Posting Survey

[forskare]

Anyone who has been following my posting problems (opportunities?) may well be shaking youe head. Stan has been gracious to work with me on this. I would very much appreciate know how some of you handle this.

1) Do you use the field rule post or the operations post?
2) under what conditions do you use the field rule post?
3) Under what conditions do you use the operations post?

Perhaps I've mised something but I couldn't find anything in the manual anything that answers these questions.

Thanks much,

ken

[Phil Rolf]

1. Answered in two and three
2. Field rule post. When you want to post information to another table. Example: You have a customer table and an accounting ledger table. In the customer table you have a field that is called Accounts Rec Balance (ARB). Whenever data is entered in the ledger as a debit, this amount is posted to the ARB as an addition. Whenever data is entered in the ledger as a credit, this amount is posted to the ARB as a subtraction. That way you have a running balance in the respective customer account. The ledger and customer table are linked using a field called ACCOUNT NUMBER.
3. Operations Post, use this when you want to post massive data from one table to another. Example: you have a table that keeps track of the number of parts you sold in a month (part master) and a table that has the data that has the respective items that you did sell that month (parts sold). On the last day of the month you can use the operations post to update the the part master with the items you shipped that month.

These are crude examples but I hope this helps a little.

[forskare]

Philip,

Yes, that helps clarify the difference between the two. I know th manual gives similar examples but lacks an expalnation such as yours. My situation is more like your second example.

Is it possible to post the posted fields to another field, say a total amount field?

I've tried the simple calc expression, Fld1+Fld2+Fld3, etc. Total is 0.

Thanks much,

kenn

[Phil Rolf]

1. Go to the table (MASTER) that has the data you want posted.
2. Select the POST operation and go directly to posting (I do not use the genie)
3. Select the TRANSACTION table (the destination table where you want the data to be posted)
4. Select the LINKING FIELD between the two tables
5. Click on FIELD, select FLD1, Operation, (add, subtract),Expression, select TOTAMOUNT field
6. Click on FIELD, select FLD2, Operation, (add, subtract),Expression, select TOTAMOUNT field
7. Click on FIELD, select FLD3, Operation, (add, subtract),Expression, select TOTAMOUNT field
8. Click on the LIGHTENING BOLT and the operation should take place. If you had data of fld1=1 fld2=2 fld3=3 the totamt field should have the value of 6 (assuming that it was 0 prior to the post)

Don't forget to select the records that you want posted prior to running the post.

I can interpret your remark another way. If the TOTAMOUNT is is the SAME table as FLD1,2,3, use the calculate field rule for TOTAMOUNT. Go to field rules, select TOTAMOUNT, select data entry, select calculate and enter FLD1+FLD2+FLD3 and everytime you change data this field will be updated.

Am I on the right track?

[forskare]

Philip,

Yes, you've got the right idea. However, you're doing it the opposite way of what I was doing. I posted to the parent table (master) from the child table (trasnsaction). I understand you're saying to make the child table the master table for this operation.

I'm not sure of what you mean in step 1 as I don't think it makes any difference as when the Operations tab is selected, a new task is started separate form anything done or selected in the past.

I am going to give it a whirl. Will let you know how it comes out.

Thanks,

kenn

[forskare]

Philip,

I figured out that by selecting the table first, and then right clicking on it, one can create a posting operation. This is yet a 3rd way of doing it. Will work with this. Too many ways to do it without adequate documentation showing the differences between the different ways, leads to alot of confusion (my problem). Wouldn't a handy, dandy chart be nice?

Will advise,

kenn

[Peter.Wayne]

Ken,
There are so many messages on this topic that I've lost tarack. Im not sure whether you got your posting to work. I downloaded your example tables and forms and got the posting to work properly with your field rules. If it still does not work for you, here are the steps you have to take:
1) On p. 1 of your tabbed subform, change the Properties of the
new Benefits IOP browse so that the primary table is "Issued".
2) Make the change to the amount field in a child record.
3) Press {F9} and then {F5}. {F5} will refresh the value in
the TtlMFIP field.

What build of A5v4 do you have? If you have build 240 or above,
then it will not be necessary to press {F5} if you set the netwrork
refresh interval to, say, 5 seconds. Unfortunately the
network refresh interval wasn't working properly on earlier builds, so to see the changes to the underlying table you have to press {F5} .

[forskare]

Dr. Wayne,

Thanks for your reply. My version is build 230 so will download the latest and then make the necessary corrections.

Have you any thoughts for another training conference?

Thanks,

ken

[Peter.Wayne]

None at present, thank you.
- Peter Wayne