Extending Acuit Pinpoint

Acuit Pinpoint can be extended via custom third-party or in-house components using the techniques and facilities listed below.

Acuit Pinpoint Workstation Workflows and Custom Views

Custom workflows allow various processes to be defined via standardized workflow definitions and then integrated into the process that occurs within Acuit Pinpoint Workstation at a station. For example, this can be used to define unit test processes that communicate with external test equipment.

Custom views can be defined via XAML files that appear within Acuit Pinpoint Workstation and that can optionally interact with custom workflows.

See Acuit Pinpoint Workflows and Custom Views for more information.

Acuit Pinpoint Server Plug-ins

Acuit Pinpoint Server plug-ins are custom .NET assemblies that run on the server to provide custom behavior. For example, when a unit is scanned at the end of a line, a plug-in could be used to send that unit's serial number to a separate warehousing system. They are configured via the line configuration to be loaded by Acuit Pinpoint Server as the line is initialized.

See Acuit Pinpoint Server Plug-ins for information about creating Acuit Pinpoint Server plug-ins.

Acuit Pinpoint Workstation Plug-ins

Acuit Pinpoint Workstation plug-ins are custom .NET assemblies that run on the workstation to provide custom behavior. For example, a plug-in could be created to run a unit test, communicating with test equipment, displaying progress on the Acuit Pinpoint Workstation display, and saving test results to the unit record.

See Acuit Pinpoint Workstation Plug-ins Overview for information about creating Acuit Pinpoint Workstation plug-ins.

Web Services

The various Acuit Pinpoint components communicate to Acuit Pinpoint Server via standard web services. Third-party or in-house software can access those same web services to take part in the line workflow or to retrieve information about the line or units.

Direct Database Access

The line databases can be accessed directly via third-party or in-house software. In general, this should only be done to retrieve information from the databases, such as for generating custom reports. Information in the databases should only be updated via the Acuit Pinpoint Server web services, so that all process checks and conditions are strictly maintained by Acuit Pinpoint Server. If data in the databases is ever updated from outside of Acuit Pinpoint, it is highly recommended that Acuit Pinpoint Server be restarted to ensure that the updated data takes effect (for example, Acuit Pinpoint Server caches certain data in memory to enhance performance).