Adding a transaction field

About this task

Follow these steps to add a transaction field:

Procedure

  1. Make sure that the report window is in Add mode. Click the Display and Add Parameters icon on the toolbar. The mode is displayed on the status bar.
  2. Click the area in the report where you want to define the field. If necessary, click and hold the left mouse button and drag to select areas that include the blank character and other special characters. For example, suppose that you need to define a field to hold 30 bytes. The values in the sample data are a maximum of 25 bytes. You can define the field by selecting the five blank characters that immediately follow one of the values. The administrative client shows the number of characters as you select the field data. To define more than one field area in a record, press and hold the Ctrl key while you click an area. For example, if a report contains three columns of field data, select the first column. Then press and hold the Ctrl key and select the second column. Continue holding the Ctrl key and select the third column.
  3. Click the Define Transaction Field icon on the toolbar to open the Add Transaction Field window.
  4. Verify the Order. By Row is used to extract the first value in the first row and the last value in the last row. By Column is used to extract the first value in the first column and the last value in the last column.
  5. Verify the Mask. If necessary, change the symbols in the mask to match the data type of each character of field data.
  6. Verify the Size. This is the length of the field, based on the area you selected in the report.
  7. Verify the Column Offsets. The number of offset pairs and their starting and ending values are based on the field areas that you selected in the report.
  8. Click OK to add the field.

What to do next

Click Cancel to close the Field window without adding the field.