TBDEVICE Interface Program
Billman Data Format

Overview

The TABS III Data Collection Device Conversion program (BILLMAN format) can be used to convert telephone expense transactions from Deltacom’s Billman Call Data system to be compatible with the Merge TABS III Remote Data program.

The TBDEVICE program must reside in the same directory as the TABS III programs in order to work properly. The Billman data file must reside in the TABS III program directory. Details regarding the exact file layout can be found on the following page.

Installation

To install the TBDEVICE interface program on your hard disk:

  1. Insert the TBDEVICE interface program disk into your floppy disk drive.
  2. Click the Start button, and then click Run...
  3. Type A:SETUP or B:SETUP (depending on the floppy drive used), and then click OK.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to run the SETUP program.

    5. Note: The TBDEVICE interface program (TBDEVICE.EXE) must be installed in the same directory where the TABS III program resides.

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. The main purpose of the configuration is to specify the name of the collection device data file and specify a default tcode.
  1. From the Software Technology folder, double-click the TBDEVICE icon to start the TBDEVICE program.
  2. Enter your User ID and Password in the STI Logon dialog box and click OK.
    3.
  3. From the File menu, select the Configure option.
  4. The "Data Collection Device Configuration" window will be displayed. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field and select BILLMAN.
  5. In the File field, type the name of the file containing the data from the collection device (i.e., DATA.TXT).
  6. Select the Default check box if you want to make the BILLMAN device the default in the TABS III Data Collection Conversion program.
  7. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Tcode field to select the transaction code number that you use for phone calls.
  8. Click the More Config button.
  9. In the Descriptions section, select the Upper Case Text if you want to use all upper case letters in the TABS III description.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Click the Save button.
  12. Close the "Data Collection Device Configuration" window.

Converting the BILLMAN Data

Use the following procedure for conversion:
  1. Periodically, Deltacom will send you a file with your logged telephone calls. This file is a Microsoft Database file and must be converted to an ASCII text file using Microsoft Access. For example, if the BILLMAN Microsoft Database file is named DATA.MDB, use the following steps to create the ASCII text file using Microsoft Access 2000:
    1. Open the DATA.MDB file using Microsoft Access.
    2. Click the Tables button on the left side of the window.
    3. Open the table that your telephone call data is stored in.
    4. From the File menu, select Export.
    5. In the Save in field, specify your TABS III program directory.
    6. Specify a file name for your export file (i.e., DATA.TXT).
    7. Specify Text Files in the Save as type field.
    8. Click Save All.
    9. Make sure the Delimited option is selected and click Next.
    10. Select the Comma option for the delimiter that separates your fields.
    11. In the Text Qualifier field, select quotes (") and click Next.
    12. In the Export to File field, make sure your TABS III program directory is specified.
    13. Click Finish and then click OK.
    14. Once the file has been exported, close Microsoft Access.
  1. From the Software Technology folder, double-click the TBDEVICE icon to start the TBDEVICE program.
  2. Enter your User ID and Password in the STI Logon dialog box and click OK.
  3. From the File menu, select the Convert option.
  4. The "Data Collection Device Conversion" window will be displayed. If the BILLMAN device is not displayed in the Device field, click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field to select the BILLMAN format.
  5. Verify that the file name to be converted is displayed in the File field.
  6. Click the Convert button. The program will look for the file name specified in the "TABS III Data Collection Device 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 TABS III 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 be a zero byte file.

    Note: If you are using a full user system, the data file containing the logged phone calls will automatically be deleted when the conversion is complete to avoid double posting of the data. However, when using a demo system, the data file is not deleted.

  7. When the process is complete, the data files will have been created allowing you to merge the information into TABS III using the Merge TABS III Remote Data program. To merge the files, start TABS III. From the Integration Task Folder, select Merge TABS III Remote Data. This program will merge the remote data files created by the TBDEVICE program (RMT*.*) with your main TABS III data files. The TABS III online Help includes complete details regarding the Merge TABS III Remote Data program.

Note: You can change the phone call transaction code and the detail description options used by the BILLMAN format by selecting File | Configure.

Input Field Positions

The following information is imported from the Billman data file.

Field

Position

Client

4

Description

9

Date

10

Amount

32

Notes

Sample Data File

The following is an example of a Billman data file. Please note that lines with longer descriptions were wrapped to the next line and indented in this example so the text can be seen on the printed copy. Actual transactions in a real data file will appear as one continuous line.

"12345678","0"," ","10000","VIPOR COMMUNICATIONS ","0","OFFICE CALLS
","0"," ","010618","1144",128.00,"2055550008","4237459090","205","859","HUNTSVILLE",
"AL","2058594589","0","0"," "," ","ASSOC CLASSIC OUTBOUND ",1.50,0.00,0.00,1.50, 0.27,0.00,0.00,0.28,0.27,0.00,0.01,0.00,0.00,122," ","0",0.00,0.00,0.00,"1",3," ","0",0

"12345678","0"," ","10000","VIPOR COMMUNICATIONS ","0","OFFICE CALLS
","0"," ","010619","1144",128.00,"2055550008","4237459090","205","859","HUNTSVILLE",
"AL","2058594589","0","0"," "," ","ASSOC CLASSIC OUTBOUND ",1.50,0.00,0.00,1.50, 0.27,0.00,0.00,0.28,0.27,0.00,0.01,0.00,0.00,122," ","0",0.00,0.00,0.00,"1",3," ","0",0

Startup Options

Command line options can be used when starting TBDEVICE to bypass the User ID prompt and automatically execute the Convert and Validation programs 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 BILLMAN

Validation   F:\STI\TBDEVICE.EXE /VALIDATION BILLMAN

Note: The normal "sign in" routine is used when TBDEVICE is started with the "/CONVERT" or "/VALIDATION" options. 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 or Validation program will proceed.

The TBDEVICE online Help includes complete details regarding Startup Options.

2002/09