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A CipherLab 8000-series terminal counts a whole pharmacy far faster than a worksheet does: you scan and key quantities on the shelf, then dock the terminal and send the batch to ClinikEHR in one transfer. This page covers the transfer and the reconciliation. Opening the count is the same as any other — see Run a stock count.

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Before you dock the terminal

Three things have to be true, and each one fails in a way that looks like a dead port:
  • The cradle is plugged into this computer by USB — not into a hub on another machine, and not only into power.
  • You are in Chrome or Edge, or in the ClinikEHR desktop app. Any other browser shows “This browser cannot talk to a serial scanner. Use Chrome, Edge, or the ClinikEHR desktop app on the machine the cradle is plugged into.” See The desktop app.
  • The terminal actually holds the count. Nothing is read off the shelves during the transfer — only what is already stored on the device.

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Transfer the count

The order of these steps matters. Do them as written.
1

Choose the scanner route on the new count

On New count, set your Scope and Count type, then set How was it counted? to Portable scanner (CipherLab terminal) — “Walk the shelves with the terminal first, then upload the scans here.” The collection panel appears with the same three instructions repeated below.
2

Seat the terminal in its cradle

“Seat the CipherLab terminal in its cradle (USB plugged into this computer).” Check it is properly seated — the contacts, not just the housing.
3

Select Connect scanner and pick the port

“Press Connect scanner below and choose the cradle’s port.” Your browser asks which serial port to use; choose the cradle. The badge reads Opening port…, then Connected — start the upload on the terminal.
4

Start the upload on the terminal

“On the terminal, choose 2. Upload (Upload Data). This app keeps requesting the transfer, so either order works.” The badge changes to Receiving… and the tally starts filling.
5

Wait for Upload complete

When the terminal has finished, the badge turns green — Upload complete. Finish now ends a transfer early if you are sure it has stalled, and Collect again starts over from an empty tally.
The transfer is a conversation between this computer and the terminal, not a plain dump of text — the app requests each block and acknowledges it. So if the terminal reports a successful upload but nothing arrived here, the conversation never started: select Disconnect, then Connect scanner again, rather than re-running the upload into a port that is not listening.

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Read the tally before you go on

The panel reports what actually arrived — for example “42 products, 1,180 units” — plus, in amber, how many unreadable lines were skipped. A skipped line is a record the app could not parse. A handful is normal on a long count; a large number means the transfer is being read at the wrong speed, and the count is not trustworthy. See the 9600-baud fallback below.

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Reconcile the scans

Opening the count moves you to the Physical count sheet, headed with the scope — Physical count — Whole clinic, or the location you scoped to.
1

Deal with unmatched barcodes first

Barcodes that matched nothing in your catalogue are surfaced at the top, deliberately, because silently dropping them would understate the count. Use Assign to a product… against each one to attach it to the right item. It then joins the table below.If a barcode belongs to a product that has no stock line in this count’s scope you get “That product has no stock line in this count’s scope.” — the item is at a different location, or it was never received here.
2

Check the table

Each row shows Barcode, Location, Expected and Counted. The scanned figure lands in Counted; you can correct any of them by hand before applying.
3

Review the totals

More than expected, Less than expected and Net difference are valued in your currency. Investigate the outliers now, not after applying.
4

Add a witness if the scope is controlled

A controlled scope requires dual sign-off — choose the colleague from Select a witnessing staff member.
5

Apply the count

Select Apply changes to inventory and confirm with Apply changes.
Applying posts every difference to stock and closes the count. It cannot be reopened or reversed, and an unassigned barcode is applied as though the stock was never counted. Clear the unmatched list first.

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Check it worked

  • The count is closed and the sheet reads “This count is closed — the lines are the record of what was counted.”
  • The Stock tab matches your scanned quantities.
  • The Ledger tab carries a movement for each variance.
  • If the shelf already agreed with the system, the confirmation reads “Applied — stock already matched the count”.

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If something goes wrong

Serial devices only work in Chrome, Edge, or the ClinikEHR desktop app, and only on the machine the cradle is physically plugged into. Safari and Firefox cannot do it at all.
The cradle is not being seen by the computer. Re-seat the USB cable, try another port, and check the cradle has power. On a shared machine, another tab or app may already hold the port — close it and try again.
The terminal is talking at a different speed than the default. Select Disconnect, then Try at 9600 baud, and start the upload again. The default is 115200; older or reconfigured terminals often sit at 9600.
The app was not listening when the terminal sent. Disconnect, select Connect scanner, wait for Connected — start the upload on the terminal, and only then choose 2. Upload on the device.
Almost always the baud rate. Select Collect again, reconnect with Try at 9600 baud, and re-upload. Do not open a count off a partial transfer — an under-read count applies as missing stock.
The barcode on the pack is not the one on the catalogue entry. Assign it here to get the count done, then add the barcode to the product so the next count matches automatically — see Stock control and Barcode scanners.
Select Finish now to keep what arrived, check the tally against roughly what you expect, and if it is short, Collect again from the start rather than applying a partial count.