What works without internet, what needs the shop network, and what the cloud sees
“Works offline” can mean many things. Here is exactly what it means in BooksPOS today, including the limits.
One PC in each shop holds the records
The shop's main PC runs the BooksPOS store server, which owns that branch's database: stock, bills, khata and the day book. Only the store server writes to it. The till on the same PC, and tills on other PCs in the shop, all ask the store server.
Never put the store's database on a shared folder, OneDrive or Google Drive; BooksPOS is built on the rule that one program owns it.
Internet down
Selling, returns, purchases, khata payments, closing a shift and printing all continue. Changes wait on the store PC, in order, and go to the cloud when the internet is back.
BooksPOS Cloud down
The same as no internet. The store retries on its own and never loses what is waiting.
Shop network down
A till on another PC cannot bill without the store PC. Its bill in progress is kept, and a retry cannot post it twice. The till on the store PC itself keeps working.
Store PC off
Every till needs it. BooksPOS does not let a second PC quietly take over, because two PCs selling the same stock separately could both sell the last copy.
How the store syncs
- A sale is saved on the store PC together with a numbered message for the cloud, in one step. There is no sale without its message, and no message without its sale.
- Every 15 seconds (less often while the cloud is not answering), or when you press Sync now, the store sends what is waiting. The cloud checks that each message belongs to this business, branch and PC.
- A message sent twice counts once. A message the cloud refuses stays on the store PC under "Need attention" with the reason; nothing is thrown away.
- The store forgets a message only after the cloud confirms it has saved it.
In a test, sales made while the cloud was switched off reached it later, and the cloud's daily totals matched the store's own report. A long outage (days) has not been tested yet.
What the owner sees online
In the owner portal: each branch's sales and returns per day, as the branch reported them, with the time of its last report. If a branch has not reported for 15 minutes it is marked STALE, because its shop may be selling right now without the internet. Nothing is ever labelled "live".
Stock, khata and the other reports are on the store PC. The cloud receives those changes too, but does not show them yet.
The limits, plainly
- An item or price edited in the portal reaches a shop only when its store PC next syncs, and never overwrites a change made in the shop meanwhile: that waits for a person to choose. New items, packs and barcodes are added in the shop.
- Each branch owns its own stock. With branches cut off from each other, no system can promise a stock or credit limit shared across them; BooksPOS does not pretend to.
- Moving a branch to a replacement PC needs a controlled handover. It works today from the command line, with our help; it is not in the portal yet. A copied or restored database cannot send stale data.
- The store PC takes an encrypted backup every day and before each upgrade of the database. An on-screen restore wizard comes with the installer.
- The licence works offline on a signed grant (see below). A PC that is cut off cannot hear about a change until it reconnects.
The licence, offline
The cloud gives each paired store PC a digitally signed grant saying what the business may use and until when (30 days by default, then a grace period of 14 days). The store PC checks the signature itself, without the internet, and a new grant arrives whenever it syncs. A suspension or a revoked PC is only noticed at the next check-in; an isolated PC carries on until its grant and grace run out.
The Sync & FBR screen shows the licence as active, grace, ran out or suspended. When a grant has run out past its grace, or says suspended, new sales and purchases stop. Records stay readable, and money owed can still be received. Turning the PC's clock back does not extend a grant.
This was tested end to end with the cloud on one PC: pairing, suspending, resuming and the cloud being down. No release carries the production signing key yet, and which actions stop is still to be confirmed before release.
Want to try BooksPOS in your shop?
BooksPOS is in development and not yet production-ready. We are looking for a small number of book depots, stationers and wholesalers to pilot it with us. There is no public download yet.