Asset tags

The Asset tags tab of Admin › Assets › Labels sets the tag the next new asset gets. Every asset in schoolOS has an asset tag: the number on the sticker, the one people search for and scan. Set it here so new assets carry on from the stickers you already use, like MCHS0001, instead of a number schoolOS picks.

It only affects assets added from now on. Tags already on assets never change.

schoolOS administrators choose Account at the top of Labels before making changes. The selection applies to reading, saving, and resetting the next tag. The selection stays when switching tabs. Save any edits before switching accounts. Account administrators continue working in their own account.

Who can use it#

• View asset tags (asset-tags.view) shows the tab and the next tag.
• Manage asset tags (asset-tags.edit) changes or resets it. Without it the box is turned off, the buttons don't show, and a note says your access is view-only.

The next asset tag#

Under Next asset tag, the line beside the box says what's set now: Set to the tag the next new asset will get. If none is set yet, it says so: new assets then get a number one higher than the highest number at the end of any tag in your account, eight digits long, like 00000042.

Change the next tag#

Type the tag in the Next asset tag box and select Save, or press Enter.

• Letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores only, up to 50 characters. Anything else is dropped as you type.
• Under the box, the tag you typed shows as Next asset created, and the one after it as Asset after that.
• Cancel puts back the saved tag. Save is off until you've changed something.

If the tag you set is already on an asset, schoolOS skips past it: the new asset form and imports both offer the next tag no asset has.

Which tag should I set?#

Your account has one sequence, shared by every school. Pick the tag the next sticker should carry:

| Set | Choose it when | | --- | --- | | The next sticker in a roll you already use, like MCHS10421 | You have pre-printed tags. New assets then match the sticker you'll put on them. | | A district prefix with room to grow, like MCSD000001 | You're starting fresh. Give the number enough digits for every asset you'll ever have, so tags stay the same length and sort in order. | | Nothing | You don't mind schoolOS's eight-digit numbers, like 00000042. |

Per-school prefixes, like LHS and RMS, don't get a sequence each. Set the sequence for the school that buys the most, and type the other schools' tags yourself, in the form or in an import's Asset Tag column. Tags with other letters in front don't move the sequence.

For example, a district starting a Chromebook 1:1 program with 9,000 devices sets MCSD000001. The summer shipment's import leaves Asset Tag blank, so the devices get MCSD000001 to MCSD009000, and the next asset anyone adds gets MCSD009001.

How numbering works#

On the page, How numbering works sits under Next asset tag, closed; select its name to read it.

schoolOS finds the number at the end of the tag and counts up from it, keeping the letters in front and the number's width:

• MCHS0001 → MCHS0002 → MCHS0003
• LIB-099 → LIB-100
• A9 → A10, since the number outgrows its width.

If the tag has no number at the end, the asset after it gets a 2 added: AXISIT → AXISIT2 → AXISIT3.

Where the tag is used:

• Adding an asset. The Asset Tag box on the new asset form is filled in with the next free tag. You can type a different one.
• Importing. A new row with no asset tag gets the next one. See Import assets.

After an asset is saved, the next tag moves past it, but only when the saved tag has the same letters in front and a higher number. Type a tag with different letters, like LOANER-5 while the sequence is MCHS0010, and the sequence stays where it is. So you can give an odd device its own tag without breaking the count.

Deleted assets keep their tags#

A deleted asset's tag is never handed to another asset. The tag may still be on its sticker, in reports and exports, and the asset comes back with it if it's restored. So deleted assets still count when schoolOS works out the next number, and a tag a deleted asset had is skipped like any other taken tag.

Reset the next tag#

Reset clears the tag you set. New assets then get a number one higher than the highest in your account, deleted assets included, as if nothing were set.