Ticket validation
Ticket validation is the rule set that turns a scanned code into one of three answers, and the answers have to be unambiguous.
Ticket validation is the check that decides whether a presented code grants entry. It considers whether the code exists, whether it belongs to this event, whether the ticket is still active after any refund or cancellation, whether the time window applies, and whether it has already been used.
The rules behind the answer
A ticket can fail for several reasons, and they are not interchangeable. A code for tomorrow night is a different problem from a code that has already been through, and the person on the gate needs to know which one they are looking at.
Ticketing for theatres adds time to the equation. A house with three performances a week sells the same seat repeatedly, so the check has to confirm the performance as well as the ticket, or Friday's audience gets in on Thursday.
Why three answers is the right number
Green for in, red for no, amber for something that needs a human. More categories than that cannot be read at a glance in a dark corridor, and a gate that requires reading is a gate that queues.
The detail still has to exist somewhere. When the answer is red, the helper should be able to tap once and see why, rather than having to call someone who has the laptop.
The check in Passavo
A scan returns a clear result with a sound: valid, already scanned or invalid. A ticket you cancel in the admin stops validating, so the gate never has to guess what happened to it.
A ticket is checked against the day it was sold for, so a ticket for another date is refused rather than quietly admitted. Every scan is kept with its time and device, including the ones that were refused.
Also searched for as
- ticket check
- validating entry
- ticket verification
- entry validation
Common questions
What does the scanner say for a ticket for another day?
Invalid. A ticket is valid on the day it was sold for, and the scan checks that before it marks the ticket as used.
Can one ticket be valid on several days?
Yes, as a pass. A season pass is valid for the period you set and is scanned at every visit, with a limit per day if you want one. An ordinary ticket is spent on its first scan.