MainBoss Newswire
December 2004
Topics:
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1.
Exporting
MainBoss Data
MainBoss reports, work orders and purchase orders are often exported by customers in order to customize the information beyond what is available within the MainBoss program itself. Exported data can be manipulated using Microsoft Excel or Access. Here are some helpful suggestions that will make customizing exported MainBoss data easier:
1. MainBoss data is exported either as a .dbf file or a .csv file. Both formats represent the data in raw form, so there is no formatting whatsoever.
2. The heading for each column of data describes what MainBoss field this information was taken from. For example, when exporting the history report, the WONUM column lists all the work order numbers that were exported. For a listing of what fields these column headings represent, please refer to the MainBoss CD: D:\Documentation\English\mbtables29.doc, where D:\ represents your CD drive.
3. Since a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel represents data in a two dimensional format (rows and columns) and MainBoss can have multiple dimensions (for example a work order can have two labor records and three material records linked to it), exported information can spread over more than one row per unit of data. To illustrate, when exporting the History report, all the information for one particular work order can take up two or more rows of the spreadsheet. If the work order has two labor records, then the work order number and all related information will be duplicated in two rows. Under the LA* columns (all columns referring to labor), the first row will represent the first labor record information, the second row the next labor record and so on. The impact of this is the fact that you can’t easily sum up the rows to get a total sum for a particular column since some of that information may be duplicated.
4. Description and comment fields in MainBoss are referred to as memo fields by a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel. By default, Excel does not show the contents of memo fields unless the user first installs an ODBC driver. Please click on this link for more information on how you can view comment fields through ODBC:
http://www.mainboss.com/english/news/MBNewswire-September01.htm
5. If you always export the same report and make the same formatting changes to the exported data, Microsoft Excel allows you to write a macro that records each formatting step you take. Basically, a macro quickly performs all the steps you would normally do by hand, in just a few seconds, thus not only saving you time and energy, but also reducing the occurrence of human error. To read more about creating Excel macros, please click on this link: http://www.mainboss.com/english/news/MBNewswire-April02.htm
6. Exported time values are also shown without any formatting. This means that time is shown as a number such as 093000. In this case the number represents 09:30:00 (HHMMSS). Time is shown based on the 24hr clock. Most exported time fields are shown in the format of HHMMSS (hour-minute-second).
7. Exported monetary values are also shown without any formatting. This means that the cost is shown in pennies. For example a value of 100 actually means $1. In order to accurately work with the exported monetary fields in Microsoft Excel, the user should divide the values by 100 in order to get the correct dollar amount.
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2.
Upcoming Tradeshows
Thinkage
will be attending the following tradeshow to demonstrate MainBoss:
·
Buildex
Vancouver at the
Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in Vancouver, BC from February 16
– 17, 2005. Visit us at booth 1307!
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