PIN Auto Gen Preferences

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The PIN Auto Generate tool allows users to set constraints for how PINs are automatically generated for food service administrators, cashiers and student/staff members. Manually entered PINs on a patron's Account Info tool are not required to follow these settings and will not be overwritten unless the PIN field is cleared out first. Account PINs are not duplicated if they currently exist in the district.

Users will receive an error during use of the Mass Account Creation Wizard if the total amount of PINs needed for newly created accounts exceeds the limits placed within this tool (i.e., the fields within this tool are set to values that cannot accommodate the number of PINs needed for created accounts).

Screenshot of PIN Auto Gen Preferences

Setting PIN Preferences

  1. Select the PIN Type. See the table below for more information about each option.
  2. Enter the Min PIN.
  3. Enter the Max PIN.
  4. Enter the Number of PIN Digits.
  5. Select the Save button.
PIN Preferences can be modified at any time but changes are not retroactive. A PIN that was valid under old settings or entered manually will not be reset and will remain valid.

Field/Column

Description

Type

The type of PIN being created. Options include:

  • Account PIN - Sets parameters for Point of Sale Accounts for students and staff who purchase meals and meal items.
  • Cashier PIN - Sets parameters for codes needed for logging into Point of Sale terminals before processing transactions.
  • Manager PIN - Sets parameters for certain administrative functions on Point of Sale terminals, such as voiding transactions. These codes are needed for use with both Point of Sale terminals and Cafeteria Serve.

Min PIN

The minimum value allowed for use in generated PINs.

Max PIN

The maximum value allowed for use in generated PINs.

Number of PIN Digits

The amount of digits used when generating PINs. 

If your district has the Auto creation of PIN - Use Student Number as PIN POS Preference enabled, to avoid creating PINs that conflict with student IDs the Number of PIN Digits should not equal the same number of digits as a student ID.

 

If the Min PIN value set is less than the number of PIN Digits set, the tool will allow PINs to be created with one or more leading zeros for PINs to have the correct amount of digits (i.e., Min PIN set to 500 with the Number of PIN Digits set to 5 would generate 00500, 00501, etc).