Meal Suppliers

Executive Summary

Meal Suppliers is the setup screen for the suppliers that prepare meals for the meal programs. For each supplier, administrators maintain a menu calendar (which day of the supplier's menu cycle falls on each calendar date, and which menu types are served that day) and the menu items, meaning which diet-intolerance tags apply on which days of the cycle. The information is maintained inside the integration only; nothing on this screen is sent to AlayaCare.

Key Features

• Add and delete meal suppliers (a supplier cannot be deleted while a service code uses it)
• Open a supplier to see and rename it
• Maintain Menu Days: add single days, generate a range of days that cycles through the menu cycle, edit a day, or delete a range
• Assign menu types, with label text, to each menu day
• Maintain Menu Items: choose a diet-intolerance tag and tick the menu days (1 to 42) on which it applies
• Export a supplier's general details, menu days and menu items to Excel

Typical Workflow

1. Click Add, enter the Code and Name, and click Save.
2. Click the edit icon on the supplier (or right-click and choose Edit) to open Meal Supplier Details.
3. On the Menu Days tab, click Create, choose a date range, the Days in Cycle and the Starting Day, and click Save to generate the calendar.
4. Edit a day to assign the menu types served that day.
5. On the Menu Items tab, click Add, choose a tag, tick the cycle days on which it applies, and click Save.
6. Click Export to save the supplier's details to Excel.

Available Permissions

The following permissions are available to be assigned to AlayaCare Roles:

Main Grid

Lists every meal supplier (14 rows per page).

Actions

Dialog Components

Meal Supplier (Add)

Opens from Add. Enter the Code and Name (both required) and tick Is Active if the supplier is active, then click Save or Cancel.

Meal Supplier Details

Opens when you edit a supplier. A back arrow in the title returns to the list. The supplier name is shown at the top, with an Export button that exports the supplier to Excel: a General sheet with the name, a Menu Days sheet (Date, Menu Day) and a Menu Items sheet (Tag, Menu Days).

Tabs

General tab

Shows the Name. Click Edit to open the Meal Supplier dialog, change the Name and click Save. The Is Active box is shown in this dialog, but only the name is saved.

Menu Days - Grid

Menu Days - Grid Actions

Meal Supplier Menu Day (Add)

Enter the Date and the Day number and click Save or Cancel. Menu types can be assigned after the day has been saved, by editing it.

Meal Supplier Menu Day (Edit)

Opens from Edit on a menu day. Change the Date or Day and click Save, or Cancel. The Menu Types tab lists the menu types served that day.

Click a row to see its label text below the grid (read-only). Add (or right-click Add) opens Add Menu Type, where you choose a Menu Type (only types not already on that day are offered) and enter the label text in the editor, then click Save. Edit changes the type or label; Delete removes it after confirming "Are you sure you want to delete this menu type?".

Create Menu Days

A progress panel is shown while the days are created. One menu day is created for every date in the range, numbered from the starting day and returning to 1 after the last day in the cycle. Dates that already have a menu day are not checked, so creating a range that overlaps existing days can produce duplicates.

Bulk Delete Menu Days

Choose a date range and click Delete to remove all menu days of the supplier in that range. There is no confirmation prompt.

Menu Items - Grid

Menu Items - Grid Filters

Click Apply Filter to refresh the list. Use Clear Filter to reset it.

Menu Items - Grid Actions

Meal Supplier Menu Item

Choose a Tag and tick the cycle days (numbered 1 to 42) on which it applies, then click Save. Only tags of the type Diet Intolerance that are not already used by another item of the supplier are offered, and the tag cannot be changed once the item exists. A warning "Please select a valid tag" is shown if no tag is chosen.

Dependencies

The following tables must be configured for lookups on this view to work: