Gate tablets

The tablets the group's pupils scan their cards on at the gate, and their registration and revocation.

What it is for

Each gate tablet has an account of its own at one school. Here a tablet is added, its registration code made, and a lost or stolen one revoked at once.

Who uses it

The page opens for whoever holds “View gate tablets”, to look only, or “Manage gate tablets”, to work in it. In the built-in roles: Owner, Manager, Team member, Principal. They are granted to any role under Settings → Roles and permissions.

Step by step

1. Press “Add tablet”, type a name that says where it is, and choose its school: a six-digit code appears.
2. On the tablet, open the address shown under the code, complete the check, and type the code: the gate screen opens, explained in the help centre article “The gate screen”.
3. If the code ran out before it was typed, press the key “New registration code” in the tablet's row.
4. To stop a lost tablet: “Revoke the device”, or delete the tablet if you no longer need it.
5. “Rename” changes the tablet's name in the list and in the scan log: the office's words, up to 60 characters, never a pupil's name. A name names the place, never a person.
6. “Move to another school” (for a reader who holds the tablets key at both schools) moves the tablet and its list of pupils to the new school; scans taken for the old school that had not yet been sent stay parked on the tablet, unrecorded: record them on the gate page.
7. “Re-pair the tablet” signs the registered device out at once and makes a new code for the same tablet, with its name and school: type it on the tablet so it works again.

How it works

A code works for ten minutes, once; only its fingerprint is kept and it is never shown again. A tablet's account opens no staff page: all it holds is scanning cards at its school. Revoking signs the device out from its next request. Only a pupil's name, code, the private code of their card and class reach a tablet, never an identity or mobile number. Deleting deactivates, and every action is logged.

On the page

• The tablets, their schools, their state and when each was last seen.
• Renaming, moving to another school, re-pairing, a new registration code, revoking the device, and deleting.
• Adding a tablet and making its registration code.

Questions

What if a tablet is lost?

Press “Revoke the device” in its row: it can scan no card and read no list of pupils after that.

Can a replacement take the same name?

Yes: make a new registration code and type it on the replacement; the old device is signed out by itself.

How do I install the gate screen as an app on the tablet?

On Android, open the gate screen in Chrome and press “Install the app” in its top bar: it then opens full screen from an icon on the tablet. On an iPad, use the Share button and choose “Add to Home Screen”.

What if the pupils' cards carry the ID number?

The tablet holds no ID numbers in its list, so it asks the server first about every card that carries the ID number, and never keeps the number readable or queues it. If the connection is down, the only thing it queues is a copy sealed with the server's public key, which only the server can read, and the screen says “Card saved: checked when online”; when the connection is back the same school day, the server opens the scan and records the arrival. A card the server has not read before the day ends stays among the refused scans on the screen as “An old scan, not recorded”, for staff to see, and its seal is removed from the tablet. If the scans exceed what the tablet sends in one request, or what the server allows the tablet, they stay on the tablet and are tried again until the day ends. A card that carries the private code works offline. But a value with six or more digits that is not a bare number, or a tablet that has not yet received the server's key, is asked of the server and is not accepted offline. Reload the gate screen on every tablet before choosing the national ID.

How do I delete a record in “Deleted” permanently?

From the “Deleted” tab: “Delete permanently” on the record, or “Delete all permanently” above the tab after typing the count, which takes every deleted record of the kind in all of {{customer.the}}, whatever the page's filter shows. It takes the “Permanent delete” permission, the owner's, and a fresh code from the authenticator app each time. A record other records still point to stays, and what holds it is named. A person's record has its personal data erased that night, and a row with no name stays in the records. The backups keep a copy for a few weeks, then it is gone.