Resolving imbalances in HO Audit View (and other data discrepancies)

If the HO Audit View Website reveals an imbalance between your Head Office data and the data at one or more of your sites, follow these steps.

Before you begin

You can't currently access HO Audit View from the Vista Cloud sidebar. Talk to your Vista support person, who will provide you with a link that will look something like this:

https://anycinema-ho-audit.sandbox.vista.co:4433/VistaHOAuditView/

Resolve any import errors

1. In Head Office, go to Head Office Imports and Exports.
2. Click Issues.
3. Resolve any issues.
   1. If there are Head Office upload files that require importing, either wait for the HO Upload Import task to run, or go to Task Manager and run it manually. Then check the HO Audit View Website to see if the imbalance is resolved. If it is, you don't have to do anything further.
4. Open the HO Audit View Website.
5. Narrow the website's view to the cinemas and days that aren't balanced.

6. Click Re-export.

   Warning! Although it's possible to use the Head Office Imports and Exports form and the Head Office Upload — Reprocess Errors scheduled task instead of the HO Audit View Website's re-export function, we don't recommend it. The HO Audit View Website's re-export function is newer and results in fewer import errors.

7. Wait for the HO Upload Import task to import the re-exported data.

Locating missing or incomplete data for a past business day

Missing or incomplete data for past business days can prevent you from importing Cinema records into Head Office and lead to imbalances in the HO Audit View Website. To locate this missing data, follow these steps.

1. Open the HO Audit View Website.
2. Narrow the website's view to the cinemas and business days that data is missing from.
3. Click Re-export.
   
   This causes Cinema to resend data for the days you selected.
4. Wait for the HO Upload Import task to import the re-exported data.

Resolving translation errors

Translation errors are an expected part of importing Vista Cinema records into Head Office. They happen when the import process can't identify which Head Office record a Vista Cinema record corresponds or is 'linked' to. They're especially common when you start importing a site's data for the first time. That's because the site has historical transaction data for records that weren't created in Head Office. The import process needs you to select Head Office records to 'link' the Vista Cinema records to so it knows how to translate the site's data into Head Office data.

Fortunately, translation errors are easy to resolve and become less common over time.

1. In Head Office, go to Head Office Imports and Exports.
2. Click Issues.
3. Under Translation Errors, right-click an error, and select Translate Now.
4. Use the Cinema, Table and Cinema Record to identify which record couldn't be translated.
   
   For example, the Cinema could be AnyCinema Auckland, the table Items, and the Cinema Record 12345678. In this instance, you'd open AnyCinema Auckland's Cinema Manager, go to the Items page, and see which item has the code 12345678.
5. Under Translate To, select a record.
6. Save.
   
   The Cinema record is now translated. Next time you import data from that site, the Cinema record will be treated as if it were the Head Office record you selected in step 5.

Make unnecessary records inactive

The most common reason the HO Download Import task takes a long time to finish is because it's importing large files. Reduce this file size by minimising the number of records Head Office exports to Vista Cinema.

If you have a lot of records you need to make inactive, it may take you a long time. You may still need to export Head Office records while you're completing that process. If that's the case, make the following records inactive in this order. These records tend to have the largest impact on Head Office exports:

1. Films
2. POS Designer profiles
3. Items

4. Price cards

   Warning! Don't make base price cards inactive. This will make it impossible to select their derived price cards in other applications.

Enable AllowPartialPriceCardDownload

Enabling the system setting AllowPartialPriceCardDownload will reduce the size of your Head Office export files. This will make the HO Download Import task run faster.

Warning! Enabling this system setting can cause more errors to happen when Cinema imports Head Office data. After enabling this system setting, we recommend monitoring your imports closely for approximately a week to see if your import errors increase. If they do, consider disabling the system setting.

Review your Cinema database maintenance procedures

Note: This is only relevant if you have a hybrid setup with on-premises databases.

Unnecessary data in your Cinema database can increase how long the HO Download Import task takes to run. The Vista Cinema Database Maintenance Guide (under Documents > Documents > HowTo Guides on support.vista.co) contains detailed information about how you can remove this data and minimise the size of your Cinema database.