Shed Logger
A program for Men's Sheds
- To log members in/out
- Keep track of Day Coordinators and First Aid Officers
- Maintain tea money records
- Print reports of last attended, tea money payments ... and a lot more
NEWS
A different method of selecting a member (and logging in or out) is available and is proving popular.
It is available in 2026-07-11-16-16-41 (or later).
Just start typing the letters at the start of your last name. Assuming you are not logged in, a green box
displays the first matching name. Keep pushing keys and when it gets to your name, push "Enter".
If you are already logged in, it will be a red box asking to log out.
"Enter" completes the log in or out.
"Esc" will abort.
"Backspace" will remove the last key entered.
10 seconds between keys and it aborts.
The text you have typed is displayed, bottom left of program screen.
Setup/installation Instructions
Before First Install
If you intend to import details of your members (which normally is done),
you should create a CSV file before installing (which can be created from Excel).
- The first line is ignored (assumed to be a header)
- The first field of each line is assumed to a member's last name
- The second field of each line is assumed to a member's first name
- The third field of each line is assumed to a member's bar code number, that you
have allocated to them. They need to all be integers, unique and of equal number of
characters, e.g. 1001, 1002 .....
- All other fields and any blank lines are ignored
An example:
My Men's Shed data
Smith,John,1001
Jones,Fred,1002
"Van Donold",Michel,1003
You can now proceed with the installation as below.
First Install
- Download a file (usually the latest one) from the Download link below.
- If you are installing on a different computer, copy the downloaded file to that computer
- Run the file you downloaded and follow the instructions - this will install the program
and run it.
- On an initial run, you are given an option to change settings. The main one to set is your
shed name, the rest can be left as is and changed later if desired
- The final step is to import your data - when requested select your CSV file, data will be imported
and you're done.
Upgrading an existing version
If the program is already installed, and you are upgading, use steps (1), (2) and (3) above.
Hardware
Scanner
Whilst it is entirely possible to use this system without a bar code scanner (and bar code cards),
and many of our members do, instead using a mouse and/or keyboard, you may wish to add a scanner.
Most scanners, despite plugging into a USB port (for power) place data in the Windows
keyboard buffer. Currently that is the only method ShedLogger supports.
To improve reliability some scanners offer the ability to have the scanner add a "prefix" and "suffix" to
each record sent.
We have been running a
"2D Barcode Scanner Model: TECOR TR-6300 Color: Black Interface: USB S080252"
purchased from InkStation.com.au
$96 in 2023. We are using "$" and "%" as record delimiters. This requires changing a setting in
ShedLogger's "System Setup", to set prefix to 36 and suffix to 37 (these are ASCII values) and
also changing the scanner setup (refer to your manual).
If you go down the path of a bar code scanner, you will need bar code cards. There are several
options, from buying produced cards, to putting an image on a phone, to printing your own. It
should be noted there are various bar code formats and not all scanners read all formats.
Email if you require help. (ken@alycat.com)
Speaker
The program makes extensive use of Text To Speech. In general, internal laptop speakers are
not up that task, We bought a small, $30 speaker.
Downloads