Hours - Work Hours
The user is now left with the simple task of entering the hours worked each day. The method is to insert a dash (-) between hours worked, Example 6-12 and a space between hours rested, Example 6-12 18-24. The program will automatically put in two spaces between working blocks for sake of visual clarity.
Data entry validation is done at run time.
Examples that trigger an error message are-
If your license does not permit less than half-hour blocks for work/rest
7-12 3-17 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17
7-12 3-17.25 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17 OR 7-12 13-17.5
7-12 3-17.75 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17.5 OR 7-12 13-18
7-12 13-10.5 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-20.5
7-12 13-25 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-24 and on the next row 0-1
If your license permits less than half-hour blocks for work/rest
7-12 3-17 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17
7-12 3-17.25 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17 OR 7-12 13-17.3
7-12 3-17.75 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-17.8 OR 7-12 13-17.8
7-12 13-10.5 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-20.5
7-12 13-25 The correct entry would possibly be 7-12 13-24 and on the next row 0-1
(With version 2010.6.09.3 and later, up to 2 places of decimals is allowed)
This software allows a maximum of 7 periods of work in a calendar day.
The user also writes the figure 1 in column 'B' if the vessel has crossed the international date line from East to West (Date is Repeated) or -1 to denote a crossing from West to East (Skip a Date). A maximum of two crossings in each direction is permitted in any given month. Further, crossings have to be in opposite directions in the same month. I.E. Two consecutive crossings from East to West or West to East are invalid and will be automatically erased.
With each entry of hours worked, in addition to marking the report pages with the series of ‘x’s as required, the project computes the hours worked, hours rested, overtime hours and also fills in the results for violations and warnings in the appropriate columns for that date. At the same time, the top of the page right section shows the totals while the status bar shows the totals of violations and warnings for the month.
The user has to enter the data within 2 calendar days of the date for 'normal' display. If data is entered after 2 calendar days a comment with date and time of entry is shown in column 'E'. This is of particular use to inspectors. The status bar also shows the words "LATE DATA ENTRY (?) where ? is the number of late entires". See the image below. Another way to stop a late entry would be for the software author to prevent such late entry. However, this is not a good option as the user will never be able to fill in data for previous days if the product is put into use more than 48 hours after start of computing period. Therefore, the software author has triggered a comment to show late entry instead of blocking data entry itself.
As many of the regulations cover more than 24 hours and are actually based on ‘any’ hours, the project allows/requires the user to enter the data for the eight days prior to the reporting period. At the top and bottom rows of the data entry section, should there be insufficient hours to calculate, violations are shown in violet colour instead of in red. Results shown in red are confirmed violations after taking into consideration all the waivers applicable. Warnings are shown in pink and indicate that an individual rule is violated but not the waiver. This serves as a guide to the head of department to assist in scheduling of further work over the current day or next day.
As a guidance to the head of department, the ‘Hour Effected’ page shows the hour at which the violation or warning is effective. The word ‘Up’ indicates that the period is from that hour and upwards in the data entry page (hours before) and the word ‘Dn’ indicates that the period is from that hour and downwards in the data entry page (hours after).
Alternative Method For Data Entry - Needs CPU Clock Speed of > 1299 MHz
For those who prefer to use the mouse instead of the keyboard, the software is equipped with an alternative way of entering the hours worked.
In the Hours page, the user may right-click on any row and a pop up box will show a graphical representation of the working and resting hours, a list of the hours at which the violation was detected and the clause affected. The user may enter / amend existing remarks in the comments box. A maximum of 140 characters may be entered from this box.
There is a mouse click and drag facility for entering the worked hours. The worked and rested periods will be marked in blocks of 30 minutes each. If your license is encoded to allow fractions of 30 minutes, it is necessary to manually edit the click-drag results, by typing into the special text box for this purpose. The text box is shown when the icon with the blue mouse is clicked.
Icons are included to -
(In order to get back the entire month's previously saved data, the user can click on the blue folder 'Get Records / DB icon' icon and select the same crew again).
If your license is encoded to permit less than 30 minute blocks for work and rest hours, the icon with the blue mouse image is activated. When this icon is clicked, a text box is shown with the existing working hours. The user may amend these hours with part of an hour. Example - if the user takes a 10-minute round of the accommodation before reporting to the bridge at for a normal watch, the user can enter this example: 1.8-4 8-12 19.8-24 Similarly, for the departure from USA ports parameter, the user may enter the time of departure in one tenth of an hour. When a fractional half-hour block has been entered, the green / white drag boxes and the departure USA port drop down boxes are disabled.
The Departure From Port drop-down box is visible only if the crew is a Deck Navigating Officer (46CFR).
The 46 US 8104 Cl. B drop-down box is visible only if the crew has selected 46 USC 8104 Clause B in which case, the user must select either P or S (In Port / At Sea).
The 46 US 8104 Cl. N or 33CFR 156(d) drop-down box is visible only if the crew has selected 46 USC 8104 Clause B or 33CFR 156(d), in which case, the user must select either Y or N (In USA / Not in USA - N is default and may be omitted).
The user can change calculation's parametes from this dialog box too by clicking on the 'Expand' bar on the right side.
When expanded the bar's arrows will be in the reverse direction and the user can collapse the extended portion by clicking on the bar again.
When expanded, the dialog box shows the following command icons.
The user can determine at which times the different types of NCs are triggered by clicking and dragging the mouse over the A-I NC bar (with the yellow back and red font). The results are shown as follows -
The user may click on the image to the left and drag the mouse up or down to change the day.
Watch Demo
After amending the worked hours or remarks, the user may save the data by clicking on the Floppy Disk save icon. For the heads of department or office users, records of some other crew can be fetched by clicking on the Get Records / DB icon.
To the left of the Seafarer's Comments box is a double arrow. The user clicks on this arrow to show or hide the legends section at the bottom of the dialog box (to occupy less space of the Hours page). In order to show the legends section briefly, the user can click on the '+ Hour at which violation ....' sentence. When the mouse button is pressed, the legend will be shown and will be hidden again when the mouse button is released.
If the user has purchased any of the available language packs, they will be available from the drop-down box in the Hours page (In the Ribbon with Office 2007).
