AMS users are identified on the PC workstation by the “UserName” field. This field is widely used through the AMS database as an unique key and is linked to a specific staff member. The “FullName” field can be edited as this is purely used for display and not linked to the database records.
We recently received a call from a client complaining that a technician loaded on the AMS Labour system seemed to have been linked to an entire history of jobcard activity and edits as well as a default signature, all of which were not his. On investigation, it was found that on joining the company, the new user had merely edited an existing data entry for a technician who is no longer in the employ of the Company to add his name to the system.
This raises the question of data integrity in the AMS program. It must be understood that data appearing on computer screens (especially in AMS) is not just a display of a name, but a data record that is cross linked to many other data records. These include Customers, Suppliers, Parts orders, Job numbers, Sub-con numbers, Technicians, Part numbers as well as individual Parts receipts(Inventory). In a number of AMS windows, the data record name is protected and can only be edited by pressing the button to the left of the data field. These include the Aircraft Registration, Customers name, Supplier name as well as the Part number. Part number editing can be very disruptive as two data entries with the same part number will never show up as the program always stops searching on finding the first entry. In this case use should rather be made of the 'Replace' function.
Use should always be made of the 'Blue Page' at the top of all AMS windows when adding a new record. Never edit an existing data record to add a new entity. One can imagine the chaos if fifteen years of purchases are suddenly attributed to another supplier! Users will notice that most windows shows an ID field. This field is not normally used by AMS users, but this ID key field link to all child records in the database. By changing the name or description associated to the ID, users will change the description associated with all other child records!
We encourage users to limit access to editing in AMS to qualified users who understand the implications of the editing they are undertaking.
