Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice)
JASPrint Data Format
Overview
The Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program (JASPrint format) can be used to convert print and photocopy expense transactions from Network Printing Solution’s JASPrint 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 program in order to work properly. The JASPrint 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.
- 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,
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.
- From the Tabs3 & PracticeMaster folder, double-click the Data
Collection Device Conversion
icon to start the Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program.
- If the Logon dialog 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 JASPrint.
- In the File field, type the name of the file containing the data from the collection device (i.e., JASPRINT.DAT).
- Select the Default check box if you want to make the JASPrint device the default in the
Conversion program.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Tcode field to select the transaction code number that you use for print/photocopy charges.
- Click the More Config button.
- In the Descriptions section, the Use Tcode Descriptions check box is selected by default. When this check box is selected, the tcode description is used in the cost transaction’s description field. Clear this check box if you want a blank transaction description instead. Select the Upper Case Text check box if the Use Tcode Descriptions check box is selected and you want to use all upper case letters in the cost transaction description.
- Click OK to close the More Configuration window.
- Click the Save button.
- Close the Configuration window.
Creating Validation Files
A client validation file named JASPRINT.CV can be created that is used by the JASPrint System. This 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 Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) program is already started, skip to step 3. From the
Tabs3 & PracticeMaster folder, double-click the
Data Collection Device Conversion icon to start the Tabs3 Device
Interface (TBDevice) program.
- From the File menu, select the Validation option.
- The Validation window will be displayed. If the JASPrint device is not displayed in the Device field, click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field to select the JASPrint format.
- Click the Create button.
- Once the JASPRINT.CV file is created, click OK.
- Click Cancel to close the Validation window.
- Transfer the JASPRINT.CV file to the JASPrint system.
Note: Validation files should be recreated and transferred to the JASPrint system after changes have been made to the client file in
Tabs3.
Converting the JASPrint Data
Use the following procedure for conversion:
- Copy the file containing the data from the collection device (JASPRINT.DAT) to the
Tabs3 directory.
- 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.
- If the Logon dialog box is displayed, enter your User ID and Password and click k OK.
- From the File menu, select the Convert option.
- The Conversion window will be displayed. If the JASPrint device is not displayed in the Device field, click the drop-down arrow next to the Device field to select the JASPrint format.
- Verify that the file name to be converted (JASPRINT.DAT) is displayed in the Filele field.
- 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 data collection information 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.
- 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 print/photocopy transaction code and the detail description options used by the JASPrint format by selecting File | Configure.
Input Field Positions
The following information is imported from the JASPrint data file.
|
Field |
Position |
|
Client |
1 |
|
Matter |
2 |
|
Date |
3 |
|
Amount |
4 |
|
Phase |
5 |
|
Activity |
6
|
|
Tcode |
7 |
Notes
Each field is delimited by a comma. The quotation marks at the beginning and end of each field are optional.
The Client ID can be up to 12 characters in length. It must precisely match Client IDs that are entered into
Tabs3.
If using an Alpha Key Type, the full Client ID must be entered in the Client field including the decimal place. The Matter field is left blank.
The Date field includes the date followed by the time. The date must be in an mm/dd/yyyy format. The time is not used.
The e Phase field is
optional and can be used to specify a Phase Task Code.
The Activity field
is optional and can be used to specify an Activity Code.
The Tcode field is
optional and can be used to specify a tcode. If a tcode is not included in the
import data file, the default tcode specified in the configuration will be
used.
Sample Data File
The following is an example of a JASPrint data file.
"1","000","9/03/2009 11:02:02AM","0.10","B240","A106",""
"2","000","9/02/2009 7:02:02AM","3","","","059"
"100","001","9/04/2009 8:12:05AM","2.20","","",""
"202","002","9/14/2009 9:22:15AM","1.50","","",""
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 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 C:\Program Files\Tabs3\TBDEVICE.EXE ALICE
Convert C:\Program Files\Tabs3\TBDEVICE.EXE /CONVERT JASPRINT
Validation C:\Program Files\Tabs3\TBDEVICE.EXE /VALIDATION JASPRINT
Note: The normal "sign in" routine is used when Tabs3
Device Interface (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 Tabs3 Device Interface (TBDevice) Help includes complete details regarding Startup Options.
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