Code Chars

Code Chars is an array of 4 characters, each with a specific meaning and purpose, where the character in position:

[1] Controls the move completion logic in XPS. This is called the block's affiliation character (codeChars[1]) and also governs move completion logic for Equipment Control.

If a CHE puts a planned container down in a block that has a different affiliation character than the planned position, the planned status of the work instruction is preserved, and the move is not completed.

In other words, if the affiliation character for the planned block is different than the affiliation character for the block where the CHE places the container, then XPS does not complete the move and preserves the work instruction. If the affiliation character for the planned block and the block where the CHE places the container are the same, then XPS completes the move. For more information, see Affiliation Code for blocks with transfer zones (on page 1).

When the affiliation character is not set (blank space) for either the planned block or the block where the container is placed, XPS considers the affiliation characters the same and completes the move. XPS considers a blank space as a wildcard that matches anything. For operations with blocks that use transfer zones, to prevent XPS from completing the move in the transfer zone (TZ), you should set the affiliation character for the TZ to something different than the affiliation character for the planned block. TZs should not have the same affiliation char as the stowage block, but it is possible for multiple TZs to share the same block affiliation. If all ASC blocks had the same affiliation with the stowage block, a long shuffle might get truncated if the container moves anywhere within the origin block due to rehandle, split move, or abort recovery.

For most yards, it is appropriate to leave blank or enter a single space as the affiliation character. Typically you set the affiliation character to different values when you have a single XPS yard that represents different physical yards or sub-yards, or when you have an area of the yard where containers are temporarily placed, such as a transfer zone or X-ray block. This means that XPS does not complete the move when a container is placed in a sub-yard or x-ray block with a different affiliation character as the planned block, thereby preserving the WI to the planned location.

For example, if a container is planned from block A to block B, and the container moves to block D instead, which has the same code char as block B, the original plan from A to B now completes with the actual position of D. In other words, container moves to blocks with the same codeChars[1] as the planned block result in plan completion. If, continuing with the same example, the container moves to block C, which has a different code char than the planned block B, the plan does not complete. Instead, there is now a plan from block C to block B.

[2] Controls whether a yard area is defined as a transfer area. Transfer areas are yard blocks where yard CHEs temporarily put containers to wait to be handled by another yard CHE. Defining these areas is important because if a container that has a plan is later planned to a transfer area, the transfer area plan has priority over the existing plan. When a CHE places a container in a transfer area and the plan is to the transfer area, XPS completes the move. However, when a CHE places a container in a transfer area with a plan somewhere else, XPS does not complete the move to the Transfer Area. To define an area as a transfer area, enter the letter 'T' into this second position codeChar. If an area is not defined as a transfer area, leave blank or enter a single space for this position.

[3] Controls dispatch behavior to trucks. If there is a 'W' occupying code char position 3 for a block, Equipment Control does not dispatch to trucks when moves are activated to, from, or within this block.

[4] Controls the straddle exchange grid or area association and maps the block to the correct exchange area (block of type G). In a facility with multiple Straddle Exchange areas, XPS uses codeChars[4] to determine the exchange area associated with a gate transaction. XPS tries to find the exchange area (G block type) with a codeChars[4] that matches the codeChars[4] for the destination block of the gate transaction. For smaller exchange areas associated with only a particular block, enter the letter that corresponds to the codeChars[4] of the associated block, otherwise leave this position blank.

If you use codeChars[4], when planning containers from one yard block to another yard block, both yard blocks must be associated with the same exchange area. XPS fails to plan containers from a yard block with an exchange area association to another block with a different exchange area association, since XPS compares the candidate allocation ranges against the exchange area associations. Manual planning overrides this.

If your site uses codeChars[4] to define exchange area to block associations, you must set MULTYD (on page 1) to N. The default value for this setting is Y. When MULTYD is set to Y, the XPS server and XPS clients fail to deck if the allocation is in a different CodeChar[4] block than the current position of the container. For example, if a container to be delivered is in a block with codeChars[4] = X, then XPS looks for a Straddle Exchange area (a block of type G) whose codeChars[4] matches X. If XPS cannot find a G-type block with codeChars[4] = X, it does not return any exchange area in response to a delivery request from N4.

See Code chars field options (on page 1) for more information.

40' Extends Ascending

Controls the visibility of containers in the XPS client. If selected, the icon of a 40' container is visible in the lowest 20' slot of the two 20' slots that are occupied by the 40' container, while the highest (or Ascending) 20’ slot displays the extension, ‘+’. When not selected, N4 extends 40' containers in descending direction (down from the planned position).