Offline Capture is a feature of Apteryx Online Capture that allows for the capture and viewing of images without an internet connection.
Getting Started
If you already have Apteryx open, you will receive a toast notification when a loss of internet connection is detected. Select it to be redirected to offline capture.
If Apteryx was not already open, you can right click the system tray icon for Apteryx Online Capture and select Launch Apteryx Offline.
If Apteryx was not already open, and the Apteryx Online Capture Ambassador is not already running in the System Tray as shown above:
- Open File Explorer
- Navigate to C:\PlanetDDS\Apteryx Online Capture and double-click Apteryx Online Capture.exe
- Navigate to your Apteryx site, and click the button titled Open Offline Mode
Offline Apteryx will launch to the patient search page. Any records that are locally cached or captured (but not yet purged) on the computer will be searchable.
How to Capture While Offline
- To begin, bridge a patient to Apteryx as you normally would.
- if your practice management software is unavailable due to a lack of internet connection as well, manually enter the patient's information.
- If you do not know the patient ID due to your practice management software being unavailable, you can select the checkbox "I don't have a Patient Id".
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Any images captured where the Patient ID was not available will have a generated patient ID that starts with "offline-" and ends with a generated string of numbers for example:
offline-1234567890987654321
It is imperative that the patient information being entered manually is accurate to ensure that offline captured images are associated with the appropriate patient record and are easily merged if the primary Id is unknown.
- Select a shortcut, select Capture, or if you are unfamiliar with capturing you can follow this guide Capturing an Image in Apteryx Online Capture From the Patient Search Screen.
Please note that the DICOM Cloud Server will show "Failed to Connect" while capturing images offline, and the transfer status shown under each captured image will show "Transfer Failed - Saved Locally". This behavior is expected without an internet connection, and images will automatically forward to Apteryx once an internet connection has been restored.
Images that fail to transfer into Apteryx are not purged. Images that have successfully stored will be purged locally after 24 hours and remain within Apteryx's cloud database.
Offline Capture will not launch if you have not returned online within 7 days. If you have an extenuating circumstance (e.g. natural disaster) that necessitates additional grace time, please submit a support ticket.
Please note that features that require an internet connection are not available while offline.
When Internet is Restored
Upon returning online, images will immediately begin forwarding and a toast notification will be shown that will bring you back to Apteryx online. Click on this notification to reload Apteryx and return online.
If the patient information entered while offline matches an existing online patient record, images will be shown for that patient as soon as they have successfully stored.
If the patient information entered while offline does not match an existing record, the images will show under a duplicate patient record with the information that was entered during capture. If this occurs, follow the steps below.
Correcting Records That Did Not Have an ID
Apteryx will display a toast notification if viewing images for a duplicate patient that we detect has the same first name, last name, date of birth, and gender, but a different patient ID. For this reason, if you visit a patient with an offline generated ID ("I don't have a Patient Id" was selected) OR the matching online patient record, you will receive a toast notification prompting you to merge the patients. Click on this notification.
Follow the prompts to merge the patient record. Be sure to select the appropriate patient ID that matches the patient ID shown in your practice management software.
Resubmitting Failed Forwards
If for any reason you find your images have not forwarded to Apteryx after an internet connection was restored, please refer to Locating and Resubmitting Failed Forwards - Apteryx Online Capture to locate and resubmit your images manually.
Article Version 1.1 5/30/2025