Page Comparison

Image Added

Expand
title Click here to learn what Greenstone Audit is used for.
The Forms Manager module may be used to: · Add a new user-defined form. · View or edit an existing user-defined form. · View only a standard form. · Delete an existing user-defined form.

Forms Manager Basics
Standard and User Defined forms
Standard forms are provided with the Agris  Software and are occasionally updated as part of the on-going update and enhancement process for each individual package. Forms that are designed and maintained by Greenstone are called standard forms. Those that are designed and maintained by you are called user-defined forms.

Parameters
Each form is defined to include records that contain certain selected ranges of data from a specific file. The form parameters determine which records to include when extracting and sorting the data for a form. These parameters on any standard or user-defined form may be temporarily overridden when printing the specific form.

If the form does not yet exist, you will have to design (create) a new form. If you need to make permanent changes to an existing user-defined form, choose the view/edit option. Use the delete option to remove an unwanted user-defined form. You may neither change nor delete a standard form. A standard form may be a source for a new user-defined form, which may be changed.

If you are unfamiliar with the forms in the listing, you may review the forms you have on file or simply print one to review. If you select a form at random, you may change a few parameters to decrease the size of the form. Since you are designing a new form, the original form remains unchanged and will still be there when you are finished.

Choose a starting point
The first step in designing a form through any of the Forms Manager Features is deciding where to start. Sometimes, the obvious starting point is not necessarily the best option.

For example, an A/R Age Analysis form is usually generated through the A/R Balance forms. However a similar form may also be produced through the Name/Address forms. Since there may be several possible starting points (Forms to choose from as default), selecting the most efficient source of information may be confusing.

Choosing a starting point determines the data fields that may be specified for sorting the file, range selection, subtotals, etc. A form may include almost any field from the primary file on which the form is based, plus certain other fields from related files. The basic questions to ask are:

· What fields do I want to include on the form?

For example, if you need to print the line items from the invoices, you should use the Inventory Activity forms; or if you need to print just the amount of each invoice, you should use the A/R Invoices forms.

· How do I want the data sorted (grouped)?

For example, by location code, by product category, or by item number.

· What fields do I use for range selection in order to limit the records to include in the form?

Forms created through the Forms Manager Features module are called user-defined forms. When selecting a form to print, the user-defined form listing is displayed separately from the standard form listing.

You may select form standard or user-defined forms, when selecting a form to use as a starting point in designing a form.

It is not permitted to create a form totally from scratch. You must select an existing user-defined or standard form to use as the source for the form you are designing. The parameters and settings from the form that you select are automatically copied into the new form that you are designing.

A user-defined form may be edited (permanently changed) or deleted through the Forms Manager Features module. Standard forms may not be permanently changed or deleted. However, a standard form or an exiting user-defined form may be used as a template for a new user-defined form. For example, a standard form that is defined as a daily form may be duplicated in a user-defined form where the date range may be permanently set as a monthly form. (You probably also should change the title to indicates that it is a monthly form).

The Forms Manager Features includes a series of screens that are standard among forms. For example: Calculation Field Definitions, Sort Selection, Range Selection, Value Selection Criteria, Subtotal and Page Break Routines, Legend Line, Grand Total Calculations, etc. These standard features work the same way although you may see different Field Titles.

Access the Forms Manager…
To access the window:

· Select Packages » Payables Management » Forms Manager » A/P Check Form

· From the A/P Check Forms window select what form type you want to base your form on; Standard Form or User Defined Form.

· This manual will be based off the User Defined Form.

· Highlight the User Defined Form and click the Select button.

The first time that you are creating a user-defined report in a specific module, the following window will display after selecting User Defined Form.

· Click the OK button.

· The following window will display.

· Click Yes to display a window and select the standard base form, as shown below.

Line Callout 3 (No Border): … and click the Select button.Line Callout 3 (No Border): Highlight the form..

· Highlight the form and click the Select button.

· Enter the new form’s name in the following window.

· Sequence Number allows you to set the order of the form(s) with in the User-Defined List of Forms.

·Dataset Number allows you set the form to a specific dataset.

· Assigned To allows you to assign this form to a specific user...Using System Security.

·Set Edit Password allows you to set a edit password. This allows you to control who can edit the form.

· Click the OK button to continue.

Form Area and Size

· General Form Layout - In this option you designate a number of rows for this Check Form.

· Rows Before Detail

· Number of Columns in Each Row: Enter the number of columns in each row for this section.

· Print in Compressed Character Mode? A positive response will force the form to print 17 char. per inch.

· Print These Rows on First Page Only? A positive response will indicate that the rows before the detail will print only on the first page. A negative response will allow the rows to print on each page.

· Detail Section

· Number of Columns in Each Row – Enter the number of columns in each row for this section.

· Detail Section Starting on Row Number: Enter the row number on the form where the detail section should start.

· Number of Rows in Detail Section: Enter the number of rows the detail section should be comprised of.

· Number of Rows per Detail Item: Enter the number of rows allowed for each detail item.

· Print in Compressed Character Mode? A positive response will force the form to print 17 char. per inch.

· Rows After Detail

· Number of Columns in Each Row: Enter the number of columns in each row for this section.

· Print in Compressed Character Mode? A positive response will force the form to print 17 char. per inch.

· Print These Rows on Last Page Only? A positive response will indicate that the rows after the detail will print only on the last page. A negative response will allow the rows to print on each page.

· Click the Next button.

Output Definitions
Output Type
· Generate A form produces a printed form, either directly to the printer or through the spool utility.

· Generate A Text File creates a file on disk to be used as a source for a spreadsheet, word processing, or some other software package. This option will overwrite any existing file with the same file name and extension in the selected directory.

· Append To A Text File adds the output of this form to the end of an existing text file with the same file name and extension in the selected directory. This option will create a new text file if one does not currently exist then continue to add to the file each time the form is run.

· Click the Next button.

Printer Options
The default output device and character print type for the selected form were established under the Customize Menu. In the input fields, indicate whether to output the form using these defaults or one of the other options.

· Output Device: Select how you would like this form to print.

· Leading Sign on Numeric Fields? A positive response will place the negative sign “-“ in front of the number. A negative response will leave the sign after the number.

· Replace Name ID Number with Alternate Name ID #: The Alternate Name ID field found on the Relationships screen in Name/Address Maintenance may be used to store the account number used in another software or accounting system. The value stored in this field may be substituted for the values stored in the Name ID field anywhere in reports that the name ID is to be printed. Normally this field is set to N for no.

Comment Fields
Select which comments you would like to print on the form in this window. You can print up to thirty-six comment lines on the form. The comment field display will vary depending on where the form resides.

· ID#: To print the comment, enter 1 for Yes or 0 for No in the ID# field.

· Cmnt#: Enter the row # for the comment in the Cmnt# field.

· Click the Next button to continue.

Detail Lines
All forms share common characteristics. The top-of-page includes the title of form, page number, title titles, legend line, etc. The detail lines show specific fields of data for each record included in the form. The number of detail lines available for printing is based on the primary file, plus the related files selected for inclusion on the form. Subtotal lines summarize the numeric fields accumulated since the previous subtotal line. The grand total line summarizes the subtotal lines.

The remaining screens in the Forms Manager Features are used to specify the Detail Lines. You indicate the specific fields to print by assigning them a horizontal position, number of characters to print (length), the number of decimal positions, and the character type.

· Layout each detail line separately. If you make a mistake or want to view what you have already done, click on the OK button to return to the first screen of the detail line on which you are working.

· Write the title of the data fields that you want on the form across the top of a sheet of paper in the order that you want them to appear.

· Look for the title of the first field on your sheet of paper in the list of data fields on the screen. Type 1 in the POS input field to make the field print on the left margin.

· The SIZE input field normally contains the maximum number of characters to print for the data field. You may decrease the number in the SIZE input field to squeeze more information on the detail line. You normally should not increase the value in this field. This field has special capabilities for date fields.

· The DEC field controls the number of DEC(imal) places to print. This field may contain a number or one of the characters from the Numeric Precision option. Normally, you should not change this value.

· 0 - 5 = Number of Decimals

· T = Total Currency Field

· P = Unit Price or Cost Field

· Q = Inventory Quantity Field

· U = Commodity Quantity Field

· The TYP(e) field controls the appearance of the data field when printed by inserting characters such as slash, dollar sign, common, and decimal point. The types are shown in the legend box.

Always leave a couple of spaces between data fields to keep the values from running together. To determine the position for the next data field, use this simple equation. Next POS = (current POS + SIZE + 2).

Note: Clear the value in POS input field of any data field that you do not want to print.

· Data fields may not overlap.

User-Defined Fields
Each detail line includes five fields for out-putting constant text. Each of these five fields may contain a maximum of twenty-five characters (numbers and/or letters). These five fields are often used when creating or appending to an ASCII text file. These fields may also be used to replace a value in certain fields. As with any other data fields in the file, you may not need to output anything in these user-defined fields.

To insert a user-defined field, click the Insert button on either the Main Section Available Fields window or the Detail Section Available Fields window.

User-defined text displays in quotation marks.

Main Section Available Fields
The fields displayed in this window are the fields that are available to print before and after the detail section.

· To edit a line, highlight the line item and click the Continue button. The following window will display:

· Enter the row number where the field should be located in the Row input field.

· Enter the column number where the field should be located in the Col input field.

· The Size input field normally contains the maximum number of characters to print for the data field. You may decrease the number in the SIZE input field to squeeze more information on the detail line. You normally should not increase the value in this field. This field has special capabilities for date fields.

· The Dec field controls the number of DEC(imal) places to print. This field may contain a number or one of the characters from the Numeric Precision option. Normally, you should not change this value.

· 0 - 5 = Number of Decimals

· T = Total Currency Field

· P = Unit Price or Cost Field

· Q = Inventory Quantity Field

· U = Commodity Quantity Field

· The TYP field controls the appearance of the data field when printed by inserting characters such as slash, dollar sign, common, and decimal point. The types are shown in the legend box.

· Click the OK button to return to the Main Section Line detail window.

· Click the OK button to continue.

Detail Section Available Fields
The fields displayed in this window are the fields that will print in the Remittance section.

· To edit a line, highlight the line item and click the Continue button. The following window will display:

· Enter the row number where the field should be located in the Row input field.

· Enter the column number where the field should be located in the Col input field.

· The Size input field normally contains the maximum number of characters to print for the data field. You may decrease the number in the Size input field to squeeze more information on the detail line.

You normally should not increase the value in this field. This field has special capabilities for date fields.

· The Dec field controls the number of decimal places to print. This field may contain a number or one of the characters from the Numeric Precision option. Normally, you should not change this value.

· 0 - 5 = Number of Decimals

· T = Total Currency Field

· P = Unit Price or Cost Field

· Q = Inventory Quantity Field

· U = Commodity Quantity Field

· The TYP field controls the appearance of the data field when printed by inserting characters such as slash, dollar sign, common, and decimal point. The types are shown in the legend box.

· Click the OK button to return to the Main Section Line detail window.

· Click the OK button to continue.

Printing the Form
It is always a good idea to run a short test of the form to verify the field placement accuracy. Printing the form from the Forms Manager window will display a printout of what the form layout looks like. The only data displayed is the static data that does not require any sensitive files within the system to be accessed.

· In the Forms Manager window, click the Print button.

· Select the Printer Output and click the OK button.

The example shown below is an HTML Document printout of the Accounts Payable Check Form.

Back in the Agris window, click the Cancel button on the Printer Output window to return to the Forms Manager window.

· If you need to make any changes to the form, use the Back button to access the appropriate window.

· If the layout is designed correctly, click the Save/Exit button.

To print the form layout at a later time, follow the same path as you accessed before to enter the Forms Manager. In this example, access the Forms Manager by:

· From the menu bar, click on Accounts Payable.

· From the drop-down menu, click on Forms Manager.

· From the Forms Manager menu, click on A/P Check Forms.

· In the A/P Check Forms window, select option 2, User-Defined Forms.

· The user defined form that you created will be listed.

· Highlight the form and click the Select button.

· Click the OK button to accept the form title.

· In the next window, click the Print button to print the form layout.

Back in the V9 window, click the Cancel button on the Printer Output window to return to the Forms Manager window.

· If you need to make any changes to the form, use the Back, Next, or Continue buttons to access the appropriate window. Make the changes and click the Print button to verify the placement accuracy.

...