Specification of Input Data Formats Tab
This section includes the fields and descriptions for the Specification of Input Data Formats tab.
Input Data Format Island
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Upon creation of an input data format you can write the name of the format in this field. The name of existing input data formats cannot be changed. |
| Field Delimiter | In this field, you can specify a character that is used as a delimiter between fields in the input data format. Typically, a comma (“,”) or a tab would be used as a delimiter. The tab character is written as follows: “#TAB.”
If no delimiter is used between fields, the fields have a fixed length. In that case, the length is specified in the field “Fixed Length” below. |
| Record End | In this field, you can specify a character or a code that is used as delimiter between records in the input data format. Typically, a line break (carriage return/line feed) would be used as delimiter. This is specified as follows: “13 10.”
If a record end code is not used, then all records have the same length. The length is specified in the field “Fixed Length” below. |
| Yes | In this field, you can specify which character in the imported file should be interpreted as “Yes.” Possible ways of specifying “Yes” could be “Y” or “1,” but it depends on the specifications in the input data format. |
| No | In this field, you can specify which character in the imported file should be interpreted as “No.” Possible ways of specifying “No” could be “N” or “0,” but it depends on the specifications in the input data format. |
| Decimal | In this field, you can specify a character that is used as decimal in amount fields in the input data format. Certain formats do not use a decimal, but assumes that all amounts are specified in cents (for US currency). |
| Text Encloser | In this field, you specify a “text enclose,” that is, a character used around fields of the type “Text” in the format. Typically, a quotation mark (“ " “). |
| General Encloser | In this field, you specify a “general enclose,” that is, a character used around all types of fields in the format, that is, not only text fields. |
| Fixed Length | If no character or code is specified in the field “Record End,” and all records have the same length, you can specify the fixed length of all records in the input data format in this field. If the value entered in this field is “0,” the function is not used. |
| Fixed No. of Fields | If a delimiter or code is specified in the field “Field Delimiter,” but no character or code is specified in the field “Record End,” then you can specify in this field how many fields every record in the input data format must contain. If the value entered in this field is “0,” the function is not used. |
| Number of Lines per Record | In this field, you can specify the number of lines into which the record is split. Some input formats split long records into several lines, and you can specify the number of lines in this field. Records of this type are typically fixed-length records as well. |
| Character Encoding | In this field, you enter the encoding that is used by the bank. Maconomy will use the default encoding if no character encoding has been specified. |
Input Data Records Island
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| First Record | In this field, you must specify the identification of the first record in the input data file. This identification must be in the first position specified in the two fields below in order for the file to be correctly imported in Maconomy using this format. The identification is specified in the format description issued by the bank (when dealing with a payment receipt format).
In certain cases, the position of the first record can be variable. In such cases, you can specify one or more alternative position(s) for the first record according to the following syntax: <id> (<pos>:<length> [<pos>:<length>]) The syntax is shown in the graphic below. The illustration depicts the field “First Record,” in which the text “Z3 (1:2 6.2)” has been specified.
If the first record (identified by “Z3”) does not exist in the position specified in the fields “Start Identification” and “Id. Chars” below, the format specification searches for the field “Z3” in position 1 and the next two characters. If this does not produce the result “Z3” either, the format specification searches from position 6 and the next two characters. If the identification does not exist here either, the reading of the format produces an error. |
| Start Identification | In this field, you must specify in which position the record identification specified in the field “First Record” above starts. Maconomy checks the first record in the file and reads from the specified position. |
| Id. Chars. | In this field, you must specify the number of characters occupied by the identification specified in the field “First Record” above. Maconomy starts the import from the position in the first record in the file as specified in the field “Start Identification” above and the number of characters that you enter in this field. |
Access Level Island
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Access Level Name | Enter the name of the access level required to access the format and its forms. |
| Access Level Description | Enter the description of the access level required to access the format and its forms. |
Variable Island
In this island, you can define a number of variables. The specified variable is used in other places in the format specification. For example, you can define that variable #3 contains the total number of records in the file. In the window Specification of Input Data Records, you can specify that variable #3 should be increased by 1 for each record. You can then inspect the contents of the variable in the end record of the file, which at that time contains the total number of records.
| Field | Description | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | This field displays the variable number. The number is used when you refer to the variable from other windows/fields in the format specification. | ||||||||||||||||
| Type | In this pop-up field, you can select the variable type. The type determines which actions the variable should execute, and how the format interprets the contents. Variables of, for example, the type “Text Field” are considered as text and therefore cannot be multiplied, even though they contain figures. At the same time, you can therefore, for example, assign text to a variable of the type “Integer Field.”
The following types are available:
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| Description | In this field, you can write a description of the current variable.
The description is only shown in this window. |
Delivery No. Island
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Verify Delivery No. | If this field is marked, Maconomy verifies that the file has not been imported before. This is done by checking the delivery number in the import file. The delivery number is located using the positional indicators in the two fields below. |
| Start | In this field, you can specify in which position the delivery number in the file starts. Maconomy checks the first record in the file and reads from the specified position. |
| Length | In this field, you can specify the number of characters occupied by the delivery number. Maconomy reads the identification from the position in the first record specified in the field “Start” above and the number of characters specified in this field. |
User Island
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Created | This field shows the date and name of the user who created the format. |
| Changed | This field shows the date and name of the user who recently made changes to the format. |
| Version | This field shows the latest version number of the format. The number is incremented by one each time a change is made to the format. |