e-Newsletter, March 17, 2004

Roundtable Software E-Mail Newsletter Issue #21, March 17, 2004

Want to subscribe to future issues of our newsletter? Click here!

There is a new patch available for the Magnetic Media Reporting System for Tax Year 2003. This patch repairs a problem that affects the quarterly reporting of State unemployment in 2004. The program was reporting the wrong year for the submission. Be sure to get this patch if you use MMRS for state quarterly unemployment reporting. If you do not use the module for this purpose you do not need to install the patch.

You must have purchased and installed the 2003 version of MMRS in order for this patch to load successfully. You will need to use the DeltaDOS utility (available free on our website) to install this patch.

Generation of submission files for tax year 2003 is not affected by this patch; any files already created with the previous version of Magnetic Media are fine.

Q: I want to do a Report Generator format with vendor part numbers, but I can't find the field in the dictionary! Is it missing?

A: No. You'll find the vendor part number in file G, the Reference Items file. The vendor part numbers are included with references. To determine whether a given reference is a vendor part number, use the Reference Type field. If the type is equal to 5 then you have a vendor part number record. In such records the Reference Number field represents the vendor part number and, of course, the Vendor Number field is the vendor with which the part number is associated.

By the way, you'll find this information on page 1089 of the Books of Knowledge set, in a section devoted to defining and demystifying some of the more obscure and oddball fields available in Report Generator.

Q: I understand I cannot print Report Generator formats based on my Inventory explosions. Why is that? Is there any workaround?

A: The explosion detail file only contains the child item quantity and a link to the child item master. When you've already opened the item master file and read the parent item record into memory, the program will not allow you to open the item master again for the child item.

But you can trick it. When you first begin a format, do not enter a specific company number-leave that as 00 (zero zero), meaning you will indicate when printing what company to use. Then, when you follow the child item match back to the item master file, select the specific company you want to work with and it will open the item master file again but with the child item's record in memory for that instance of the file.

For example, start a report based on File A, Item Master, but leave the company number as 00 (zero zero). Connect to the Explosion List by adding field 23 to the format. Add the Quantity of Child field from file I, Explosion List. Next select to add a field from file I and highlight field 3, Child Item Match. Enter M to Match on this field. Press Enter to select to match to file ADINA, the Item Master. In the next window is where the trick comes in. In the Company for ADIN window, choose the actual company number that you want to use. For example, if you use company number 82, select that company number. DO NOT accept the default of 00-if you do, you'll get an error telling you that a Duplicate File Exists and be returned to the field selection window for file I. After entering the specific company number, you can then choose fields from the item master to add to the report for the child item.

This trick, as detailed above, only allows you to go one level below the parent item. You could actually report on more levels, but you'd have to make a physical copy of the Inventory data for each level and match to a different company as each level is added. I'm not sure how far this would work-I think you'd run out of memory pretty quick as the printing program opens up multiple copies of your Inventory!



		Roundtable Software • 30831 Cove Road • Tavares, FL 32778-5164 (352) 253-9779 • FAX: (815) 572-5446 All contents copyright © 2000-2008 Roundtable Software. All rights reserved.