Zortec SoftwareZortec Software

User Defined User Defined Reporting Reporting

((Beginner Level / Beginner Level / Basics)Basics)

Notice…Notice…User Defined Reporting is a add User Defined Reporting is a add

on module for the Z on module for the Z applications.applications.

If your site has not purchased If your site has not purchased User Defined Reporting and you User Defined Reporting and you would like to purchase - please would like to purchase - please

contact our Marketing contact our Marketing Department or just let me know Department or just let me know

after this session.after this session.The cost of User Defined Reporting varies The cost of User Defined Reporting varies based on the number of users at your site. based on the number of users at your site.

Welcome !Welcome !In this presentation you will In this presentation you will

learn the location of the learn the location of the Data Definition File (DDF), Data Definition File (DDF),

how to print the DDF, how to how to print the DDF, how to create and print User create and print User

Defined Reports (UDR’s) as Defined Reports (UDR’s) as well as the basics of Sorting, well as the basics of Sorting, Sub-Totaling and Filtering Sub-Totaling and Filtering

the data to be printed using the data to be printed using search criteria.search criteria.

User Defined Reporting is a User Defined Reporting is a feature included in several feature included in several of your Zortec Applications. of your Zortec Applications.

Accounts Receivable, Accounts Receivable, Business License, Fixed Business License, Fixed Assets, General Ledger, Assets, General Ledger,

Inventory Control, Payroll, Inventory Control, Payroll, Utility Billing, Vehicle Utility Billing, Vehicle Maintenance and Work Maintenance and Work Orders - to name a few.Orders - to name a few.

The fundamentals of User The fundamentals of User Defined Reporting are Defined Reporting are

basically the same basically the same throughout all of the throughout all of the Zortec Applications. Zortec Applications.

Once you master User Once you master User Defined Reporting in one Defined Reporting in one application you can apply application you can apply

that knowledge to the that knowledge to the other applications and do other applications and do

well.well.

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

demonstrated.demonstrated.

The Data Definition File (DDF).The Data Definition File (DDF).

The DDF is basically a list of The DDF is basically a list of the data fields that are the data fields that are

available to print - sort by – available to print - sort by – total by - or filter by - when total by - or filter by - when

using UDR’s. The DDF varies using UDR’s. The DDF varies by Application on the fields by Application on the fields

available, but is similar in each available, but is similar in each application in several ways application in several ways

including how you access it - including how you access it - print it – view it - and how it’s print it – view it - and how it’s

used. used.

The DDF can be accessed in The DDF can be accessed in each Applications “Office each Applications “Office

Manger” or “System Manger” or “System Manager” section. It can Manager” section. It can also be accessed thru the also be accessed thru the use of specified Function use of specified Function

Key options while creating Key options while creating and printing UDR’s.and printing UDR’s.

NOTE – Most Zortec Applications have several NOTE – Most Zortec Applications have several thousand individual data fields within them. Many thousand individual data fields within them. Many of these fields are available for printing on UDR’s. of these fields are available for printing on UDR’s. Unfortunately some are not. If you can’t locate a Unfortunately some are not. If you can’t locate a data field that you would like to print on the DDF data field that you would like to print on the DDF

contact LGC Customer Support. We will be glad to contact LGC Customer Support. We will be glad to help you determine if that data field is available or help you determine if that data field is available or

not.not.

Examples of Menu Path to Examples of Menu Path to the DDF option in a few Z the DDF option in a few Z

Applicatins.Applicatins.

Utility Billing Main Menu -> 08.. Office Manager -> 23.. Utility Billing Main Menu -> 08.. Office Manager -> 23.. DDF HandlerDDF Handler

Business License Main Menu -> 10.. System Manager -> Business License Main Menu -> 10.. System Manager -> 16.. Data Definitions16.. Data Definitions

Payroll Main Menu -> 09.. Office Manager -> 19.. DDF Payroll Main Menu -> 09.. Office Manager -> 19.. DDF HandlerHandler

General Ledger Main Menu -> 50.. Office Manager -> 16.. General Ledger Main Menu -> 50.. Office Manager -> 16.. DDF DefinitionDDF Definition

Notice a slight variation to Notice a slight variation to the DDF menu option name the DDF menu option name

depending on the Z depending on the Z application used.application used.

A Key to successful User A Key to successful User Defined Reporting is in Defined Reporting is in

understanding the DDF for understanding the DDF for the application you are using.the application you are using.

We recommend that you print We recommend that you print the DDF listing, study it and the DDF listing, study it and

become familiar with the data become familiar with the data fields available for printing, fields available for printing,

sorting, sub-totaling and sorting, sub-totaling and filtering data on User Defined filtering data on User Defined

Reports.Reports.

Printing the DDF for Utility Printing the DDF for Utility Billing Billing

Start on the Utility Billing Start on the Utility Billing main menumain menu

Leave the Beg / End Code blank for all and specify Report Leave the Beg / End Code blank for all and specify Report Order “C”.Order “C”.

I used Printer Number “VIEW” to display the report, but I used Printer Number “VIEW” to display the report, but you may want to print a hard copy to your printer ID so you may want to print a hard copy to your printer ID so

you can study it well.you can study it well.

The DDF for the Utility Billing The DDF for the Utility Billing system is 29 Pages long. The system is 29 Pages long. The Billing system is HUGE data Billing system is HUGE data

wise and has the longest DDF wise and has the longest DDF of all Z applications.of all Z applications.

Creating a User Creating a User Defined ReportDefined Report

This next section will This next section will demonstrate how to demonstrate how to

create a very basic User create a very basic User Defined ReportDefined Report

Starting on the Utility Billing Starting on the Utility Billing main menu, select 51.. User main menu, select 51.. User

Reports, then select 01.. Reports, then select 01.. Define reportsDefine reports

In the Functions option In the Functions option select select

C – to Create.C – to Create.

Note you also have Note you also have Functions for Update, Functions for Update,

Inquire and DeleteInquire and Delete

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

Creating a User Defined Report (Screen 1)

The top section of the User Report Definition screen 01 (shown above) ask a few questions that we will discuss in detail over the next few slides.

Report Number – The report number is a numeric, two-digit field which means you can number your report using any number from 1 – 99.

Access Code – S, U System or User (more details on next slide)

Access Code --- A UDR created with:

S - (System access) will allow any user that has access to the application (Utility Billing in this example) to Print the report. This is a way that you can create reports and share them with other users that have access to the system.

U - (User access) will limit access to the UDR to the individual user that created it. Other users that have access to the system will not be able to print reports that are setup with U – Access.

Serv #: - This is used if you want to print service specific information on your UDR. For example – Water Meter Number, or Gas Turn On Date.

If you are only going to print the Accounts General Information (not service specific) then you can leave this blank or 00 as shown above.

Note – each service is assigned a number in the parameters. For example Electric could be service 01, Water Service 03, Sewer Service 04 and Gas Service 05. This will vary by customer site so you will need to know how this is defined at your site.

Report Name – is what will be shown in the print menu box. In other words, it is how you will identify this report when selecting reports to print from the Print Menu. It will not actually print on the report itself. You will also see the report number on the Print Menu.

Major Heads – Two lines are available for the report heading. Enter the title of the report and any other text you wish to print each time the report is printed. You will have an opportunity to type in another line of (this time only heading) when you actually print the report from the Print menu.

Characters per Line – This determines the number of characters printed per line. The default is 132 and that works nicely for most printed reports. If you are only printing 2, 3 or 4 columns of data on your report you might want to reduced this number. The headings printed on the report will center based on what you enter here.

Lines per Page – This field determines the number of lines printed on each page. The default of 60 will work for most printers with 11 inch paper that are printing at 6 lines per inch or with 8.5 inch paper printing at 8 lines per inch. You may adjust the default up or down to get the results you need.

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

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

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

Sub-total when the following changes - This can be used to produce up to 5 levels of totals as the data changes for the DDF field specified. A good example of using Sub-totals would be if you wanted totals by Route. Note - your report would have to be sorted by Route before you can produce sub-totals by route. Sorting and Sub-Totaling work together.

Headings for Sub-totals – is used to identify your sub-total. What ever you enter as the Heading will print beside that sub-total on the report.

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

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

Once you complete the first screen of the UDR definition, the screen 2 (below) will be displayed. This is where you specify the data for the report detail lines.

All you have to enter on this screen are the DDF field numbers that you want to print on your report. You can press F3 to Search and Select DDF fields.

Below shows how I completed screen 2 of the UDR definition.

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

As you enter the DDF numbers the system will display an example of the report detail line layout near the bottom of the screen.

It will also display the Print Positions used and Available. Note – if you exceed the total print positions available (132 in this case) your report will not print.

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

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

Order – This can be used to change the sort order. For Example AC = Account, NA = Name, SA = Service Address. This will not be covered in detail in this session.

Report/Text File – This is a more advanced feature that will not be covered in this session. It defaults to R (Report) and you would only want to change that to T (Text File) if for example you were generating this UDR as a way to get data from a text file into Excel.

Report Name - Once you select a report to print the Report Name will be displayed on the next screen. This screen will ask for a Beginning and Ending Account to print which you can use to limit your results or you can leave blank to include all accounts.

Records to read - can be used to search your database a specified number of records at a time. If you enter 100 here the program will stop after it reads each set of 100 records, display some information detailing the number of records to be printed at that point and give you the option to stop and print them or continue with the next 100 records. You can leave this blank to read the entire file with no interruptions.

Additional Heading – can be used to include a heading for this run only which will print in addition to the two lines of heading that you can enter when you create the report.

Once you complete the Additional Heading field it will ask you to Enter Printer Number. See next slide.

F5.. Search criteria - will be demonstrated later in this presentation. This option is used to define filters for selecting exactly the data you wish to print.

F4.. To view/edit report info – can be used to view or edit the report definition.

Once the printer number is entered the report will be generated.

Notice the results above include the Report Headings, Column Headings and DDF Fields we requested to print on the detail lines. Also notice they are sorted by Account #.

User Defined Reporting User Defined Reporting (Basics)(Basics)

This next section will This next section will demonstrate taking the very demonstrate taking the very

basic UDR created in basic UDR created in section 1 and adding a DDF section 1 and adding a DDF

field to the report detail field to the report detail line as well as specifying a line as well as specifying a

sort order.sort order.

UDR’s are also very flexible UDR’s are also very flexible in that once created you in that once created you

can easily modify the report can easily modify the report to add or remove other DDF to add or remove other DDF

fields as needed.fields as needed.

To update or modify a To update or modify a UDR go back to the User UDR go back to the User

Reports menu and Reports menu and select..select..

1.. Define Reports (U - 1.. Define Reports (U - Update)Update)

This is the same report definition 01 that we created earlier.

I updated the report to include Sorting by Account Status, and Sub-Total on Account Status. In the Headings for Sub-totals I specified – Status Total

That is all that was updated on screen 1 of the report definition.

On Screen 2 of the report definition, I added the Status field to print on the report detail line.

Notice above that I still have 3 positions available. I have now used 129 of the available 132 positions for this report. Reminder – if you exceed the allowed number of print positions, the report will not print.

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

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

User Defined Reporting User Defined Reporting (Basics)(Basics)

Section 3 – Filtering with Section 3 – Filtering with Search CriteriaSearch Criteria

This next section will This next section will demonstrate using the Search demonstrate using the Search

Criteria option to filter the data Criteria option to filter the data to be included on the UDR. to be included on the UDR.

Filtering the data using Search Filtering the data using Search Criteria is how you manage to Criteria is how you manage to limit the information on the limit the information on the

report to exactly what you need report to exactly what you need to see. to see.

To define Search Criteria for a UDR select option 2.. Print Reports from the User Reports menu.

Notice that the Search Criteria is defined when printing the report rather than as part of the report definition.

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

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

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

You also have a list of the Possible Conditions.

I specified to filter the records for printing by Account Status where the Account Status = (Equal) to T (Terminated).

I added a second filter on the Total Amount Due where the Total Amount Due is > (Greater) than 1000.00

Notice below you can add as many as 5 filters using the search criteria definition screen. This allows you to do some very specify filters for your UDR.

Once you complete the search criteria definition screen you will be returned to the screen shown above. Notice that the word “Search” now appears in the upper left corner of the screen. This lets you know that you have defined search criteria for this UDR.

I completed the screen above, specifying to print my report to printer VIEW.VIEW can be used to view reports on the screen. You could also specify your printer ID in Z to print the report on paper.

Notice now my User Defined Report only includes Status T (Terminated) Accounts that owe more than 1000.00 in the Total Due.

User Defined Reporting User Defined Reporting (Basics)(Basics)

Section 4 – Printing Service Section 4 – Printing Service Specific InformationSpecific Information

This next section will This next section will demonstrate printing service demonstrate printing service

specific information on a UDR. specific information on a UDR. We will also use Sorting (two We will also use Sorting (two

levels), Top of Page, Sub-levels), Top of Page, Sub-Totaling and Search Criteria.Totaling and Search Criteria.

For my last sample report I completed screen 1 of the report definition as shown below. Notice I am printing service 01 (Gas) specific information on this report.

I am also sorting by Status and Service Amount Last Bill, Top of Page when the Status Changes, and Sub-Totaling on Status.

Below shows how I completed screen 2 of the UDR definition.

Note – I entered the Fld numbers and the Heading/Detail Format was auto populated for me. All you have to enter here are the DDF #’s you want to print on the details lines of your report. I used 120 print positions of the 132 available.

Next I returned to the User Reports Menu and selected Print Reports.

I specified Reports Menu to View, U (User), then selected report # 2.

Next I used the f5.. Search Criteria option to define how I wanted to filter the data for the report.

I specified to only include accounts who’s Service Amount Last Bill amount was greater than 500.00.

After completing the search criteria setup the next screen now shows “Search” in the top left corner. I entered Additional Heading information, specified the service number to print, and printer VIEW.

The DDF fields requested are included on the report, it is sorted by Status and then Service Amount Last Bill. It also includes Status Totals and does a page break when the status changes. Active accounts on page 1, Terminated page 2.

Thank You !Thank You !

I hope you learned I hope you learned enough about Z enough about Z

User Defined User Defined Reporting to get Reporting to get you off to a good you off to a good

start.start.

Up Next - Z print Up Next - Z print to PDFto PDF

Session BONUS informationSession BONUS information

This next section is not User Report related but is simply some BONUS material I wanted to show on a rather new option in Z to print reports and easily convert to PDF documents. A lot of our customer sites today are interested in saving Z reports as PDF documents. This provides a very simple way to do that.

Step 1 is to have a printer definitionSetup in your System Parameters to print to SIMPRINT.

Most of our customer sites should already have this printer defined.If your site does not contact LGC support for help setting this up.

Note the Printer Number for your SIMPRINT printer does not have to be SIMPRINT. You can actually name it anything you want. In this example the printer is named PDF with a Description of Z to CutePDF Writer.

The Operating System Print Command Line must be setup exactly as shown below.

Step 2 – is to have the CutePDF application installed on your Z server.

At sites that are running Z on a Server over a network, Cute PDF would need to be installed on the server and the Z users would need to be provided a location on the server to save documents. This could be a folder that is shared so that users can access the PDF documents from their PC workstations as well.

Below is an example of printing the Utility Billing A/R Detail report.To print to SIMPRINT you would specify your Z printer definition Printer Number for your SIMPRINT printer. Below I entered Printer Number PDF which I have defined as a SIMPRINT printer.

When you print to your SIMPRINT printer, the output will first display in a window (similar to how the VIEW printer displays).

To properly format Wide Reports to convert to PDF documents…Go to - - - File -> Page Options -> Change Column

In the Column Specifications box set the “number of columns” to 136 and select Make change permanent.

Click OK to save this change. Note each user should only have to do this process one time.

Next you can simply select the Printer Icon in the top left area of the report display. This will display a Print dialog box with options…

In the “Print” dialog box select the printer CutePDF Writer and then click OK.

The “Save As” dialog box will then appear where you can specify the “Save in” location that you want to save file and also specify the File Name and the Save as Type (which will default to .pdf). The final step is to click Save.

The image below shows the UB AR Detail Report saved as a PDF document on my PC Workstation.

This last image shows the Accounts Receivable Detail report opened with Adobe Reader as a PDF document.

The End !The End !

Contact LGC support if Contact LGC support if you need help printing you need help printing Z reports to PDF. We Z reports to PDF. We

will be glad to help will be glad to help with the setup and with the setup and showing you how to showing you how to

use it.use it.