is provided based on the rule selected in the Costpoint
Labor Mapping. For example, if you select the Project
Labor Category option, will be on the project labor
categories in the Set Up Project Labor Categories (PLC) screen.Use this screen to create templates for linking Costpoint labor and non-labor elements to Cobra budget elements. You can set up as many templates in this screen as needed. You must set up at least one template in this screen and enter it as a default in the Cobra Interface Settings screen. These templates allow you to link many Costpoint accounts to one Cobra budget element.
Create labor rules by linking the General Labor Categories (GLC), the Project Labor Categories (PLC), the Project Labor Category Cobra UDEF, and the Employee ID fields or Advanced option to create a custom code to link the Costpoint labor to the budget element in Cobra. The best business practice is a one to one link between the GCL and the Cobra budget element. Use this screen to enter exceptions to the one-to-one link.
Costpoint accounts are typically summarized in a many to one link to a Cobra budget element. For example, travel air fair, travel hotel, and so on, are linked to one Cobra budget element called Travel. Mapping for non-labor elements are entered in the table window in this screen. While the labor extraction is assumed a one-to-one link and you only list the exceptions, the Costpoint accounts work differently. Accounts that have not been mapped to budget elements will be passed through as the budget element.
To facilitate in the data entry and validation process, you may optionally select a Cobra budget element file when creating a template. You must have a connection to the Cobra database established in the Cobra Interface Settings screen in order to use this functionality.
You must set up at least one Cobra budget element template before you can complete the Cobra Interface Settings screen or run the extraction process.
Use the fields in this group box to enter the template ID and the template name. The system uses templates for linking Costpoint labor and non-labor element to Cobra budget elements.
These templates will be used in the Cobra Extraction Parameters screen. In the Cobra Extraction Parameters screen you can assign specific Costpoint projects or Cobra programs to use a specific charge template, budget element template, and cost template during the extraction process. This will allow you to customize the relationship between sets of Cobra programs and the Costpoint projects. You can set up as many budget element templates as needed in this screen.
Enter up to 15 alphanumeric characters for a template ID. You can create as many template IDs as necessary.
Enter up to 25 alphanumeric characters for a template name. The template name displays in the drop-down list in the Cobra Extraction Parameters screen. You should select a name that adequately describes the type of budget element template, and will make the selection from the drop-down list easy.
Use the fields in this group box to select the method of labor mapping you want to use for this template. Keep in mind that you can create many budget templates and assign them to individual projects, a range of projects, or an individual list of projects in the Cobra Extraction Parameters screen.
The selection made in this group box will create a labor rule that the extraction process will use to link Cobra to Costpoint labor records. You can create a labor rule and also list any exceptions to this rule in the Define Budget Elements table window. The extraction process will apply the exceptions before the labor rule is applied.
Select this option if you want to enable the sample program lookup field. Once this field is selected, Add all the Cobra Budget Elements to the Grid is enabled.
If no database connection can be made when the screen is opened, this option is selected.
Within this group box, you can select values that are used as resources for accounts that are linked to a function code of Labor in the Project Account Group.
Select this option if you want to use project labor categories to link labor transactions between Costpoint and Cobra. This selection assumes that you have set up identical labor categories in both systems. You can use the table window in the Define Budget Elements group box to enter any exceptions to this rule.
Select this option if you want to use the Cobra Mapping Value field in the Selected Project Labor Categories group box of the Assign PLC to Projects screen. You can use the Cobra Mapping Value field to link project PLCs to a specific Cobra value that cannot be easily identified in Costpoint. The extraction process will use the PLC to look up the Cobra value entered in the Cobra Mapping Value field and link it to that value in Cobra. You can use the table window in the Define Budget Elements group box to enter any exceptions to this rule.
Select this option if you want to use General Labor Categories to link Costpoint labor to Cobra labor. Costpoint general labor categories are set up in the General Labor Categories screen in Costpoint Labor. General labor categories are required in all Costpoint labor entries and, therefore, are the recommended best business practice. You can use the table window in the Define Budget Elements group box to enter any exceptions to this rule.
A one-to-one link between the GLC and the Cobra budget element will allow you to budget using a standard skill oriented code. In Cobra, a single budget element can use multiple rates; thus the PLC is not required. A single budget element file is typically shared across all Cobra Programs.
Select this option if you want to use the employee ID to link Costpoint labor to Cobra labor. This is a very detailed method for tracking costs for budgeting and earned value reporting. If employees resign or are hired during the life of a project, their budgets must be reassigned to other employees. Hence, it is usually easiest to budget by General Labor Category (GLC). If you select this option you can use the table window in the Define Budget Element group box to enter any exceptions to this rule.
If there is not a selection that fits your needs, the Advanced option can be utilized. This allows you to have budget elements that are a substring or concentration of one or more Costpoint fields.
This caption changes based on the Map Labor Based on Costpoint group selection. For example, if Employee ID is selected, it would read To a Cobra Budget Element Identical to the Employee ID. The caption changes as follows:
Project Labor Category (PLC) — The Cobra budget element is identical to the PLC.
Project Labor Category Cobra UDEF — The Cobra budget element is identical to the Cobra UDEF.
General Labor Category (GLC) — The Cobra budget element is identical to the GLC.
Employee ID — The Cobra budget element is identical to the Employee ID, Vendor ID, and Vendor Employee ID.
Advanced — The Cobra budget element is identical to the Advanced definition.
This field is the Cobra Budget Element assigned for labor not specifically mapped in the grid below. The lookup for this field is the Cobra budget elements.
This is the Cobra class that is assigned to all labor mapped to the above Cobra Budget Element. This field is only enabled if the To Cobra Budget Element (Labor) is also selected. If not entered, the default Cobra class is used. It is assigned when the screen is saved.
This option controls where unmapped non-labor is routed.
This field is the Cobra Budget Element that is identical to the Account ID in Costpoint. The lookup for this field is the Cobra Budget Element.
This field is the Cobra Budget Element assigned for non-labor not specifically mapped in the grid below. The lookup for this field is the Cobra Budget Element.
This Cobra class is assigned to all non-labor mapped to the Cobra Budget Element. This field is only enabled if the To Cobra Budget Element (Non-Labor) is also selected. If not entered, the default Cobra class is used. It is assigned when the screen is saved.
The primary purpose of this grid is to allow the user to map exceptions (for example, items where the Costpoint Account, PLC, GLC, and so on, does not match the Cobra Budget Element). The grid is also used where the Costpoint Resource and Cobra Budget Element match, but a different default Cobra Class is desired.
If the Costpoint Account cannot be used as the BE for non-labor, then you must enter a record for all non-labor charging accounts in the Costpoint Resource column. Labor accounts will use the Costpoint Labor Mapping method. Codes should only be listed in this table if they are an exception to the labor rule that is selected in the Costpoint Labor Mapping group box.
This button is only enabled if a connection is successfully made to the Cobra Database and a Sample Cobra Program was entered in the mapping mode. Once this is selected, you can populate the grid with one row for each Cobra Budget Element in the selected Cobra program.
Use this required field to enter the Cobra class that you want actual costs to be loaded into. Classes allow you to identify the difference between accruals, commitments, and actual costs. Thus, a particular account in Costpoint might represent a different class for a budget element in Cobra. You must first create a class in Cobra before loading actual costs into this class. Use this field to identify the class.
Once the user enters Default Cobra Class and tabs past the field, the default Cobra Class will default into the appropriate rows in the Cobra Budget Element/Class Mapping table. If no rows exist when the Default Cobra Class is entered (for example, if the user is manually entering Cobra Budget Elements), any existing rows will be populated when the record is saved.
Use the drop-down list to select a value for this field. Available options are L for labor and N for non-labor. These types coincide with how the account will be used on Costpoint projects. You must include a row in this table for all accounts that function as non-labor, unless you are using the Map Unspecified Costpoint Non-Labor Accounts. You should only enter L types for exceptions to the rule in the Costpoint Labor Mapping group box.
If the Cobra Budget Elements are populated by clicking Add All the Cobra Budget Elements to the Grid and you do not enter a type for a row, that row will be deleted when the template is saved.
Use this field to enter the Costpoint resource you want to map to the Cobra Budget Element. You must map accounts if you do not want to pass the Costpoint account as the budget element. You only need to map the exceptions to the rule used in the Costpoint Labor Mapping group box for labor types. Similar Costpoint accounts can be mapped to only a budget element. Wildcard characters may be used to perform this mapping for non-labor accounts.
is provided based on the rule selected in the Costpoint
Labor Mapping. For example, if you select the Project
Labor Category option, will be on the project labor
categories in the Set Up Project Labor Categories (PLC) screen.
If the Advanced option is not
selected, this value is the Costpoint item (Account, PLC, GLC, UDEF) that
mapped to the related budget element. When this is the case, you can use
based on the Costpoint Labor Mapping selected.
If the Advanced option is selected, this field will always show the text ADVANCED in the Costpoint Resource field. No lookup or modification is allowed. You may still choose to relate a budget element to an Advanced Costpoint item for the purposes of using a Cobra class different than the default. At run time, the system will look through the budget elements mapped to determine if an advanced value has a different class assigned.
Use this field to select the Cobra budget element to which you want
to map the Costpoint resource. If you have entered a value in the Cobra Budget Element field, the applicable
Cobra budget elements are available in for this field. You
will receive a warning if you try to enter a budget element that does
not exist in the Cobra system. Only those budget elements that are part
of the Cobra budget element file entered in the Cobra
Budget Element group box are valid for this field when using a
Cobra budget element file. Entries made in manual mode will be validated
during the extraction process.
Use this field to enter exceptions to the default Cobra class. The value that you enter in the Default Cobra Class field automatically displays in this field. If this field is empty at the time the file is saved, the Default Cobra Class field is filled in.
Use this button to create more options for defining the key fields that map from Cobra to Costpoint. This screen changes to match the Budget Element Template Name you have selected in the Template Name field in the Budget Element Templates dialog box.
This screen contains the following fields:
For — Use the drop down list to select one of three possible values:
Employee Labor — The fields, prefixes, and so forth for this rule govern now the advanced mapping is created for all records where CB_SUM.EMPL_ID <> Null.
Vendor Labor — The fields, prefixes, and so forth for this rule govern how the advanced mapping is created for all records where CB_SUM.VEND_CB_SUM <> Null and CB_SUM.CB_SUM_EMPL_ID = Null.
Vendor Employee — The fields, prefixes, and so forth for this rule govern how the advanced mapping is created for all records where CB_SUM.VEND_EMPL_ID <> Null.
Prefix/Literal — This field is added to the beginning of the fields concatenated below. If no fields are expressed, then this effectively becomes the BE that will be assigned to all records that fit the rule.
Order — This field determines the order in which the row's information will be placed into the result.
Field — You can either type or lookup/select a field from the field list above. After this field is selected, the Table and Description fields are populated.
Description — This field displays the name of the field as it would be displayed in the label presenting the field to you in Costpoint. This column is read only.
Table — This field displays the table related to the selected field. This column is read only.
Starting Character Position — This field allows you to designate the starting point for use when selecting a potential subset of the selected field's data.
Ending Character Position — This field allows you to designate the ending point for use when selecting a potential subset of the selected field's data.
Characters Added to the End — This field allows you to enter as many as four characters that will be added to the end of the field. The primary use for this field is to be a one character delimiter between the field data values.
Use Part of the Above Result — This option allows you to choose a substring from the result of the advanced mapping definitions. By default, this check box is clear.
Starting From Position — This field allows you to designate a starting point for a substring of the result.
Ending Position — This field allows you to designate an ending point for the substring within the result.
Length of Final Result — This field shows the possible total length of the result. If you are not using the Use Part of the Above Result option, you can change this field. The data values are truncated at this length.
Results Test — This field displays sample data that satisfy the criteria specified in the Advanced Mapping Definition table.
Test — Click this button to execute the criteria specified in the Advanced Mapping Definition table.
Stop Test — Click this button to stop execution of the criteria specified in the Advanced Mapping Definition table.
Changes to this screen update the TEMPL_HDR (Template Header) and the CB_BE_TEMPL (Cobra Budget Elements Templates) tables.