Reviewing the interface fields

Interface fields allow you to store the information that defines your employees. For example, employment start date, position, and department.

You can review any of the existing interface fields by accessing the Interface Fields page. For a listing of existing interface field definitions, see Detailed data element definitions.

Note: The Interface Fields page is hidden by default for all security groups.

To enable the Interface Fields maintenance form, see the instructions in Enabling the Employee Import interface.

To review the interface fields:

  1. Select Maintenance > System Administration > Interfaces > Interface Fields.
  2. Click Edit to view or edit an existing interface field, or click Create New Entry to create a new interface field.

    All interface fields, with the exception of the SO_EMPLOYEE field, are processed by the Core Processor. See Configuring the CSV file.

    When creating a new interface field, be sure that these tasks are also completed:

    • Create a custom processor to process the new field.
    • Implement and register the custom processor as an interface processor.
    • Include the custom processor in the interface layout processor’s list.
    • Add the new field interface layout.
  3. Review these fields:
    Interface Field
    Displays the name for the interface field. The name of the interface field hints at the information the field stores. For example, the interface that stores the employee’s start date might be named EMP_START_DATE.
    Description
    Displays a short description of the information stored in the interface field.
    Field Type
    Displays these field types:
    • DATE
    • NUMBER
    • RATE
    • STRING

    The field type determines the format of the data stored in the interface field.

    Size
    Displays a numeric value to specify the maximum number of characters that are allowed in this interface field.
    Repeatable
    If selected, the interface field can repeat multiple times in the layout; otherwise, the interface field can be used only once in the layout.
    Required
    If selected, the interface field is mandatory for the layout.
    Logical Grouping
    If selected, the interface field is always grouped with the other interface fields that have Logical Grouping selected.

    When a table does not have enough columns to hold all the Logical Grouping interface fields together, the extra interface fields are dropped to the row below where the interface fields from the top row is repeated to visually represent the two rows as grouped together.

    The example below shows how 4 interface fields with Logical Grouping selected fit into a 3-column table.

    1,2,3,4 =Logical grouping

    Interface Type
    Displays the interface type for which this interface field is created. If this interface field is being created for the Employee Import process, EMPLOYEE IMPORT should be displayed.
  4. Click Save.