Costpoint Online Help

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All Users with INTERMEC Bar Code Scanners or Other Brands

There are two ways to work with input files in Costpoint:

  • You can access the input file from the network by using Alternate File Locations.
  • You can upload the input file to the Costpoint database; in which case, no further access to network folders is necessary.

    If you decide to use the first option, click in the Alt File Location field to select an alternate file location. If you choose the second option, leave the Alt File Location field blank and use the File Upload Manager to upload the input file to the Costpoint database.

Identification

Use the fields in this block to create a new parameter ID or to retrieve a previously saved parameter ID. A parameter ID represents a set of screen selection parameters. After you have saved a parameter ID and its related parameters, you can retrieve them using Query.

You can use the retrieved parameters to produce reports and run processes more efficiently and with greater consistency. The saved parameters are also useful and necessary when you want to run the process as part of a batch job. Many users save a unique set of parameters for each different way they run a report or process. When you select a previously saved parameter ID or parameter description, the associated saved screen selection parameters automatically display as selection defaults. The page setup and print options, if there are any, are also included in the saved parameter ID. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.

Field Description
Parameter ID

Enter, or click to select, a parameter ID of up to 15 alphanumeric characters. Choose characters for your parameter ID that help identify the type of selections you made on the screen, such as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.

When you save your record, all the selections made on the screen are stored with the parameter ID. Later, you can retrieve the parameter using Query.

You can use the parameter to run the process more efficiently because you can select the parameter ID with its previously defined screen selections. After the default selections display on the screen, you can override the defaults.

Description

Enter, or click to select, a parameter description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.

Options

Input File

Use this group box to select either a file name or the Exceptions Table as the input source.

Note: If the input source is a file, you must also specify whether the format is delimited or of fixed length. If the format is delimited, you must indicate whether a comma or other delimiter separates the data fields. If the delimiter is a character other than a comma, you must specify which character has been used as the separator. You must also specify whether the input file is to be read by asset/item number or by tag number, depending on how your bar coded property label has been configured.
Field Description
File

If you select this option, you must enter a input file name or click in the Input File fields to choose a file name and file type (*.csv, *.txt, and so on), along with the file source.

Exceptions Table

For every new scan, the system automatically compares the results of the scanned location data with the location data already residing in the Asset Master record, and writes the exceptions to an Exceptions table. The Manage Asset Location Exceptions screen displays exceptions found, such as an invalid asset/item number, location group, location code, and so on.

There may be occasions when you have already uploaded the Input File and made your corrections to the Exceptions table. In this circumstance, you will want to upload the data from the Exceptions table.

Input File

These fields are available only if you selected the File option.

Enter, or click to select, a file name and file type (*.csv, *.txt, and so on), along with the file source.

Alt File Location

Enter the location of the input file you are importing. There are two ways to do this:

  • In the Alt File Location field, enter, or click to select, the alternate file location where the input file is located. Alternate file locations are set up in the Manage Alternate File Locations screen.
  • From the Global Menu, click Process > File Upload. On the File Upload Manager dialog box, click Browse and use the dialog box to select the file you want to import. If you select the Overwrite? check box, Costpoint will overwrite any file of the same name that already exists in the Costpoint database. Click Upload when you are finished. If you use this method, leave the Alt File Location field blank. For more information about the File Upload Manager, see the File Upload Manager topic in the Getting Started Guide.

Input File Format

Use the options in this group box to specify the format of the input file.

If you have selected the File option in the Input File group box, you must also specify whether the format is Delimited or Fixed Length.

If you have selected the Exceptions Table option in the Input File group box, the fields in this group box will not be available.

Field Description
Delimited

Select this option if the input file format is delimited. This default selection is compatible with the configuration for the CPFALOC.CSV file created when you scan using Intermec scanners models 2410, 2415, 2420, or 2425.

Note: If the format is delimited, you must also indicate whether a comma or other delimiter separates the data fields. If the delimiter is a character other than a comma, you must specify which character has been used in the file as the separator.
Fixed Length

Select this option if the input file format is of fixed length.

File Delimeter

If you have selected the File option in the Input File group box and the Delimited option in the Input File Format group box, you must also specify whether the delimiter is a comma or other character.

Note: If you have selected the File option in the Input File group box and the Fixed Length option in the Input File Format group box or if you have selected the Exceptions Table option in the Input File group box, the fields in this group box are not available.
Field Description
Comma

Select this option if the file delimiter (data separator) in the input file is a comma (","). This option is selected by default provided that you have selected the Delimited option in the Input File Format group box and the File option in the Input File group box. This default selection is compatible with the configuration for the CPFALOC.CSV file created when you scanned using Intermec scanners models 2410, 2415, 2420, or 2425.

Other

Select this option if the file delimiter (data separator) in the input file is a character other than a comma (","). If you select this option, you must specify which special character has been used as the separator by entering the character in the adjacent data field.

Read Input File By

Use the fields in this group box to indicate whether the input file has been created by reading the asset/item number or the tag number from the bar-coded label.

Note: If you performed the scan using Intermec scanner models 2410, 2415, 2420, or 2425, you were required to select the Scan By parameter (Asset No or Tag No) on the Export Bar Code Scanner Settings screen. Your selection was written to the CPFABC.INI file when you saved the scanner settings, and the scan was performed using the selected Scan By parameter.

Although there are no system requirements to do this, make sure that you select the correct option so that the input file will be read in the same mode as it was created. For example, if you scanned by Asset No, you should also read the input file by Asset/Item No.

If you inadvertently select the wrong option, ALL the scanned data will be written to the Exceptions table. In this circumstance, clear this data from the Exceptions table, select the correct Read Input File By option on this screen, and re-run the process.  If you use Intermec scanners and followed our advice to delete only the CPFALOC.CSV file at the scanner when you are ready to begin a new scan, the CPFALOC.CSV file will be readily available to process again.

Field Description
Asset/Item No

Select this option if the input file was created by reading the asset/item number from the bar-coded label.

Tag No

Select this option if the input file was created by reading the tag number from the bar-coded label.

General Options

Use this group box to select whether to print a Discrepancies Report and/or to update location data in Asset Master records as a result of the file import.

Field Description
Print Discrepancies Report

Select this check box to automatically print the Asset Location Discrepancies Report. This report displays the asset/item number, the location data field name (such as Location Code 1, Location Group, and so on) as applicable, along with side-by-side column comparisons of the differences between the scanned data and the data in the Asset Master record.

Update Location Data in Asset Master

Select this check box to update location data in the Asset Master records with the location data obtained during the bar code scan if there are differences.

If, for example, the existing data for the Room No (Loc Code 3 in this case) is "245" in the Asset Master record and the bar code scan found that the asset was in Room No "328," the system will automatically change the Room No data in the Asset Master record to "328."

Note: The update of location data in the Asset Master record via this process is subject to the same validation rules that exist when data is manually entered in an Asset Master record. If you select this check box, scanned location data that does not pass validation will automatically be written to the Asset Location Exceptions table. In this event, you can manually correct the invalid data, as desired, on the Manage Asset Location Exceptions screen, and then run the Import Asset Locations again, using the Exceptions Table as the input file.

Inventory Event Template Data

Use this group box to define the data to be written to the Manage Asset Inventory Information for all Asset Master records when creating an optional inventory "event" for the scanned data.

Inventory event data written to the Manage Asset Inventory Information screen as a result of running this process can be edited at any time.

Field Description
Date

Enter, or click to select, the date associated with the inventory "event" in this field. Because there are no system rules regarding the appropriateness of this date, you can use a past or future date, as necessary.

The system will write the date entered in this field to the Date column on the Manage Asset Inventory Information screen for all scanned Asset Master records that pass scanning validation.

Inventory 1 (or your label)

Enter a value (alphanumeric) in this field. If you designated a label for the first field in the Inventory Labels group box of the Manage Tracking Field Labels screen, your label description automatically displays at this field.

Note: The system does not require you to establish a label for this field. If you did not choose to define labels, system default labels (for example, Inventory1, Inventory2, and so on) automatically display as the labels for these fields, as applicable. Data entry and history review should be more meaningful when appropriate labels display.

Although you can set up (and change) the labels on the Manage Tracking Field Labels screen at any time, you may find it more convenient to decide on the label names in advance of data entry. To achieve consistency throughout your records, you should plan for and establish as much as possible of this setup data during initialization. Labels always display on a "real-time" basis in that data entered using a different label can be retrieved only with the current label displayed.

Inventory 2 to Inventory 8 (or your labels)

Please refer to the documentation for the Inventory1 (or your label) field.

Note: You can save your selection criteria for this process with or without processing. After making your selections, click the Save button on the toolbar or Save in the File menu or press F5. Enter an alphanumeric identifying code and a short description to help you recognize the set of selection parameters. Later, you can run Query from this screen to access the parameters you created and run the same process without having to enter all the selection screen information again.

If you want to keep the process selection parameters but want to run a slightly different process, you can use the Copy Record function to copy the parameters and make minor changes to them without changing your saved parameters. Open the record that you want to copy, and then select Copy Record in the File menu or press CTRL+E. A confirmation message will appear which will say that the record has been copied or duplicated. Enter a new Parameter ID and edit the record as needed.