Location groups are an optional feature. You can use a location group to identify and establish a set of location data that you can summarize into a location "template."
The data in this screen is company-specific and will be available for use only by your company of login. If you have set up multiple companies in Costpoint, you can enter data in this screen for each company only by using the separate company login for each.
You can enter, edit, view, or use the data in this screen only for your login company. If you have multiple companies, you cannot view, enter, edit, or use the data from this screen for any company other than your company of login.
Because many assets often share basic location data, the purpose of the location group template is to make location data entry more efficient in your asset records. Instead of entering identical location data in eight fields for each record that shares the same (or similar) location data, you can enter one location group identifier instead, making location code edits as necessary.
You should determine in advance whether the use of location groups will satisfy your data entry requirements. Location groups should particularly benefit companies for situations in which the general location data (city, state/province, county, country, postal code) is shared by assets but the specific location code data that you have defined (such as room number, and so on) is more unique among asset records. Many users set up location groups to hold default location data that is site-specific.
If you plan to use location groups, you should set up location group data in this screen as one of the first steps in the initialization process before you begin to add data in an Asset Master record.
If you plan to use location codes data in your location groups, you must first establish the validated data in the Location 1 Codes, Location 2 Codes, and/or Location 3 Codes screens, as applicable. Although it is not a system requirement, you may want to overwrite the default labels with labels of your choice for these fields in the Asset Master Field Labels screen.
Although you can add to, delete, or change the information in this screen at any time, use caution in the timing of your edits, which may affect the types of records included in system reports. To achieve consistency throughout your records, however, it is preferable for you to plan for and establish as much as possible of this setup data during the initialization process.
In this group box, you can enter a location group identifier and description.
Enter up to10 alphanumeric characters in this required field to assign a location group identifier. If you have already established one or more location codes, you can use Find if you know the location code. You can use Query to list all location codes from which to select one or if you need to search for location codes based on specific criteria.
The identifier(s) that you establish for use with your asset records should be specific to your company requirements. There is no virtual limit to the number of location groups that can be set up in this screen.
Enter up to 30 alphanumeric characters in this required field to provide the description for a location group identifier. Although only a single character entered in this field fulfills the system requirement for a description, you will find it more beneficial to supply a meaningful description, because your entry will display when using Lookup on location groups and in reports that use this field.
In this group box, you can enter the appropriate city, state/province, country, postal code, and/or county, as desired, to link with the location group identifier.
Enter up to 25 alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a city for this location group.
If you enter a postal code in the Postal Code field that has previously been set up in the Maintain Postal Codes screen in Costpoint System Administration, the city name associated with the postal code automatically displays in this field as a default city. In this circumstance, you can overwrite the displayed city data as desired and enter non-validated city data.
Enter up to15 alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a state/province for this location group. The only acceptable entries in this field are states/provinces that have previously been defined in the system. You can use Lookup if you need to review the available states/provinces before selecting the appropriate state/province for use with the location code.
If you enter a postal code in the Postal Code field that has previously been set up in the Maintain Postal Codes screen in Costpoint System Administration, the state/province associated with the postal code automatically displays in this field and cannot be edited.
Enter up to eight alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a country code for this location group. The only acceptable entries in this field are country codes that have previously been defined in Costpoint. You can use Lookup if you need to review the available country codes before selecting the appropriate country for code for use with the location code.
If you enter a postal code in the Postal Code field that has previously been set up in the Maintain Postal Codes screen in Costpoint System Administration, the country code associated with the postal code automatically displays in this field and cannot be edited.
Enter up to 10 alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a postal code for this location group. The only acceptable entries in this field are postal codes that have previously been defined in Costpoint. You can use Lookup if you need to review the available postal codes before selecting the appropriate postal code for use with the location code.
If you use Lookup or enter a postal code in this field that has previously been set up in the Maintain Postal Codes screen in Costpoint System Administration, the system automatically displays data related to the postal code in the City, State/Province, and Country fields. Entries in this field will overwrite existing data in the City, State/Province, and Country fields. (In this circumstance, you can only overwrite data in the City field with non-validated data.)
Enter up to 25 alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a county location for this location group. Unlike the City, State/Province, and Country fields, county data is not automatically linked with postal code information from the Maintain Postal Codes screen in Costpoint System Administration.
In this group box, you can enter the appropriate location codes, as desired, to link with the location group identifier.
If you designated a different label for location 1 in the Location Labels for Asset Master group box of the Asset Master Field Labels screen, your label description for Location1 automatically displays at this field. Note that it is not a system requirement that you establish a label for this field. If you did not set up a different label for location 1 in the Asset Master Field Labels screen, the default label "Location1" automatically displays for this field.
Enter up to eight alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a location 1 code for this location group. You can alternately select the down arrow on the drop-down box to view the available location 1 codes and select the desired code for use with this record in this optional field. The location 1 code that you enter in this field is validated against location 1 codes previously set up during initialization (or at other times, as necessary) in the Location 1 Codes screen.
Note that this field is independent from the other fields in the location group. You can add data in this field without any requirement to add data in any other data fields in this screen.
If you designated a different label for location 2 in the Location Labels for Asset Master group box of the Asset Master Field Labels screen, your label description for Location2 automatically displays for this field. Note that it is not a system requirement that you establish a label for this field. If you did not set up a different label for location 2 in the Asset Master Field Labels screen, the default label "Location2" automatically displays at this field.
Enter up to eight alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a Location 2 code for this location group. You can alternately select the down arrow on the drop-down box to view the available location 2 codes and select the desired code for use with this record in this optional field. The location 2 code entered in this field is validated against location 2 codes previously set up during initialization (or at other times, as necessary) in the Location 2 Codes screen.
Note that this field is independent from the other fields in the location group. You can add data in this field without any requirement to add data in any other fields in this screen.
If you designated a different label for location 3 in the Location Labels for Asset Master group box of the Asset Master Field Labels screen, your label description for Location3 automatically displays at this field. Note that it is not a system requirement that you establish a label for this field. If you did not set up a different label for location 3 in the Asset Master Field Labels screen, the default label "Location3" automatically displays for this field.
Enter up to eight alphanumeric characters in this optional field to specify a Location 3 code for this location group. You can alternately select the down arrow on the drop-down box to view the available location 3 codes and select the desired code for use with this record in this optional field. The location 3 code entered in this field is validated against location 3 codes previously set up during initialization (or at other times, as necessary) in the Location 3 Codes screen.
Note that this field is independent from the other fields in the location group. You can add data in this field without any requirement to add data in any other fields in this screen.
The system stores data entered in this screen in the FA_LOCATION_GRP (Location Group) table.