Exporting DDMS. Text Records and Importing to Microsoft. Excel

Exporting DDMS Text Records and Importing to Microsoft Excel Updated April 2016

Contents About Paperless Reporting...3 Understanding Printer ID and Text File Naming Conventions...3 Choosing and Sharing the Destination Folder...4 Setting up the File Printer(s) in Windows...4 Adding the File Printer(s) to DDMS TBL Server...7 Creating a DDMS Report Text File...8 Importing a DDMS Report Text File into Excel...8 Exporting DDMS Custom Reports...11 Importing a DBF Dbase File into Excel...12 2016 ECi Software Solutions, Inc.

About Paperless Reporting You can easily export data from text-based reports for use in spreadsheets and other databases. Saving reports digitally instead of printing them saves on operational costs. You can define multiple text printers for this purpose. Each printer can write to a different folder and filename, if needed. This document explains how to set up file printers on a Windows server, how to set up TBL Configuration s Printer Definitions, and how to create text and database files. This document also explains how to import this information to Microsoft Excel, since this is the application most users import their information to. These steps are similar for other spreadsheet programs. Understanding Printer ID and Text File Naming Conventions When you set up a text file printer in Windows, you must add a new port. This lets you predetermine the path and file name of the printer text file. Each time you use a path-specific text file printer, you must rename or import the text file before printing the next report, or the new data overwrites the previous data. In TBL Configuration, each text-based Printer Definition has a two-character ID. The first character is usually the capital letter P for Printer, as hard-coded for some classic reports. The second character can use numbers 0-9, a-z, A-S, U-Z, and special characters (@#$%^). Avoid the following: Printer IDs currently in-use for physical printers PT < > : / \? *.! To avoid overwriting data while running procs, set up a different file printer port for each report you have to print from day-end, month-end, and other procs. To keep track of your printers, ECi recommends you name the file printer to match your printer definition. Updated April 2016 3

Choosing and Sharing the Destination Folder To ensure that the exported files are backed up with your DDMS data, use a folder in your DDMS server files as your destination folder. For example, you can use the \REPORTING\ folder that is used for EBS SQL report formats and its \CUSTOM\ sub-folder, or a separate \TXT\ sub-folder. However, note that DDMS may not recognize printer names that are longer than 23 characters, so a long file path is not recommended. Do not use the D:\DDMS\REPORTING\ECI2\ folder for your own reports. This folder is used for hardcoded DDMS EBS SQL reports. 1. On your DDMS server, navigate to the folder to which to print text files. 2. Create a sub-folder, if needed. 3. To make the files accessible from a client machine, make sure that the folder you choose is a shared folder. If you need assistance, contact your network administrator. Setting up the File Printer(s) in Windows The following instructions may differ slightly between versions of Windows. 1. On your DDMS server, click Start and select Printers and Faxes. 2. In the Printers window, click Add a Printer. The Add Printer Wizard opens. 3. Click Next. 4. Select the Local Printer Attached to This Computer option. 5. Uncheck the Automatically Detect And Install My Plug And Play Printer box. 6. Click Next. 4

7. In the Select the Printer Port window, select the Create a New Port option. 8. In the Type list, click Local Port. 9. Click Next. 10. In the Port Name window, enter the path and file name for the reports you plan to export. Use the following format: D:\DDMS\REPORTING\TXT\PA.TXT. 11. When you return to the Add Printer Wizard window, click Next. 12. In the Manufacturers list, click Generic. 13. In the Printers list, click Generic/Text Only, and click Next. 5

14. At the Keep Existing Driver prompt, click Next. 15. At Printer Name, enter the sub-folder(s) and filename you used in Step 10 for the Port Name, minus special characters. Using the same example, you could enter DDMS REPORTING TXT PA. 16. At the Do You Want Windows-based Programs to Use This Printer as the Default Printer prompt, click No. 17. Click Next. 18. Select the Do Not Share This Printer option, and click Next. 6

19. At the Would You Like to Print a Test Page prompt, click No. 20. Click Next. 21. At the Completing the Add Printer Wizard prompt, click Finish. 22. Repeat these steps for each file printer you need to add. Adding the File Printer(s) to DDMS TBL Server The below instructions do not apply to DDMSPLUS. For instructions for adding a printer in DDMSPLUS, see DDMSPLUS Administration (pdf). 1. On your DDMS server, double-click TBL Configuration. The TBL Config window opens. 2. Click Printer Definitions to highlight it. 3. Right-click Printer Definitions and select Add New. 4. In the Printer Definition window, select the P in the TBL Name field, and enter the two-character ID to assign to this printer. For more information, refer back to the Understanding Printer ID and Text File Naming Conventions heading. 5. Click the Network drop-down menu and select the printer you added to Windows earlier. 6. Click the Emulation drop-down menu and select PR. 7. Click the Description box and enter a name for this printer. ECi recommends that you use a description that indicates where this printer s files are written, such as the disk, folder path, and file name. 7

8. Click OK. 9. Repeat these steps for each text printer you need to use. 10. Restart TBL Server. Restarting TBL Server is a dedicated function. Make sure that all other users have logged off the system before you close TBL Server. Creating a DDMS Report Text File 1. To export information, print a text-based report as you usually do, but change the print line. 2. In the Prt field, enter the name of the file printer with which to print. Following our example, enter PA. Since you added a new port, the system automatically saves the report data to the folder and filename. 18:00:04 (U) Sales Selectors rev. (03/02/07) 04/09/15 Number Report: UJ Selector: UJ 1 = * * * CLASSIC REPORTS * * * SELECT THE CLASSIC U SCREEN WITH #1 2 = SALESPERSON ADDRESS LISTING UA -SORTS:SALESPERSON # 3 = SALESPERSON HISTORY ANALYSIS UAS-SORTS:SALESPERSON # 4 = SALESPERSON COMMISSION ANALYSIS UAC-SORTS:SLSM,CUST,INV # 5 = ITEMS SOLD RESTOCK REPORT UB -SORTS: ITEM NUMBER (SUB-TOTAL) 6 = MONTHLY INVOICE REGISTER UC -SORTS;INVOICE # (SUB-TOTAL) 7 = BELL FORMAT USAGE REPORT UCB-SORTS:DISTRICT, REGION 8 = MONTHLY SALES TAX REPORT UD -SORTS:DISTRICT,INVOICE # 9 = MONTHLY SALES TAX REPORT RECAP UD1-SORTS:TAX DISTRICT (SUB-TOTAL) 10 = SALES ANALYSIS ( RECAP ) UE -SORTS:SALESPERSON # 11 = SALES ANALYSIS ( FULL ) UF -SORTS:SLSM #,INV # 12 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER USAGE REPORT UH -SORTS:CUSTOMER, ITEM #, 13 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER INVOICE REPORT UI -SORTS:CUST,DEPT,INV # 14 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER INVOICE RECAP UIR-SORTS:CUST,DEPT,INV (SUB-TOTAL) 15 = QUARTERLY CUSTOMER USAGE REPORT UJ -SORTS:CUST, ITEM # (SUB-TOTAL) 16 = UNCATALOG NAMES REPORT AND PURGE UP -SORTS:ITEM #, CO. 17 = SOLD ITEMS REPORT UN2-SORTS:CUST,DEPT,ITEM # JOUR-U :N Clear : Journal :JOUR-U Vol : W2 Restock : Cost A/P :A [15] Selector Totals Only :N Loc : 1 Prt :PA Copies : 1 Recs : Chain :N For some classic reports, such as the (TR) Order Entry Reports, the first character is hard-coded as the capital letter P, and the Printer field only allows you to enter the 2nd character of the Printer ID. Following our example, you only have to enter A in the Prt field. Importing a DDMS Report Text File into Excel These instructions are for Microsoft Excel 2007. However, the steps should be similar, if not identical, for earlier or later versions of the software. 1. Open Microsoft Excel. 2. Click File and select Open. 3. In the Open window, click the Files of Types drop-down menu and select Text Files. 4. Navigate to the folder containing your text file. 8

5. Double-click the file name. The Text Import Wizard opens. 6. In the Original Data Type section, select the Fixed Width option. 7. In the bottom portion of the window, determine the top row to include. ECi recommends that you select the row containing the column headings. This makes it easier to define column breaks. 8. Click the Start Import at Row box and enter the top row to import. In the figure below, we chose row five, which contains the column headings. 9

9. Click Next. 10. In the next window, adjust the column breaks: To add a column break, click to the right of the column heading. To delete a column break, double-click it. To move a column break, click and drag it. Exporting DDMS Text Records and 11. When you finish adjusting the column breaks, click Next. 12. The next window allows you to select any column and set the Column Data Format. For some data, it is important to set the format to Text. This format setting ensures that the import process does not create bad data by stripping leading zeroes from numeric SKUs or postal codes. 12.1 Scroll to the column you need to adjust in the Data Preview section. You should adjust columns that contain item numbers, postal codes, or other numeric data with leading zeroes. 12.2 Click the column. 12.3 In the Column data format box, click Text. 12.4 Repeat Steps 12.1-12.3 for each column you need to adjust. 12.5 For all other columns, keep the default (General). See the figure on the following page. 10

13. Click Finish. The program imports your data to a spreadsheet. 14. Depending on your report, you may have to clean up sorts and page break rows. In the resulting spreadsheet, the columns you changed to Text are flagged as having Numbers Stored As Text. This is the expected result of setting the Data Format properly for SKUs, postal codes, and so on. Keep it stored as text. Exporting DDMS Custom Reports You can export information from your system as DBF, CDX, and KEY database files. To export information from the report selectors into a database file, follow these steps: 1. Go to the text-based report selectors screen where you normally print your reports. For example, you can go to the text-based (U) Sales Selectors screen. 2. Print the report as you normally do, but type S in the Prt field. 3. Press Tab. 4. When you complete the last field in the screen, the Save Print to File prompt displays. Enter the file name the system creates, as shown in the figure on the following page. You do not have to enter the.dbf file extension. 11

18:00:04 (U) Sales Selectors rev. (03/02/07) 04/09/2015 Number Report: UJ Selector: UJ 1 = * * * CLASSIC REPORTS * * * SELECT THE CLASSIC U SCREEN WITH #1 2 = SALESPERSON ADDRESS LISTING UA -SORTS:SALESPERSON # 3 = SALESPERSON HISTORY ANALYSIS UAS-SORTS:SALESPERSON # 4 = SALESPERSON COMMISSION ANALYSIS UAC-SORTS:SLSM,CUST,INV # 5 = ITEMS SOLD RESTOCK REPORT UB -SORTS: ITEM NUMBER (SUB-TOTAL) 6 = MONTHLY INVOICE REGISTER UC -SORTS;INVOICE # (SUB-TOTAL) 7 = BELL FORMAT USAGE REPORT UCB-SORTS:DISTRICT, REGION 8 = MONTHLY SALES TAX REPORT UD -SORTS:DISTRICT,INVOICE # 9 = MONTHLY SALES TAX REPORT RECAP UD1-SORTS:TAX DISTRICT (SUB-TOTAL) 10 = SALES ANALYSIS ( RECAP ) UE -SORTS:SALESPERSON # 11 = SALES ANALYSIS ( FULL ) UF -SORTS:SLSM #,INV # 12 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER USAGE REPORT UH -SORTS:CUSTOMER, ITEM #, 13 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER INVOICE REPORT UI -SORTS:CUST,DEPT,INV # 14 = MONTHLY CUSTOMER INVOICE RECAP UIR-SORTS:CUST,DEPT,INV (SUB-TOTAL) 15 = QUARTERLY CUSTOMER USAGE REPORT UJ -SORTS:CUST, ITEM # (SUB-TOTAL) 16 = UNCATALOG NAMES REPORT AND PURGE UP -SORTS:ITEM #, CO. 17 = SOLD ITEMS REPORT UN2-SORTS:CUST,DEPT,ITEM # JOUR-U :N Clear : Journal :JOUR-U Vol : W2 Restock : Cost A/P :A [15] Selector Totals Only :N Loc : 1 Prt :S Copies : 1 Recs : Chain :N SAVE PRINT TO FILE [3QUSAGE15 ] (NO PRINT) 5. If you do not fill the field, press Enter. 6. Complete the report request as you normally do. The system creates three files under the common filename you entered in Step 4 with the.dbf,.cdx, and.key file extensions. These files are created on the work unit indicated in the settings from the text-based (L0) Global Master Parameters screen. In rare cases, a custom report may have been coded in Report Writer to save to text. If this is set on line 1 of the report, it saves to a.txt file instead of a.dbf file. If you find this is the case, you may import the text file as illustrated previously. Importing a DBF Dbase File into Excel These instructions are for Microsoft Excel 2007. However, the steps should be similar, if not identical, for earlier or later versions of the software. 1. Open Microsoft Excel. 2. Click File and select Open. 3. In the Open window, click the Files of Types drop-down menu and select dbase Files. 4. Navigate to your DDMS work unit, and find the file you saved with the.dbf extension. 5. Double-click the.dbf file to open it. Most of the data displays in a single column. 6. Click the column heading to select the entire column. 7. Click Data and select Text to Columns. The Convert Text to Columns Wizard opens. 8. In the Original Data Type section, select the Fixed Width option. 9. Click Next. 10. In the next window, you can adjust the column breaks. To do this, scroll down in the Data Preview window until you see the report s column headings. 12

11. Adjust the column breaks so each heading has its own column. To do this, follow these steps: To add a column break, click to the right of the column heading. To delete a column break, double-click it. To move a column break, click and drag it. 12. When you finish adjusting the column breaks, click Next. 13. In the next window, under Column Data Format, click General, and then click Finish. 14. At the Do You Want to Replace the Contents of the Destination Cells prompt, click OK. The column that originally contained the majority of the data retains its original width. Drag one of its borders to adjust the width. 13