Zortec Software User Defined Reporting ( Beginner Level / Basics)

1. Zortec Software User Defined Reporting (Beginner Level / Basics)

2. Notice… User Defined Reporting is a add on module for the Z applications. If your site has not purchased User Defined Reporting and you would like to purchase - please contact our Marketing Department or just let me know after this session. The cost of User Defined Reporting varies based on the number of users at your site.

3. Welcome ! In this presentation you will learn the location of the Data Definition File (DDF), how to print the DDF, how to create and print User Defined Reports (UDR’s) as well as the basics of Sorting, Sub-Totaling and Filtering the data to be printed using search criteria.

4. User Defined Reporting is a feature included in several of your Zortec Applications. Accounts Receivable, Business License, Fixed Assets, General Ledger, Inventory Control, Payroll, Utility Billing, Vehicle Maintenance and Work Orders - to name a few.

5. The fundamentals of User Defined Reporting are basically the same throughout all of the Zortec Applications. Once you master User Defined Reporting in one application you can apply that knowledge to the other applications and do well.

6. For the purposes of this presentation User Defined Reporting with the Utility Billing application will be demonstrated.

7. The Data Definition File (DDF). The DDF is basically a list of the data fields that are available to print - sort by – total by - or filter by - when using UDR’s. The DDF varies by Application on the fields available, but is similar in each application in several ways including how you access it - print it – view it - and how it’s used.

8. The DDF can be accessed in each Applications “Office Manger” or “System Manager” section. It can also be accessed thru the use of specified Function Key options while creating and printing UDR’s. NOTE – Most Zortec Applications have several thousand individual data fields within them. Many of these fields are available for printing on UDR’s. Unfortunately some are not. If you can’t locate a data field that you would like to print on the DDF contact LGC Customer Support. We will be glad to help you determine if that data field is available or not.

9. Examples of Menu Path to the DDF option in a few Z Applicatins. Utility Billing Main Menu -> 08.. Office Manager -> 23.. DDF Handler Business License Main Menu -> 10.. System Manager -> 16.. Data Definitions Payroll Main Menu -> 09.. Office Manager -> 19.. DDF Handler General Ledger Main Menu -> 50.. Office Manager -> 16.. DDF Definition Notice a slight variation to the DDF menu option name depending on the Z application used.

10. A Key to successful User Defined Reporting is in understanding the DDF for the application you are using. We recommend that you print the DDF listing, study it and become familiar with the data fields available for printing, sorting, sub-totaling and filtering data on User Defined Reports.

11. Printing the DDF for Utility Billing Start on the Utility Billing main menu Leave the Beg / End Code blank for all and specify Report Order “C”. I used Printer Number “VIEW” to display the report, but you may want to print a hard copy to your printer ID so you can study it well.

14. The DDF for the Utility Billing system is 29 Pages long. The Billing system is HUGE data wise and has the longest DDF of all Z applications.

15. Creating a User Defined Report This next section will demonstrate how to create a very basic User Defined Report

16. Starting on the Utility Billing main menu, select 51.. User Reports, then select 01.. Define reports In the Functions option select C – to Create. Note you also have Functions for Update, Inquire and Delete

17. NOTE – You must complete 2 screens to create a UDR. Screen 01 defines things like the report number, name, sorting, sub-totaling. Once you complete screen 01 you will be presented with screen 02 where you define the data fields to print on the reports detail lines.

18. Creating a User Defined Report (Screen 1) The top section of the User Report Definition screen 01 (shown above) ask a few questions that we will discuss in detail over the next few slides. Report Number – The report number is a numeric, two-digit field which means you can number your report using any number from 1 – 99. Access Code – S, U System or User (more details on next slide)

19. Access Code --- A UDR created with: S - (System access) will allow any user that has access to the application (Utility Billing in this example) to Print the report. This is a way that you can create reports and share them with other users that have access to the system. U - (User access) will limit access to the UDR to the individual user that created it. Other users that have access to the system will not be able to print reports that are setup with U – Access.

20. Serv #: - This is used if you want to print service specific information on your UDR. For example – Water Meter Number, or Gas Turn On Date. If you are only going to print the Accounts General Information (not service specific) then you can leave this blank or 00 as shown above. Note – each service is assigned a number in the parameters. For example Electric could be service 01, Water Service 03, Sewer Service 04 and Gas Service 05. This will vary by customer site so you will need to know how this is defined at your site.

21. Report Name – is what will be shown in the print menu box. In other words, it is how you will identify this report when selecting reports to print from the Print Menu. It will not actually print on the report itself. You will also see the report number on the Print Menu. Major Heads – Two lines are available for the report heading. Enter the title of the report and any other text you wish to print each time the report is printed. You will have an opportunity to type in another line of (this time only heading) when you actually print the report from the Print menu.

22. Characters per Line – This determines the number of characters printed per line. The default is 132 and that works nicely for most printed reports. If you are only printing 2, 3 or 4 columns of data on your report you might want to reduced this number. The headings printed on the report will center based on what you enter here. Lines per Page – This field determines the number of lines printed on each page. The default of 60 will work for most printers with 11 inch paper that are printing at 6 lines per inch or with 8.5 inch paper printing at 8 lines per inch. You may adjust the default up or down to get the results you need.

23. Spacing – This determines the line spacing. It defaults to 1 which produces single spaced lines on the report. You can select 2 for double spacing or 3 for triple spacing

24. Sorting Information – Up to five levels of sorting are available for each report. With UDR’s you can sort the details printed on the report by any of the available DDF fields. Commonly used sorts are by Customer Name or Number. An example of a two level sort would be to print the records sorted by Route and then by Service Address. Note - If you do not specify a DDF field to sort by the records will sort by the Account Number. Use of the sorting information will be demonstrated later in this presentation.

25. Top of Page when the following changes – This can be used to generate a page break when the data changes. For example – if your report is being sorted by Route, then you could specify the DDF for Route in the Top of Page – to make it do a page break after the last account in each route printed. That way each new route would start at the top of the next page.

26. Sub-total when the following changes - This can be used to produce up to 5 levels of totals as the data changes for the DDF field specified. A good example of using Sub-totals would be if you wanted totals by Route. Note - your report would have to be sorted by Route before you can produce sub-totals by route. Sorting and Sub-Totaling work together. Headings for Sub-totals – is used to identify your sub-total. What ever you enter as the Heading will print beside that sub-total on the report.

27. Note – when your cursor is positioned in one of the fields on the UDR creation screen, you can press F3 Key to call a Search & Select feature that will allow you to Locate DDF #’s and Names. From this list you can F1 to go Forward, or F2 to go Backward to scroll thru the list of available fields. Once you select a field (position the arrow on that field) you can press enter and it will populate the field that you were on when you initially pressed the F3 Key.

28. For my first sample report I completed screen 1 of the report definition as shown below. I basically only entered information in the top portion of the screen.

29. Once you complete the first screen of the UDR definition, the screen 2 (below) will be displayed. This is where you specify the data for the report detail lines. All you have to enter on this screen are the DDF field numbers that you want to print on your report. You can press F3 to Search and Select DDF fields.

30. Below shows how I completed screen 2 of the UDR definition. Note – I entered the Fld numbers and the Heading/Detail Format was auto populated for me. All you have to enter here are the DDF #’s you want to print on the details lines of your report.

31. As you enter the DDF numbers the system will display an example of the report detail line layout near the bottom of the screen. It will also display the Print Positions used and Available. Note – if you exceed the total print positions available (132 in this case) your report will not print.

32. Once you complete screen 2 of the UDR definition, you can print your UDR by going back to the User Reports menu, and selecting 2.. Print Reports

33. Report Menu to View – relates to the access code the report was created for. U = user, S = System. The default is U which will limit the reports displayed to those created by the user. Specify S (System) to select reports designated as System reports by other users on the Utility Billing system. If the list of available reports is very long you might find it helpful to use the F5.. To ENTER help option. This will move the screen pointer to the list of reports displayed and you can scroll forward or backward thru the list to select the desired report.

34. Order – This can be used to change the sort order. For Example AC = Account, NA = Name, SA = Service Address. This will not be covered in detail in this session. Report/Text File – This is a more advanced feature that will not be covered in this session. It defaults to R (Report) and you would only want to change that to T (Text File) if for example you were generating this UDR as a way to get data from a text file into Excel.

35. Report Name - Once you select a report to print the Report Name will be displayed on the next screen. This screen will ask for a Beginning and Ending Account to print which you can use to limit your results or you can leave blank to include all accounts. Records to read - can be used to search your database a specified number of records at a time. If you enter 100 here the program will stop after it reads each set of 100 records, display some information detailing the number of records to be printed at that point and give you the option to stop and print them or continue with the next 100 records. You can leave this blank to read the entire file with no interruptions.

36. Additional Heading – can be used to include a heading for this run only which will print in addition to the two lines of heading that you can enter when you create the report. Once you complete the Additional Heading field it will ask you to Enter Printer Number. See next slide.

37. F5.. Search criteria - will be demonstrated later in this presentation. This option is used to define filters for selecting exactly the data you wish to print. F4.. To view/edit report info – can be used to view or edit the report definition.

38. Once the printer number is entered the report will be generated. Notice the results above include the Report Headings, Column Headings and DDF Fields we requested to print on the detail lines. Also notice they are sorted by Account #.

39. User Defined Reporting (Basics) This next section will demonstrate taking the very basic UDR created in section 1 and adding a DDF field to the report detail line as well as specifying a sort order. UDR’s are also very flexible in that once created you can easily modify the report to add or remove other DDF fields as needed.

40. To update or modify a UDR go back to the User Reports menu and select.. 1.. Define Reports (U - Update)

41. This is the same report definition 01 that we created earlier. I updated the report to include Sorting by Account Status, and Sub-Total on Account Status. In the Headings for Sub-totals I specified – Status Total That is all that was updated on screen 1 of the report definition.

42. On Screen 2 of the report definition, I added the Status field to print on the report detail line. Notice above that I still have 3 positions available. I have now used 129 of the available 132 positions for this report. Reminder – if you exceed the allowed number of print positions, the report will not print.

43. After updating the report definition I returned to the Print Reports menu and printed the report again. Notice above the Status is now included on the report detail line.

44. On page 10 after it printed the last Status A (Active) account, it printed a Status Total for the active accounts. It continued to print the Status F (Final) accounts and the Sub-Total for final accounts, then continued printing the Status I (Inactive) accounts. It is sorted by Status, and Sub-Totaling by Status.

45. User Defined Reporting (Basics) Section 3 – Filtering with Search Criteria This next section will demonstrate using the Search Criteria option to filter the data to be included on the UDR. Filtering the data using Search Criteria is how you manage to limit the information on the report to exactly what you need to see.

46. To define Search Criteria for a UDR select option 2.. Print Reports from the User Reports menu. Notice that the Search Criteria is defined when printing the report rather than as part of the report definition.

47. I selected to Print report Number 1 for the user THMS. This is the same report that we created in section 1 and modified in section 2.

48. After you select the report from the first screen of the reports selection menu it will continue to display the screen above. On this screen you could filter by account number range if you only wanted to print a range of accounts. We are instead going to do a more sophisticated filter by choosing the F5 Search Criteria option.

49. On the top half of the Search Criteria screen, you have a F5 option that will list the DDF fields available to use for Search Criteria Categories. You also have a list of the Possible Conditions.

50. I specified to filter the records for printing by Account Status where the Account Status = (Equal) to T (Terminated). I added a second filter on the Total Amount Due where the Total Amount Due is > (Greater) than 1000.00 Notice below you can add as many as 5 filters using the search criteria definition screen. This allows you to do some very specify filters for your UDR.