Articles

RPTGEN Utility

Summary

RPTGEN is a utility for generating custom forms in Escape Purchasing and Escape Finance. The utility allows you to place text and data from fields in Escape onto forms, such as Purchase Orders, Change Notices, Cancel Notices, RPQ's (Request for Price Quotes) and custom snapshots.

NOTE: Do not edit an invoice.dat file with RPTGEN. If you do, you will break all of the invoice.* files. You will have to restore from backup. Contact Escape Customer Care for help editing the invoice.dat file.

It is a design tool, used by System Managers and Escape Customer Care. A complete list of all fields that are available to print via RPTGEN can be provided to you by Escape.

This utility should reside in \ESCAPE\UTIL folder and can be run anytime with users in the Escape database. In order to run the utility, you will need rights to the \ESCAPE\UTIL folder. It is usually run from the DOS prompt.

Users can be signed in while you edit the form files with RPTGEN, but should not attempt to print the report while you are editing the layout!

NOTE: All Escape utilities, programs and documentation are located on our FTP site in the Finance Utilities area and can be downloaded from there, or use this link to download the latest FINUTIL.ZIP to your \ESCAPE\RELEASE directory. Unzip FINUTIL.ZIP and place all of the latest utilities into your \ESCAPE\UTIL directory.

Before Running RPTGEN

Before you start editing a report file, make a backup of the file set with a utility like WINZIP or copy the files to another folder. File sets include 3 files:

  • Data File
  • Key File
  • Literals/Text

So, even if the change that you are making is very minor, a memory or workstation problem can occur, corrupting the report layout files - making printing impossible!

You will need to have virtual memory in order to run RPTGEN, so make sure that the PC you are working on has a SET statement for virtual memory. If you need help with this, please contact Escape Customer Care.

Starting RPTGEN

After making a backup of the report files, run RPTGEN as follows:

From a DOS prompt, change to the \ESCAPE\REPORT directory and type:

\ESCAPE\UTIL\RPTGEN and press ENTER.

A small grey box will appear in the middle of the screen with 3 fields, as shown below. Press ENTER through the ENTER APPLICATION NO. and ENTER USER ID fields.

In the ENTER REPORT FILE NAME field, enter the file name that you wish to edit and press ENTER.

Information Displayed in RPTGEN

At this point, the background of your screen turns blue and the fields and text are bright white. You are actually editing the report file. Before going any further, let's review the different sections of the screen:

Upper Portion

The top line of the screen displays the date, time and memory. The next two lines are a ruler, displaying each character space.

Main Screen

The main screen has a blue background with white boxes and text that indicate field names.

Lower Portion - Info Lines

The bottom 2 lines of the screen display helpful information about navigating and the keystrokes available, as well as other information such as the line and column where your cursor is sitting. We will cover navigating and placing fields in the next section.

Multiple Page Forms

In RPTGEN, there is the concept that a form may have a First Page, Middle Pages and Last Page. This means that the first page of the form may need different setup than the middle or last page. Escape is flexible and allows you to set up forms that are multiple pages. To move between First, Middle and Last pages, press CTRL PG DN and CTRL PG UP.

Examples of why a report needs first, middle and last page setup:

A Multiple Page PO

The last page of a PO will include a totals section (subtotal, tax and total). The first page will always include vendor name, address, etc. The middle pages will not include the totals, but may or may not have the vendor information. Therefore, in RPTGEN, we must allow for three different layouts for those pages.

RPQ

In an RPQ, the typical layout is that the first page of the RPQ is a letter, while the middle and last pages contain line item information and the last page contains a signature block for the vendor to sign when submitting the quote.

Placing Fields

Adding a Field

Using your arrow keys, move the cursor to the line and column where you wish to place the field. Then, press CTRL-S. The list of fields appears.

Press F2 to add a field. Your cursor pops down to the bottom of the lookup list, press ENTER to continue. A box appears with the following fields in it. Enter values in each of the fields and move to the next field by pressing ENTER.

ROW

The row or line on which the field will appear. This will prefill with the row where your cursor is sitting before you press F2.

COL

The column in which the field will appear. This will prefill with the column where your cursor is sitting before you press F2.

REPEAT PATTERN

This is the repeat pattern for the field. This controls on which page(s) the field prints. The choices are:

  • Blank to appear on all pages
  • F for First Page only
  • L for Last Page only
  • S for Subsequent Pages only (all but first)
  • B for Before Pages (all but last)
  • M for Middle Page (not on first or last)

FIELD NAME

Press ENTER to obtain a lookup window of all available fields. You may enter in the first character of the field name, if you know it, then press ENTER and you will be highlighting the first field beginning with that letter. In the lookup window, highlight the field you wish to place and press ENTER to select it.

WIDTH & DEPTH

These fields will default for you. If you wish to use the default width and depth, press ENTER through the fields. If you need to change the width (number of characters) or depth (number of lines), you may. If you change the width, be aware that you are truncating the data that may be contained in the field(s). Truncating numeric fields is prohibited.

It is especially important to pay attention to the width and depth of the fields that relate to line items. In the line item area of a PO, RPQ, Change Notice, etc. all fields in the line item area must have the same depth and that depth should be the same as in the requisition type setup record. The standard depth is 30 lines. For more information regarding placing line item fields, please request a copy of the PO Form Setup Guide from Escape.

BEFORE STRING & AFTER STRING

These fields are designed to send printer control sequences to the printer before and after a field. This is for special effects. These fields are not used very often. Press ENTER through these fields and you will return to the field lookup list.

Now you can press ESCape and you will be returned to the form screen and the field will appear on the form.

Moving/Changing a Field

Using your arrow keys, move the cursor to the line and column where the field currently is placed. In other words, your cursor should be on top of one of the squares that represent the field.

Then, press CTRL-S. The field list appears and your cursor will be highlighting the field you wish to move. Press ENTER and the field definition form appears. Make the desired change and press ENTER through all the rest of the fields in the form. You are returned to the field lookup list. Press ESCape and you are returned to the form. The change that you made to the placement or width/depth of the field will appear.

Deleting a Field

Using your arrow keys, move the cursor to the field you wish to delete. Press CTRL-S. The field lookup list appears and your cursor is on the field that you were highlighting. Press F5 to delete it. The field disappears from the list. Now press ESCape. You are returned to the form and the field is removed.

Placing Text in a Form

This is typically used for Field Literals like placing the word "Page" in front of page number field. It is used when there is not a box or field label on the pre-printed form. Other reasons you would use text is for letter text in an RPQ or District Name, Address and Telephone # on a change/cancel notice.

In this case, it is very simple to enter text. Place your cursor where you wish to insert text and start typing! It works similar to a text editor.

Saving & Testing Your Changes

When you are working on form changes, we suggest that you save often. To save, press F3 from the form. You will be returned to the DOS prompt.

Now you can test the changes by signing in to Escape and printing the form you changed.

If you make changes to the form and have not pressed F3, you may press ESCape and choose to ignore your changes. You are returned to the DOS prompt and none of your changes are saved.

Special Considerations

There are some special considerations for the account number and account amount fields. Escape allows customers to decide how many accounts to print in a separate area or box on the PO form. If there are more accounts on the PO than will fit in the box, Escape will print a custom message in the box, then print the accounts and amounts in the line item area of the PO. This is called the account overflow. Generally, the overflow accounts print on the last page of the PO. In order to accomplish this, there are a few setup rules that need to be followed:

  • In the PO SETUP page of the Requisition Type Setup record, there is a field ACCT AREA SIZE. This tells Escape the depth of the account box or area on the PO. It needs to match the depth on the form, or the account #'s will not print properly.
  • The account overflow fields (ACCT OVERFLW and ACC AMT OVER) should have a repeat pattern that is blank, so that they will print on any page.
  • The account overflow fields should be positioned in the body (line item area) of the PO, on the same line as the first line item. They should have the same depth as the line item fields, or this will cause printing problems. (Normally the account overflow is placed in the same row/column as the line item description field.)

When designing the PO form and performing the RPTGEN setup, please consult with Escape Customer Care with any questions or concerns.