Using the Storage Zone Explorer and Zone Picker

AccuArk provides two complementary tools for working with storage zones: the Zone Explorer for visualizing your warehouse layout, and the StorageZonePicker control for selecting zones throughout the application.

Zone Explorer (frmLocationStorageExplorer)

The Zone Explorer is an MDI child form that provides a rich visual interface for browsing your warehouse's zone hierarchy, viewing stock per zone, and navigating between levels.

Opening the Zone Explorer

Navigate to Inventory > Storage Zone Explorer from the main menu.

Location Selection

A dropdown at the top of the form lists all locations the current user has access to. Changing the location reloads the entire zone visualization. The dropdown defaults to the user's currently logged-in location.

Four View Modes

The Zone Explorer offers four different ways to visualize your storage zones:

Switch between views using the toolbar buttons at the top. The current view is indicated by the checked button.

Navigation and Drill-Down

In all view modes, clicking a zone that has child zones drills into that zone, showing its children as the current level. The navigation system works like a file browser:

• Click a zone — Drills into its children
• Back button — Returns to the parent level
• Breadcrumb — Shows the current navigation path (e.g., "Main Warehouse > Area A > Aisle 3")

The navigation uses a stack internally. Each drill-in pushes the zone ID onto the stack, and going back pops it off.

Status Bar

The bottom of the form shows summary statistics for the current view level:

• Zones — Number of zones at the current level
• Items — Total unique items across all zones (including child zones)
• Qty — Total stock quantity across all zones

Floor Plan Edit Mode

In Floor Plan view, clicking the Edit Layout button enables drag-and-drop positioning:

• Zones can be dragged to any position on the canvas
• A status message reads "EDIT MODE - Drag zones to reposition"
• When you release a zone after dragging, its position is saved to the database immediately
• Positions are stored per-zone (LayoutX, LayoutY, LayoutWidth, LayoutHeight)

This lets you arrange the floor plan to match your physical warehouse layout.

Zone Metrics

Each zone in the explorer displays:

• Item Count — Number of distinct items stocked in this zone (includes subtree)
• Quantity — Total stock quantity (includes subtree)
• Utilization — Percentage of capacity used (only if capacity is set)
• Alert Count — Number of reorder alerts (with critical alerts shown in red, warnings in orange)

Color Coding

Zones are color-coded by their utilization level. Alert badges use red for critical alerts (stock below safety stock) and orange for warnings (stock below reorder point). Inactive zones have a semi-transparent overlay.

StorageZonePicker Control

The StorageZonePicker is a reusable UserControl used throughout AccuArk wherever a zone needs to be selected. You will encounter it on:

• Stock Move form (From Zone and To Zone)
• Stock Adjustment form
• Purchase Order receiving (zone override)
• Cycle Count form
• Reorder Rules form

How It Works

The picker consists of two parts:

1. ComboBox — A dropdown list of zones, with hierarchical indentation showing the zone tree structure
2. Path Label — A small italic label below the dropdown that shows the full breadcrumb path of the selected zone (e.g., "Area A > Aisle 3 > Shelf 1-A")

Loading Zones

The picker loads zones automatically when the LocationId property is set. Changing the location triggers an async reload of zones for that location.

• By default, only active zones are loaded (GetActiveByLocationAsync)
• If ShowInactiveZones is set to true, all zones including inactive ones are loaded, with inactive zones displayed with an "[inactive]" suffix

Zone Display

Zones are displayed with hierarchical indentation using spaces based on their depth in the tree. The sorting respects sort order first, then alphabetical name:

Unassigned
Area A
   Aisle 1
      Shelf 1-A
      Shelf 1-B
   Aisle 2
Area B
   Cold Storage

Key Properties

Key Event

Usage Pattern

The typical pattern in code is:

1. Set LocationId on the picker (this triggers zone loading)
2. Optionally set SelectedZoneId to pre-select a zone
3. Read SelectedZoneId when saving to get the user's choice

Tips

• Use the Floor Plan view for operations meetings — The Floor Plan provides an intuitive visual of zone utilization that non-technical staff can understand immediately
• Arrange floor plans once — Spend time in Edit Mode to position zones to match your physical layout. The positions are saved permanently, so you only need to do this once per location.
• The breadcrumb path prevents confusion — When selecting zones in the picker, the path label below the dropdown confirms the full hierarchy, so "Shelf 1" in Area A is clearly distinguished from "Shelf 1" in Area B
• Refresh to see latest data — Click the Refresh button in the Zone Explorer to reload stock data after receiving or moving inventory
• Use the hierarchy chart for documentation — The Hierarchy Chart view is useful for printing or screenshotting your zone structure for warehouse documentation or training materials