SunSystems 5 admin and user interface

SunSystems 5 Administration and User Interface Delegate Guide

SunSystems 5 – Administration and User Interface Delegate Guide

SunSystems document version 5.3.1 October 2006 Under Development Based on SunSystems software version 5.3.1 Copyright © 1982-2006 Systems Union Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. The copyright of this document and the computer software described herein and provided herewith are the property of Systems Union Holdings Ltd. No part of this publication or the computer software may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means or otherwise used without the express written permission of Systems Union Holdings Ltd. Systems Union Holdings Ltd Systems Union House 1 Lakeside Road Aerospace Centre Farnborough Hampshire GU14 6XP United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0) 1252 556000 For regional offices, visit our web site: www.sunsystems.com All trademarks mentioned are the products of their respective owners

SunSystems – System Admin and User Interface Delegate Guide - Version 5.3.1, October 2006 of 263

SunSystems 5 Administration Contents

About this Delegate Guide 6

1. Typographical Conventions 6

Course Agenda 7

Session 1 – Introduction and Overview 8

2. Course Prerequisites 8

3. Course Aims 8

4. Course Objectives 8

5. How this Course relate to other SunSystems 5 Courses 8

6. Start and Finish Times 9

7. Logistics 9

8. Introductions 9

9. Questions 10

Session 2 - User Manager 11

10. Session Aim 11

11. Session Objectives 11

12. Session Overview 11 12.1.Introduction to User Manager 12 12.2.User Manager and other Systems Union Products 15

13. New User Concepts in SunSystems 5.3.1 16 13.2.Creating a new SunSystems 5 User Group 18 13.3.Adding Users 39 13.4.Adding Data Access Groups 43 13.5.Creating User Groups for Vision Reporting ServicesError! Bookmark not defined. 13.6.Setting Security Policy 49 13.7.Managing Application Role 54

Session 3 – Navigator 57

14. Session Aim 57


15. Session Objectives 57 15.1.Navigator 58

Session 4 – Business Unit Administration 82

16. Session Aim 82

Session Objectives 82

17. Session Overview 82 17.1.Business Unit Create 83 17.2.Business Unit Setup 85 17.3.Business Unit Copy 87 17.4.Business Unit Delete 91

Session 5 – ‘Z’ Functions 92

18. Session Aim 92


20. Session Overview 92 20.1.Clear Operator 93 20.2.Clear Financial Locks 94

Session 6 – Documents, Reports and Listings 97

21. Session Aim 97


23. Session Overview 97 23.1.Linking a Report to its Report Writer Executable 98 23.2.Document Format Setup 100 23.3.Transaction Reference Setup 112 23.4.Number Stream Setup 116

Session 8 – Data Audit 118

24. Session Aim 118


26. Session Overview 118 26.1.Setting up the Data Audit Maintenance Plan 119 26.2.Setting up the Data Audit Configuration 122

Session 9 - Archiving 130

27. Session Aim 130


29. Ledger Cleardown 131 29.2.Order Fulfilment Archiving 136


Session 10 – Query Manager 143

30. Session Aim 143


32. Session Overview 143 32.1.Query Manager 144 32.2.Data Access Manager 159 32.3.Adding Query Definitions to a menu 190

Session 11 – Forms Design 192

33. Session Aim 192


35. Session Overview 192 35.1.Accessing Form Designer 194 35.2.Creating a New Form 203

Appendix 1 – Data Dictionary 239

36. Session Aim 239


38. Session Overview 239 38.1.Using Data Dictionary Editor 240

Appendix 2 – Filter Designer 244

39. Session Aim 244


41. Session Overview 244 41.1.Creating Filters 245


SunSystems 5 Administration About this Delegate Guide This delegate guide is intended to supplement tutor led training for SunSystems 5. It is not designed for self-study, nor to replace or replicate SunSystems online help and documentation.

SunSystems 5 online help and documentation is available from:

• Help menu within SunSystems 5 applications.

• Windows Start menu, by selecting SunSystems 5 >> SunSystems 5 Documentation, once SunSystems 5 is installed.

• Product >> Online Documentation section of Systems Union intranet (Infodesk) - http://infodesk.

• Product section of Systems Union extranet (PartnerNet) - http://partners.systemsunion.com.

• Customer Support Online section of Systems Union internet site - http://www.sunsystems.com.

1. Typographical Conventions Within this delegate the following icons are used:

Notes.

Tips and Tricks.

Function Names(Shortcut Codes).

Elements that must be setup or available to support the area under discussion.


SunSystems 5 Administration Course Agenda

Session 1 – Introduction and Overview 8

Session 2 - User Manager 11

Session 3 – Navigation Manager Editor 57

Session 4 – Business Unit Administration 82

Session 5 – ‘Z’ Functions 92

Session 6 – Documents, Reports and Listings 97

Session 8 – Data Audit 118

Session 9 - Archiving 130

Session 10 – Query Manager 143

Session 11 – Forms Design 192

Appendix 1 – Data Dictionary 239

Appendix 2 – Filter Designer 244

http://infodesk/

http://partners.systemsunion.com/

http://www.sunsystems.com/


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 1 – Introduction and Overview

2. Course Prerequisites • Computer skills at consultant level

3. Course Aims • To review administration functions in SunSystems 5

• To review how the user interface and security are configured

4. Course Objectives By the end of this course you will

• Create a new operator

• Create a new operator group

• Create a new Data Access Group

• Create a Business Unit

• Copy a Business Unit to another Business Unit

• Delete a Business Unit

• Clear an Operator

• Serialize SunSystems

• Perform Archiving

• Configure Data Audit

• Archive Transactions

• Define a new query

• Create a new Ledger Entry Form

5. How this Course relate to other SunSystems 5 Courses This course is designed for first times users of SunSystems and assumes no prior knowledge of the system. This course is a pre-requisite for any other SunSystems 5 training course.


6. Start and Finish Times This course runs over two days. Your tutor will provide details of:

• Start times

• Break times

• Finish times

7. Logistics Your tutor will provide details of:

• Facilities available during breaks

• Restaurants

• Restrooms/toilets

• Messages/phones

• Security

• Emergency measures

• Use of equipment after class hours (if applicable)

• Other important items

8. Introductions • Tutor: ! Background and education ! Current position ! Experience

• Delegates: ! Your name ! Department ! Time with SU/SunSystems ! Experience of Order Fulfilment ! Expectations:

− Why are you here?

− How will you use the knowledge gained from this course?


9. Questions Please feel free to ask questions at any time. Your tutor will be happy to answer all questions provided you allow for the following responses:

• “We’ll be discussing that later”.

• “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and let you know later”. Please pay full attention to the tutor whilst they are lecturing.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 2 - User Manager

10. Session Aim To review the tools available to create Operators, Operator Groups and Data Access Groups.

11. Session Objectives By the end of this session you will:

• Create an Operator Group

• Create an Operator and link them to an Operator Group

• Create a Data Access Group

12. Session Overview In this session we look at User Manager and how this tool is used to create Operators, Operator Groups and Data Access Groups. This tool will allow you to grant permissions to enable you to restrict permissions to functions within Sun.


12.1. Introduction to User Manager User Manager is a new tool supplied with SunSystems 5 that allows you to manage access to SunSystems and other Systems Union products. If you select Operator Setup (OPS) or Operator Group (OGS) from the menu within SunSystems it will take you to the new User Manager utility (you will be required to logon.) To run User Manager, go to Programs, Systems Union, Security and then select User Manager and the following window will be displayed:

Log in to User Manager as the Super User, suadmin and enter password and the following window will be displayed: When SunSystems 5.3.1 is installed an administration user, suadmin is created automatically.

suadmin is created automatically if you carry out an express install. If you do a custom installation you will be prompted to create an administration user defining the user name and password of your choosing.


This tool allows you to create SunSystems users. Each person who logs onto SunSystems must have a user record. The user record defines the group the user belongs to, their user code, password and default system access information. You can also create User Groups. Each user belongs to a single user group. The user group determines: The menu structure the user will be assigned to, determining Access to Functions Access to Reports Access to Inquiries Access to External Functions It also determines a range of miscellaneous permissions determining access to periods by module


Over-ride permission for tolerances for invoice matching, expenditure and commitments. Access to re-print order fulfilment documents

Operator Sam Jones

Operator Jane Smith

Operator Group ACCPAY

Menu Created and EditedUsing Navigator in SunSystems.


12.2. User Manager and other Systems Union Products When you select the groups tab, you will see existing user groups, not just for SunSystems, but also groups that have been created for other Systems Union products. In the example below you can see Reporting Users permissions and SunSystems Connect Users.

When you highlight a Group, the users who are a member of that group are displayed.


13. New User Concepts in SunSystems 5.3.1

When SunSystems 5.3.1 is installed an administration user, suadmin is created automatically.

suadmin is created automatically if you do an express install. If you do a custom installation you will be prompted to create an administration user defining the user name and password of your choosing.

An administration user can create new User Groups, Users, Data Access Groups and set Global security options within User Manager. If you add a SunSystems 5 User Group to the Administrator User Profile the Administration User will also be able to access SunSystems with the permissions defined for that user group. There must be at least one administration user defined. Non administration users can access User Manager, however they can only see their own user record (and may be limited by security from changing anything other than their password). When you create other users you can choose to assign the administration group to them. Thus, you can choose the number of administration users.

13.1.1. Super User You may define one user as the Super User. The Super User can perform administration functions within SunSystems:

• System Serialization (ZS)

• Data Migration (DM)

• Business Unit Create (BUC)

• Business Unit Copy (BUCPY)

• Business Unit Delete (BUDLT)

• Clear Financials Locks (ZL) In addition to being able to perform Sunsystems administration functions the super user may belong to SunSystems 5 User Groups and have functional access to SunSystems. The Super User does not have administration rights within User Manager unless they are assigned to the Systems Union Domain Administrator Group.


13.1.2. Logging in and Logging out When you log into SunSystems the first time and your user record is configured for Windows Authentication you will not be required to enter a user name or password. The system will log you on using the credentials supplied by your windows log on. When you log on using standard authentication you will be required to enter your user name and password the first time you log on after you start your PC. If you exit from SunSystems and subsequently select to go back into SunSystems you will not be required to supply your user name and password, the information is cached from their first log on. A new utility has been provided called Systems Union Login Status. You will find the icon on the task bar.

Click on the Icon

The cached User Name currently logged on will be displayed. If you need to log into SunSystems using another user name, click Log Out. Once you have logged out, if you log onto SunSystems you will be prompted for User Name and Password. If other applications such as Vision Reporting Services are running processes under the user you are logging out they will not be affected.


13.2. Creating a new SunSystems 5 User Group

Operator Group Setup (OGS)

A new group may be created through User Manager or by selecting OGS from within Navigation Manager. If accessing through Sun the system will direct you through to User Manager. To access User Manager select Start, Programs, Systems Union, Security, User Manager and the following window will be displayed:

Enter User Name and password and the following window will be displayed:


Select the Group Tab, right click on SunSystems 5 Users Click Add Group

Enter the Group Name and Description Double click on SunSystems Operator Group

Enter the Operator Group Code, Short Heading and Lookup code.The new group needs to be saved before you can define Miscellaneous Permissions or add it to a Data Access Group.


13.2.1. Deleting and Reinstating User Groups

Groups can be deleted, the system holds the record of the group which enables you to undelete the deleted group. You cannot create another group using the code of a previously deleted group. The system will suggest that you undelete the deleted group and edit it. To delete a group, right click on the group and select Delete Group You cannot delete a group that has Users attached to it. Remove users first, then delete group. To re-use a deleted group, click on the SunSystems 5 Operator Group and select Display deleted Groups.

Click on the group you wish to reinstate and click edit Select Undelete Group


Click OK


13.2.2. Assigning Miscellaneous Permissions to an Operator Group Select the Group you wish to define Miscellaneous Permissions for and then select SunSystems 5 Miscellaneous Permissions.

Click Add

Each User Group can have different miscellaneous permissions set for each Business Unit. Select the Business Unit you wish to edit miscellaneous permissions for.


General

Accounting Open Periods From/To An operator can post journals to any periods in this range. If you leave both fields blank, there are no posting restrictions. You can use relative period numbers, for example +nnn or -nnn, where nnn is the number of periods after or before the current period. You can also enter C, for Current, to allow postings to the current period only. Accounting Open Dates From/To This controls the only date, or a range of transaction dates, for which operators can post journals. If you leave both fields blank, there are no posting restrictions. You can use relative dates, in the form +nnn and -nnn, where nnn is the number of days after or before the current date. You can also enter T, for Today's date, to allow postings to the current system date only.

The fields above override those that are preset in Ledger Setup (LS).


Bank Overdrawn Warning Use this to determine how members of this operator group are warned about payments causing an account to be overdrawn. The system displays a warning message if a payment run is likely to take a bank account into an overdrawn position. You may want to restrict the presentation of this warning. Select one of the following:

All Messages - the account code and overdraft amount are displayed. Indicate that Some Accounts are overdrawn - no amount is displayed. Block All Messages - no message is displayed.

Closed Period Amendments Select this option to allow members of this group to enter adjustment journals for closed accounting periods. Account Types This enables you to determine which type of accounts the member of this operator group can access. Check the appropriate fields. Apply Restrictions – Transactions and Static Data Maintenance Account type This enables you to determine which type of accounts the member of this operator group can access. When you use ledger entry/import or reporting and inquiry function, check the appropriate fields.


Movement Order

If you wish to restrict the entry period or date on movement transactions for the operator group you can use the following fields to define specific ranges of periods and dates. Transactions can then only be entered within these ranges. These are referred to as the open ranges. Leave these fields blank if you do not wish to set these restrictions.

The following fields override those that are preset in Inventory Business Setup (IBS).

Mvt Open Date From The first date in the range. Mvt Open Date To The last date in the range. Mvt Open Period From The first period in the range.


Mvt Open Period To The last period in the range. Instead of defining these specific dates or periods which then have to be maintained, you can ask the system to calculate the Open Ranges relative to the current date or period. To do this enter a positive or negative number in the following fields. For example, if the Relative Open Period From field is set to -3 and the Relative Open Period To field is set to +3, the Open Range is calculated as starting three periods before the current period and three periods after the current period.

Mvt Rel Open Date From Used to calculate the first date in the range. Mvt Rel Open Date To Used to calculate the last date in the range. Mvt Rel Open Period From Used to calculate the first period in the range. Mvt Rel Open Period To Used to calculate the last period in the range.


Purchase Order

If you wish to restrict the entry period or date on Purchase transactions for the operator group you can use the following fields to define specific ranges of periods and dates. Transactions can then only be entered within these ranges. These are referred to as the Open Ranges. Leave these fields blank if you do not wish to set these restrictions.

The following fields override those that are preset in Purchase Business Setup (PBS).

Purchasing Open Date From The first date in the range. Purchasing Open Date To The last date in the range. Purchasing Open Period From/ Purchasing Open Period To The first/last period in the range.


Instead of defining these specific dates or periods which then have to be maintained, you can ask the system to calculate the Open Ranges relative to the current date or period. To do this enter a positive or negative number in the following fields. For example, if the Relative Open Period From field is set to -3 and the Relative Open Period To field is set to +3, the Open Range is calculated as starting three periods before the current period and three periods after the current period. Purchasing Rel Open Date From Used to calculate the first date in the range. Purchasing Rel Open Date To Used to calculate the last date in the range. Purchasing Rel Open Period From Used to calculate the first period in the range. Purchasing Rel Open Period To Used to calculate the last period in the range. Maximum Purchase Order Value Enter the maximum purchase order value that can be ordered from a supplier by members of this operator group. The following fields are used with Purchase Invoice Matching. They enable you to define tolerances used in the Purchase Invoice Matching function. That is, figures entered in these fields are applied, both plus or minus, to the amount of the transaction line or multiple lines selected. The value label that the Tolerance Value Percentage and Tolerance Value are applied to is defined in the Match Value field in the Purchase Type. Options for these fields are: Blank - no tolerance is applied. 0 - zero tolerance is applied. That is, exact matches only are allowed. A figure other than 0. That is, the figure to be used by the tolerance. For example, 10.


Purchase Invoice Match Tolerance Quantity Percentage The percentage tolerance to be applied to the quantity of items when matching orders to invoices. For example, a purchase order of 100 with a match tolerance quantity percentage of 10, can be matched to a single invoice or combination of invoices that total between 90 and 110. This also applies when matching multiple orders to a single invoice. Purchase Invoice Match Tolerance Value Percentage The percentage tolerance to be applied to the value when matching order to invoices. For example, a purchase order with a value of £100 with a match tolerance value percentage of 10 can be matched to a single invoice or combination of invoices that total between £90 and £110. This also applies when matching multiple orders to a single invoice. Purchase Invoice Match Tolerance Value The tolerance figure to be applied to the value when matching orders to invoices. This is the maximum value by which an invoice can differ from an order. This tolerance value overrides the tolerance quantity percentage and the tolerance value percentage.


13.2.3. Sales Order Entry

If you wish to restrict the entry period or date on Sales transactions for the operator group you can use the following fields to define specific ranges of periods and dates. Transactions can then only be entered within these ranges. These are referred to as the Open Ranges. Leave these fields blank if you do not wish to set these restrictions.

The following fields override those that are preset in Sales Business Setup (SBS).

Sales Open Date From The first date in the range. Sales Open Date To The last date in the range. Sales Open Period From The first period in the range.


Sales Open Period To The last period in the range.

Instead of defining these specific dates or periods which then have to be maintained, you can ask the system to calculate the Open Ranges relative to the current date or period. To do this enter a positive or negative number in the following fields. For example, if the Relative Open Period From field is set to -3 and the Relative Open Period To field is set to +3, the Open Range is calculated as starting three periods before the current period and three periods after the current period. Sales Rel Open Date From Used to calculate the first date in the range. Sales Rel Open Date To Used to calculate the last date in the range. Sales Rel Open Period From Used to calculate the first period in the range. Sales Rel Open Period To Used to calculate the last period in the range.


Financials

Apply Restrictions – Transactions and Static Data Maintenance Use these options to determine whether members of this operator group require permissions when reporting or inquiring on account codes and journal types etc.


Transaction Analysis- Apply Restrictions

Use these options to determine whether members of this operator group require permissions when using entry/import or reporting and inquiring on ledger analysis dimension code 1 to 10.


SDM Analysis- Apply Restrictions

Use these options to determine whether members of this operator group require permissions when using entry/import or reporting and inquiring on ledger analysis dimension code 1 to 10.


Overrides

Override Free Quantity Select this option if you want members of this operator group to be able to override warning messages regarding the available quantity in inventory, as defined in Inventory Business Setup (IBS). Override Physical Quantity Select this option if you want members of this operator group to be able to override warning messages regarding the physical quantity of items in inventory. Override Over Commitment If you use Financials, you can invoke over commitment checking as purchase orders are entered. Using over commitment checking, an order line value must be within the remaining budget for the account, taking any existing commitments into account, or within the tolerance percentage or amount of this. Check this box if you want members of this operator group to be able to override the over commitment checking, that has been set in Purchase Business Setup (PBS). If the over commitment checking override is selected, you must complete the following fields to specify the tolerances to be applied:


Over Commit Tolerance Value The permitted value tolerance applied by the system when carrying out over commitment checking. The order line value can be over budget by this value and still be accepted. Over Commit Tolerance Percent The permitted percentage tolerance applied by the system when carrying out over commitment checking. The order line value can be over budget by this percentage and still be accepted.

Override Over Expend If you are serialized for SunSystems Financials, this box is checked to invoke over expenditure checking as invoices are entered. Using over expenditure checking, an invoice line must be within the remaining budget for the account, or within the tolerance percentage or amount of this. Check this box if you want to override the over commitment checking, that has been set in Purchase Business Setup (PBS). If the over expenditure checking override is selected, you must complete the following fields to specify the tolerances to be applied: Over Expend Tolerance Value The permitted value tolerance applied by the system when carrying out over expenditure checking. The invoice line value can be over budget by this amount and still be accepted. This applies only to the selected operator group. Over Expend Tolerance Percent The permitted percentage tolerance applied by the system when carrying out over expenditure checking. The invoice line value can be over budget by this percentage and still be accepted. This applies only to the selected operator group. Override Credit Limit This indicates if the operators in this operator group can have overrides applied when Credit Limit Checking is performed. If the credit limit override is selected, you must complete the following fields to specify the tolerances to be applied: Override Credit Limit Value The permitted value tolerance applied by the system when checking the credit limit. This amount is added to the customer's credit limit when credit checking is performed


Override Credit Limit Percent The permitted percentage tolerance applied by the system when checking the credit limit. This percentage is applied to the customer's credit limit, and added to the limit when credit checking is performed in sales order processing. This applies only to the selected operator group.

If both the Override Credit Limit Value and Override Credit Limit Percent are set, the lower amount is used during processing.

Override Overdue Invoice Limit This indicates if the operators in this operator group can have overrides applied when Overdue Invoice Checking is performed. If the overdue invoice limit override is selected, you must complete the following fields to specify the tolerances to be applied: Override Overdue Invoice Limit Value The permitted value tolerance applied by the system when performing Overdue Invoice Checking. This amount is added to the customer's overdue invoice limit when overdue invoice checking is performed in sales order processing. This applies only to the selected operator group. Manual Allocations Actual Check this box if you want this operator group to be able to use manual allocations against actualised issues, that is, items that have already been marked as issued. For example, if the wrong item was picked or it was damaged whilst being loaded.


Reprint

Use these options to determine which reports the members of this operator group can reprint.


13.3. Adding Users

Operator Setup (??)

Once you have created your User Groups you can then add the Users and assign them to the relevant group you have created. To add a user With User Manager open, select Add User from the Edit Menu or select OS from Navigation Manager. The following window will then be displayed:

Enter the User Name Enter the Full Name and Description for the user You must set authentication for this user which can either be Windows Authentication which will use the users Operating System username and password or you can use the standard authentication. For standard check the ‘Enable Standard Authentication for this user’ checkbox

Click on the to set a password for this user.


If you wish the user to change their password then select the ‘user must change password at next login’ box Next set the preferred language

To assign the user to a user group click the button and the following window will be displayed:

Select the relevant group for this user from the list displayed and click OK.

A user may only be a member of one group.

SunSystems

They can be a SunSystems User and a SunSystems Reporting User.

Once the user is a member of a group you will be able to set the options for SunSystems 5 and SunSystems 5 authorisation.


Select SunSystems 5 and the following window will be displayed:

Enter the user Operator Code – this code will be used to log in to SunSystems Enter the Lookup Code Enter the Short Heading If you wish to set a Default Business Unit then you can select it here Set the language Enter a default Budget if you wish to set one e.g. A for Actual. Select the Set Operating System Date from the drop down list: Force Entry – will force the user to enter a date Automatic – this will use the current system date Confirm at Login – will allow the user to confirm current date or enter a date Enter a path for the Temporary Work folder if necessary. This is used if you wish to save the data and .idx files to a different area to the default Sun area.


Select the Sun Systems Authorization Menu and the following window will be displayed:

Tick the Authorizer if you want this user to be an authorizer Enter the password that the user will use for authorisations Invalid Authorizations Count - A count of the number of times this user has attempted to enter an incorrect Authorization Password.

If a user locks their authorization password by entering it incorrectly on three consecutive occasions, the administrator can reset it by changing the value in this field to '0' zero.

Click OK and your User will now be created.


13.4. Adding Data Access Groups Data Access Groups enables you to add security at a data level. You can permit or prevent access to the following records: Items Control Desk – Drill Types Warehouses

Analysis Dimensions Employees Analysis Codes

Bank Details Business Units Suppliers

Filters Customers Budget Account Groups

Accounts Locations Movement Types

Approval Levels Resources Reconciliation Profiles

Purchase Types Ledger Transfers Sales Types

Event Profiles Quotation Types Purchase Order Line/Approval Stamps

Zones Purchase Invoice Line/Approval Stamps

Budget Ledgers

Aged Analysis Layouts Document Formats Financial analysis Layouts

Financial Statement Layouts Financial Table Formats Journal Types

Payment Profiles

Data Access Groups need to be considered as an integral part of security when implementing SunSystems 5. It is recommended that you determine client data security requirements prior to finalizing operator groups.


To add a Data Access Group: From the Settings menu, select SunSystems 5, Data Access Groups and the following window will be displayed:

A list is displayed of all the Data Access Groups already created. Click Add and the following window will be displayed:

Enter the Data Access Group Code, Short Heading and Lookup code.


Choose whether you want to make this group Include/Exclude by using the drop down list. Enter the description for the group. Finally select the Group Names that you wish to make part of this Data Access Group by selecting the available groups and clicking the right pointing arrow. Click OK Your Data Access Group will now be created. How to apply a Data Access Group

A list of all of the areas where Data Access Groups can be found is in the overview of this section. When setting up or maintaining these functions or data you may enter a data access group to be used. Some examples: Business Unit Setup


Where a Data Access Group is applied to a Business Unit, if the Data Access Group is inclusive, only those operator groups included in the Data Access Group will be able to access the Business Unit. Those operators who do not have access will not be able to see the Business Unit on the list of available Business Units. If the Data Access Group is exclusive, only those operator groups not included in the Data Access Group will be able to access the Business Unit. Those operators who are listed in the Data Access Group will not be able to see the Business Unit on the list of available Business Units. Analysis Code

When an analysis code is created, a Data Access Group Code can be provided to control who can post transactions with this analysis code, or from inquiring on transactions posted with this analysis code. If an operator group does not have access to an analysis code the code will not display on any lists of analysis codes for the selected analysis dimension. They cannot use the code, even if they type it in. They will not be able to select the code in an inquiry.


13.4.1. Setting the Super User

In SunSystems 4 and versions of SunSystems 5 prior to SunSystems 5.3.1 the system was installed with a user called Sun who could only carry out system administration functions. SunSystems 5.3.1 is not released with a Sun user. You need to create users, then define one of the users as the Super User or Administrator. This super user will have access to the functions defined for the user group they belong to as well as the following administration functions:

• System Serialization (ZS)

• Data Migration (DM)

• Business Unit Create (BUC)

• Business Unit Copy (BUCPY)

• Business Unit Delete (BUDLT)

• Operator Permissions Report (ZP)

• Clear Financials Locks (ZL).

You can only define one super user per Business Unit. The super user must have administration rights to the SunSystems 5 SQL database.


You must select a SunSystems user in User Manager to be the SunSystems Super User. From the menu select Settings, SunSystems, Set Super User and the following window will be displayed:

Highlight the required user in the list and click OK. This user will now be the dedicated Super User. The SunSystems SuperUser is the only Operator Id with access to the following functions: • Setting Security Policy

• Synchronizing Users and Groups


13.5. Setting Security Policy To access the security policy select Security Policy from the Settings Menu:

13.5.1. Authentication The Security Policy tab enables you to select the required security authentication to be used from the following options:

• Enable Windows Authentication - Windows credentials entered during operating system log in are passed through to User Manager. ODBC and JDBC connections are established using a trusted connection.

• Enable Standard Authentication - Basic level of security. User credentials are validated when User Manager is used.

• Force all users to change password at next login - Click Apply to implement this setting. A message is displayed in order for you to confirm this action. Once this has been set, you can unset it for individual users by using the Edit User function.


13.5.2. Password There are several settings for the user's password you can define using this tab. For example, how many unsuccessful attempts at log on are permitted before the user is locked out of the system, and the length of the password. To amend a setting, highlight the required line and double-click to display the relevant dialog box. Change the details as required and click Apply to enforce the changes.


13.5.3. Audit

Audit Trails

You can set up audit trails for the functions in User Manager by using the Event Sources shown on the Audit tab. Double-click on an Event Source, such as Users, to display the Event Type Setting dialog box. Check the check boxes for the functions to be included in the audit trail and click OK to save the settings. The settings are then shown in the Setting column on the Audit tab. For example, to define an audit trail to record when users are added and deleted only, double-click on the Users Event Source, and check the check boxes for Add and Delete.


Exporting the Audit Data To export the audit data in order to view and analyze it, select File, Audit Data Export Wizard. The Wizard guides you through the exporting process. Select the options, and follow the steps, as required.

The folder into which the data is exported by default is named C:\Programs\<installation folder>\SecurityServer.

13.5.4. User Rights The User Rights tab allows you to control whether users can change their properties by checking the Allow Users to update their properties box. Checking this box will not allow them to change authentication mode or group membership.


13.5.5. Synchronizing Users and Groups From the menu select Settings, SunSystems 5, Synchronize. Click Start on the dialog to start the replication process. The current synchronization status is displayed.

Information about users and groups are stored in User Manager, and also in the application's repository. As amendments are made in User Manager, they are automatically replicated in the application repository. There may be situations, however, where this automatic procedure fails and the information becomes un-synchronized. The system administrator is notified if this happens and they can then manually run the synchronize procedure.


13.6. Managing Application Role At SunSystems 5.3.1 if you are using RWF reporting or using the Data Dictionary Editor you must define an Application Role Name and Password. This is used to create a database application role in Enterprise Manager Automatically. To manage the application role select Settings, SunSystems 5, Manage Application role:

The following window will then be displayed:

Enter a role name and password and authenticate the password by re-entering it. Click OK and the Application Role will now be created.


The Application Role is also added to db_owner and inherits all of db_owners permissions. Once again this configuration is automatic based on the information entered in User Manager on the Manage Application form.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 3 – Navigator

14. Session Aim To review the new Navigator tool used to create and edit menus.

15. Session Objectives At the end of this session you will:

• Create a new menu

• Add a folder

• Add a function

• Attach an external program to a menu


15.1. Navigator Navigator provides an attractive and usable facility that is based on a model similar to Microsoft® Outlook 2003. Standard menu access for each user group is complemented by user defined choices for access to favourites, personalised queries and reports and regular tasks. At 5.3 the Navigator window appears once you have logged in and is very similar in appearance to Microsoft® Outlook 2003. Navigator consists of folders and functions. Navigator functions contain properties that specify the SunSystems function or external application that they link to, and how these items are invoked. For example, properties can be used to specify which SunSystems form is used when invoking a SunSystems function, or which file is automatically opened when invoking an external application. The menu structure, folder and function names and function properties such as shortcut codes are all user-definable when using Navigator.

SunSystems 5.3 Navigator does not come with a default menu, this must be created using the User Group Menu Designer function. Alternatively a utility is provided to convert existing .OPX files to the new Navigator menu structure if required.


Default Menu Creation After installing SunSystems if you are a member of a user or operator group for which a predefined menu has not been created for you, the first time you log into SunSystems you are asked if wish to create a default user menu:

The default menu includes all available functions within SunSystems to which your user/operator group has been granted permission.

If you are granted permission to access further functions after the default menu has been created and these are required in the menu you have two options:

• Edit the default menu using User Group Menu Designer (see section below)

• Delete the default menu by deleting each menu tab in User Group Menu Designer, if you log out of and then back into SunSystems you will be asked to create a new default menu.

Setting Up Permissions to Menu Items If you want to create a default menu for the operator group, you must first enable permission to Menu Items within User Manager. To set up group menu item permissions, from the Groups tab in User Manager, right-click on the required group and select Edit Group from the context menu.


Select the SunSystems 5 Menu Items options on the left hand menu, where you will see an associated list of SunSystems menu items:

Click the “+” plus sign next to a folder to expand its contents.


You will be able to grant access to individual menu items as well as menu item folders. By default and by selecting SunSystems at the top level you can grant access to all menu items. To retain your changes, click Apply and then OK. Navigator Menu in SunSystems After selecting menu items, dependant on the selections you have made, when you now log into SunSystems, if you select to create a default menu you will then be taking into the Navigator main menu:

To enable access to the Menu Items or folders that you have enabled, select the configure buttons option as displayed below and select “Show More Menu Tabs”


You will then be able to select the individual menu items or menu folders:

Click on the folders to expand them, or right mouse click to invoke the context menu:

Click on the “+” sign to expand the hierarchy:


Accessing the User Group Menu Designer The user group menu designer is the equivalent of Navigation Manager Editor (NME). This function will allow the design of a user definable menu structure.

You must have been given permission to use the User Group Menu Designer by the system administrator.

To access the User Group Menu Designer you must have first been set up with access, which is enabled within user manager.

15.2. Setting menu permissions for operator groups

Start – Programs –> Infor –> Security –> User Manager

Log into User Manager as your administrative user, typically Suadmin.

Select the Groups tab.


Double click on the Group for the user that you want to establish a menu.

On installation all users and groups must have been migrated.

Click on SunSystems 5 Menu Items menu option on the left hand side.


You can then see all of the functions available within SunSystems 5.

Select items that you wish to be available to the user group. To allow access to User Group Menu Designer then the “Enable access to Navigator Editor” must be checked.

Press okay to accept, and then log out of User Manager. Finally log the Suadmin user out from the SULogin Monitor.


The My Favourites menu tab is created when Navigator is installed. You can add items to this tab such as functions, folders and shortcuts to files and URL’s. Other tabs belong to different groups which you can view but not edit.


15.2.1. Checking out The first step will be to check out the menu that you wish to change or you wish to base your new menu on.

To check out a menu select the Check Out icon and a list of the menus available to check out will be displayed:

The menus displayed will be presented in the following format: Language Code/Operator Group Name e.g. 01ZZZZZ Therefore, you will see that ZZZZZ will be displayed many times as it has been created in various languages.

Changes cannot be made to ZZZZZ menu. To make changes you will need to check it out and save to a new group name and then make changes.

Select the menu that you wish to check out and select Check Out

Once the menu has been checked out you will now be able change it and/or save as a new name.


15.2.2. Checking In Once the required changes have been made to the menu you have created you will need to check it in to make it available.

To check in select the menu you wish to check in and click Check In Icon . The following window will then be displayed:

Select the menu that you wish to check in and select the Check In button

The menu will now be available to the members of the Operator Group that it is assigned to.


15.2.3. Saving the menu as a new name To save the checkout menu as a new menu select File, Save As and the following window will be displayed:

Choose the Operator Group that you wish to assign this menu to and select OK. The menu will then be renamed with the Operator Group name selected.


Menus can be saved as a Template by selecting the Template radial button. This will allow you to build a menu and base any subsequent menus on this template.

Menu files are saved as .OPX. Templates are saved as .OPX files but given a type of MTX.


15.2.4. Saving a Menu as a Template Saving a menu as a template allows the menu to be stored as a basis for future menus without assigning it to a specific operator group. Template file names are user-definable and given a file extension of .OPX and a type of MTX. To save a menu as a template: From the File menu select Save As and the following window will be displayed:

Select the Template radial button The Local Files area will then display a list of the OPX files currently checked out. Select the menu you wish to save as a template. The Local File Folder displays the path to the folder where your menu is to be saved. Enter a name for your template in the File Details field.


Click OK Your template will now be saved.

Once templates have been saved, they must be checked in to the server before they are available to any other users.

The template can then be used to create new menus by checking it out and saving as a new menu.


15.2.5. Inserting New Folders Once a menu to be edited has been checked out you may wish to insert a new folder. To insert a new folder: Within the selected objects pane, right click the folder in which you want to insert the new folder

Select Insert Folder and the following window will be displayed:

Enter the name of the folder you wish to create Select a location for the folder in the menu structure by using the Position in Folder radial buttons. This can be at the beginning or end of the folder listing, or you can specify that the folder be inserted after a particular function or folder using the drop down list. Click OK.


15.2.6. Inserting an Internal function Once a new menu has been created you may wish to create new functions. Whenever possible, you are advised to copy functions from other menus or templates and, if required, make any minor amendments necessary. This will ensure that all parameters are inserted correctly. To insert a new function: Ensure the menu to be edited has been checked out and opened Within the selected objects pane, right click the folder in which you want to insert a new function Select Insert New Function and the following window will be displayed:

Enter the name of the new function Select SunSystems function Select a location for the function in the menu structure using the Position in Folder radial buttons. Click OK


The Function Properties window will then be displayed:

Description will be automatically populated. Enter Shortcut name and choose an Icon for your function from the drop down list. If you wish to pick up a function from another server then you can put in the server name in the Server field. Enter the SunSystems internal function Id e.g. SALE for Ledger Entry. If you are not sure of the Id then open a similar function to find the Id that is used. If you have a form that you wish to invoke with this function then enter the name of the form in the Form field. When there is more than one form for the function, SunSystems prompts you to select a form during run-time. If you wish this function to work with a particular Business Unit then enter the name of the Business Unit in the Business Unit field. If you wish the function to work across all Business Units then leave this field blank. Select Navigation Manager from Function Context if you want the function to be accessible only from Navigation Manager. Select SunSystems Forms if you want the function to be invoked only from a command button on a SunSystems form. Otherwise select both. Enter whether you wish this function to work with the Actual or Budget Ledger. Function parameters can be used to preset certain options or values when Navigation Manager invokes a SunSystems function or filter. The options or values that can be preset are dependent on the SunSystems function or Filter.


When entering function parameters, they must be: ! Preceded by the Internal Function Id or filter definition Control Id to which

they relate ! Enclosed in ‘() brackets ! Separated by a ‘^’ caret

If function parameters that specify the verstion of a form to be used are omitted or are invalid, the Find Form List is displayed when the Navigation Manager function is used, prompting the user to select the required form. For example, if you wish to activate ledger entry for journal type GJ using form JE10 you would enter the following parameters:

Ledger Entry

Internal Function Id SALE1

Parameter 1 Ledger Entry Journal Type

Parameter 2 The version of the Ledger Entry main form to be used (internal function Id SALE1)

Therefore the parameter syntax will be: SALE1(GJ)^(JE10) Once the parameters have been entered your function is now complete:

Click OK and save your menu and check it in to make it available on the server.


Your function will then be displayed in the menu


15.2.7. Inserting External Functions As well as inserting internal SunSystems functions you can also add external functions to your menu. For example you may wish to add Microsoft Excel to your menu or even a specific spreadsheet from Microsoft Excel. To add an external function: Right click on the folder that you wish to add your function to and choose Insert Function The following window will then be displayed:

Enter a Function Description and select an executable type of External Choose where you wish to insert this external function by using the Position in Folder radial buttons. Click OK The following window will then be displayed:


Enter a shortcut name for this function and choose an Icon from the list to represent your function. Select navigation Manager from Function Context if you want the function to be accessible only from Navigation Manager. Select SunSystems Forms if you want the function to be invoked only from a command button on a SunSystems form. Otherwise select both. Enter the full path of the program to run in the Executable field. For example for Microsoft Excel you can enter C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe. The Command Line Argument field can be used to enter other parameters that your program requires. For example for a specific Excel spreadsheet you can enter “C:\My Documents\Accounts.xls”.

Always enclose the Command Line Argument in “” quotation marks.

Enter the path of your working directory or leave blank

Click OK


Your external function will then be displayed in the menu:

Save your menu and check it in to make it available on the server.


15.2.8. Deleting Folders and Functions To delete folders and functions from Navigation Manager Ensure the menu to be edited has been checked out and opened Right click the folder or function you want to delete Select Delete Folder or Delete Function

Any changes made to Navigation Manager menus must be saved and checked in to the server before they can be seen within Navigation Manager.

15.2.9. Deleting Menus You may wish to delete menus once they have been created. You cannot delete ZZZZZ menus. Select the check out icon and the following window will be displayed:

Select the menu you wish to delete Click Delete The menu files are deleted from the server, the Check Out window closes and you are returned to the main Navigation Manager Editor window.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 4 – Business Unit Administration

16. Session Aim To review the tools available in SunSystems 5 to create and administer Business Units

Session Objectives By the end of this session you will:

• Create a New Business Unit

• Describe how to copy one business unit to another

• Describe how to Delete a Business Unit

17. Session Overview In this session we look at how Business Units are created and administered using:

Business Unit Create Business Unit Setup Business Unit Copy Business Unit Delete


17.1. Business Unit Create

Business Unit Create (BUC)

A business unit is created for each entity dependant on the organisations structure. Therefore you may need to create many business units.

Business Unit Create (BUC) is used to create the database tables for a new business unit. You identify the code you want to use as the business unit. The three character code uniquely identifies the operating unit. You must use all three characters, and the first character cannot be numeric. Click the checkbox for financial tables only if you only wish to create the financial tables and not the order fulfilment tables for this Business Unit.

Select the language code using the button. The database will then show a list of the languages available. The Filegroup for tables and Filegroup for indexes fields default to Primary and these should not be changed. SunSystems creates all of the necessary database tables and files to support this new operating entity.


The Business Unit Create function is only available to SuperUsers.

Attempting to run these functions in multiple sessions may render your installation irrecoverable.

Before creating business units, ensure you have carried out an SQL backup of your entire installation.


17.2. Business Unit Setup

Business Unit Setup (BUS)

Once the Business Unit Create function is complete you may then set up the structure for your business unit: To setup the Business Unit enter the code that was used when you created the business unit tables. Enter the Business Unit description and press enter.


Change the Format, Date Details and Options as necessary and then select the Value 1 tab.

Enter the Base Currency Name of the currency for your business unit. Enter the Base Currency code. The business unit setup will then be complete. As mentioned before, Business Unit Setup is covered extensively in the Ledger Accounting Course.


17.3. Business Unit Copy

Business Unit Copy (BUCPY)

Use Business Unit Copy (BUCPY) to copy the business unit setup information and database tables from one existing business unit to another. If you haven't already created a new target business unit, then do so by using Business Unit Create (BUC). The target business unit must be empty when you copy information from another business unit.


Business Unit Copy ensures that no users are logged in to the target or source business unit before commencing a copy. Once a copy is underway, users who attempt to run functions in the target or source business units, receive a warning message. Business Unit Copy only ensures users are logged out of business units within the same database.

The Business Unit Create function is only available to non-SuperUsers.


Before copying business units, ensure you have carried out a full backup of your database.

Source SQL Server By default this automatically displays the name of your current SQL server or Oracle instance. Should you want to copy a business unit from another server, then the source server must be linked to your target server. For further information on linking servers, see your database server documentation. Source SQL Database By default this automatically displays the name of your current SQL database or Oracle schema. If you want to copy business units between different databases, you must run SunSystems within the target database. You must then specify the source database by entering its name in the Source SQL Database field. Source Business Unit Enter the code of the business unit you want to copy. It must be a valid and complete business unit both in terms of its business details and its database structure, otherwise attempting to copy it could result in run-time failures. If the specified business unit is in another database, then it must be for the same version of SunSystems.


Target Business Unit Enter the code of the target business unit that the source business unit is to be copied to. Suppress Transactions By default this check box is checked to stop the copying of business transactions tables and allows you to duplicate the static data details of business units. If this check box is unchecked all transaction details are also copied.

Copy SFLs By default this is set to allow any Form details that have been set up for the source business unit to be replicated for the target business unit. The copy process searches for SFLs that have been set up specifically for the source business unit. These can be set up to include other business units, but those set up for 'all' business units are ignored. For 'same' ServerFiles copying, the target business unit is included in the list of specified business units for those SFLs affected. For ‘across’ ServerFiles copying, the SFL is replicated in the target’s ServerFiles folder with only the source business unit code specified. Where the SFL already exists in the target ServerFiles folder, the existing specified business unit codes are retained. This process does not include the actual forms (.rfx files), which have to be recompiled manually. If the ServerFiles folder is changed, then it must include the full directory path details, for example, D:\SUN5\ServerFiles\. If the ServerFiles folder is on another machine then it must be made a ‘shared’ file and specified with the usual format \\OtherMachine\ServerFiles\. If installed properly SunSystems Session Manager has Administrative rights to the local machine. If not, BUCPY may not locate the SFL folder when attempting to access a server folder on another machine. In this case you need to do the following:

SunSystems Session Manager must use an account which has administrator privileges.


1. Obtain a suitable account. 2. From the Start menu select Settings, Control Panel. 3. Double-click Services. In the Services dialog select the SunSystems Session

Manager service.

4. Click the Stop button. Note that the status of Started disappears. 5. Double-click SunSystems Session Manager and enter your account details in

This Account and enter your Password. Click OK. 6. Restart the SunSystems Session Manager service by clicking Startup. Notice

that the Status reverts to Started.

Source SFL Folder By default this is set to the ServerFiles folder for the instance of SunSystems that you are running in. You can change this to the ServerFiles folder of another copy of SunSystems which may be necessary for inter database/server copying.


17.4. Business Unit Delete

Business Unit Delete (BUDLT)

Use Business Unit Delete to remove business units from your database. You must be logged in as the SunSystems SuperUser in order to access the Business Unit Delete function from Navigation Manager. Before deleting business units, ensure you have carried out an SQL backup of your entire installation. To delete a Business Unit: Select BUDLT and the following window will be displayed:

Enter the name of the business unit you want to delete, click OK. A list of available business units can be viewed by clicking the Query button.

Important Note: Unlike other SunSystems functions, Business Unit Create, Business Unit Copy and Business Unit Delete are not multi-user functions.


When deleting a business unit, any filters which are specific to that business unit are deleted. That is, if the filter is not set as 'All Business Units' and there are no business units left for the filter to belong to, then that filter is totally removed. Deleting a business unit amends all existing SFL files and deletes any business unit associations to the deleted business unit.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 5 – ‘Z’ Functions

18. Session Aim To review all ‘Z’ functions that are available in SunSystems 5.3.1.

19. Session Objectives By the end of this session you will be able to

• Clear an Operator - ZS

• Clear Financial Locks - ZL

• Serialize a Business Unit - ZS

20. Session Overview ‘Z’ functions are known as hidden functions. All Z functions can only be run by the Sun Super User.


20.1. Clear Operator

Clear Operator (ZC)

If, during log in, an invalid password is entered on three consecutive attempts, it is recorded as a login violation. Before the operator can log in again, their operator log on will have to be cleared. Other situations that will also result in an operator log on needing to be cleared are:

Choosing the Abort option when an error message occurs. Performing an End Task operator on a live session of SunSystems Turning off the PC (or power outages) without logging out of SunSystems.

A message displays stating that a violation occurred and that the administrator should be informed. Any subsequent attempt to log in using that Operator Id is unsuccessful. The cause of the violation is hidden from the user. To reset an Operator Id: Log in to SunSystems as the SunSystems Administrator. Select Clear Operator (ZC).

Enter the Operator Id and then click OK. A message appears confirming that Operator Id has been cleared.


20.2. Clear Financial Locks

Clear Financial Locks (ZL)

SunSystems prevents users from simultaneously running certain key functions which, if allowed, could result in data errors or inconsistencies. For example, if one user is currently running Payment Run, and a second user attempts to run Ledger Revaluation, the second user is prohibited, so that the two processes cannot simultaneously affect the same data. In order to do this, SunSystems records each user's current activity. If a user runs one of the key Financials functions, a lock is placed on all other key functions in the same business unit, until that user has completed the process. In the event of a system crash, or users being unable to exit their functions in the usual manner, Financials might be left in a state where its record of the current system activity is no longer correct. If this happens, the current activity record indicates that users are currently running functions when in reality they are not. This is especially important if any of them are indicated as running one of the key functions. To clear locks: To display the current status of the functions that are currently running, select Clear Financials Locks from Navigation Manager. You can clear individual activity sessions by tagging one or more lines and using the Clear Lines action, or if necessary you can clear all displayed activity sessions using the Clear All action. If you do not want to clear any sessions, or are not sure, you can exit from the form without affecting any of the displayed sessions.

Important Note: Use this function with extreme caution. Before clearing any activity sessions, you must first ensure that those sessions are genuinely not running anywhere on your system. The Clear Financial Locks function is only available to SuperUsers.


20.2.1. Serialization

Serialization (ZS)

When SunSystems is installed at a clients site it must be serialized. A serialization lasts for a specified period of time, for example, 1 year. You will receive a warning message prior to the anniversary date when the serialization is due to expire. Systems Union will supply new serialization details. To Serialize, or re-serialize SunSystems: Ensure you have valid serialization details. Log onto SunSystems as the Superuser and enter the shortcut ZS and the following window will be displayed:


Enter the serialization details exactly as they appear on the form that you will have been provided by Systems Union. Check all of the fields in the Module and Option grids to ensure the flags are set correctly. If serialization is successful, you will get a message instructing you to log out and then log back in. If serialization was unsuccessful, you will get a message instructing you that serialization has failed.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 6 – Documents, Reports and Listings

21. Session Aim In this session we will be reviewing document format setup, transaction reference setup and number stream setup

22. Session Objectives By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe two key uses of Document Format Setup

• Describe the relationship between Document Format Setup and Transaction Reference Setup

• Describe how to set up a Document Format Setup and Transaction Reference Setup for a sales order that will use manual order numbers

23. Session Overview Document formats serve two main purposes:

• they point to the SunSystems Reporting executable that is used to produce a particular report and define the parameters and default options for the report

• they hold the transaction reference codes


23.1. Linking a Report to its Report Writer Executable The majority of the reports available in SunSystems Financials and Order Fulfilment are produced by the Vision Reporting Services. However, when you request a report in Financials or Order Fulfilment you are unaware of this. You are simply asked to enter a series of report parameters that determine how the report is produced. A document format provides the link between the report you select in a SunSystems module, and the Vision Reporting Services process that produces the report. A document format is required for every report that is produced in this way.

If you use the Reporting functionality to define additional reports, you can incorporate them into Financials or Order Fulfilment by defining a document format for the report and adding the report to the Navigation Manager menu.

A document format identifies the following information for a report which is used by Report Designer to produce the report correctly:

• the name and location of the Report definition for the report

• the type of report being produced, for example is it a report or a document

• general default run time details, for example the default printer, number of copies, language, whether the report is to be displayed, printed or stored in a file

• general parameter control details, for example should the parameters be saved for reuse, should the parameters be displayed or printed

• document printing options, for example reprint options, test page options, and pre-printed stationery options

• Financials processing options, for example to set an allocation marker or document date after printing

• Order Fulfilment reprint processing options

• tax reporting description details

Transaction and Document Numbering: Documents will require different setup for document numbering depending if they originate from financials or order fulfilment. The setup for each is defined below:


Financials Documents such as cheques require a sequential cheque number to be generated. The cheque document is defined in Document Format Setup. This points to the Transaction Reference Setup that defines up to 4 parts of a transaction reference number. Where part of the number is a sequential system generated number the Transaction Reference Setup links to Number Stream Setup where the rules for the sequential number are defined. Document Format Setup If the DFS you are defining is for a report then you will need to enter a report name, the business function and the document indicator. Cheques and financial documents requiring a transaction number will need more definition e.g. you will need to define the Transaction Reference Setup.

Transaction Reference Setup For a Manual Transaction Reference Number no further setup will be required. For cheques and financial documents requiring an automated transaction number, you will need to set up the Number Stream (NSS) required. Number Stream Setup For a number stream you will need to setup the automated number stream.

Order Fulfilment The document format number is linked to a stage in an order type. Each order stage can have a document defined to print, this may be a defined processing stage with a document attached such as Invoicing, or the document may be printed as a miscellaneous document. The set up flow is the same as for financial document with transaction number. The document format can also be defined on the Customer record to facilitate consolidated invoicing.


23.2. Document Format Setup

Document Format Setup (DFS)

To create a Document Format select DFS from the Navigation Manager and the following window will be displayed:

23.2.1. Header information Enter the Document Format Code and press enter and the system will ask if you wish to create. Select Yes. Enter a description of the format and assign the document format to a business unit and enter a lookup code if required.


23.2.2. Registration Executable Name and Path to Executable The executable refers to the .rox (for Actuate) or .srdl (for VRS) file detailing the layout of the report or document defined in the Report Designer. This information is mandatory, otherwise the system is not able to determine how to print the output. The path to the executable is required if the .rox/.srdl file is located in a directory other than the default directory.

Business Function Choose the appropriate business function for the report or document you are working with from the drop down list. The business function is mandatory information and must correctly reflect the business process associated with the document or report you wish to produce. Document Indicator Must be set to either Document or General Report. SunSystems Reserved This field is set automatically by the system and cannot be changed. If the box is checked then the DFS cannot be deleted.


23.2.3. General Run Time Results

Runtime defaults allow you to determine if the output will be to the screen (viewer) or printer and if you want to save the output to a file. You may also specify the printer to be used and the number of copies to print. The user may over-ride the options set here at run-time.


23.2.4. General – Other Settings

This tab controls the more technical defaults of the run-time parameter entry screen, and deals with things like the location of the parameters executable and whether or not users are able to amend the default parameters when running the report.


Tax Reporting If the document format is being used to produce a tax report, this identifies the SunSystems module from which the tax related transactions details are to be extracted. Options are:

• Purchase Order

• Sales Order

• Supply Chain

• Financials

• Not Applicable

Offset This option can be set for tax reporting reports. If this is set, the offset transactions are extracted automatically for each tax related transaction that is selected. This means that when a tax related transaction is selected for reporting, all of the balancing transactions posted in the journal are also extracted.


23.2.5. Document

This tab will only be available at run-time if the Document Indicator setting on the Registration Tab is set to ‘Document’.

Default Reprint This indicates the default type of report to be produced. Three options are available: Initial Print, Supplementary Print, and Reprint. This setting provides the default for the Print Type field on Document Formats Setup (DFS).


Supplementary Option If a supplementary report is requested, this determines whether the report should include:

• all items for the report, including those printed on the initial versions of the report, or

• only new or additional (supplementary) items. This defaults to All, and you can select Amended if required. Reprint Option This determines the default settings for a reprint. Two options are available: Last and Copy. Select Last if this is the last time the report can be produced. Select Copy to clearly mark the reprinted report as a copy. Default Print Type This determines whether the report is a draft or final print.

Processes such as printing cheques (updating cheque numbers) and picking and dispatch document (picking and dispatch confirmation numbers where confirmation is a configured stage) write updated details to the document (and database). This update process will only be triggered on a final print.

Print Test Page Set this to print a test page, before the main body of the report. This enables you to ensure that the paper is aligned correctly in the printer etc.


Document Default Date Options are:

• Operator Login Date - the current login date is used. You can override this at run time

• Computer System Date - the system date on the print server, at the time of printing, is used. The field is blank on the form at run time as the date is not known until it is printed. You can override this at run time

Pre-Printed Sequence This determines the sequence option that applies to the report. Three options are available to control the print reference sequencing:

• Normal Printing - no special sequencing is required

• Pre-Printed Stationery - select this if the stationery includes pre-printed reference numbers, and a transaction reference format is therefore used to assign the appropriate number

• Page Level Sequencing - select this to restart the sequence numbering for each page

Transaction Reference Format This is the name of the Transaction Reference Format setup using Transaction Reference Setup (TRS). When the document format is used in definitions such as Sales Definition, the transaction reference in this field is used to number that transaction. For example, if this document format is used at the Sales Order entry stage of a Sales Type Definition, then transactions are numbered according to this Transaction Reference. Transaction reference formats can be used in Financials to assign unique payment reference numbers to payments. For example, cheque numbers, and to provide continuous page numbers on the Daybook Listing (DBL).


Reprint Original Seq. Numbers Determines whether reprints are done using either the original numbering sequence or a new one.

In order to reprint cheques with the original cheque numbers this field must be set to 'New Key Required'.

Next Number Override Allows a new sequence number to be entered at run time. For example, this can be used to enter the first cheque number to be printed on payment documents. The tab controls the default settings for printing and reprinting the document, and specifying the Transaction Reference Format that the system should use when generating transactions that use this Document Format.

23.2.6. Financial Processing


This tab is used to control the Allocation Marker on transactions and the stage at which the update of various financial markers takes place. It is possible to update the allocation marker of transactions that appear on this report or document automatically as soon as it has been printed. The number or character entered here updates the allocation marker in a variety of user controllable ways: - Enter 0 – 9 to place a specific allocation marker of that value on transactions which appear on the report. Enter + to increment the existing allocation marker of any transaction that appears on the report by one up to any allocation marker ceiling you may have defined. Once the ceiling has been reached the allocation marker will not be changed. Enter – to substitute the existing allocation marker with a blank. This option does not decrease the existing allocation marker. The ability to automatically update the allocation marker of transactions is useful for a variety of reasons. One of the most common uses of this feature is the ability to track the level of reminder letters sent to your Debtors. You may have three levels of reminder letter (although you could have nine) with an increased level of penalty depending on the length of time an invoice has been outstanding. Each of the letters may be set up as a document format that selects transactions for inclusion on the report depending on the allocation marker associated with them. The ability to automatically update the allocation marker on a transaction would, therefore, allow you to automatically track which letter had been sent to which Debtor and aid in any control process.


23.2.7. Consolidation Group

The sales systems allows for consolidated invoicing. Many sales orders can be printed on one sales invoice. This form allows you to define the consolidated groups (defined in Consolidated Group Setup) to be included when an invoice of this format code is printed. Consolidated invoicing is covered in the Sales and Purchase Management Course.

Consolidation is not available for purchasing.


23.2.8. Document Format - Assign Tax Filters

If the document format is being used to produce a tax report, one or more tax filters are required to select the tax related transactions to be included on the report. To select a tax filter: 1. Select the Action, Assign Tax Filters menu option, or click Tax Filters, to

display the Document Format Assign Tax Filters form 2. Select a tax filter required in the Filter Definition field 3. Click OK to assign the filters to the document format


23.3. Transaction Reference Setup

Transaction Reference Setup (TRS)

Transaction Reference Setup provides for up to four parts to a transaction number. The options for each part of the number are:

Number Stream In part 1 (or 2-4) Value you will define an existing number stream that will provide the next sequential number when a transaction using this transaction reference setup is entered on the system.

Constant Value In part 1 (or 2-4) Value you will define the constant value that will be used. For example, SO for sales order.

Operator Id Will pick up the data entry operator id automatically during transaction entry.


Date In Part 1(or 2-4) you must define the date format 4 = Century, 3 = Year, 2 = Month, 1 = Date.

Input by operator at run time Allows you to enter a manual transaction reference number, or part of the number during transaction entry. The number of characters for each part of the transaction reference are defined. The total number of characters including delimiters cannot exceed thirty. A one character delimiter can be defined between each number part.

Analysis as part of the Transaction Reference Number. SunSystems 5 provides the ability to use analysis and static data values held on the system to populate part of the transaction reference number. The information to populate part of the reference number may be:

The actual analysis or static data code A mapped text value An alternative number stream


We will use a scenario to demonstrate how this functionality can be applied:

The customer implementing the system has 40 departments. Each purchase order that is raised can only be for one department. The customer wants the dept code (up to 5 characters) to be the first part of the transaction reference number. This allows goods ordered to be moved quickly and efficiently to the correct department when the goods are delivered. It also assists the accounts department when they are processing purchase invoices. To configure the system for this requirement: Ensure that Department is defined as an Analysis Dimension and has been configured against the Analysable Entity, Purchase Order Line. On the Transaction reference screen for part 1 of the transaction reference number check the Use Analysis For Part 1 field. Part 1 must be defined as a Constant Value Otherwise you cannot use analysis. Complete the remainder of the parts of the transaction reference set up according to the customer’s requirements. Once you have pressed Ok, select Format Analysis from the Action menu.

Select the Part Number that matches the transaction reference part number that you have enabled for analysis.


Define the Analysis Directory value you wish to use from the defined list. Once this has been selected you are able to select the required analysis dimension. In this case we are using Purchase Order Line Analysis, and the Analysis Dimension Department. Once you have selected up to 4 Analysis Directory/Analysis Dimension combinations click Ok, then select Maintain Analysis.

A separate line must be entered for each Department analysis code you wish to define. In the example above, where a purchase order line has department 11 entered the transaction reference constant has been shown as 11 to pick up the department number. If we wanted to show the department name, the name or an abbreviation is entered into the transaction reference constant. If you want to pick up an alternative number stream, enter the number stream code into the Number Stream Code field. You cannot use both transaction reference constant and number stream at the same time. Once you have entered all the department numbers and either transaction reference constant or number stream code the set up is complete.


23.4. Number Stream Setup

Number Stream Setup (NSS)

The general details for the number stream are setup. Once the Number Stream Code, Description and lookup have been entered, press Ok. You can then access the Detail Lines button and define the number sequence.


Number Stream Details Setup

Enter the number stream start date. If you want to enter an end date for this number stream you must access the Number Stream End Date field and enter the date that this number stream will cease operation. Once an end date has been specified it cannot be changed. An additional entry can be made with a new start date and new end date. This option will be used where transaction reference numbers run for a year (or specified period) and are then reset. You will then be prompted to enter a description and lookup code. Multiple detail lines can be associated with a number stream based on start and end dates, so each line has its own description. Enter the required value in the Start Sequence Number field. You may enter an end sequence number if you don’t want the system to allocate numbers over a certain transaction reference number. Enter the next sequence number to be used (or leave blank to start from the Start Sequence Number)


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 8 – Data Audit

24. Session Aim To review functionality, setup and operation of the Data Audit function within SunSystems 5.


• Describe the steps to setup Data Audit in SunSystems 5

26. Session Overview Data Audit enables you to audit many of the data tables in your system. The following steps are required in order to set up and use the Data Audit function: 1. Set up a Maintenance Plan to define the following:

• Actions to audit. That is, insert, update and delete

• Security details such as which Data Access Groups have permissions to the audit and password protection of the extract

• Retention periods 2. Set up the Data Audit Configuration in which you can assign maintenance

plans to specific tables. This activates the audit actions defined on the Maintenance Plan for the table it is attached to.

3. Run the Data Audit Extract. The results output in an Excel spreadsheet containing the audit data which you can then sort, interrogate and print, as required.

4. Clear down data that is no longer required.

Data must be input in order for data audit data to be extracted.


26.1. Setting up the Data Audit Maintenance Plan

Data Audit Maintenance (DAM)

The Data Audit Maintenance Plan defines specific audit details. For example:

• Actions to audit. That is, insert, update and delete

• Security details such as which Data Access Groups have permissions to the audit and password protection of the extract

• Retention periods Select Data Audit Maintenance Plan Setup (DAM) from Navigation Manager to access the Data Audit Maintenance Plan Setup form:


Enter a Maintenance Plan Code Enter an identifying code for the Maintenance Plan The Status will default to Open Enter the Description for the Maintenance Plan Enter a Short Heading Enter a Lookup Code

Audit Insertions If this box is checked, insertions that have been made to the tables are included in the audit. Audit Updates If this box is checked, updates that have been made to the tables are included in the audit. Audit Deletions If this box is checked, deletions that have been made to the tables are included in the audit. Retention Unit The unit of time in which to retain the audit details. Options are: Not Specified, Days, Months or Years. Retention Value The amount of time to retain the audit details for. That is, the number of Retention Units. If retention is not specified then you will have to clear down audit data manually File Format The format for the output file. That is, XLS for Excel spreadsheet. Extract Data Access Group The Data Access Group to have permission to perform the extract.


Extract File Protection Specifies what protection, if any, is placed on the output file. Options are:

• None.

• Write Protect - the Extract Password is needed to gain Write access to the output file.

Extract Password The password required for Write access to the output file if the Extract File Protection field is set to Write Protect. Re-Type Password Re-type the password to ensure you have typed it correctly in the Extract Password field.

Clear Down Data Access Group The Data Access Group to have permission to perform the clear down.


26.2. Setting up the Data Audit Configuration

Data Audit Configuration (DAC)

The Data Audit Configuration enables you to select tables for audit and assign Data Audit Maintenance Plans to specific tables. Select Data Audit Configuration (DAC) from Navigation Manager to access the Data Audit Configuration Setup. All available tables are displayed from which you can filter to make selection more manageable.


26.2.1. Header Use these fields to filter the tables that appear in the grid below: Table Name Click on the Query button to display the list of auditable tables. SunSystems contains a predefined selection of which tables are auditable that should cater for your auditing requirements. Business Unit Code This allows for a specific business unit to be displayed. It is normally used in conjunction with the Table Name field. Alternatively, you can enter a Business Unit Code and select Action, Next to display all tables in the business unit. Column Name Click on the Query button to display a full list of table columns that are auditable by table. If a column description is selected, click OK on the Find Column Names form, then OK on the Data Audit Configuration form, to display all auditable tables containing that column on the grid, ready to be Audit Activated. This means you can be certain that all tables containing a specific column/field have been selected. For example, every table containing Account Code or Warehouse Code.

If column names vary on different tables then not all the required tables will be returned. For example, Fourth Currency and 4th Currency.

All the columns in the selected table are recorded in the audit record, not just the specific column selected in the Column Name field. This field does not work in conjunction with Table Name and Business Unit Code selections, but does work with Hide Business Unit Tables and Audit Activated Only flags, if appropriate.


Hide Business Unit Tables Check this box to display only non-business unit tables. Audit Activated Only If this box is ticked, only those tables which have been made auditable are shown in the grid. Grid The grid shows the tables that are available for inclusion in the data audit, depending on any filter information you have entered in the header as detailed above. You can then assign Data Audit Maintenance Plans to specific tables. 1. Select Action, Amend. The grid becomes editable. 2. Highlight the required line and enter the following, as required: Audit Activated Check this box to select the table for auditing. Maintenance Plan Code The maintenance plan code to be assigned to the table. The following fields are automatically populated once the Maintenance Plan Code field has been entered:

Short Heading Audit Insertions Audit Updates Audit Deletions

If a table is marked as Audit Activated, a Maintenance Plan must be supplied. If a table is not marked as Audit Activated, a Maintenance Plan may be supplied but this is not mandatory.


26.2.2. Extracting the Audit Data

Data Audit Extract (DAE)

To extract the data that has been audited, select Data Audit Extract (DAE) from the Navigation Manager. The Data Audit Extraction form is then displayed:


Enter the required selections for the audit in the following fields: Audit Operator If this is completed, the data extract contains audit information specific to this Operator Id. The list of audit operators available is determined by those operators who have performed actions on 'audit activated' tables. It is not the full list of available SunSystems operators. Maintenance Plan Code If this is completed, the data extract contains audit information specific to this maintenance plan. This enables you to track changes to tables using a maintenance plan. Business Unit Code If this is completed, the data extract only contains audit information specific to this business unit. Audit Insertions Check this box to include any insertions that have been specified in the Data Audit Configuration. Audit Updates Check this box to include any updates that have been specified in the Data Audit Configuration. Audit Deletions Check this box to include any deletions that have been specified in the Data Audit Configuration. Audit Date From and To The date range to be audited. If only the Audit Date From field is completed, the range covers up to the current login date. If only the Audit Date To field is completed, the range covers from the start of the data to the Audit Date To date.


Table Name From and To The range of tables to be audited. If only the Table Name From field is completed, the range covers from that table to the last available table in alphabetical order. If only the Table Name To field is completed, the range covers from the first available table in alphabetical order to the Table Name To table. To audit one table, enter the required table name in both fields. You can further define the audit by specifying the parts of the table to be included in the Auditable Key field as described below. Auditable Key Part 1 – 16 These are the SQL table keys. You can audit specific parts of a table by entering the required key parts in these fields. To use this, you must have specified the same table name in the Table Name From and To fields as described above. For example, you might want to audit the Item Master table and include specific Item Codes in these fields.

You must select at least one of the audit actions, that is, Audit Insertions, Audit Updates and Audit Deletions. If you do not enter any other selection information, the output file contains all audit data for that chosen action.


26.2.3. The Output file The output file is in an Excel workbook format. This file is placed in the following folder on the server: SunSystems root\Data Audit\Data. The settings for this file are defined in the Data Audit Maintenance Plan Setup e.g. password protection. If the file is password protected, you must enter the Extract Password when requested in order to amend the file. Otherwise, you will have read only access. The structure of the worksheet is also protected by a SunSystems defined password. The results of the Data Audit Extract are shown in this workbook on a one table per sheet format for each business unit included in the audit. For example, if changes are identified across three tables (Item, Customer and Account) in two business units (PKP and ABC), the workbook contains six sheets called: Item, Customer and Account (for business unit PKP); Item, Customer and Account (for business unit ABC). The column headings on the worksheet are the column headings from the tables. For an inserted row, the complete row is output in red bold. For an updated row, the row after update is output and the actual updates are shown in red bold. For a deleted row, the complete row prior to deletion is output and it is shown in red bold.

A deleted row is always shown as an updated row as well as a deleted row.


26.2.4. Clearing Down Audit Data

Data Audit Clear Down (DACD)

After you have extracted the audit data and produced the output file, you can clear down data that is no longer required.

Retention periods must be taken into consideration before data is cleared. These are shown on the Data Maintenance Plan.

Select Data Audit Clear Down (DACD) from Navigation Manager.

On the Data Audit Clear Down form, enter the criteria in the following fields for the data to be cleared down. You can enter some or all of this criteria:

Clear To This Date Business Unit Code Clear Table Name


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 9 - Archiving

27. Session Aim To review the Period and Year Cleardown functionality in SunSystems 5, including how to archive cleared transactions. To review archiving of Order Fulfilment data.


• Describe the difference between a Period and Year Cleardown

• Describe how transactions are archived

• Describe how Order Fulfilment data is Archived

Archiving Transactions

Ledger Setup (LS) offers you the option to remove cleared transactions to an archive table, rather than deleting them. Even if Ledger Archiving is turned on, budget transactions selected for cleardown are removed from the ledger.

In SunSystems 4 archived transactions are stored in a file. A separate file is created for each year. In SunSystems 5 archived transactions are stored in a single table.


29. Ledger Cleardown

Ledger Cleardown (LC)

Ledger Cleardown is a process which enables you to remove historical or redundant transactions from your business unit ledger and replace them with summarized balance transactions. You are not obliged to perform a ledger cleardown, however, it should be considered, as it leaves you with a more compact, and easily managed system. Ledger Cleardown attempts to compress the ledger, so although individual transactions are removed, summary or balance transactions are maintained for reporting purposes. The transactions for an account code are summarized by period, analysis code, currency code and other details. You can use Ledger Cleardown to perform either a period cleardown or a year cleardown by selecting the appropriate processing option. Period Cleardown The period cleardown accumulates transactions on a period by period basis. Year Cleardown The year cleardown summarizes the transactions for the financial year and posts the balances to the final period of the year.

Year Cleardown clears all accounts, whether open item or balance forward.

Ledger Cleardown can also use the transactions posted to assets to recalculate each asset's gross, net and depreciation values.


How transactions are treated on cleardown The Balance type setting for the Chart of Accounts record determines how the transactions for the account are treated during period cleardown:

• On Brought Forward accounts, all transactions are considered eligible for cleardown.

• On Open Item accounts, only 'closed' transactions are considered eligible for cleardown. These are transactions with an allocation marker of Reconciled, Correction, Allocated or Paid.

You can use Account Allocation (AA) to set the appropriate allocation marker to close transactions.

Year Cleardown clears all accounts.

A transaction which is otherwise eligible for removal is not cleared down if it:

• is a provisional posting

• has an allocation marker of Withhold

• is a Brought forward posting i.e. the allocation marker is Brought Forward

The transactions removed by Ledger Cleardown are either physically deleted from the system, or moved to the archive table. You can run Ledger Cleardown against a budget ledger to summarize and remove budget transactions in the same way as actual transactions. There is however one exception to this. Budget transactions are always deleted rather than archived, regardless of the archive setting. When you run a year cleardown, all of the budget transactions for the year are cleared. So, if you want to retain a budget for historical reporting purposes you should not run a year cleardown against the appropriate budget ledger.

Balance Transactions Ledger Cleardown replaces the cleared down transactions with balance transactions. By keeping totals like this, financial reports can report on historic period balances even though the transactions have been removed or archived. Rather than creating a single transaction that summarizes all of the cleared down transactions on an account for a period, several summarizing transactions are created. These reflect the combinations of account, period, analysis codes, currency code, allocation marker, asset code, asset subcode and asset indicator on the transactions being summarized.


If you no longer require some of the analysis, you can reduce the number of balance transactions by defining analysis code consolidation. Analysis codes on transactions in the selected dimensions are ignored and the transactions are summarized as if these analysis codes did not exist. After clearing down, the new balance transactions show a journal number, and if relevant, an allocation reference of zero. The allocation and transaction date and period are set to the corresponding values from the most recent transaction that has been cleared. Archiving You may opt to retain transactions on individual accounts for a longer period of time than for other accounts. For example, profit & loss and balance sheet transactions may be retained for a year, whereas debtor/receivables or creditor/payables transactions can be maintained for as long as they remain unmatched. You should keep a record of the frequency for clearing down each group of accounts. You might sign and date the records each time you perform a cleardown. This ensures you have adequate records of what has been cleared from the ledger. Archived transactions can be viewed with current transactions using Ledger Inquiry (LQ) (the filter type must be Ledger Inquiry – Archive SALQA), and printed using Account Listing including Archived Transaction (ALAEC).

When creating a new filter there is an option ‘Include Archived’. This option does not work and will subsequently be removed from the form.


29.1.1. Processing Cleardown and Archiving Select Ledger Cleardown from Navigation Manager

Select the period to be cleared. This form defaults to period cleardown. If you click the Year Cleardown the Cleardown Period field changes to Cleardown Year. Select the account, or account code range to be cleared. Check the Recalculate Asset Balance if required. Check the Check Transaction Reference field if required. Check the Analysis Code Consolidation if consolidation is required. See next page for asset consolidation details.


This form will be displayed if analysis consolidation was selected. Check any analysis dimension requiring consolidation. If you select to consolidate for an analysis dimension you can then select the range of analysis codes the consolidation applies to.


29.2. Order Fulfilment Archiving Obsolete and redundant data can be archived from the Order Fulfilment modules. This housekeeping function reduces the size of the database, thus making it more efficient, and aids system performance, for example, when reporting or inquiring on transactions. This function makes use of the multi-database architecture of SunSystems. The data is transferred to an archive business unit in another database within the same domain before it is removed from the live data. The main features of the archiving function are:

• It is only possible for one live business unit to be archived to one archive business unit.

• It is not possible to archive more than one live business unit into one archive business unit.

• It is not possible to archive one live business unit into more than one archive business unit.

• Transaction data cannot exist in both the live and archive business units. Taken together, the two business units provide a complete picture of the business.

• Static data is also transferred but is not removed from the live data.

• Reports and inquiries can be run against the archived data.

• It is not possible to create, amend or delete data in the archive business unit. Carrying out an Archive:

Note: A purchase order must be fully receipted, have passed through the required movement stages, and be fully issued through sales orders in order to be included in the archive. If any of the quantity on the purchase order has not passed through these stages, the whole of the quantity is excluded from the archive

Note: All Inventory Counts and Inventory Revaluations must be closed/finished before archiving can be performed.


Setup Required to facilitate Order Fulfilment Archiving:

• A separate database must be created for archiving.

• This database should be setup as a separate BU Group, and as an Archive only DB.

• The archive database must be within the same domain database setup.

• A Business Unit Create (BUC), needs to be run to create the archiving Business Unit.

• Business Unit Setup for the newly created BU will have to be completed.

To check that the archiving database has been created correctly, open up SQL Enterprise Manager, and look at the domain database.

Open up the SQL table Domain Datasource Configuration (DOMN_DSRCE_CONFIG). The new archiving database should be displayed and the archive datasource flag should be set against this database.

To create a database: Select Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server, Enterprise Manager and the following window will be displayed:


Expand the tree until you are able to see the Databases folder

Right click the database folder and select new database Enter database name e.g. Archive and click OK. Close Enterprise Manager Once the Database has been created you will need to set up an Archive Business Unit. Run Business Unit Create (BUC) to create the business unit tables (for more information on BUC, see earlier section entitled Business Unit Create) Run Business Unit Setup to set up the archive business unit (for more information on Business Unit Setup see earlier section entitled Business Unit Setup). Set up the archive business unit with the minimum number of fields necessary. The only field that will need to be completed differently is the Order Fulfilment Archiving field.


Enter the name of the Business Unit that the archive data is coming from:

Data Archived This check box is checked if an archive has been carried out.


You will then need to open the Business Unit that the archive data is coming from and enter the name of the business unit that the archive data is going to:


29.2.1. Running Archive OF Data

Archive O.F. Data (ARC)

Select ARC from Navigation Manager and the following window will be displayed:

Archive-Date Enter the date up to which data is to be archived. This must be earlier than the user's current login date. In order to be included in the archive, transactions must have a completion date earlier than the Archive Date. Delete-Only This only applies for the archive business unit. Check this check box to delete the data rather than archive it. A warning message is displayed to enable the user to confirm this action before it is carried out. Apply Data Audit This only applies if Data Auditing is in place. If this check box is checked, tables that are normally audited are continued to be audited during the archive process. If this is left unchecked, no tables are audited during the archive process. Business Unit Code The code for the business unit to be archived.


Business Unit Description The description of the business unit to be archived. This is populated automatically once the Business Unit Code field is entered. Previous Archive Details The following fields are automatically populated: Archive From/To The business unit where the data is to be archived from or to. Archive ID The identifier of the previous archive. Archive Date The date when the previous archive was carried out. Click Archive to carry out the archive process.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 10 – Query Manager

30. Session Aim To review the Query Manager facility to extract data from the system.

31. Session Objectives At the end of this session you will:

• Run Query definitions

• Use Data Access Manager to create a context and associated query definition

• Use Actions to process records

32. Session Overview In this session we will look at how query definitions are run and created. This will include running queries within Query Manager and using Data Access Manager to define queries, attach contexts and assign actions to them.


32.1. Query Manager

Query Manager (QM)

Query Manager is a SunSystems facility that enables you to extract selected data from the system. You can then view this data or pass it to another system function for further processing. For example, Query Manager is used to:

• extract and display selected transactions, to provide data queries such as Account Inquiry.

• extract and display static data and reference information, such as account codes and names.

• extract selected transactions and pass them to a printing function, for example to produce account statements, picking lists, sales invoice, or dispatch notes.

Other features of Query Manager include the ability to:

• group the query results in a summarized format, with subtotals. Multiple levels of nested groups are possible. These can then easily be expanded back to the most detailed level.

• resequence the results.

• drill to related data under certain circumstances.

• carry out further visual selection (known as 'tagging') before launching an associated function.

• export the extracted data to MS Excel or to an HTML file


32.1.1. Running Query Definitions To run a query definition that has already been defined, select Shortcut QM and the following window will be displayed:

Select the Context and the Query Definition that you wish to run e.g. Financial Ledger Inquiry You can select a context (please see list below for options) or you can select all. If you select a specific context the list of query definitions available to you will be those associated with the context you selected. For example, if you select Sales Order, only sales order query definitions will be available to you in the Query Definition drop down. If you select all contexts then all query definitions will be listed in the query definition drop down list.

Below is a list of Contexts that are available:

All Drills for Financials Financial Ledger Inquiry Financial Match Process Financials Print Account Documents Fixed Assets Movement Order Purchase Invoice Purchase Order Receipt Note Sales Order SDM Chart of Accounts


Query Definition A query definition is a pre-defined inquiry that has:

• Selection Criteria

• Output results form

• Ability to run report or process for selected data In this example we have selected the query definition Financials Ledger Inquiry – Generic. Options for a particular query definition will be determined by how it has been configured. Query Definitions are created and amended using Data Access Manager (DAM) which is covered later in this session.


Selection criteria Selection criteria is user definable and specified by the person who configures the query. In this example values for Accounting Period, Transaction Date, Entry Date and Due Dates ranges were available as default values but can be over-ridden by the user at run time. The query is executed by entering the required data selections and clicking OK.

Output results Screen Columns (and the order in which they appear) and the ability to filter and sub total amounts is user definable and specified by the person who configures the query. Re-ordering Columns To re-order columns click and hold on the column heading and drag to the position where you wish the column to be.


Sorting Data If you wish to sort the data in a different order to the default then click the column heading that you wish to sort by.

The sorted column will then be identified with an upward pointing arrow to mark as sorted in ascending order. If you wish to sort the column in descending order then click the column heading again and the data will be sorted in descending order. If you wish to sort by more than one column then select the first column and holding the shift key down select the next column you wish to sort by. Filtering To add a filter to your data select any column with a drop down option and select the value that you wish to filter by.

In the above example Journal Number 83 has been selected. This selection then shows transactions and total for this journal number.


Ad Hoc Filtering within a query You can also use the blue filter row to filter your data. If you enter the data value you are looking for into the appropriate field in the filter row the system will return matching values. In this example we searched on Base Amount -175.29.

If you wish to remove all the filters from your data then click the icon and the data will be returned to its original form.

Tagging Transactions You can select transactions for matching, printing or further processing by ticking the selection box for each required transaction. If your records are grouped then select the group checkbox will tag all records in that group. The following icons can also be used for tagging purposes:

Untag Selected Rows

Tag Selected Rows

Tag All

Hide Tagged Rows

Hide Untagged Rows

Invert Tagging


The above diagram shows records that have been tagged. Grouping Column headings can be dragged into the group area to group by the required values

Several column headings can be dragged into the group area to order and total selected data. Column headings can be re-ordered within the group area to re-order selected data.


Where grouping is in place and totalling has been invoked for value columns each group will be subtotalled. Grouping can make the selection of data for tagging simpler. All of the data in a group can be selected by ticking the tag box at the group level which will result in all the transactions within that group being tagged.


Once grouping has been applied you can use the Expand and Collapse Icons to expand and collapse your groups. Groups Expanded


Groups collapsed

If you wish to remove all grouping from your data then click the remove all defined

grouping Icon .


Drills There are several drills supplied with SunSystems 5.3.1. Values listed and underlined have an associated drill.

In the example below the drill has been selected on account number 11000


You can continue to make drill selections on Journal Number or Transaction Description.

In subsequent versions you will be able to define your own drills. At the 5.3.1 release only pre-built drills are available.


Exporting results to Excel Once your data is extracted you may at any stage export this information to an Excel spreadsheet. Only the information displayed in the grid at that time will be exported to Excel. If you have filtered your data, only the filtered information will be extracted. To export the data from the grid to Excel

Select the export grid as an Excel spreadsheet Icon The following window will then be displayed:

Select an area where you wish to save your spreadsheet. Enter a file name and then click save


Your data will then be exported to Excel:

Exporting the grid in HTML format If you wish to export the data in the grid to an HTML format then you can follow the same procedure as above but click the Export the grid to HTML format Icon . Enter a location for the file, enter the filename and save.


Actions Actions are the reports and processes that can be run from within a query. Systems Union have supplied all the standard actions you need (that are currently supported). Actions may be associated with one or more context. If your context has actions associated with it then you will see an available actions drop down list at the bottom of your grid:

In this example there are two actions available for you to choose. Tag the records you wish to process, select the relevant action and then choose go. The system will then automatically call the process for this action and you can complete the action as normal.


33. SunSystems Data Access Manager Overview SunSystems Data Access Manager (DAM) is an application used to deploy Query Manager. DAM assumes that SunSystems 5 has been installed and setup. DAM is a task based application that seeks to guide the user (a.k.a. the Deployer who is usually a consultant or experienced system user or administrator) through all the tasks necessary to deploy the system so that Query Manager can be used. Deploying the system in this case means preparing the SunSystems 5 object model or data source in other words, for use by the above application. It is likely that the functionality will increase between now and release, especially in the area of ‘pan-application’ reporting, which will enable the user to report across applications used alongside SunSystems 5, as though they are one system. On opening DAM, the user will see 2 panes; the left pane is an interactive panel, which lists the tasks in the logical order that they should be done, while the right is an information pane describing the task to be done, and information relating the tasks that have been completed.


34. Terminology Object Model – the Query Manager definition of the SunSystems 5 database with some extensions, presented as a data source. Object – the Query Manager equivalent of a SunSystems 5 database table Component – the Query Manager method of organising objects in logical groups, such as Financials Static Data and Fixed Assets Static data and so on. Analysable entity – a Query Manager equivalent of a SunSystems 5 table that may have analysis, such as Account, Address, Customer etc. Business Unit – the Query Manager equivalent of a SunSystems 5 Business Unit Core Business Unit – this is the default business unit upon which generic reports can be written if you have configured your Analysis Slots . Analysis Slots – this is a Query Manager method, which applies only to the core Business Unit, allowing the user to give each analysis dimension a consistent ID for each analysable entity across all Business Units regardless of their sequence number in SunSystems 5. This means the same report may be run across any Business Unit and retrieve the analysis code for a specific analysis dimension.

35. Tasks in DAM The following is a brief description of the current tasks in DAM in the order in which the user should run them.

35.1. Open Connection The first task to be completed by the user is to define the connection to the application server. The user must enter the server name, a valid user name and password. When the user selects ‘OK’, DAM establishes a connection with the application server, and can activate the other tasks.


35.2. Define Connection This task establishes the connection from DAM to the SunSystems 5 domain. The user must enter the server name, the domain database name and a valid username and password.

35.3. Create Business Units Business Units are currently the Query Manager equivalent of the SunSystems Business Units. This task creates a Business Unit (BU) from the Business Units that exist in the SunSystems 5 domain. When the user runs this task, they may select all or a number of Business Units to be generated. The system will create an object model for each Business Unit selected, creating Business Objects representing the SunSystems 5 database, folding in concepts such as value labels, analysis fields, value lists and relationships between database tables into the definition of each object. After a BU has been created, the user may use this task to delete it. The system will also create a ‘Core’ Business Unit, which may be used for example, by Query Manager to create Business Unit independent reports, which can be deployed and run against any business unit.

35.4. Manage Object Models This is a group of tasks, which enable the user to prepare the object model in more detail. It is intended that where possible a global task will exist enabling the user to manipulate the object model on a ‘global’ basis, i.e. for all Business Units at the same time, as well as a BU specific task enabling the user to manipulate each specific BU. The global task will be available immediately, which can be used to manipulate all current and future BUs at once, while tasks for each BU are created as each BU is created. Currently there is only one type of task available, which is the ‘Hide’ task. This task enables the user to hide components, objects, fields and analysis slots in the global object model, or hide components, objects, fields in each specific BU, which are not to be used or even viewed by the end user. For instance, if a SunSystems 5 client does not use ‘Fixed Assets’, then Fixed Assets components may be hidden globally which results in Fixed Assets being hidden in all BUs and invisible to the end user. If, in the same install, some Business Units do not use Order Fulfilment, then the user may hide the Order Fulfilment components and objects using the BU specific hide task for each relevant BU.


35.5. Map Analysis Slots In SunSystems 5, an analysable entity may have analysis dimensions set up in different sequences in each Business Unit. Should a report designer want to create a report, which must reference specific analysis dimensions for an analysable entity, but also must be run against different Business Units, there can be no guarantee that the analysis dimensions will be in the same sequence in each business unit. The ‘Map Analysis Slots’ task allows the user to view the analysis dimensions attributed to an analysable entity, and arrange them consistently across all BUs, by what Vision Reporting refers to as ‘Slots’. A task exists for each analysable entity, and provides the user with a view of all the analysis slots available across all BUs created from the SS5 Business units. The user may then select which analysis dimension is associated with each available slot in each BU to make them consistent. Initially the analysis dimensions will use their sequence number in SunSystems 5 to determine in which slot they appear for each analysable entity, but the user may override these by running this task. The user may then create a report against the core BU, for an object, which has analysis, and no matter what Business Unit the report is run against the user may extract an analysis code for the same analysis dimension.

35.6. Synchronize BUs with SunSystems 5 The Query Manager applications which use the object model, depend on the object model to reflect accurately how SunSystems 5 has been set up, not just the structure of the database. There are ‘soft’ aspects to the system such as Analysis Dimensions, Value Labels etc., which may be different per BU, and may change within each BU. This task enables the user to update the object definitions with these soft aspects, should they change in the relevant Business unit in SunSystems 5. For instance, the SunSystems 5 user may add another Analysis dimension to an analysable entity, which cannot currently be automatically picked up by Query Manager. This task will update the object definition affected, to include the added analysis dimension, so it can be available to the end user in reporting or control desk setup. Likewise, any of the soft aspects to the system mentioned before may be deleted, modified or added which will need to be reflected in the Query Manager object model.


35.7. Data Access Manager Data Access Manager is used to configure user definable queries. There are two sections for this:

• Context ! Defines the basis of the inquiry

− i.e. Ledger Line or Purchase Order Line or Sales Order Line. ! Defines actions that can be run if this context is selected

− i.e. Ledger Line (Account Allocation, Split Posting, Print Account Documents, etc) Sales Order Line (Generate Sales Invoice/Credits, De-allocate Sales Order Lines etc)

• Query Definition ! Defines the Context that will be used for this query ! Defines the Selection Criteria and how selections will work ! Defines sorting and grouping ! Defines subtotalling and number of decimal places for amount values

To run Data Access Manager go to Start, Programs, Systems Union, Query Manager, Data Access Manager You will then be asked to log in to Data Access Manager:

Global Security will check that the user logging on has appropriate permission to Data Access Manager. During training use the PK1 logon.


Once you have logged into Data Access Manager the following window will be displayed:

Query definitions are split into three areas within the Task panel:

• Actions

• Contexts

• Query Definitions


35.7.1. Actions Actions are the reports and processes that can be run from within a query. Systems Union have supplied all the standard actions you need (that are currently supported) therefore you should not need to create or amend an action. Actions may be associated with one or more context. Using the actions option, you can:

• Delete an action (this is a server option, not a client option)

• Rename an Action

• Create a new action (linked to a report or cobol program – third party developers)

• Amend an Action

If you right click on an action the system will display the properties associated with the action. If you select run task you will be able to: Change the action name and description and Program to Run


You cannot change a base object for an action that is used by an existing context. To change an existing base object you must first remove it from any context that it is associated with. For a full list of base objects please see the next section on creating a new object. To amend an action double click the action that you wish to change and the following window will be displayed:

Change the details as required and click OK.


Creating an Action To create a new action, double click actions


Click New


The create action window will then be displayed:

Insert Action Name and Description and Program to run (the file should be located in the SunSystems directory). Clicking refresh after execution will ensure that data that is redisplayed after an action shows the latest values (but is dependent on the initial selection criteria). Please refer to the following examples: Example One A query definition for Account Allocation is run. The selection criteria is: Account Range Period Range Transaction Date Range Allocation Marker = Not Allocated Transactions are selected and allocated. Those transactions that have been allocated will not be redisplayed on the output results form as they are no longer ‘Not Allocated’


Example Two A query definition for Account Allocation is run. The selection criteria is: Account Range Period Range Transaction Date Range Transactions are selected and allocated. Those transactions that have been allocated will be redisplayed.

Select the base object that you wish to base this action on using the button You can select base objects from either the hierarchy or from the total list. In the example below we have selected from hierarchy.

The objects included on the list is quiet extensive and it is possible to select objects that will not work with the query you are defining.


The most frequently used base objects are listed below against the function they will be used with:

Base Object Typical Actions Financial Inquiry Ledger Line No Action Account Allocation Ledger Line • Account Allocation

• Split Transaction Generate Payments Ledger Line Sales Order Inquiry Sales Order Line No Action Sales Order Picking Sales Order Line Generate and Print Sales Picking

List Sales Order Despatch Sales Order Line Generate and Print Sales

Dispatch Note Sales Order Invoicing Sales Order Line Generate and Print Sales Invoice Purchase Order Inquiry Purchase Order Line No Action Purchase Order Print Purchase Order Line Print Purchase Orders Movement Order Inquiry

Movement Order Line No Action

Enter the Program to Run. This is the Cobol program name in SunSystems of the program that needs to run this action. You cannot search for this program name therefore you will need to know that name to enter it. Your action will now be created.


Deleting Actions Actions can be deleted although it is not advisable as all actions that may need to be used have been created. You cannot delete an action that is already in use i.e. is used by a context/query definition. To delete an action: Double click Actions

Select the action you wish to delete and select the Delete button.

The action will then be deleted


35.7.2. Creating a Context The Context defines the function that the inquiry or processing will be used for and the Actions that will be available when a user selects the Query Definition/Context. A single Context can be used for several different Query Definitions. In this example the Context that has been configured is called ‘Finance Transaction 1’

A Context can either be Common (available for all Business Units) or created specifically for a Business Unit.


To create a common context double click on Common Contexts and the following window will be displayed:

Click New To create a business unit specific context double click on Contexts for Business Unit ‘XXX’ and select New. The Create Context window will then be displayed:

Enter the Context Id and Display Name. If you drop down the list of Base Objects you will see the following form:


Select the required base object. A Context can have only one Base Object.

Select Next


Select Actions

The base object that you select will determine the actions that are available on the Select Actions form. Queries that will be used simply for inquiry purposes do not require actions. Queries that are used to select transactions for further processing will have actions attached to them. Some examples of query definitions that use actions are shown in the table below:

Query Definition

Context Base Object Action

Account Allocation

Account Allocation

Ledger Line • Account Allocation

• Split Transaction

Account Inquiry

Account Inquiry Ledger Line • None

Sales Order Re-Processing

Sales Order Reprocessing

Sales Order Line • De-allocate Sales Order Line

• Release Sales Order Lines

• Manual Sales Order Allocation

Sales Picking Sales Picking Sales Order Line • Generate and Print Sales Picking List

When you have selected the required actions, click Next.


The system will display a summary of your selections

Some Actions allow the user to go from selection criteria to action processing directly, bypassing the output results form. Many of the Order Fulfilment processes such as Print Purchase Orders, Print Picking Lists, Print Dispatch Notes and Print Sales Invoices are examples of where straight through processing would be used. Click Finish


The Context you have just created will then be displayed in the list


35.7.3. Query Definitions

A Query Definition can either be Common (available for all Business Units) or created specifically for a Business Unit. To create a common Query Definition double click on Common Query Definitions and the following window will be displayed:

Click New To create a business unit specific context double click on Query Definitions for Business Unit ‘XXX’ and select New


Configuring a Query Definition

• Query Definition ! Defines the Context that will be used for this query ! Defines the Selection Criteria and how selections will work ! Defines sorting and grouping ! Defines subtotalling and number of decimal places for amount values.

This session demonstrates how to configure a Query Definition that uses the context created in the previous session ‘Finance Transaction 1’. The selection criteria is: Data Value Operator From To Run Time

Override Account Is Between 1 1000 Y Accounting Period

Is Between Not Specified Not Specified Y

Transaction Date

Is Between Not Specified Not Specified Y

Once you have selected New, the Create Query Definition window will be displayed:

Enter Query Definition Id, Display Name and Choose the Context Name i.e. Finance Transaction 1 from the list.



Data Hierarchy Selection Pane Selection Edit Pane

Selection criteria is added by dragging a data item and dropping it onto the Query Definition Name


The editable operator values are shown in the selection edit pane The default ‘is equal to’ but it can be edited by clicking on it:

The options are: is equal to is greater than is less than is not equal to is not greater than is not less than is between includes starts with use wildcard is in list


In the example above the range ‘is between’ has been selected. This offers a from and to selection. Default values can be entered for the from and to selections by clicking on the fields.


The default value is entered here and you can click the Allow Override option to allow users to amend selection at runtime. Ensure you click the Green Tick to save selections.

Once you have completed your selection criteria the statement is displayed. Additional selection criteria can then be made. Once you have finished your selection statement click next.


Selected Output Fields Once the selection criteria has been executed, selected data will be passed to a display form. The Selected Output Fields form is used to define the data fields and the order in which they will be displayed. Output is always presented in grid format.

Data Hierarchy Output Results Selection Pane

Choose the field that you wish to display from the Data Hierarchy and click the right arrow to move the selection into the Output Results Selection Pane. Continue to make selections until you have added all of the data fields required. You can use the Up and Down buttons to promote or demote previous selections. Once your output results have been completed select Next.


The Sorting and Grouping options will then be displayed:

The columns can be sorted in ascending order by clicking on the column, or sorted by descending order by clicking on the column again. Users can change the sort order when they run the query

By dragging column headings up to the group area, default grouping can be specified for the query when it is run. Users can ungroup or change grouping when they run the query.

Once the Sorting and Grouping options have been selected click Next.


Formatting Numbers If you have selected output fields that are numeric, the format numbers form will display those fields and allow you to:

Define the number of decimal places (minimum 0, maximum 9) (Default is 2) Define if negative values are shown in brackets (Default is unticked) Determine if subtotal are supplied for this value (Default is ticked)

Once the number formatting has been completed click Next.


Confirm Your Choices A summary of your selections for your Query Definition are then displayed:

Select Finish to complete Query Definition or back to amend configuration. Your Query Definition will then be complete.


Your query definition will then be displayed in the Task pane:

Remember to save changes to the application server before you exit from Data Access Manager or your Context/Query Definition will not be saved. Once you have created a context you can run it from Navigation Manager (in PK1 the shortcut is QM) Query Manager allows you to select available queries from a list (per the earlier demonstration.) You can also use Navigation Manager to run individual queries as menu options.


35.8. Adding Query Definitions to a menu Once a query has been defined in Data Access Manager, you can run the query using Query Manager (QM) from Navigation Manager. However, if you wish to run the query directly from the menu then you can add it using Navigation Manager Editor. Select the shortcut NME from Navigation Manager Check out the menu that you wish to add the query to Right click the folder in where you wish to insert the query Select Insert Function

Input the description for your query Select External as the executable type Select the Position in Folder for your query Click OK



The description will be automatically populated Enter a Shortcut that you wish to use for your query Select a relevant Icon and choose if you want to use your query in Navigation Manager, Forms or Both from the Function Context drop down list. Enter the name of the executable for query manager in the Executable field (If you are unsure of this then find the query manager program that has been added to the menu and double click it. It will then show the name of the executable). In the Command Line Argument field enter the Id of the Query that you defined in Data Access Manager (If you are unsure of the name of this then you will need to go to Data Access Manager and look up the Query Id). Click OK and your query will now be added to the menu.


SunSystems 5 Administration Session 11 – Forms Design

36. Session Aim To review the Form Designer tool in SunSystems 5.


• Check out a form

• Amend existing sales order entry form according to the defined exercise

• Create a new contact and ledger entry form according to the defined exercise

• Check in a form

• Compile a form

• Establish Form Permissions

38. Session Overview All data entered in SunSystems is completed via a Form. Form Designer is one of the suite of User Tools introduced with SunSystems 5, which allows you to create and maintain your own forms. You will be able to design SunSystems forms to suit your organisation and in-house working practices. Form Designer together with the Data Dictionary Editor facility will provide a powerful means of customising the system during implementation to meet client needs, whether by simplifying complex screens, redesigning forms or by displaying installation specific text to make use of the organisations own terminology. The application provides three basic services to users

Creation and maintenance of forms to specify exactly what data items and controls will be displayed on the form Defining user defined help text using Form Help Editor Applying permissions to forms using Form Permissions Editor


There are two types of forms that Form Designer can manipulate, these are: System Forms - these are forms created by Systems Union and are provided with the SunSystems software, and User Forms – these are forms created within organisations for their specific use.

You can only amend or create system forms if you have appropriate serialization. This form of serialization will be restricted to Developers.

Form Designer has three modes of operation: Permissions Mode This allows the user to modify the form permission information for both system and user forms. Normal Mode Normal Mode includes the Permissions Mode functionality as well as allowing the user to:

Display form window information for system forms Create new user forms, and manipulate the form window information Modify the form help information for both system and user forms Copy and amend existing forms

Full Mode This allows developers to create and edit all forms including system forms. The user will not have this ability.


38.1. Accessing Form Designer

Form Designer (FD)

From Navigation Manager enter the shortcut FD and the following window will be displayed:

The Form Designer window is split into 4 main areas as shown below

The Data Item Hierarchy window provides the mechanism of restricting the data items displayed to a manageable subset.

This is the Data Item List window. Once you have selected the function/form you will be presented with the relevant data items.

This area is the Form window and is used to create and amend your forms. It displays the form and the controls on it.

This area is known as the Properties window and displays the properties for the form and the controls placed on it.

This is the status bar currently displaying the Operator ID but it will also display CAPS, NUM locks etc. when selected on your PC.


38.1.1. Creating a New Form Form Designer provides a variety of application configuration options which allow you to create a consistent look and feel to your forms as well as ensuring some automation when creating forms. To define the default settings for your forms you will need to set the following options: Click View on the menu bar and select options.


38.1.2. General Tab This tab allows you to select the following options: Open Last Used Form on Startup Select this option if you are continually working on the same form. Warn about Check In Failures on Save Select this option if you want your form to be validated upon saving. The validation requirements are:

All mandatory data items have been added to the form There are no empty grids on the form Where multiple controls have been added for the same data item, they do not have different default values specified. There are no empty tab pages on the form.

The warning message indicates which of the validation requirements have failed. If you decide not to select this option on the General tab, your form is only validated upon check in. Sort Functions on Id rather than Description Before creating a new form, select this option if you want to view the functions by Id rather than description. Check in Form On Close When closing a form you have three options regarding automatic check in. Forms can be automatically checked in, prompted for checking in or if you specify Never, you are required to check the form in manually, after closing. Default Form Folder It is important to specify a Default Form Folder to locally hold your forms. Because the forms are removed from the local folder during check in it is important to ensure that the form folder is not the same as your host folder, because you could end up with no source file. Undo History The Undo History may be changed from the default of 20 actions to any number between 0 and 50.


38.1.3. Server Tab

Perform a Server Compile after Check In Check this option if you are likely to be compiling only single forms intermittently. By default this option is unchecked. If the form is not successfully compiled, it can still be successfully checked in. Information Caching This allows you to enable Server Information Caching. This ensures that the information normally retrieved from the Server, for example lists of functions, is saved between sessions of Form Designer. Enabling Server Information Caching is not enabled until you exit and restart Form Designer.

It is important to clear the Form Designer cache after making any changes to the Data Dictionary.


This tab page is not accessible if you have opened Form Permissions Editor directly from Navigation Manager. Initial Window Size (Client Area) You can change the size of your initial form window to be as large or small as you require. Form Designer's default size is: Width: 500 pixels Height: 300 pixels The recommended form size for a 1024 by 768 screen display is: Width: 1000 pixels Height: 640 pixels It is recommended that you define this default setting prior to creating your forms. If only a small number of controls are needed on a form, then it is not always necessary to use a large screen size. Alternatives are 900 by 650 pixels or 800 by 600 pixels etc. These settings keep the relationship, between the width and height of the window, consistent with that of the computer screen ratio i.e. 4 by 3.


Initial Layout Grid Settings You can change the layout grid size of the Form window. The system default is 10 x 10 pixels. Using the check boxes, specify whether you want Show Grid and Snap to Grid to be enabled. Note: Snap to Grid can be enabled even when the layout grid is not shown. Layout Style for Multiple Data Item Attributes The radio buttons on this tab allow you to define the layout style for multiple data item attributes. The thumbnail pictures on the dialog indicate the three options available. The default layout style within a new window is for both labels and controls to be left aligned, i.e. the second option. Centre Labels Vertically Against Controls By default, when data items are dragged onto the form the labels are vertically centred against the corresponding data item control. Uncheck this check box if you want the labels to be top aligned against controls.


38.1.4. Controls Tab

This tab page is not accessible if you have opened Form Permissions Editor directly from Navigation Manager. Buttons Allows you to change height and width of the default button in pixels. This setting is used when the buttons are added to a form by clicking once in the Form window rather than dragging. Grid Columns Allows you to change the default grid column width in pixels. Text Sizes Allows you to increase the textual elements of controls by a percentage. This is a useful feature for those forms that may later appear in other languages, such as German where text strings may need to become much longer. The default is 30%.


Caption Prompt The Caption Prompt settings allow you to specify which control types should have an automatic prompt for a caption. This setting is beneficial to you because no default text exists for certain controls. This applies to:

Frames Tab pages Labels Function command buttons

38.1.5. Advanced Tab

This tab page is not accessible if you have opened Form Permissions Editor directly from Navigation Manager.


Additional Control Properties Within the Additional Control Properties section you are given the following options:

Show Item Hierarchy Show Item Reference Show Subset Show Group Number Show Data Dictionary Information Show DDD Entity Id

When you select a control the options you have chosen are displayed on the Properties bar. These additional properties are read-only and are therefore displayed with a grey background. Data Item Search List Columns Before you carry out a data item search, you can select the following options to display further column headings.

Include Item Hierarchy Include Item Reference Include Subset Include Group Number Include Data Dictionary Information Include DDD Entity Id Include SQL Table Name Include User Table Name


38.2. Creating a New Form Select the New Form icon on the toolbar or from the File option on the menu bar. The New Form dialog box is shown below and you are prompted to choose a function from the available set, and specify a form code and description.

The form type defaults to User and cannot be changed. Click on the drop down arrow to select the appropriate function. You can change the way this is sorted (by ID or Name) on the general tab in options. Enter the code for the form. The form code must be in uppercase and can be up to 8 characters long. Enter the description for your form. Click OK to return to Form Designer. The data about the specified function is refreshed from the server and the Form Designer window now has a list of the available data items for the function and property values for the new form can be seen in the properties bar. Form Designer is closely integrated with the Data Dictionary, ensuring that only data items relevant to the selected function are displayed.


There are a number of controls that can be included on a form and we will look at using each of these throughout this session:

Data Item Controls Layout Controls Command Buttons Navigation Controls

Data fields can be dragged directly onto the form, and are automatically assigned an appropriate control type. The designer will automatically default labels for selected data items, and will have multilingual support enabling a form to be designed in one language and then viewed in any other supported language.

The toolbox icons are now active allowing you to add controls and action buttons to your form.

The property values are displayed for the new form window. The size of the form can be changed either by dragging the form or changing the width & height in the property bar.

The label on the form defaults to a system default, this can be changed if required by clicking on the caption in the properties.

The data items displayed here reflect the function you have selected to design the form for. The red bullet indicates that the data item is mandatory and therefore it must be included on the form.


To add a data item to your form, highlight the required data item and drag and drop this into the required position on the form. This creates a label and entry field for the selected data item.

If you wish to change the font then you can use the property bar on the right hand side of the screen. If you change the font on a data item control then you can use the Recalculate Size (Ctrl+R) option from the Edit menu to automatically resize the control. Before adding any further data items to our form we are going to add a frame to our form.

The data item toolbar can be used to modify the view of data items in the list. For example, you can choose to hide used data items.

The properties of the selected data item can be changed. In this example we are changing the label to display in bold text.


You can add frame by selecting the frame icon on the toolbar, or by using the Toolbox menu bar and selecting Frame. Then draw your frame in the position you want it on the form.


You can now add further data item controls to the form and place these within the frame.

More than one data item can be added to the form. Select the items using the Shift/Ctrl key to highlight more than one item and drag them to the frame. If you wish to change the description of a field, amend the system text to description and the field will display the description instead of the label name.


Add the remainder of the required data items to the form (an example is shown below).

A navigation control has been added (using the navigation control icon on the toolbar) to the form which will allow the user to navigate through the first, last, next and previous records when using the form. Action buttons can also be added to your form to enable you to carry out various actions once a user has selected a form. Select the Action button icon from the toolbar and click on the form. You will then be asked to select the action for this button. Choose the action and select OK. Once the action button has been added you can copy and paste them to ensure that they are all the same size. You can then amend the properties to choose the different actions for each button. The actions available are dependent upon the function you have selected to design the form. To change the properties of an action button Select an Action button Change the value of the default button to True


The default button in the properties panel can be set to True or False. If set to True, the action button displays a thick black border and signifies that the action button is the default on the form window at runtime. Using the Layout options either from the tool bar or menu you can ensure that your data items/action buttons are aligned and positioned correctly on the form. For precise positioning of the data items/buttons you can select the data item and use the Ctrl & arrow keys to move one pixel at a time. Once you have completed the design of your form you need to determine the tab order of the controls on your form. This will determine the default starting position for users when the form is called within a function and the order in which the user will tab to each data item on the form.


Select the form window by clicking its outer edge Select Layout from the menu bar and click Set Tab Order The new form showing the tab order is shown below. The default order is determined by the order in which the controls were added to the form.

Once your form is complete, save and close your form. Your form is saved with the file extension .SFL (Source File Layout). Depending on what you have set in Options on the General tab you may get the choice to check your form now, if not: Select File from the menu bar and click Check In Depending on what you have set in Options on the server tab a server compile may be done now. Checking in a form means that the new form is returned to the source directory on the server and is unlocked and made available to other users. If a server compile was not done at check in then it will need to be done now. A server compile creates a Runtime Form XML File (.RFX)


38.2.1. Compiling a Form

Form Compiler (FC)

Once your form has been created, you will need to compile it on the server to make it available to use. Select FC, Form Compiler from Navigation Manager. Select the Advance button and you will be presented with the following window:

Select the function of the form you have just created. Select the form you have just created and then select the add button. You may then specify which languages you wish to compile the form for and which Business Units. Select the Compile button. Once compiled you will get a message box to explain how many forms compiled.


Return to Navigation Manager. To use your new form you will need to select the function the form was designed for and choose it from the list of available forms or you can use Navigation Manager Editor to add the form to an appropriate folder. Adding Additional Controls to your Form We will look at creating another form for the Address Setup function using some of the other controls available to us. From Navigation Manager, enter FD for Forms Designer Select the New Form icon on the toolbar to create a new form Complete the New Form dialog box as before and use FDEX2 as the form code. Drag the Address Code data item to the new form If you have a number of data items on a form, it is useful to organise and segregate them within a tabbed structure. Select the Tab Control from the Toolbox option on the menu bar or use the tab icon on the toolbar. Draw on the area where you want the tab to be. You will be prompted to specify a text label for the tab as shown.

In the example above we have entered the text ourselves. We would need to enter the text in all other languages required by our users to ensure this is translated correctly. The additional information area displays the caption text in all serialised languages.


Select OK. Add the Address lines to the tab as shown below.

To add another tab to the form, select the Add Tab Page icon on the toolbar and follow the process as before for adding the tab page.


User Data Dictionary Editor The Data Dictionary is the main repository for all SunSystems data items. The user Data Dictionary Editor gives users the ability to edit the description and display label and length of any data item in the dictionary. The maximum length of many fields has been increased, providing increased flexibility enabling users to tailor field lengths to meet business requirements. Users will be able to define field lengths for each data item. The length entered by the user cannot exceed the pre-defined maximum value. A change in length will be applied to all of the language variants available to a user. The user may set the length to zero, making that data item unavailable to the system. As with the alternative data description, the user-defined field lengths will be held separately. It is possible for privileged users to define an alternative to the standard data description, which can be defined per Business Unit. Users may either enter their own data item descriptions for any serialised language. The user’s alternative descriptions will not override the standard issue but will be held separately ensuring they are not lost when upgrading. To change the data item description for Address Line 1: Select the Address Line 1 Label Click the caption value in the property bar to display the Specify Caption Text dialog box.


The completed form should look like the one below. Two additional tab pages have been added to the form and the appropriate data items added to each page. A number or Action buttons have also been included.

Using text that has been selected from the Data Dictionary will ensure that the caption is translated to the language of the user.

The additional information displayed here is a result of switching controls on via the Options Advanced Tab


You can change the order of your tab pages if required as shown below.

Select the tab page container and select Edit, Reorder from the menu bar. The Reorder Tab pages dialog box appears allowing you to change the order of the tab pages.


Set the Tab order of your new form Save and close the form - Do not check it in. Check in Options on the server tab that you have got ‘Perform a Server Compile after Check in’ Unticked Check in the form This time we will compile the form locally to allow us to test the form locally before returning it to the source directory on the server. Check the form back out Make a simple amendment to the form, ie change the name of one the fields Save the form, then close it – Do not check it in. Click the Local Compile icon on the toolbar or select File and Local Compile from the menu bar.

From Navigation Manager Select Address Set up and select your new form. Note: You will need to check in the form back to the server once you have finished testing it to make it available to other users.


Delegate Exercise

Create a new user form for the Contacts Setup function. Include a selection of the following controls on your form Data Item Controls

Frame Tab Control Action Buttons Navigation Control

Your completed form should appear similar to the one shown below.

Set the Tab Order of your new form Save and close your form Check in your new form


Amending Controls The control types on your form can be changed to an alternative type, providing that the alternative is appropriate for the data. For example, a Yes/No type field will default to a checkbox control but it may be changed to a radio button group, but cannot be changed to a text entry box, as this would permit invalid data entry. From Form Designer, click the check out button on the toolbar or choose Check out from the file menu. You will be presented with the Check Out dialog box shown below.

Click the Check Out button to check out the form. All forms must be checked out or retrieved from the server before they can be opened and edited. A copy of the .SFL file is created and placed in the local form folder. The original is located in a source directory on the server. This is locked to prevent other users from being able to work with it. Once the form is located in the local form folder you can open and make changes to the form or you can select to open the form on Check Out. Select File and Open from the menu bar

Select the function and form/s to be checked out. In this example we are going to check out our new form from the previous exercise.

This will open the form automatically after check out


To change the control type Select the field you wish to change, in this example we will change the Gender field. Select Change Control Type from the Edit menu as shown below Choose to Radio Button Group.

The results of changing the control type are shown below. A couple of the data item controls have been moved to allow for the display of the radio button control type for the Gender data item.

Set the tab order and save and close the form Check in the form.

There is no need to have a label when the radio button type is used, as this is included automatically


Grid Layout Control Grids are useful if you want to view many records at a time. The example below shows a new Payment Terms Detail Form. Select the New Form icon on the toolbar to create a new form Complete the new form dialog box as shown below.

This form shows the data items displayed twice, once on the form and again on the grid within the same form. Add the data items to the form as shown below Select the Grid icon on the toolbar to add a grid to your new form Drag all the data items onto the grid

The double line indicates the data item has been included on the form more than once

The Grid Control has been added to the form. All of the data items in the Data Item list have been selected and dragged onto the grid.


You can change the order of the columns on your grid by selecting the Reorder Grid Columns option from the Edit menu as shown

At any time you can undo/redo your actions on the form. Select the Undo/Redo icons on the toolbar and resize the window to view the Undo/Redo actions available

As well as including Action buttons on our form we can also add Function and Application Command buttons.

Select the Grid container and select Edit, Reorder from the menu bar. The Reorder Grid Columns dialog box appears allowing you to change the order of the columns in the grid.

This displays the actions that you have completed on the form. You can select to Undo a single or multiple actions.


Function Command Button This allows you to add a function button to your form. Click the Function Command button icon on the toolbar Position the cursor where you want the button to appear on your form You will be presented with a Specify Function Button Details dialog box as shown

Select the function you require from the drop down list. Enter the form name you wish to use with the above function. Enter the name of the Business Unit to be returned by the function button. Insert the code of the ledger that is associated with this function.


The default caption of the function button is “???”, when you have specified the function button details, you are prompted to enter a caption for your button. The Specify Caption Text dialog box is shown below.

The function button is added to your form

In this example we have used the Data Dictionary to search for the text of Customer Setup

The properties of the function button can be changed using the control properties in the property bar. This will allow the

function button on your form to open the new function concurrently. Setting the property to false closes the original function and opens the new one.


Application Command Button The Application Command Button allows users to open other applications from your form, for example, MS Word. Click the Application Command button icon on the toolbar Position the cursor where you want the button to appear on your form You will be presented with a Specify Application Button Details dialog box as shown below.

Select the executable of the application you wish to open Define the start directory where the specified application is located. Click OK to add the Application Command Button to your form Save and close the form Check in the form


Delegate Exercise

Create a Ledger Entry form to allow users to record the details of any Assets that are purchased by your organisation Include a selection of the following controls on your form:

Data Item Controls Grid Control Action Buttons Navigation Control Function and /or Application Command Button

Your completed form should appear similar to the one shown below.

Set the Tab Order of you new form Save and close your form Check in your new form


38.2.2. Amending Forms System forms cannot be changed but you can save them with another name, then you can make amendments to them. Check out the system Sales Order Entry form

Select File Save as from the menu toolbar. Give the form a new code and description. This will allow the user to amend, move or delete the controls, layout, properties and appearance of the form. Layout Settings The layout settings dialog box shown below allows you to change the size of the grid as well as selecting the alignment of the labels of your data items.


Control Adjustment It is possible to adjust the position of a control by a small amount, i.e. by pixels.

The layout menu/toolbar also allows you to do the following: Centre selected controls horizontally and vertically of the form Align selected controls left and right in relation to each other and/or to the top or bottom of their common edge Evenly space selected controls Make selected controls the same width or height as another ‘prioritised’ control


Reparenting controls If you need controls to be associated with a container, for example, a tab page or a frame then you will need to reparent them. Firstly, select the controls you wish to move and whilst holding down the Ctrl key drag the controls inside the container. The cursor will change to a curved arrow to indicate that you have successfully reparented your controls at which time you can release the mouse and Ctrl key. Once you have completed the changes to your form you will need to: Save and close the form Check in the form


Delegate Exercise

Check out and make amendments to the system multi-currency Ledger Entry form (D_LEMC). Include a selection of the following Move analysis 1 – 5 to a new Tab Amend the size of the Transaction Reference and Description fields Change the default button from OK to Post The completed form should look like the one below

Set the Tab Order of your new form Save and close your form Check in your new form


38.2.3. User Help Editor This facility provides users with the ability to create and maintain their own help text. Once a user has created a help text entry, this will be displayed in preference to the standard text issued by Systems Union. The user help text is held separately ensuring it is retained in the event of an upgrade. To add your own help text or copy and modify the existing function-level help you need to: Check Out and Open the address set up you created earlier. Click View and select Form Help from the Form Designer menu bar. If you are creating a new form you must have at least one data item added to it before beginning to modify the form-level help.

Select from the drop down list, the field where you wish to enter some help text. Type in your text then select Save. Make sure the text is in bold print.


Repeat this for each data item on the form where you want to generate your own help text. Close the Form Help window Save and Close your form Check in the form

When you use your form and press the #s help Icon on the toolbar you will be presented with your own help text as shown.


38.2.4. Form Permissions Editor This function allows access control to be set up for forms within SunSystems. Instead of including and excluding operator groups into certain functions and their associated actions, you now enable/disable or hide certain actions for specific forms, created within Form Designer. If you are designing a new form you can set the Form Actions at the time of creation. If you need to amend form permission on an existing form, you can do so within Form Designer or follow the path below: From the Navigation panel, select setting up SunSystems From the Navigation panel, select Tools folder From the Forms panel, select Form Permissions Editor The following form appears. Form Permissions Editor is a cut down version of Form Designer, it is from here that you edit permissions.

All Forms must be checked out before they can be opened and edited. This ensures that the form is available for exclusive editing. Click File and select Check out from the File menu.


Check out the Chart of Accounts Setup form The system will not allow you to check forms out in the following circumstances:

If the form is currently checked out by someone else If the form is associated with a database you do not have permission to access

In the above circumstances you will always see all the forms, but the check out button will be shaded out. If the owner column displays your operator ID, this indicates that you’ve already checked out the form. You can re-check out the same form but only if you are the current owner. The system will warn you that you will lose any changes you may have made. You can check out more than one form at a time but you can only edit one at a time. If you are only concerned with one form, you can open it straight away by ticking the ‘Open Form on Check Out’ field.


The status buttons are as follows. Enable This button enables the operator group to use the action highlighted Disable This button disables the action for the operator group. It will show on

the form but in light grey text Hide This button disables and hides the action from the operator group If a form has no operator groups assigned, then all operators can perform the actions. If the default operator group is assigned to a form, then all other operator groups that are not assigned will have the same permissions as set on the default group. If you wish to add a group with the same permissions that have been assigned to another group, the following steps need to be followed: Highlight the operator group that has the permissions you want to copy, in the top left hand pane. Tick the ‘Add with ‘xxxxx’ settings button’ Highlight the new operator group or groups listed under Available Operator Groups Click on the up arrow and the group/s will be added with the correct permissions.

This pane lists the operator groups that so far have permissions assigned on this form.

This pane lists the available menu action and the current status. This can be changed by highlighting the menu action and clicking the Enable, Disable and Hide buttons as appropriate.

This field lists all the available operator groups that currently have no permissions set on this form. These groups are picked up from the Operator Permissions functions

Tick the check box if you wish to add a group with the same permissions that have been assigned to another group.


If you wish to restrict certain Business Units from using a form/s, then use the command Form Access, which is located on the pull down menu View. You can now select the Business Units for restriction as shown.

All changes made to a form must be saved before any new permissions can be invoked against a form, they need to be checked back into the main program area.


Delegate Exercise

Create your own help text for a ledger form Apply permissions to one of the forms created earlier. Test your forms to make sure all your changes have taken place.


SunSystems 5 Administration Appendix 1 – Data Dictionary

39. Session Aim To review the use of the Data Dictionary and how Dictionary values can be amended.


• Access the Data Dictionary

• Amend a label in the Data Dictionary

41. Session Overview

This tool is to be used by implementation consultants only Data Dictionary Editor increases the flexibility of SunSystems by allowing you to edit Data Dictionary entries. For example, you can change the description of any label on any form so that it is more applicable to your business requirements.

Only item descriptions of labels can be changed. Action button labels such as OK, Cancel and Exit cannot be customized.

A Manage Application Role must be created to enable access to the Data Dictionary function. (For more information see earlier section entitled Manage Application Role).


41.1. Using Data Dictionary Editor

Use the SunSystems Navigation Manager to access Data Dictionary Editor (DDE). The Business Unit & Language Options dialog is then displayed. Select a business unit and the language you want to work in for this session.

Click OK.

41.1.1. Filtering Data Items When the SunSystems Data Dictionary Editor window is opened the Filter Data Items dialog is displayed by default.

Use this dialog to search for the item record you want to amend.


Enter text that is contained within the item label required. This text is case sensitive. There are four radio buttons which allow you to select wildcard options:

• * word * indicates that the specified label contents can be embedded within more text on a label.

• Word * indicates that the specified label contents can be proceeded with other text.

• * word indicates that the specified label contents can be preceded with other text.

• Exact indicates that the search criteria for the label needs to be an exact match of the label contents specified.

In the same way, enter text in the Description contains box. This text can also be used with wildcards. Choose the appropriate option button for your criteria. Use the option buttons to set a logic option:

• Description only

• Label and Description

• Label or Description. Enable the check box at the bottom of the dialog if you only want items that appear on forms to be displayed. If you want to find out how many items match the specified criteria before they are loaded and displayed, click the Quick Count button. The results of the filter run are displayed in a table format and are grouped by form/function. The current business unit and current language is displayed at the top of the screen. The total number of items, together with details is also shown.

Columns can be sorted by clicking on the appropriate column heading.


41.1.2. Modifying Item Descriptions and Labels Once you have filtered the records you require in Data Dictionary Editor you can modify them: 1. Highlight the record(s) you want to amend. 2. Click the Modify Item Labels button. 3. A Modify Item Description & Label dialog is displayed. 4. Enter a new description, and/or a new label. 5. Click OK. The new, modified details appear in the New Description and New

Label columns for the chosen records. If you want to amend the details of more than one item record at a time, use the Ctrl key when selecting rows. You cannot select more than one item record at a time if the records are in different groups.

41.1.3. Removing Item Records Once you have filtered the records you require in Data Dictionary Editor you can remove them: 1. Highlight the record(s) you want to remove. 2. Click the Remove Item Labels button. A warning message is then displayed. 3. Click Yes to remove labels and descriptions for the selected items, or No to

cancel.


41.1.4. Regenerating the Data Dictionary

You must recompile your forms after updating analysis dimensions, value label descriptions or user labels. Failure to recompile the forms, for any functions that use either of these types of data, prevents you from accessing them.

When you have finished modifying or removing selected records using Data Dictionary Editor you must regenerate the Data Dictionary to validate the item labels to your run-time Data Dictionary. 1. Click the Generate Data Dictionary button. 2. Wait while the Data Dictionary is regenerated. You are informed when the

process is complete. 3. Click OK.

When selecting your new or amended Data Dictionary label in Form Designer, ensure that you select Data Dictionary Text as the specified caption text.


SunSystems 5 Administration Appendix 2 – Filter Designer

42. Session Aim Gain an understanding of how to design and configure user defined inquiries and control desk processes.

43. Session Objectives By the end of this session you will:

• Create a new financial inquiry and attach it to a menu

• Create a stock picking process for Sales Processing

44. Session Overview Filter Designer is part of the suite of user tools available with SunSystems. These user tools provide you with the ability to customize the system to reflect your clients data flows and terminology. As the name suggest, Filter Designer allows for the creation and maintenance of SunSystems filters. Using the simplicity of point-and-click and drag-and-drop methods, it combines the power of the SunSystems data dictionary with an uncomplicated WYSIWYG layout and design tool. Filter Designer enables you to create and edit filters by:

Specifying selection and sort criteria Generating forms to capture selection criteria at runtime Generating new, or specifying existing forms to display the results extracted by your filter Linking to reports, documents or processes


44.1. Creating Filters

Filter Designer (FLD)

Enter FLD in Navigation Manager and the following screen will be displayed:

The Filter Designer screen is split into three main areas:

Data Item Hierarchy pane Data Item List pane Filter Edit Area

Select File New from the tool, or click on the icon for New. A Create New Filter dialog box will be displayed as shown below

Data Item Hierarchy pane which provides themechanism of restricting the data items displayed to a manageable subset.

Data Item List pane displays the relevant data items for the function.

The Filter Edit Area is used to create and amend filters. This part of the screen is split into an upper and lower portion. The upper portion displays filter conditions as a graphical tree structure and is used for editing selection criteria.

The lower portion of the screen has two tabs Selection Summary – displays filter conditions in textual form as an equation. Filter conditions cannot be edited in this portion of the screen.

Sort Criteria – Used to display and edit any sort criteria applied to a filter.

It is from here that you would either create or edit a filter.


Select from the drop down list the type of filter you wish to create. Give your filter a unique name, or if you were editing a filter select it from the drop down list. Give the filter a description. Enter a lookup code that you wish to use when searching for this filter. You can either make this filter available to everyone or restrict to certain Data Access Groups. Press OK The filter name is verified as being unique for the filter type and a new filter is created with supplied details.

The ‘Include Archived’ option is redundant and will be removed from the form. To write a filter that will include archived transactions use Ledger Inquiry – Archive SALQA

The main screen will now be changed. In the Data Item Hierarchy pane the Financial Inquiry function will be displayed, this can be expanded and collapsed to show subsets of the data items. Once you select one the various associated Data Items will be displayed in the Data Item List pane.


The new filter (FLDEX1) is displayed in the Upper pane of the Filter Edit Area. The selection criteria can now be specified for the new filter, the path of which will be displayed in the Lower pane of the Filter Edit Area. Once you have defined your filter, you are then ready to create it. This is a straightforward job involving dragging and dropping the component you want to include into the design area. You can then decide on the relationship between the various components, i.e. you can tell the system whether you want an ‘AND’ (Simple Condition) or an ‘OR’ element. (Compound Condition) You can also tell the system whether you want the selection criteria hard-coded into the filter or set up so you can specify the criteria when you run the filter during your inquiry. Click and drag the Account code from the data item description area to the top right-hand area of the screen as shown in the example below. You will then be presented with the Edit condition dialogue box.

To hard code the account code enter the account code into the field below the operator field. Alternatively tick the Runtime Entry box to enter the account code at runtime. By clicking and dragging data items onto your filter name they become an ‘AND’ element. By dragging them onto the Data Item they become an ‘OR’ element.


The availability of the All Values option depends on what you have selected as the Operator and whether you have selected Runtime Entry. In the example below, by choosing Range and Runtime Entry you are able to select the All Values checkbox.

Items that have been selected are marked with a black bar in the Data Item List pane. Once all your Data Items have been included on your filter you can select the Sort Order


Click on the sort criteria tab Drag and Drop the items you wish to sort by. Drag items from the Data Item description area into the sort criteria table as shown in the example below.

You can select whether you wish to have a summary level, and what the initial level will be, by default this will be the first summary level you select – you can change this. If you do not select a summary level it will be by transaction level. You can only have 10 sort items and can only summarise on 4. You cannot select sort on items like 5, 7, 8, 10 they have to be in sequence like 1, 2, 3, 4.


44.1.1. Saving Filters and Creating Runtime Forms Once you have created your new filter you can save it. From the File menu select save. If no results destination for the filter has been defined, the select results destination dialog is displayed:

You can select either a program or a form, if you do not wish to use the forms listed you can generate a new form. In this example a new form will be generated.


The New results dialog box is then displayed.

You will need to add all the columns that you wish to see on your inquiry form. Select the Data Items to be displayed by highlighting them in the Data Item Hierarchy window Select the Data Items in the Data Items in Hierarchy Node window Select Add Column Click OK. Enter a Form code to identify your form. This must be an upper case alphanumeric code up to eight characters long. Click OK.


44.1.2. Filter Designer Data Dictionary Regeneration

Filter Designer Data Dictionary Regeneration (FLDDR)

The Filter Data Dictionary Regeneration process regenerates data dictionary entries and forms based on the content of the filter tables in the database. Filters are SunSystems data, stored in a number of database tables by Filter Designer. When a filter is created in this way, Form Designer may also be called upon to generate forms for accepting parameters at runtime and/or displaying the filter's results. The tool for regenerating the data dictionary takes you through three stages: 1. Select Business Unit(s).

At the first dialog select the Business Unit(s) containing the filter(s) whose runtime function and form you want to regenerate. Click Next.

2. Select Filter(s).

A list of available filters appears under the headings Name, Description, Lookup and Type. You can click these column headings to reorder the displayed list.


Select your filter from the list. Click Finish.

3. Performing Rebuild Whilst performing the rebuild the system will generate an ID number which you will need to record for future use.

Once the rebuild is complete the following message will be displayed:

For each pre-selected filter, if any of the parameters have been set for run-time entry, the necessary data dictionary entries and the parameter entry form are generated. (Form Designer creates the parameter entry form). This usually takes a few moments. If any errors are found during this process, you are prompted to examine the log file. The log file is called SSFilterDDRegeneration_XXX.log, where XXX is the business unit code. This log file is saved in the SunSystems folder.


44.1.3. Attaching your filter in Navigation Manager Navigation Manager is used to generate a menu layout for each user group. The menu file generate will be named according to a pre-defined convention 01PK1.OPX 01 represents the language code PK1 represents the user group code OPX is the filename tag identifying menu files. Menu files are held in XML and as such can be edited using tools other than Navigation Manager. You need to ensure that menu files are held in a secure directory, with controlled access.


44.1.4. Amending a Menu to Include your filter

Navigation Manager Editor (NME)

From Navigation Manager, expand the Setting up SunSystems folder and open Tools. From the Forms pane, double click Navigation Manager Editor (NME) Check out the .OPX file

Expand the menu tree and click on the area where you want to insert your new inquiry.


Right click and select insert function.

Give your new function a name and select where you want to insert it.


Enter the description of your form The Icon field should be set to Inquiry Enter the Function that this inquiry is based on Enter the Filter Id in the Function Parameters field. If your Id is only 4 characters then the number will need to be preceded with zeros. Save the .OPX file and check it back in. Log out of Sun, and then log back in.

If you did not make a note of your filter ID number, you will find it by selecting Open in Filter Designer and expanding the Open Filter Dialog box you will see the Control Id.


From Navigation Manager, expand the Setting up SunSystems Folder and open Financials – then Inquiries. You should see on the right your new inquiry. Double click it and enter the relevant information to check it works.


44.1.5. Refining Results Form

You can change the appearance of the run time form by selecting File, Refining Results Form from the menu bar.


You can then add a column that denotes a summary and add more action buttons. Once changes have been made to your form you Save it and Check it in, in the normal way.


Delegate Exercise

Create a new filter and attach it to Navigation Manager Editor Include a selection of the following conditions on your filter Account Code (Selected at run time) Accounting Period (Selected at run time) Transaction Date (Selected at run time) Journal Type (Selected at Run time) Amount (Not Greater Than) Archived Data Generate a run time form that shows the columns for all of the above plus Journal Number Journal Line Number Description Analysis Due Date Allocation marker


44.1.6. Control Desk Security

You can set up your system so that only operators of certain Data Access Groups can run control desks. This protects your system from batch programs attached to control desks being run in error. To set up this security select Control Desk Security (CDS) from Navigation Manager which contains the following fields: Filter Type The required Filter Type. Program Name Value The name of the program that the security is to be applied to. Data Access Group Code The Data Access Group to have the necessary rights to run the program.

From the Action menu select Last to display all available records.


**********************************************************

This page holds standard text elements. It must remain as the last page of the document during construction and be deleted once a document is

complete. TABLE

Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx

NOTE

Xxxx

TIP

Xxxx

DELEGATE EXERCISE

Delegate Exercise

TUTOR DEMONSTRATION

Tutor Demonstration

MENU PATH

Xxxx (XX)

DEPENDENCIES

Xxxx

SunSystems 5 admin and user interface

Documents

Transcript of SunSystems 5 admin and user interface