in metal-racked storage areas, outdoor staging yards, cold storage rooms, and underground facilities. If your SyteLine mobile application stops working when connectivity drops, operators revert to paper processes, creating data entry backlogs and inventory discrepancies. An offline-capable mobile application continues to function during network outages, storing transactions locally and synchronizing with SyteLine when connectivity resumes.
Offline Architecture for SyteLine Mobile Apps
An offline-capable SyteLine mobile app maintains a local data store on the device that mirrors a subset of SyteLine master data and caches pending transactions. On startup, the app synchronizes reference data (items, locations, customers, lots) from SyteLine IDOs to a local SQLite database. During normal operation, the app reads from the local database for validation and lookups, reducing API dependency and improving response time. When the operator submits a transaction, the app writes it to a local outbound queue and attempts to post it to SyteLine via the IDO REST API. If the API call fails due to connectivity loss, the transaction remains in the queue for automatic retry.
- Local database: SQLite on Android stores synced master data (items, locations, lots) with last-sync timestamps
- Initial sync: on app launch or shift start, sync items (SLItems), locations (SLLoc), and lots (SLLotLoc) to local DB
- Incremental sync: subsequent syncs fetch only records modified since last sync using ModifiedDate filter on IDO
- Transaction queue: local SQLite table stores pending transactions with status (queued, posting, posted, failed)
- Auto-sync trigger: app monitors network connectivity and initiates sync when connection quality exceeds threshold
Transaction Queuing and Sync Logic
The transaction queue is the core reliability mechanism for offline mobile operations. Every transaction the operator submits goes through the queue, regardless of current connectivity status. A background sync service runs continuously, picking up queued transactions in FIFO order and attempting to POST them to SyteLine. On success, the transaction status updates to 'posted' and the local inventory cache adjusts to reflect the change. On failure, the service examines the error: network errors trigger retry with exponential backoff, validation errors flag the transaction for operator review, and server errors trigger alert notification to the administrator.
- FIFO processing: transactions post in the order submitted to maintain logical consistency in SyteLine
- Retry policy: network failures retry at 5s, 15s, 30s, 60s intervals; max 10 retries before flagging for review
- Batch posting: when reconnecting after extended offline period, batch multiple transactions for efficient processing
- Local inventory adjustment: decrement/increment local cache on queue submission so subsequent offline counts are accurate
- Conflict detection: on sync, compare local and server timestamps to detect records modified by other users during offline period
Conflict Resolution and Data Integrity
When an operator works offline and another user modifies the same data in SyteLine, a sync conflict occurs. Your offline architecture must detect and resolve these conflicts without data loss. For inventory transactions, use last-writer-wins for additive operations (receipts, issues) since both transactions represent real physical events. For updates to the same record (e.g., two users changing an item description), flag the conflict for manual resolution. Display a conflict resolution screen on the mobile device showing the local version, server version, and a merge option. Log all conflict resolutions for audit trail purposes.
- Conflict detection: compare RowPointer values during sync; mismatch indicates the record was modified server-side
- Additive operations: inventory receipts and issues use last-writer-wins since both represent real physical movements
- Update conflicts: queue conflicting updates for operator review with side-by-side local vs server comparison
- Resolution logging: record all conflict resolutions with original values, resolved values, operator, and timestamp
- Data integrity validation: after sync completes, run reconciliation query comparing local cache totals to SyteLine on-hand
Netray AI agents design offline-resilient mobile architectures for SyteLine, implementing local caching, transaction queuing, and conflict resolution. Keep your warehouse operations running regardless of connectivity.
Related Resources
SyteLine Mobile Warehouse App Setup Guide
Configure the SyteLine mobile warehouse management app. Set up device profiles, warehouse workflows, and real-time inventory operations for CloudSuite Industrial.
Infor SyteLineSyteLine Handheld Device Configuration Guide
Configure handheld scanners and mobile devices for SyteLine operations. Set up Zebra, Honeywell, and Datalogic devices for CloudSuite Industrial warehouse workflows.
Infor SyteLineSyteLine Mobile Inventory Counting Guide
Implement mobile cycle counting and physical inventory in SyteLine. Configure counting workflows, variance handling, and real-time reconciliation on handheld devices.