User Defined Fields for MAS 500 SM-1004

Transcription

1 OVERVIEW User Defined Fields for MAS 500 SM-1004 This EASY Solution modifies MAS 500 entities to create new fields to store user defined data. In addition to supporting numerous additional fields, (up to 60 user defined fields per entity depending on form space), this solution adds flexibility for the user defined field by adding form controls such as checkbox, dropdown, and lookup. Fields are automatically placed on a user defined tab in the MAS 500 entity form. For additional control of placement and sizing of the UDFs, MAS 500 Customizer is supported. UDF setup allows the user to control field tab stops, labels, and mouse over tool tips. For greater user entry control, a validated list field type is available with default values which will be displayed as a drop down on the form. Also included is validation using standard MAS 500 lookups as well as a custom lookup type for validation with data tables within the immediate SQL server whether internal or external to MAS 500. Once the UDF tables have been created, they are now available as part of the MAS 500 schema and ready for you to add them to your Crystal Reports and Business Insights Explorer views. INSTALLATION When you have the installation folder saved to your server or client computer, open it up and double click the install.exe file. NOTE: the install folder does not have to be located on the local machine for successful installation The initial installation screen (Figure 1) will give you the option of performing a client installation, a server installation, or the combination of the two. Figure 1 The Macabe Associates, Inc Third Ave, Suite 950 Seattle, Wa (206) FAX (206) (800)

2 NOTE: After you make your installation choice, and before the installation process begins, the user will first be prompted to read and agree to the Macabe Associates license agreement (see Figure 2) Figure 2 Client Installation: The client installation will install the software components to the local computer with which to run the EASY solution. If you elect to perform a client installation from the initial menu screen and click Next, the upgrade will proceed silently until a completion message is displayed. In addition to clicking the install.exe program, you may also perform the client installation through a command line interface. To do so, open a command prompt, navigate to the location of the installation files, and enter the install.exe /c command Server only Installation: The Server installation will install the software components to the central SQL Server database where MAS 500 is installed. If a Server only installation is chosen from the first screen and the Next button is selected, then a new screen will appear, after the license agreement is accepted, that will deal with the Server details of the installation. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 2 of 12

3 On the server installation page, the user will need to choose the SQL Server and Database on which MAS 500 resides (See Figure 3). Enter in the name of the server where MAS 500 is installed and click the Search button in order to search for databases on that server. Once that is done, select the appropriate database where MAS 500 is located (such as mas500_app) and select the install button on the menu to run the installation. Figure 3 M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 3 of 12

4 During the installation process, the Menu Selection screen will be displayed and you will be prompted to select the task menu where you would like the EASY solution task items added (See Figure 4). Figure 4 The main server installation menu will show you the progress of your installation as it goes through the various steps of the procedure. When the Installation Complete message is shown, you may close the install menus and proceed to open MAS 500. Server and Client Installation: The Server and client installation will install the database components to the central SQL Server database where MAS 500 is installed as well as installing the software components to the local computer installation. If a Server and client installation is chosen from the first screen and the Next button is selected, then the installation will proceed just as if the user had selected a Server only installation with the client installation running silently in tandem with the server installation. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 4 of 12

5 OPERATION To enable EASY Solutions from the MAS 500 task bar, select System Manager and then select the EASY Solutions folder. From this folder, select the EASY Solutions Control Center where each EASY Solution will be available to enable. Some parts in the form may also contain hyper links to their unique set up screen (See Figure 5). Figure 5 M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 5 of 12

6 Once you have enabled the UDF entity, access the UDF Entity Maintenance program from the EASY Solutions folder under the System Manager section of the MAS 500 taskbar to start creating UDFs. The UDF Entity Maintenance program allows you to create UDF tables for each available UDF module such as Maintain Projects. When you open this form, there is an initial field to select the UDF Entity to be set up. There are also two tabs in the form which contain Header and Detail data. After selecting an entity, the Header tab will fill with default data for the Tab Name which can be overridden (See Figure 6). To view the manual for the documentation select the manual button in the upper right hand corner. This will launch a PDF version of the EASY Solutions manual. Figure 6 Select the Detail Tab to maintain the individual UDFs. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 6 of 12

7 When entering a new UDF, the first three fields in the first column are required. As you configure the characteristics of each UDF moving down the first column, you may be prompted to enter information into the second column based upon your entry. For example if you select Validated list as a data type for your UDF, the Values button is activated and you may select it to configure a validated list. The following fields are available for entry when configuring UDFs. After entering data into these fields for the individual UDF and selecting the OK button at the bottom of column 2, the grid at the bottom of the form will populate indicating the saved settings for that UDF. Label (Title) This is a required field This is the label that will appear when the field is added to the form. Up to 18 characters will display on the form. For display of more characters, utilize the Customizer module. Field (Column) Name This is a required field This is the name of the column in the SQL database. This name will be checked against a list of reserved words and for illegal characters; spaces are not allowed. Field Type This is a required field The following are the available field types and their definitions o AlphaNumeric: any sequence of letters and numbers or symbols o Check Box: a single box that can be selected or deselected. o Currency: Allows the entry of numbers only and will mask with a dollar ($) sign and two decimals. 1,123,123,123, o Custom Lookup: This field type allows the user to create a UDF that is a lookup into any table within the SQL Server database whether it is inside or outside the MAS 500 database. The Custom Lookup frame (see figure 7) on the right side of the form will activate when this option is selected to allow the users to configure this lookup. Once the configuration has been completed, the user should select the Build Lookup button which will create the lookup definition within MAS 500. After building the lookup, the user is provided with an acknowledgement that the lookup was successfully created. Once the user has selected OK on the acknowledgment, the dialog box will close and the user may select the OK button on the detail tab to complete the set up of the UDF (see Figure 7). After selecting the OK button and adding this custom lookup to the grid, the details of the custom lookup will not be visible and it will be displayed as a Standard Lookup. The SQL or Windows user logged into MAS 500 needs to have access into any databases the lookups access for successful creation. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 7 of 12

8 Figure 7 o Date: This is a UDF that is masked as a date field; it will appear as mm/dd/yyyy. o Decimal: This UDF will allow the user to enter numbers with a level of specificity of up to 12 places to the left of the decimal and 3 to the right of the decimal. 123,123,123, o Integer: This UDF only stores whole positive numbers and will be masked with comas. 1,123,123,123 M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 8 of 12

9 o Standard Lookup: This UDF type allows the user to select a standard MAS 500 lookup. Once this type has been selected, the Standard Lookup configuration fields on the right will be activated (see figure 8). Use the Lookup ID control to select a MAS 500 lookup, and select the description from the drop down list next it. The user may select No Display for a blank description display on the form. Figure 8 M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 9 of 12

10 o Validated List: This UDF type allows the user to create a drop down on the form containing a specified list of values. After selecting validated list as the type, select the values button to create and maintain the list of values to be displayed on the UDF tab. You may enter, delete and move the values up or down in the display list. Direct entry in the grid is not allowed (see figure 9). Figure 9 Length: is available only when selecting AlphaNumeric and will default to a field length of 20 but may be up to 255 characters. Utilize the standard MAS 500 Customizer module on the UDF entity form to increase the display size of this text box. Required: Select this box to require entry into the field. This is available for all field types except Check box. Upon exiting the form, if you fail to enter data in a required field the user is prompted to enter data before exiting. Visible on Form: This field is available for all field types, and it defaults to checked. To no longer display a UDF on the UDF entity tab, deselect this check box. Default Value: Enter the default value for any UDF field on the form when a new record is created. No value will be defaulted to an existing record. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 10 of 12

11 Tab Order: This value is defaulted to the next sequential number for the UDF entity, but may be overridden to allow the user to maintain the tab stop order in data entry. The Primary key value for the UDF table will always be tab stop 1. Tooltip for field: Create your own tooltip available to users during data entry. When set up is complete for all UDFs, the user will select the green check (finish and save) at the top of the form. The user is then prompted to create the table (see figure 10). Upon selecting yes, the table is created and you will no longer be able to edit the column name field, type or length. Figure 10 M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 11 of 12

12 HELPFUL HINTS The User may only create one User Defined Table (UDT) per included MAS 500 entity. All UDF tables will be named <standard table>udf_mac (EX timitemudf_mac) to avoid duplication. In order to display the UDFs created by the UDF Entity Maintenance form, the user must purchase a Macabe Associates UDF module such as Customer Maintenance or Sales Order Entry. If a user defined field is selected to be not visible, the field should not also be selected to be required. This EASY Solution is compatible with SQL SERVER 2005 and later. DOCUMENTATION Only changes made by The Macabe Associates, Inc. to the standard operation of Sage Software, Inc., MAS 500 application have been documented in this manual. Operations not documented in this manual are standard procedures of MAS 500 processing. Standard MAS 500 processes, data entry screens, inquiry screens, reports, updates, etc., have not been changed unless addressed in this document. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sage and MAS 500 are the registered trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. EASY Solutions is a trademark of The Macabe Associates, Inc. Seattle, WA. M500-SM-1004 Revised 8/1/2008 Page 12 of 12