Tabs3 TBDevice
ASCII Fixed Length Data Format
Overview
The Tabs3 TBDevice software (ASCII Fixed format) can be used to convert fee and cost transactions from an ASCII file with fixed length fields to be compatible with the Merge
Tabs3 Remote Data program.
The TBDevice program must reside in the same directory as the Tabs3 programs in order to work properly. The ASCII data file
must reside in the Tabs3 program directory. Details regarding the exact file layout can be found on the following page.
Installation
The TBDevice program must be installed to the directory on your hard
disk when the Tabs3 program resides. The Tabs3 program directory can be found in Tabs3 by selecting Help | About Tabs3.
- Insert the enclosed CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
- A CD Browser program will automatically start.
Note: If the CD-ROM Autorun feature is disabled, click the Start button, and then click Run... Click the Browse button
and navigate to the CD-ROM drive. Double-click the LAUNCH.EXE file. Click OK.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install the selected systems.
Configuring the Data Collection Device Type
Before you can convert any data from a data collection device, TBDevice must be configured to handle the necessary format.
- From the Software Technology folder, double-click the Data Collection Device Conversion icon to start the TBDevice program.
- If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and click OK.
- From the File menu, select the Configure option.
- The Configuration window will be displayed. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field and select ASCII Fixed.
- In the File field, type the name of the file containing the data from the collection device (TABS3.CF).
- Select the Default check box if you want to make the ASCII Fixed device the default in the Conversion program.
- Click the More Config button.
- In the Descriptions section, select the Upper Case Text if you want to use all upper case letters in the Tabs3 description.
- Click OK.
- Click the Save button.
- Close the Configuration window.
Creating Validation Files
Validation files for the client (CLIENT.TXT), timekeeper (EMPL.TXT) and tcode
(TCODE.TXT) files can be created. The client file will contain a record for each
active client/matter that exists in the Tabs3 Client file. Use the following
procedure to create the validation file:
- If the TBDevice program is already started, skip to step 3. From
the Software Technology folder, double-click the Data Collection Device
Conversion icon to start the TBDevice program.
- If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and
click OK.
- From the File menu, select the Validation option.
- The Validation window will be displayed. If the Other device is not
displayed in the Device field, click the drop-down arrow next to the Device
field to select the Other format.
- Click the Create button.
- Once the files are created, click OK.
- Click Cancel to close the Validation window.
- Transfer the files to the data collection device.
Note: Validation files should be recreated and transferred to the data
collection device after changes have been made to the Client, Timekeeper, or
Tcode files in Tabs3.
Converting ASCII Fixed Length Data
Use the following procedure for the conversion:
- Copy the file containing the data from the collection device (i.e., TABS3.CF) to the Tabs3 directory.
- If the TBDevice program is already started, skip to step 4. From the Software Technology folder, double-click the Data Collection Device Conversion icon to start the TBDevice program.
- If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and click OK.
- From the File menu, select the Convert option.
- The Conversion window will be displayed. If the ASCII Fixed device is not displayed in the Device field, click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field to select the ASCII Fixed format.
- Click the Convert button. The program will look for the file name
specified in the Configuration window. If the file is found to contain data, the program will read transactions from the file and increment the Processed count for every transaction that is read. All transactions that are successfully converted will increment the Added count and will be written to the
Tabs3 Remote data files (RMT*.*).
Note: A TBDEVICE.LOG file is created and will contain any records that were not converted. If no errors were encountered during the conversion, then the TBDEVICE.LOG file will include a start and finish time.
Note: If you are using a full user system, the ASCII Fixed data file will automatically be deleted when the conversion is complete to avoid double posting of the data. However, when using a trial system, the data file is not deleted.
- When the process is complete, the data files will have been created allowing you to merge the information into
Tabs3 using the Merge Tabs3 Remote Data program. To merge the files, start Tabs3. From the Integration Task Folder, select Merge
Tabs3 Remote Data. This program will merge the remote data files created by the TBDEVICE program (RMT*.*) with your main
Tabs3 data files. The Tabs3 Help includes complete details regarding the Merge
Tabs3 Remote Data program.
Note: You can change the Descriptions options used by the ASCII Fixed format by selecting File | Configure.
Input Field Positions
|
File Layout (record length = 128 bytes) |
|
Field # |
Field |
Position |
Length |
Format |
|
1 |
Client |
1 |
12 |
Up to 12 characters (with optional decimal point) |
|
2 |
Timekeeper |
13 |
3 |
Up to 3 digits (ignored for costs) |
|
3 |
Date |
16 |
8 |
mm/dd/yy format |
|
4 |
Tcode |
24 |
6 |
Up to 5 digits preceded by a "$" for costs (trans code cannot be greater than 999 in value) |
|
5 |
Hours (fees)
Units (costs) |
30 |
6 |
Decimal format up to 320.00 maximum (i.e. 1.25 is 1 hr. 15 min.) |
|
6 |
Amount |
36 |
10 |
Billable dollar amount up to 9999999.99 |
|
7 |
Rate |
46 |
6 |
Dollar format up to 999.99 |
|
8 |
Category |
52 |
3 |
Optional Tabs3 billing category for fees |
|
9 |
Description |
55 |
72 |
Up to 72 characters of text |
|
10 |
Filler |
127 |
2 |
Carriage return/line feed |
Notes
- The Timekeeper and Category (fields 2 and 8) are ignored for cost transactions (costs are denoted by prefixing the transaction code number with "$").
- The Client ID can be from 3 to 12 characters long with an optional decimal point separating the client portion from the matter portion.
- Tabs3 transaction codes can be from 1 to 999. It is possible to convert the Tabs3
bill code combined with the transaction code. A bill code of 10 (non-billable/non-printable), 20 (non-billable/printable) or 30 (billable/ non-printable) can be added to the beginning of the transaction code. No bill code is an indication of a billable/printable transaction. If bill code 10, 20 or 30 is used, the
Tabs3 transaction code number must include leading zeros so it is 3 digits long (e.g., if using bill code 20 with transaction code 9, change 9 to 009; prepend the 20 to use transaction code 20009).
- If both Rate and Amount fields are blank or zero, then Tabs3 will supply a default rate and calculate the Amount automatically when the transaction is merged into Tabs3.
- If the Rate field is blank or zero (and the Amount field is not), then Tabs3 will supply the default rate assigned in the Tabs3 client record when the transaction is merged into Tabs3. The Amount field will not be recomputed by Tabs3.
- If the Category field is blank or zero, then Tabs3 will supply the default category assigned in the Tabs3 client record when the transaction is merged into Tabs3.
- When the data is merged into Tabs3, the Timekeeper, Client and Tcode fields are verified as being valid. Transactions with invalid fields are rejected and a list of rejected transactions can be printed along with an error code indicating why it was rejected.
Sample Data File
The following is an example of a fixed length ASCII file. The sample transactions are preceded by three lines of numbers to assist you with visualizing field positions. These three lines should not be included in your file. The first line represents the starting position of each field number, the second line shows the character position by tens, and the third line shows character position by single digits.
- Each transaction must contain 128 characters.
- The numeric fields will contain leading spaces if the number does not fill all the characters allotted to that field.
- The alpha fields will have trailing spaces if the description does not fill all the characters allotted to that field.
- In an actual file, the transaction descriptions would not wrap onto another line, but would appear as one continuous line. We have wrapped them so they can be seen on the printed copy.
- The tenth field (Filler) is not displayed. It consists of two character positions, 127 and 128. These characters represent a carriage return and a line feed in that order. Since there is no way to display those characters in this document, we omitted them in the sample transactions.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345Positions 55 thru 126
101.00 202/19/99 1 1.50 90.00 60.00 10Office conference with
Karen Barrett and all of the apartment managers.
200.01 02/15/98$ 23 25.00 Court filing fee.
101.00 02/15/98$ 21 1.15 Photocopies.
101.00 202/19/98 3 1.22 73.00 0.00 10Pay County Court filing
fee in advance on behalf of client.
102.00 102/20/98 5 .50 50.00100.00 1Letter to Client's bank
er.
Startup Options
Command line options can be used when starting TBDevice to bypass the User ID prompt and automatically execute the Convert
program thereby eliminating user interaction. These startup options can be quite useful when implemented as part of a batch file.
The following are examples of the available startup options:
Bypass the User ID prompt F:\STI\TBDEVICE.EXE ALICE
Convert F:\STI\TBDEVICE.EXE /CONVERT ASCII FIXED
Note: The normal "sign in" routine is used when TBDevice is started with the "/CONVERT"
option. If you have not specified a User ID on the command line, you will be required to enter the User ID. If password security has been defined, you will also be required to enter the password before the Convert
program will proceed.
The TBDevice Help includes complete details regarding Startup Options.
2010/07