Certain error and warning messages generated by the 2-way interface need to be acted upon to ensure proper synchronization. Some of the common messages and actions to take are covered below, particularly for messages that are not completely self-explanatory. (Note that the wording of the messages may not be exact.)
Synchronization errors
These general messages may be shown after a download synchronization (or possibly at other times):
Friend response indicates that the 2-way interface is not supported for this account
If you see this message, you need to contact Friend Communications and have them enable the 2-way interface for your account.
Friend response indicates that the password is incorrect
The Password you specified in Reservation Friend Setup / Connections does not match the password set up on Friend for the 2-way interface. (Or it's possible that the Customer ID is incorrect so it's trying to connect to someone else's account, so check that also).
Friend response indicates that the Customer ID is incorrect
The Customer ID you specified in Reservation Friend Setup / Connections is not recognized as a valid ID by Friend.
Download synchronization received, with one or more new (or unknown) orders included.
This is a normal response after a Request Full Synchronization, meaning that there were new orders. Depending on your settings, you may need to process these manually (Reservations / Retrieve Online Reservations).
Download Synchronization results show some errors in Friend data
This will be followed by a list of individual reservation mis-match errors:
Reservation should have been in download, but was not
This indicates that Reservation Friend does not have the reservation online, but we have it locally so it should be on Friend also. The 2 main causes of this are Friend Space Number mis-matches (so Friend is not accepting the upload for the site, and you need to check the Site Data Fields), or a reservation made online was put in Campground Master manually so it doesn't have the proper Online Order ID associated with it. In the latter case, you may also get corresponding errors that Friend has a reservation we don't have (and is available for processing), or possibly auto-processing errors reporting a conflict. Both of these can be rectified by going to Retrieve Online Reservations, where they should be shown as unprocessed, and use the "Link to an existing reservation" function to link the online reservation with the corresponding reservation in Campground Master.
Friend reservation was not found locally (possibly new)
This most likely corresponds to a local reservation reported with the error above. It should now be in the queue to process -- and needs to be "Linked" to an existing reservation through Retrieve Online Reservations.
Friend reservation was not found locally, but Order ID is blank so it's not 'new' Friend reservation was not found locally, but has a Record ID so we should have had it
Either of these is a severe error, since it indicates Friend has a reservation we uploaded to it but we don't have it here. This should only happen if a reservation was deleted locally but somehow not deleted online. A Send Full Synchronization should resolve it.
Friend shows this reservation on <space>, but we show it on <space> Friend shows this reservation starting on <date>, but we show it starting <date> Friend shows this reservation's last night as <date> but we show it ending <date> Friend shows this reservation as active, but we show it inactive
Any of these errors indicate a failure in communications, specifically something was changed locally but the change was not received or processed by Friend. A Send Full Synchronization should resolve it.
Site Locking errors
One of these errors may appear when attempting a local operation (a response to a Site Lock). If it's a Warning, you have the option to bypass it and continue (but you'll need to deal with possible conflicts when the online orders are processed). It's generally recommended to cancel the operation, e.g. go back and choose another site or clear the cause of the error and try again.
Some online reservations have been received but not processed, so we're not up to date with Reservation Friend data
This indicates that some reservations are in the queue to process manually (Reservations / Retrieve Online Reservations). This shouldn't normally occur in automatic mode.
We're not up to date with Reservation Friend data (download in progress)
This indicates that it's currently downloading new reservations. You should try again in a few seconds.
We may not be up to date with Reservation Friend data (initial synchronization not complete)
This indicates that it's in the midst of synchronizing. You should try again in a few seconds.
Reservation Friend response to the site lock indicates that Friend does not recognize the space number
The Friend Space # specified in Site Data Fields for the chosen site does not match the space description on Friend, or else that site isn't selected for "Online" availability on Friend.
Site is currently in use for an online reservation in progress on Reservation Friend.
This means that someone online is making a reservation for the same site (friend has a "temporary hold" on the site). Since the dates are not yet known online, and it doesn't know what dates you may end up with locally, there's a possibility of conflict. Note that a "temporary hold" may persist for up to 20 minutes even if they abandoned the online reservation. You have the option to keep trying (you should wait a few minutes between each try), or if the operator access level allows it then you can ignore the error and continue. Just be aware that if they do complete the online reservation there may be a conflict -- this would show as an Alert on the Friend master workstation.
Reservation Friend response to the site lock was not recognized
An error response or some other unknown response was received from Friend. If this persists, it may require diagnosis of the problem using the Diagnostics window or log files -- check with technical support.
Either the 2-way interface is not supported for this account, or the Customer ID or Password is incorrect
Friend is returning an error message indicating that one of those 3 conditions exists. This may be a problem with the settings in Connections, or you might need to have Friend enable the 2-way interface for your account. To find out which condition is really the problem, Request a Full Synchronization from Friend.
Reservation Friend link is down, so we cannot check whether or not the Site is currently in use
The means it can't get a response from Friend, or the communications is disabled (and cannot retry).
A timely response to a site lock was not received from Reservation Friend
This could just be a temporary delay in communications, due to other operations or a slow interface. You should try again a couple times to see if it clears up. Also note that you need to make sure that Campground Master is not being blocked from the internet by any security software or firewall. You may see a warning from Windows Firewall, for instance, asking whether Campground Master should be blocked -- make sure you always "Allow", "Unblock" or "Approve" Campground Master. You should also check your firewall and security settings.
Alerts
These are the typical Alert messages that can be generated from the 2-way interface.
Online Reservations received from Friend Communications
If the Incoming operations mode is set to "Manual only" or "Automatic download but manual processing", this indicates that a new reservation has been downloaded but requires manual processing. The "Process Now" action can be used to go to the Retrieve Online Reservations dialog to process it.
If the Incoming operations mode is set to "Fully Automatic", this indicates that a new reservation has been downloaded and has been processed, but you may want to review it. Use the "Review Now" action to review it through View Recent Online Reservations.
ERRORS in Online Reservations received from Friend Communications
This occurs when using Fully Automatic mode if a reservation cannot be automatically processed for some reason -- e.g. an unknown site, conflict, missing data, etc. The "Process Now" action can be used to go to the Retrieve Online Reservations dialog to process it.
ERROR -- Sync errors found in Reservation Friend download synchronization
This can occur after a synchronization was attempted, if comparison with the local data shows reservations either missing, extra, or different in the download sync received from Reservation Friend. While this might be normal during initial synchronization before it gets completely synced, this should not be the case during normal operations after an initial synchronization.
The recommended action is to attempt a manual "Send full sync", followed by a "Request full sync", to see if it clears up. If you still get errors, contact support. It might be that there are some mis-matches in the Site Data Fields or some other setup issue.