CAT: FAQ

Frequently asked questions and answers about the CAT integration.

Error messages

The most common error messages you may encounter within the CAT integration.

xml_error

Error in the XML message

unknown_

No command or incorrect Command specified

unknown_table

No table or incorrect table specified

condition_error

Condition error

variable_error

Variables error

values_error

Error in one of the fields

item_not_found

Specified record not found

item_exists

Record already exists

1006: general_error

Is an error not yet known

1007: write_error

Error while writing a CAT card

1008: read_error

Error while reading a CAT card

1009: print_error

Error while printing a CAT card

The difference between credits, points and a balance

Credits, or points, represent the spendable value put on a CAT card. The balance is the base number of credits for the calculation set up in the card product. This calculation results in a total balance, a total number of credits on the card.
When setting up a product, you also specify a box for each credits calculation. What a box represents is defined in the CAT software itself.

Credits can also be used in combination with license plate recognition, to control how many of the license plates valid for the reservation can enter and park inside the barrier simultaneously.

Adjusting the entry and exit times for the barrier

If you’ve got a busy weekend and want to restrict access a little, you have to edit the card products. Once in the product editing page, enter the start and end times for validity that you want (at the bottom of the page). All cards with this product will be valid at these custom times.

Access a product by going to the CAT integration page, clicking 'Card types & products', and navigating to the relevant product of a specific card type.

How do I add a type to CAT product?

To do this, you need to edit the product. Access the product as described above, and add the type to the type filter of the product. You can add more than one. If the type filter is left empty, the product will apply to every type.

Can I print information on the CAT cards?

The information that can be printed on a CAT card is defined per card type. Edit a card type to add or edit the print info. When adding print info to the card type settings, you can use liquid tags. These are little pieces of code that customize the information to the reservation that you are printing a card for.

Read more on how to print a card: CAT: installation & settings

Liquid tags for CAT card print info

Validity start time: {{ card.valid_from }}
Validity end time: {{ card.valid_till }}
Card number: {{ card.card_number }}
Associated license plates: {{ card.plates }}
Associated email address: {{ card.email }}
Booking number: {{ card.reference }}
Title for booker: {{ card.title }}
First name of booker: {{ card.first_name }}
Last name of booker: {{ card.name }}
Card type name: {{ card.card_type.name }}
Card recipient type (either 'reservation' or 'owner'): {{ card.card_keeper.owner_type }}

There are more liquid tags that can be used, however, the information represented by those tags is related to owners or the reservation itself and is not stored by CAT. This means that if you want to use the liquid tags below, the CAT application must actively retrieve this data every time you print a card, which takes longer. If the information represented by the tags listed above is enough, stop there.

LIquid tags specific to owners

First name of owner: {{ card.card_keeper.be.owner.first_name }}
Last name of owner: {{ card.card_keeper.be.owner.last_name }}
Company name of owner: {{ card.card_keeper.be.owner.company }}
IF/ELSE tag to differentiate corporate owners: {{ card.card_keeper.be.owner.is_company }}

LIquid tags specific to reservation

Check-in date: {{ card.card_keeper.be.reservation.start_date }}
Check-out date: {{ card.card_keeper.be.reservation.end_date }}
Booked object: {{ card.card_keeper.be.rentable_identity.name }}