Creating a Transaction Writer report

Use this procedure to define transaction reports that list activity transaction detail.

Note: You need to define a report only once, but you can change the report layout at any time. Once defined, run the report at any time using AC256.
Procedure flow: Creating a Transaction Writer report
  1. Access Transaction Writer (AC55.1).
  2. Specify a name and description for the Transaction Writer.
  3. Define basic report parameters using the Basic tab. Use these guidelines to specify the field values:
    Folder

    Select the folder where you want to store report information. Folders are defined on Folder (RW01.1). Folders store Transaction Writer reports and Report Writer reports. You can assign security to reports in a folder.

    For more information, see the Report Writer User Guide.

    Column Spacing

    Specify the number of spaces you want between columns. Column spacing is only applied to columns as they are added to a report.

    Note: If you leave this field blank, then you can define the space between each column in the Space field in the Layout tab. Use the Space field to override spacing indicated on the Basic tab. If you leave both fields blank, then no space is put between columns.
    Column Heading

    Select Manual or Automatic to indicate if you want to manually define the two column heading lines at the top of the Layout tab or if the system automatically creates the column headings. The default setting is Automatic. Automatic headings use the column heading defined in Attribute (MX00.1) for the attribute selected in the column defaults.

    CSV Output

    Select if you want the output for the report to be a CSV (comma separated value) file. The default setting is No, which creates a 132-character wide report with up to two lines of detail for each transaction.

    Search Method

    Select a search method to determine how the Transaction Writer searches for information about selected transactions.

    • Accept the default, System Controlled, to let the program analyze the selected parameters and choose the most efficient search method.

    • Select Activity to search for transactions by activity.

    • Select User Attributes to search for transactions by user-defined transaction attributes. To use this method, secondary selects must exist and each Or group must contain at least one user-defined transaction attribute.

    Report Currency

    Select a report currency. Amounts not stored in that currency will be exchanged to the currency value.

    Note: If you leave this field blank, then the report prints amounts in the currency the amounts are stored in.
  4. Define the sort criteria for the report using the Sort tab. You must define at least one sort criteria for each report.
    Note: You can save a report after entering required information on the Basic and Sort tabs.
  5. Select the activities and account categories for which you want to list transactions on the Primary Values tab. You must select one option from the Activities area (an activity group list, an activity group, up to six individual activities, or an activity list) and one option from the Account Categories area (account category type, an account category, or an account category group).
  6. To narrow the report down further, define additional selection criteria using the Secondary Values tab. Use these guidelines to specify the field values:
    Field

    Select the transaction attribute that you want to use for selecting data. There are Lawson-defined transaction attributes for all the fields in a transaction, in addition to user-defined transaction attributes you may have created. Select the specific attribute values in the Value Range field.

    Note: You may find it useful to create secondary value selections for the Source Code or System Code fields. This allows you to select transactions for a specific source code, such as vendor invoice distributions (source code AD).
    Value Range

    Select a specific range of attribute values in the report. Specify the beginning value in the first value range field and the ending value in the second value range field.

    Note: To include a negative amount in a value range field, the minus sign must follow the numeric value. For example, specify 100.00-.
    Or Group

    Select a value in the Or Group field to create conditional value statements. Use the Field and Or Group fields together to create conditional value statements.

    This table shows the type of conditional statement created depending on the values in this field and the Item field.

    Group Field Number Statement same same not valid

    same different ..... either/or

    different same both/and

    different different either/or

    Having a field and group number that are the same is not a valid combination. For example, a transaction cannot have a transaction amount of $5,000 and a transaction amount of $7,000.

    This example shows how you can include a combination of conditions to select transactions dated June 15, 2000, or June 30, 2000, with a status of Posted (9).

    Value Field Range Or Group

    Tran Date 061500 - 061500 1

    Trans Status 9 - 9 1

    Tran Date 63000 - 063000 2

    Trans Status 9 - 9 2

    In this example, if you did not repeat the value range for the Tran Status after the Either/Or condition, then the system would select transactions dated June 15 with a posted status, and transactions dated June 30 with any status.

  7. To indicate which fields will be printed on the report and to define additional layout options such as report totals and page breaks, define options using the Layout tab. Use these guidelines to specify the field values:
    (Column Headings)

    If you selected Manual column headings on the Basic tab, then specify the column headings in the first two lines on the Layout tab.

    Line

    Select whether the columns you are maintaining are on line 1 or line 2. The default setting is Line 1.

    Col (Column)

    Select the order that the field values print from left to right across the report by specifying the column number within the line number. The valid values are 1-50 for each line. For example, there can be a line 1, column 1 and a line 2, column 1.

    Field

    Select the attributes to include on the report for each transaction. There are Lawson-defined attributes in the application for all of the fields on a transaction. You must create user-defined attributes for the originating system values that you have assigned to each source code.

    Width

    Specify the column size. The first field is the overall size of the column. The default value is determined by the way the attribute is defined. If the column heading is wider than the data, then change the size to be larger than the default size to prevent truncated headings.

    You can specify the number of decimal places used with amount or currency rate information. Decimal values are 0 though 6. The default value is determined by the way the attribute is defined.

    Space

    Specify the number of blank spaces that precede the column. If you leave this field blank, then the column spacing selected on the Basic tab defaults.

    Count Total

    Select Yes to have the system count the number of records (alpha and date fields) or total the values in the field (numeric and signed fields). The default setting is No.

    Total Break

    Select Yes to print totals for this field. If you select Yes as the Total Break option, then you must include the field in the Sort tab. The default setting is No.

    Page Break

    Select Yes to list each field on a separate page. If you select Yes as the Page Break option, then you must include the field in the Sort tab. The default setting is No.

    Desc Of

    Select Yes to print the description of the field instead of the code. For example, you can print Overhead instead of the account category 03700. The default setting is No.

    Field Dup

    Select Yes to suppress duplicate values on sequential lines of the report. The default setting is No.

    Line Dup

    Select Yes to suppress an entire line if it equals the previous transaction field values. The default setting is No.

    Align Head

    Select Left, Right, Center, or None in the Align Head field to indicate how the heading aligns over the field values. The default setting is Left align for alpha and date fields, None for field descriptions, and Right align for other fields.

    Note: If you use automatic headings, then the headings will appear on the Layout tab after the lines have been added so that you can view and change them before you produce the report.