Note: The Field Control look up file option will only be available if the Use field control System Parameter is activated by the software supplier.
The main function of the field control facility is to allow for fields to be automatically derived from other fields held on either the employee record, payroll record, human resources record or user defined records. For example, derive on a user defined file the bonus joining date as 1 year after the employee joining date. User defined file fields which are not date fields may also be updated using the Lookup table option.
The date fields that may be updated are either on:-
The main human resources record.
The first and only allowed record per employee on a user defined file.
To access the Field Control option :-
The Human Resources Password form is displayed.
Enter your human resource password.
The HUMAN RESOURCES menu is displayed.
Select the Human Resources option.
The Human Resources record is displayed.
Once a human resource record is selected or initially chosen for creation select the Tools option.
Select the Lookup tables option.
Select the Field Control option.
The Field Control form is displayed.
The Field Control form is displayed when the Field Control option is selected from the Tools, Lookup files menu.
Standard functionality exists that allows you to create and maintain records.
The data can be maintained further by using the Up and Down arrows to move codes around within the grid and also the Insert row, Delete row and Add row ICONs.
Destination File: The name of the human resources module file that is to have the date field updated. The main human resource record file is called empee.The other files available for this facility are user defined files that do not allow multiple records per employee per user file.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
to select.
Destination Field: The name of the field found within the file that is to have the date field updated.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
Destination Occurence: The occurrence of the field that is to have the date field updated. Most date fields will only have one occurrence therefore this field will rarely be prompted for and will be left shown as zero.
Source module: The two character Mnemonic for the module that is being looked at to derive the generated date.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
The available modules are as follows :-
PE: Employee Records.
PN: Human Resources.
PR: Payroll.
Source file: The file within the linked module that is to be used to generate the date. This is currently only the main employee record, payroll or human resources record file called empee or a single record type user defined file.
Source field: The date field within the linked file of the linked module that is to be used to generate the date.
Source Occurence: The occurrence of the field within the linked file of the linked module that is to be used to generate the date. Most date fields will only have one occurrence therefore this field will rarely be prompted for and will be left shown as zero.
Mode: Enter which mode of edit operation that dates are to be generated.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
C: Create.
A: Amend.
B: Both Create and Amend.
Edit: Ticking this field allows the user to still be able to amend the date of the field. If the date of a field has been amended to a different date to the date generated it will not be overwritten until confirmed via a prompt to the user.
Confirm change: Ticking this field allows for any destination field change to be prompted for the user to confirm the change.
Lookup only: Ticking this field allows for the advanced lookup facility only to be used as may be required more for generating non data fields, this means the linkage of dates by the various offset fields shown on the bottom left of the form are switched off. To use the lookup facility click the Lookup table button at the bottom of the form.
To complete the other date link fields shown bottom left of the form first click the row of the grid containing the destination field being updated and then complete the fields listed below.
Link Counter: The number of periods to be used as an offset to the date in the source field when calculating the destination date. A maximum of 9999 is supported.
Date Type: The type of period used to adjust the source date field when generating the destination date.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
D: Days.
M: Months.
Y: Years.
Offset: An offset number of periods to be used to generate a destination date at various points of the year. If the destination date is directly related to a source date field using the Link counter in days, months or years then there is no need to use this offset field. Example, if a destination date is to be generated as either the 1st January or 1st July of a year then the offset is 6 months.
Offset Type: The type of period used to adjust the source date field when using an offset. For example, if the destination date is to be generated as either 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st October then the Offset is 3 and the offset type is months.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
D: Days.
M: Months.
Y: Years.
First date: Enter the first date that is to be used to generate destination dates using the offset and offset type fields. This allows a date to be generated that is not directly obvious from the source field date, dates are checked first using the First date and then incremented by the offset and offset type until the source field date is exceeded by at least the Link counter of the date type.
Example An employee joins a bonus scheme on either the 1st January or 1st July but at least 1 year after joining the company. The first date has to be at least as old as the oldest joining date of all employees for this to operate correctly, in this example, the oldest joining date is 02/01/1976. Typically in this example link counter is 1, date type is Y = Years, Offset is 6, Offset Type is M = Monthly and First date is 01/01/1976.
Special: The Special field is used to make adjustments to the dates being generated or to use different count fields. It is possible that the type of adjustment requested can not currently be handled in which case an enhancement request needs to be registered with the software supplier. Special case 1 allows for the Special link counter field to be completed for Female employees whereas the first link counter field is used for Male employees, a typical use is the generation of a retirement date. Special case 2 allows the source date such as the joining date to be adjusted back to the first consecutive non working date, for example, an employee joins on Tuesday 4th May 2004, this adjusts the date back to Saturday 1st May 2004 and thus if there is a 1 year service rule, the generated date is 1st May 2005, without this option the generated date would have been 1st May 2006. Special case 3 means that any calculated date is adjusted to a working day, a working day is det ermined from the qualifying mask of the payroll record or if the qualifying mask is blank or there is no payroll record it is assumed to be Monday - Friday working days. Bank holidays too are ignored.
Tip : Click on the Drop down
0: No special processing.
1: Male/Female different count.
2: Adjust source date for non working days.
3: Adjust calculated date for non working days
Special link counter: A second type of count used in special circumstances as previously described.
Use of the Lookup table facility
To use the lookup table click the button called Lookup table.
Enter the source field value followed by the destination field value where the source and destination names are shown at the top of the form. On the source field column a Non-blank date means a date has been entered, a Blank date means no date. On the destination column a date may be generated either as a Blank or today's date. For alphanumeric source fields the source and destination fields may entered exactly as required, for example, if a source alphanumeric field is set to the letter Y then set the destination numeric field to the number 10. For numeric source fields the rules for updating are either for a non zero number to handle any number or a zero.
Numeric source and destination fields
Where the source and destination fileds are both numeric it is possible to enter a numerical link between the two fields using the Numeric related fields shown on the bottom right of the main field control form.
Arithmetic operation: Enter one of the following :-
+: Addition.
-: Deduction.
*: Multiplication.
/: Division.
Calculation factor: Enter the number to be used with the source field and Arithmetic operation field when generating the destination field.
