Where To: Defining Data Distribution Targets

Store Groups

A Store Group organizes stores that share common characteristics (such as size, location, or product range). It simplifies configuration by applying settings collectively across stores, instead of for an individual store.

This applies to connecting stores to Distribution Groups, Inventory Management distribution and so on.
Store group can be mapped with distribution group or with subgroup of any distribution group.

When starting to use LS Central and before starting data entry in the program, it is necessary to create one store group that includes all stores.

One store group can be created marked with No Filter = Yes. This store group is then connected to its corresponding Distribution Group and Subgroup.

These groups (Store Group, Distribution Group and Subgroup) are usually named ALL, are marked with No Filter = Yes, and are a part of the default values for LS Central.

Distribution Groups

Just as store groups need to be defined in LS Central, Distribution Groups also need to be set up for replication purposes. A Store Group is the logical grouping of stores, while Distribution Group defines the grouping of Distribution Locations for replication.

Distribution Groups simplify the task of assigning data distribution because settings can be applied to a group of stores rather than each store individually.

They work much like mail groups: once a group is created, recipients (stores) can be assigned to it.

It is very important to decide the grouping of stores on the basis of data distribution.

A Distribution Group can contain one or more subgroups, allowing finer control over how data is distributed.

Each store can belong to only one Distribution Group, but it may be part of multiple subgroups.
Proper planning of Distribution Groups and subgroups is essential to ensure efficient data distribution.

For more information see: Distribution Groups

Example:

ACME Inc. runs a chain of hardware stores. ACME has stores in Washington, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Distribution groups for ACME need to be created.

A distribution group named ACME can be created. Within that group create two subgroups

EAST
WEST

Once these are created, assign the stores to group ACME. Furthermore, assign the Washington and New York stores to the subgroup EAST and the Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles stores to group WEST.

Now data can be distributed to New York and Washington store by selecting group ACME and subgroup EAST (ACME->EAST).
ACME->WEST can be used to distribute data to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Data can be distributed to all the stores by selecting group ACME and no subgroup.

If data needs to be distributed to one store only - Seattle, select ACME->SEATTLE.

Create the subgroups NORTH and SOUTH, and assigned stores to them.

These groups can coexist with subgroups EAST and WEST because there is no limit on the number of subgroups within a group. The same goes for the stores (or members). These can be members of many subgroups but only one group.

This selection method is used when distributing data with the distribution list. Once the record to be distributed is selected, simply fill in the values for the group and subgroup.

Distribution Locations

In the distributed architecture of LS Retail, there is a number of databases or companies representing different locations like Head Office, stores and POS.

Every database needs to have its own logical and physical entity. The logical entity is represented by the Store card.

When a store is created, the program automatically creates a Distribution Location with the same code as the store.

The distribution location is the physical address of a company in a database. It contains the connection information for replication. The distribution location can be created manually to represent any database like for the POS.

To distribute data by location, each record must be associated with:

A Distribution Location,
Distribution Group or
Store Group.
These groupings are mapped together through the Table Distribution Setup.

For example: when creating a new item, a Price Group can be linked to the item. The Price Group is further linked with a Store Group, which in turn is mapped to a Distribution Location through its assigned Distribution Group and Subgroup. The system then creates actions using this mapping to replicate the item to the correct locations.

If it is necessary to define distribution location for each record individually, the Location Distribution can be used.

This allows you to view or adjust the replication setup for specific records—for example, for a particular item or a price group.

Replication Behavior

Distribution settings directly affect how data is replicated:

When using the By Actions method, replication looks only at actions where the Location Distribution includes the target location. The system checks whether the Location Group Filter of the action matches the Distribution Group/Subgroup defined in the Scheduler Job.

If the table’s Distribution Type is set to All Default, Master Default, or Table Default, default distribution entries are automatically created when a record is inserted. These defaults can later be adjusted.

If the type is Specific, you must manually define the record’s distribution - no default entries are created.

If the type is All or By Master Only, distribution is generated automatically and cannot be modified at the record level.

Note: Records cannot be entered into the Distribution List table unless the table exists in the Distribution Setup and has a distribution type other than All, By Master Only, or No Distribution.

Actions Created by Location Distribution

Adding a record in Location Distribution creates an Action that includes the table ID and primary key. The Location Group Filter is set to the Distribution Group and Subgroup.

Deleting a record creates a corresponding Delete Action.

If the record belongs to a Master Table, changes cascade to linked tables with the By Master Only or Master Default distribution type.

The Default Distr. Chg. Mess field in the Scheduler Setup controls whether a confirmation message is shown when changing the distribution of a table with distribution type Master Default.

When the distribution type is By Master Only, the program performs exactly the same changes as the location distribution needs to be the same for the Master table and the tables underneath.

The purpose of this field is to be a reminder of the location distribution structure chosen, when starting to use the system. It is not practical to have this field marked in a large database where location distribution of the type Master Default is used.

For more information see: Default Distr. Chg. Mess., Scheduler Setup

Best Practices and Warnings

For By Master Only distributions, changes in the Master Table are always mirrored in linked tables.

This setup is not recommended for very large databases, as it may become impractical to manage.

Be cautious when deleting entries in the Distribution List:
- If replication is active, deleting a distribution entry for an item will also delete that item in all target databases.
- If the item already has transactions or ledger entries, consider blocking it instead of deleting its distribution.
- If replication is not active, changing distribution for sold items will not cause issues.

Table Distribution (and Default Distribution in LS Central)

Table Distribution controls how individual tables in the system are distributed. Note that the table distribution says nothing about where the tables are distributed, only how they are distributed.

LS Central consists of many different tables, which serve different purposes. How to distribute a table depends on the functionality of the table.

For example:

The Gen. Product Posting Group table is a table that should be distributed to all locations.

The Item table might have a more selective distribution, depending on the selection of items in the stores.
Records in the Store table should only be distributed to the store it represents.
These three tables would have a different Table Distribution, since their distribution follows different principles.

The Table Distribution is closely linked to the Distribution list.

The Table Distribution is a setup table where the type of distribution of different tables is defined whereas in Distribution List the records are created for replication of records of tables on the basis of Table Distribution Setup.
When there is an insertion, modification or deletion of a record in a table, data is entered in Distribution list table which tell the system how to replicate this record.

The Distribution list is used to tell the system how individual records should be distributed.

Note the difference between Table Distribution, which dictates how tables are distributed, and Distribution List, which dictates how records are distributed.
The Distribution List is used only to specify distribution based on records.

The different types of Table Distribution are:

All
Specific
By Master Only
Table Default
No Distribution
All Default

All

This option tells the system that the table should be distributed to all locations. The distribution list for this table is empty, since the system can find out the distribution for all records in the table by looking at the Table Distribution.

In the example above, the Gen. Product Posting Group table should have table distribution type All.

Specific

This option tells the system to specify distribution on record level. In this case, the user has to fill in the distribution list manually for each record in the table.

In the example taken above, the store table should have table distribution type Specific.

By Master Only

This option allows to link tables together. In many cases, it can be convenient to link the distribution of one table to another.

For example: If Items and Barcodes for the items should have the same distribution, the Barcode table can be linked to the Item table so that all barcodes related to an item get the same distribution as the Item.

This is a very powerful feature because it allows the user to link many tables together and only specify the distribution on the top level.
This kind of distribution is used in the default settings that come with the system.

When By Master Only is used, the user must define the link between the tables.

This is done through the Table Links field in the Table Distribution window.
In our previous example, the Barcode table would be linked to the Item table by linking the Item No. field in the Barcode table to the No. field in the Item table.
Some kind of relation must exist between the tables when this option is used. It cannot be used if there is no logical relation between the tables, and tables cannot be linked by this method.
The Item table cannot be linked with the Customer table, since there is no direct table relation between the two tables.

While linking tables, it is preferable that the linked fields are parts of the primary keys of the linked tables. This is not absolutely necessary, but improves the performance of the system.

Table Default

The table is distributed according to location information existing in the table itself, unless changed by the user.

When the user inserts a record in the table, the user selects a location or a location group type and group.
The program uses this information to automatically create a corresponding entry in the Location Distribution List table for the record.
The user can change this default location distribution.
There are several tables that can have this distribution type:
- The Customer Price Group table
- The POS Terminal Receipt Header
- Distribution Location
- The Shelf Label Setup
- Item Label Setup.

No Distribution

This option means that the table is not distributed. Actions for this table is not created.

All Default

This option is a combination of All and Specific. When a record is created for a table with the distribution type All Default, the system creates a distribution list entry that tells the system that the record should be distributed to all locations.

However, the user can modify the distribution for the record afterwards.

The different types of table distribution are listed. How to create groups of stores for distribution and how to assign distribution to records with the distribution list was discussed in distribution group.

When there is any change in the master table and action is generated for a record in the master table, an action can be automatically generated for linked tables by clicking on Actions on Linked Tables, Linked actions on Insert, Linked actions on Modify and Linked actions on Delete.

For example, with default distribution setup, an action can be created for a barcode or variant table on action creation for item table records.

Note: The system comes with a predefined Table Distribution that should be appropriate for most organizations. Changes to the default table distribution settings should only be made by advanced users.