Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice)
Billman Data Format

Overview

The Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) software (BILLMAN format) can be used to convert telephone expense transactions from Deltacom’s Billman Call Data system to be compatible with the Merge Tabs3 Remote Data program.

The Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program must reside in the same directory as the Tabs3 programs in order to work properly. The Billman data file must reside in the Tabs3 program directory. Details regarding the exact file layout can be found on the following page.

Installation

The Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program must be installed to the directory on your hard disk where the Tabs3 program resides. The Tabs3 program directory can be found in Tabs3 by selecting Help | About Tabs3.

  1. Insert the enclosed CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
  2. 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.
  3. 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, Tabs3 Device Interface (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 Tabs3 & PracticeMaster folder, double-click the Data Collection Device Conversion icon to start the Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program.
  2. If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and click OK.
    3.
  3. From the File menu, select the Configure option.
  4. The 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 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 Tabs3 description.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Click the Save button.
  12. Close the 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 Tabs3 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 Tabs3 program directory is specified.
    13. Click Finish and then click OK.
    14. Once the file has been exported, close Microsoft Access.
  1. If the Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program is already started, skip to step 4. From the Tabs3 & PracticeMaster folder, double-click the Data Collection Device Conversion icon to start the Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program.
  2. If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and click OK.
  3. From the File menu, select the Convert option.
  4. The 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 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 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 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 Tabs3 Device Interface (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 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"," ","090618","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"," ","090619","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 Tabs3 Device Interface (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   C:\Program Files\Tabs3\TBDEVICE.EXE ALICE

Convert   C:\Program Files\Tabs3\TBDEVICE.EXE /CONVERT BILLMAN

Note: The normal "sign in" routine is used when Tabs3 Device Interface (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 Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) Help includes complete details regarding Startup Options.

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