Creating a Transaction Writer report

Access Transaction Writer (AC55.1).

Specify a name and provide a description for the Transaction Writer.

Define basic report parameters using the Basic tab. Specify this information:

Folder

Select the folder where 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.

See Report Writer User Guide.

Column Spacing

Specify the number of spaces 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 on 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 M - Manual or A - Automatic to indicate if you 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 A - Automatic. Automatic headings use the column heading defined in Attribute (MX00.1) for the attribute selected in the column defaults.

CSV Output

Select to output the report as a CSV (comma separated value) file. The default setting is N - 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, S - System Controlled: Analyze the selected parameters and choose the most efficient search method.
A - Activity: Search for transactions by activity.
C - User Attributes: 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 is 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.

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.

Select the activities and account categories 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).

To narrow the report down further, define additional selection criteria using the Secondary Values tab. Specify this information:

Field

Select the transaction attribute that you 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. You can 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.

To indicate which fields are printed on the report and to define additional layout options such as report totals and page breaks, define options using the Layout tab. Specify this information:

(Column Headings)

If you selected M - 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 1 - Line 1 or 2 - Line 2. The setting defaults to 1 - 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, you can select 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 Y - Yes to have the system count the number of records, alpha and date field, or total the values in the field, numeric and signed fields. The setting defaults to N - No.

Total Break

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

Page Break

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

Desc Of

Select Y - 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 setting defaults to N - No.

Field Dup

Select Y - Yes to suppress duplicate values on sequential lines of the report. The setting defaults to N - No.

Line Dup

Select Y - Yes to suppress an entire line if it equals the previous transaction field values. The setting defaults to N - No.

Align Head

Select L - Left, R - Right, C - Center, or N - None in the Align Head field to indicate how the heading aligns over the field values. The setting defaults to L - Left align for alpha and date fields, N - None for field descriptions, and R - Right align for other fields.

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