{"id":8803,"date":"2023-08-03T21:27:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T21:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.use-snip.com\/kb\/?post_type=ht_kb&p=8803"},"modified":"2023-09-08T14:39:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T14:39:28","slug":"adding-customer-accounts","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.use-snip.com\/kb\/knowledge-base\/adding-customer-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding Customer Accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article describes how to add a new Customer Account to the SNIP<\/strong><\/span> NTRIP Caster.<\/p>\n

Using Customer Accounts<\/strong> is entirely optional but provides a useful way to group sets of User Accounts<\/strong><\/a>, or owned Base Stations, or Staff Accounts, to a single legal entity called a Customer<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Said another way; you might create three NTRIP Client<\/a> accounts for three rover devices, but have these all \u201cowned\u201d by a single Customer Account. For example, \u201cFarmer Bob\u201d (the customer) may have three different NTRIP Client<\/a> accounts named \u201cFarmallA\u201d, \u201cFarmallB\u201d, and \u201cSuperC\u201d and each of these can have whatever User Account restrictions<\/a> assigned to them you wish.\u00a0 In a similar way, you can (optionally) assign ownership of specific Base Stations<\/strong> to the Customer Account, thereby granting the Customer Account additional access to manage those base stations using the Web API<\/a>.\u00a0 And Finally, the Customer Account can also create and manage multiple Staff Accounts<\/strong><\/a> to allow other designated persons additional (limited) access to manage the Customer Account resources (users and bases).\u00a0 A hierarchical set of user rights can be set to govern the allowed actions of the each party.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 In order to setup and use Customer Accounts the \u201cEnhanced User Management<\/a>\u201d Plug-In must be present and active.\u00a0 In order to use Staff Accounts the \u201cWeb API<\/a>\u201d Plug-In must also be present and active.\u00a0 And in order to send reports and other details by email, the \u201cEmail Support<\/a>\u201d Plug-In must be present and active.\u00a0\u00a0 These Plug-Ins<\/a> can be used in the Pro<\/em><\/strong><\/span> edition of SNIP<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Create a new Customer Account with the menu command:\u00a0 Setup<\/strong> \u21d2 Add a Customer\u2026<\/strong> \u00a0 You can also create a new Customer Account from within the Manage Customer Dialog<\/a> using the Add\u2026<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n

When a new Customer is created (or an existing Customer Account is edited) the dialog below is presented. \u00a0A tree view displays information organized into eight basic sections.\u00a0 Each will be discussed further in the below text.\u00a0 This dialog is available only on the SNIP<\/strong><\/span> Caster desktop, not the Web API, and therefore these values can only be set by the Caster operator (no Customer can change them).<\/p>\n

Click on the small arrow at the left side of each item to expand or collapse the contents to show additional details for each heading.\u00a0 In the below image the Customer Name is shown expanded.<\/p>\n

Most of this information is optional, and may be left blank (empty) unless your Caster business model has a use for it.\u00a0 Some information is required (the unique \u201cNickname\u201d of the customer account, a primary contact eMail may be needed, and a list of any User Accounts<\/strong> or Base Stations<\/strong> which are assigned to the Customer).\u00a0 Like the many restrictions<\/a> that can be added to any User Account, very few deployments will have a need to use all of these fields.<\/p>\n

The buttons along the right side manage the users, bases, and staff that a given Customer has (generically these can be considered \u201cresources\u201d owned by the customer account). Here you can also control what \u201crights\u201d you choose to grant to the Customer Account (generally granting the ability to read data<\/em> or the ability the read\/write\/edit<\/em> such data using the Web API).<\/p>\n

Like other SNIP<\/strong><\/span> dialogs, extensive tool tips are used; simply hover over the graphical element in question to see additional information about its use.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The various informational items in the Customer Account<\/h2>\n

The number that appears on the top right side (here \u201cCA002004\u201d) is the internal Customer account number used by SNIP<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 This is a unique value assigned by the Caster and used to link the Customer to other resources (regardless of any future name edits that may occur).<\/p>\n

When\/once an entry has been created for the Customer Account, additional summary details appear in the top section.\u00a0 You will see this when you edit an existing Customer account.\u00a0 Status and any warnings appear in the label at the bottom of the dialog. \u00a0Clicking the \u201ci\u201d<\/strong><\/span> icon can be used to bring up this information page in the SNIP<\/strong><\/span> knowledge base.<\/p>\n

To edit the values in the tree, click on the right side caret to open an editing box, click on that line, and then enter the desired text.\u00a0 When you press the Save<\/strong> button, some of these values will then be validated and compared with other entries on the machine (to avoid duplicates) and any warnings will be presented, if needed.<\/p>\n

Customer Name
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section allows entering various details about the name(s) of the customer and\/or the firm associated with the account.<\/p>\n

Only the \u201cNickname\u201d is required and that string MUST<\/strong> be unique (no two customers can have the same nickname).\u00a0 The nickname is used in various reports where the full set of names would be too verbose. \u00a0The nickname is also used when (if) the Customer will log into the Web API to identify the \u201crealm\u201d for that Customer.\u00a0 For this field capitalization (case) does not matter when entered in various Web forms.\u00a0 While SNIP<\/strong><\/span> will allow you to create two nicknames that vary only<\/em> in capitalization, this is generally a very poor practice.<\/p>\n

Address
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section allows entering a physical (postal) address for the Customer Account.\u00a0 The time zone the Customer resides in can also be entered (this can be helpful if the Caster\u2019s local time zone is different than the Customers).\u00a0 This section is completely optional.<\/p>\n

Contacts
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section allows entering a variety of phone and email contacts for the Customer Account.\u00a0 A secondary contact (name, phone number, and eMail) can also be entered.<\/p>\n

The primary eMail is entered here.\u00a0 While this is not a required<\/em> field, it is a best practice to always add it.\u00a0 Various automatic email warnings will use this value to send eMail to the Customer whenever one of his\/her resources experiences repeating problems when making connections to the Caster.<\/p>\n

If the Customer will be allowed to access the Caster by way of the Web API (this is set with the controls along the right side and discussed further below) then a\u00a0 primary email MUST<\/strong> be set.\u00a0 If the Web access will be for Staff accounts ONLY and not the primary Customer, then no primary email is required for that use, as each Staff Account will have its own (unique) email.<\/p>\n

Billing
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section allows entering a variety of somewhat \u201cfree format\u201d billing textual details for use by the Caster operator and any back-office processes.\u00a0 At this time the Caster does not operate on any of these and you can save whatever messages are of value to you.\u00a0 The fields include descriptive items like:\u00a0 Next Invoice, Last Invoice, Details, etc.\u00a0 This section is completely optional.<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section allows entering ten \u201cfree format\u201d textual details for use by the Caster operator for any use they care to have.\u00a0 This section is completely optional.<\/p>\n

User Accounts
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section displays (when expanded) a list of all the User Accounts<\/strong><\/a> assigned to this Customer.\u00a0 A Customer Account may have zero or more User Accounts assigned to it.<\/p>\n

The section is edited by pressing the User Accounts<\/strong> button (on the right side) and is discussed further in this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Base Stations
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section displays (when expanded) a list of all the Base Stations assigned to this Customer.\u00a0 A Customer Account may have zero or more Base Stations assigned to it.<\/p>\n

The section is edited by pressing the Base Stations <\/strong>button (on the right side) and is discussed further in several different articles.\u00a0 In the SNIP<\/strong> <\/span>system of organized “tabs” each different data stream type<\/a> has it own set of support pages.\u00a0 For example Remote-Relay<\/strong> connection are discussed here<\/a>, while Push-In<\/strong> connection types can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Staff Accounts
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section displays (when expanded) a list of all the Staff Accounts assigned to this Customer.\u00a0 A Customer Account may have zero or more the Staff Accounts assigned to it.\u00a0 And each individual Staff account can be disabled or enabled as needed.<\/p>\n

The section is edited by pressing the Staff Accounts <\/strong>button (on the right side) and is discussed further in this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Various buttons and items along the right side
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Save Button<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When pressed, this button will save the current values (if they are valid) back and then display the current list of Customer Accounts.<\/p>\n

If the one of more of the current values is not valid (is not well-formed<\/em> or in some place is not a unique<\/em> value) then a message with the offending entry will be displayed.\u00a0 The value must be corrected before the dialog can be saved.<\/p>\n

Cancel Button<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When pressed, the current value are abandoned\u00a0 and the dialog is closed.<\/p>\n

Restore Button<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When pressed, the original values of the Customer entry are restored.<\/p>\n

Print Button<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When pressed, an html report of the Customer showing all its various values and a listing of its owned resources (User Accounts, Base Stations, and Staff Accounts) is shown in the Document viewer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

eMail Button<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When pressed, an html report of the Customer showing all it various values and a listing of its owned resources (User Accounts, Base Stations, and Staff Accounts) is sent by eMail<\/a> to the Caster owner using the eMail address found in the Preferences dialog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editing and Assigning Resources
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The next three buttons all bring up dialog boxes to select\/ manage \/ add \/ remove<\/em> resources that can be assigned (owned) by the Customer Account.<\/p>\n

User Accounts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Press this button to edit the User Accounts that are owned by this Customer Account.\u00a0\u00a0 Each User Accounts should exist before being assigned.\u00a0 See this article for further details on adding User Accounts.<\/p>\n

Base Stations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Press this button to edit the Base Stations that are owned by this Customer Account.\u00a0\u00a0 The Base Stations should exist before being assigned.\u00a0 See this article for further details on adding Base Stations.<\/p>\n

Staff Accounts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Press this button to edit the Staff Accounts that are owned by this Customer Account.\u00a0\u00a0 New \u00a0Staff Accounts can be created from within the dialog box.\u00a0 See this article for further details on adding Staff Accounts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Web API Permissions
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This section enables<\/em> or disables<\/em> the ability of the current Customer Account to use the Web API to access the Caster and perform various operations.\u00a0 There is also a global on\/off switch for all Customer Accounts in the Preferences dialog<\/a>. This can be used to enable\/disable<\/em> all Customer Account Web API access.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 If the checkboxes in this section are all shown as greyed out, then you need to first enable use of Customer Accounts in the Web API (a check box found in the Preferences dialog<\/a> box).<\/p>\n

The Caster provides three Web API access levels of control as follows:<\/h3>\n

Read Access<\/strong> \u2013 The Customer can use the Web API to get reports about his assigned users and bases but can ONLY read this data.\u00a0 The Customer CAN NOT<\/strong> make any edits or changes to the users or bases (the Caster operator must do it).<\/p>\n

Read-Write Access<\/strong> \u2013 The Customer can use the Web API to get reports about his assigned users and bases AND<\/strong> can submit changes and updates to this data.\u00a0 So both the \u00a0Caster operator \u00a0and the Customer make various edits or changes to the users or bases (by way of the Web API).<\/p>\n

See General Reports<\/strong> \u2013 The Customer can use the Web API to get operational reports about the Caster in general.\u00a0 Reports such as the STATUS<\/strong><\/a> and PROCESS<\/strong><\/a> report are controlled by this setting.\u00a0 The Caster operator may not desire Customers (or others) to see such internal details, disabling this checkbox will prevent that.<\/p>\n

Also; The values set by in this dialog for the Customer are then passed down \u00a0to any Staff Accounts<\/strong> created for the Customer.\u00a0 In other words, a Staff Account cannot have a level of privilege that the Customer account does not already have.\u00a0 A Staff Account can be MORE<\/strong> restrictive (this is set in the Staff dialogs).\u00a0 For example, a Customer may be able to both read<\/em> and \u00a0write<\/em> on its own resources, yet one of its Staff Accounts may be only be allowed to read<\/em>, while another Staff Account might be allowed to do both read<\/em> and write<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Can Read Reports<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When checked the Customer is allowed to request read-only Web API reports.\u00a0 When unchecked no log-in to the read Web API will be granted.<\/p>\n

When first checked a password dialog is presented.\u00a0 When first used an auto-generated password is created. The password can be edited as desired but must be one word and at least 4 characters \u00a0long.<\/p>\n

Can Read and Edit Reports<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When checked the Customer is allowed to request various read and write Web API reports and can post changes to users and bases.\u00a0 When unchecked no log-in to the read and write Web API will be granted.<\/p>\n

When first checked a password dialog is presented.\u00a0 When first used an auto-generated password is created. The password can be edited as desired but must be one word and at least 4 characters \u00a0long.<\/p>\n

Can See General Reports<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When checked the Customer is allowed to request various report such as STATUS<\/strong><\/a> and PROCESS<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

If unchecked (and if the these report are also unchecked \u2013 hence not providing them for all other users in the Preferences dialog), then requests for them will be ignored and various button to request them will NOT<\/strong> be present in the returned reports.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More Information<\/h2>\n

Additional knowledge base articles on this and related topics can be found in the links below.<\/p>\n