Branches in the Ocularis Recorder Manager are used to organize a structure within the recording components. They also serve the purpose of providing a means to allow multiple slave cores to function. If there is more than one slave at the company top level, only one is functional. All others will be displayed with a '+' symbol. If you see this, it means the slave core is non-working.
Create a branch by clicking the 'New Branch' icon in the uppermost portion of the control bar as shown below.
There can only be one true level of branches. Branches cannot have sub-branches. However, a branch group may be created to create the illusion of a hierarchy. Use the 'New branch group' icon to create one.
For example: in the figure below there are five branches. All branches technically stem from the Company OnSSI top level despite the appearance that Branch 4 is somehow a sub branch of Branch 3. Branch folders are simply used to organize the screen.
The actual layout is shown here:
Branches can be organized in many different ways. You may, for instance, want to organize branches geographically.
Here you can organize local resources such as slave cores, DMs, cameras, etc. within each branch. You can create a user account at the branch level for local administrators to configure only their branch.
Another common use of branches is to create a branch for each server.
For example: the layout shown here:
might look like this:
Creating one branch will allow the slave core on Server D to concentrate on local tasks while the slave core on Server C can deal with tasks on that side of the firewall.
Alternately, you can also set up a branch for Server C.
Then, you can place resources within a given branch.
Note: branches and branch groups are not visible in Ocularis Administrator.