USER-DEFINED FIELD INFO

Use this subtask to enter four types of optional user-defined information: Date, Numeric, Text, and Validated Text.

You can also enter, edit, and view user-defined data in the Maintain Asset Template User-Defined Info screen. You can use this alternative data entry screen to directly access the user-defined data in an Asset Template record without the need to first bring up the Maintain Asset Template Info screen and then bring up the User-Defined Field Info subtask. Data entry functionality and rules are identical, regardless of which entry screen you use. If you choose the direct menu option, it is possible for the system administrator to set up screen rights so that the user cannot access the Maintain Asset Template Info screen and its subtasks but can still enter user-defined data for an Asset Template record.

You can use this user-defined data to record additional information that may be specific to your company for which there are no system-defined standard fields with the desired terminology. The primary advantage in using validated text data lies in the consistency of the entry format and the subsequent ability to print reports that use this consistent data format. When setting up validated text, you can define your own valid entries or you can select a field from an existing Costpoint table as the source for data validation.

Before you can enter user-defined data in this subtask, you must first initialize the user-defined label information in the User-Defined Labels screen. Setup includes the label type, the label name, the sequence number that controls the order of the label display, a short description for the label, and whether data entry for the label should be required entry. If you have designated none of these labels as required, user-defined data entry in this subtask is optional. You can also designate during setup whether the label should accommodate validated text or access the designated field from the selected Costpoint validation table; if you have selected the validated text option for the label, you must also establish the data to be validated against.

You can enter and edit data in this subtask at any time after you have established the label initialization data in the User-Defined Labels screen. Although you can change the information in this subtask at any time, use caution in the timing of your data edits, which may affect the types of records included in system-generated and/or user-defined reports.

Note: As with all dependent data tables within Costpoint, you cannot delete a label from a row in the User-Defined Labels screen if user-defined data for the label currently exists in an Asset Master or Asset Template record.

If you plan to use templates, you should enter data in this subtask and in the other applicable subtasks before you begin to establish your Asset Master records. You can use template functionality at any time, however. Although you can change the information in this subtask at any time, use caution in the timing of your data edits, which may affect the types of records included in system reports.

Note: If you have used a template to "import" data into an Asset Master record and you later make a change to a template data field, the data change will not automatically be copied to the Asset Master record without user intervention. (In this circumstance, you will need to go back into the Maintain Asset Master Info screen and tab through the Template No/Rev No fields to re-import revised data from the template. Alternately, you can also create a new template or the same template with an appropriate revision number that incorporates the change. Or you can bypass the template record and manually make the desired change directly in the Asset Master record.)

Identification

In this group box, you can view the template number and revision number, if applicable, of the record that was selected in the main screen

Template No

This non-editable field displays the template number from the main screen.

Rev No

This non-editable field displays the revision number, if applicable, from the main screen.

Table Window

In this table window, you can enter or edit data for each label that displays, as desired. (If the label has been set as required in the User-Defined Labels screen, however, data entry for the label is required in this screen.) You must first set up user-defined labels in the User-Defined Labels screen. The labels from that screen automatically display in this table window along with the short help description.

If the label has been set up to use validated text, you must select from user-defined validated text data that displays when you access Lookup. If the label has been set up to validate against Costpoint data, you must select from the data that displays when using Lookup.

Warning: Technically, in this version of Costpoint, you can use the standard Windows Find and Replace functionalities at any child table window screen (including this screen). You can safely use Find because its sole purpose is to help you locate specified data within the table window.

The Replace function, however, although inherently powerful when used in the proper circumstances, can also be dangerous. The Replace function will change the specified data when you save the table window and will NOT create an audit trail. In addition, dependent data rules within Costpoint can complicate the Replace functionality.

We recommend that you NEVER use the Replace functionality in this screen because this function is inappropriate for the data contained in this table window. For more information about Find and Replace, please see the Basic Functions documentation.

Data Type

This column is not available for user entry. This column automatically displays the data type for the label initialized in the User-Defined Labels screen. The data types available for setup are "D" (Date), "N" (Numeric), or "T" (Text).

Labels

This column is not available for user entry. This column automatically displays the labels initialized in the User-Defined Labels screen in the designated sequence order.

Values

Enter user-defined data in this column.

If the label has been set up as type "D" (Date) in the User-Defined Labels screen, for a new template record enter the user-defined data in date format. If the Required column for this row displays "Y," a date for this row is required before you can save the asset template. For an existing template record, you can edit data that displays in this column. If the user-defined label has not been designated as required, you can add new data to a previously blank column as desired.

If the label has been set up as type "N" (Numeric) in the User-Defined Labels screen for a new template record, enter the user-defined data in numeric format. You can enter up to 12 numeric characters and two decimal characters (999,999,999,999.99) in this column. If the Required column for this row displays "Y," numeric data for this row is required before you can save the asset template. (Although only a single numeric character entered in this column fulfills the system requirement for data entry, you will find it more beneficial to supply meaningful data because your entry will display in an Asset Master record as well as in reports that use this field.) For an existing template record, you can edit data that displays in this column. If the user-defined label has not been designated as required, you can add new data to a previously blank column, as desired.

If the label has been set up as type "T" (Text) in the User-Defined Labels screen and the label does not required validated data, enter up to 30 alphanumeric characters for a new template record. If the user-defined label has not been designated as required, you can edit data that displays in this column for an existing template or add new data to a previously blank column, as desired. If the Validated Text column for this row displays "N" AND the Costpoint Validation Field column is empty AND the Required column displays "N" for this label, you can enter text data of your choice that is not system-validated. (Although only a single character entered in this column fulfills the system requirement for data entry, you will find it more beneficial to supply meaningful data because your entry will display in Asset Template records, Asset Master records, and in reports that use this field, as applicable.)

If the Required column for this row displays "Y," text data for this row is required before you can save the asset template.

The user-defined text label may have been set up to accept validated data only. In this circumstance, one of two sources for validated text was already designated during setup in the User-Defined Labels screen:

If the Validated Text column for this label displays "Y," you must select data from the validated data that you previously entered for this label. You can use Lookup to display the validated data options that you have established for this label.
If a Costpoint field name displays in the Costpoint Validation Field column, you must select data from the validated entries that display when you access Lookup from the menu bar.

Data from this column will automatically display in the Values column (in the corresponding sequential row) in a new Asset Master record in the User-Defined Field Info subtask of the Maintain Asset Master Info screen and in the Maintain Asset User-Defined Info screen, if you specify the use of this template/revision number. Alternately, data from this column will automatically display in the same column(s) if this template has been specified as the default template in the Default Template for Asset Master group box in the Fixed Assets Settings screen. Data from this column will display in the same column(s) in the corresponding sequential row in an existing Asset Master record if this template/revision number replaces an existing template/revision number in the Template No/Rev No fields in an Asset Master record.

The data for the Short Help Description that you initialized with each label during setup automatically displays at the lower left of the screen for the selected row to guide you in entering the user-defined data for this column.

Costpoint Validation Field

A user-defined text label may have been set up to accept validated data only. In this circumstance, one of two available sources for validated text was already designated during setup in the User-Defined Labels screen.

If a Costpoint field name displays in this column, you must select data from the validated entries that display when you access Lookup from the menu bar. This column is not available for user entry because it automatically displays the Costpoint field name selected in the User-Defined Labels screen against which the data will be validated.
If this column is blank and the Validated Text column for this label displays "Y," you must select data from the validated data that you previously entered for this label. You can use Lookup to display the validated data options that you have established for this label.

Validated Text

A user-defined text label may have been set up to accept validated data only. In this circumstance, one of two available sources for validated text was already designated during setup in the User-Defined Labels screen. If this column for this label displays "Y," you must select data from the validated data that you previously entered for this label. You can use Lookup to display the validated data options that you have established for this label. This column is not available for user entry because it automatically displays the "Y" or "N" parameter set up for the label in the User-Defined Labels screen.
If a Costpoint field name displays in the Costpoint Validation Field column and the Validated Text column for this label displays "N," you must select data from the validated entries that display when you access Lookup from the menu bar.

This column will automatically display "N" for an "N" or a "D" type label.

Required

This column is not available for user entry because it automatically displays the "Y" or "N" requirement parameter set up for the label in the User-Defined Labels screen.

If "Y" displays in this column for the label, you must enter data in the Values column for this row before you can save the asset template.
If "N" displays in this column for the label, data entry is not required before saving the record. (Although only a single character entered in the Values column fulfills the system requirement for data entry for non-validated labels that are types "N" and "T," you will find it more beneficial to supply meaningful data because your entry will display in Asset Template records, Asset Master records, and in reports that use this field, as applicable.

Table Information

The system stores the data displayed in this subtask in the GENL_UDEF (User-Defined) table.

The system stores the user-defined labels for the user-defined fields in the UDEF_LBL (User-Defined Labels) table.

The system stores validated text, if applicable, in the UDEF_VALID_VALUES (Valid Values) table.