Adding a Custom Field

Use the Object Properties - Custom Field to create an advanced calculated field, where you can combine filtering and calculations. For a simple calculation, you can use a Calculated field

There are three main step involved in setting up a custom field:

1 Set up the calculation.

2 Set up the filtering.

3 Set up the advanced features (optional).

Step 1 - Calculation

1 Click on the Add toolbar icon, or choose Add Item from the Activities menu. This will display the Object Properties window.

2 Select $image\radial.gif$ Custom Field.

3 Click $image\radial.gif$ Calculation.

4 If the field you're creating is a new column on the report, select þ Add Field To List.

6 Selectþ Include Heading if you want the heading field heading displayed on the report.

7 Heading - Enter a name for the field.

8 Calculation - Use this section to create a simple calculation.

In the left hand list, select the first field to use in the calculation. Select the operation you wish to do. There is a choice of multiply (x), divide (/), add (+), and subtract (-). In the right hand list, select the second field to use in the calculation.

9 Click Save.

10 Position the field on the report and click the left mouse button.

Step 2 - Filter

1 On the Object Properties window, click $image\radial.gif$ Filter.

2 Click the payroll item that you want to filter, on the left side of the window. Click the up or down arrows to display more payroll items.

3 In the Available Fields column, click to select the field to use as a filter. The field moves down to the Filter section below.

4 Select an operator command:

<	Less than	~=	Not Equal to
>	Greater than	[ ]	Brackets
<=	Less than or equal to	Or	Alternative condition
>=	Greater than or equal to	And	Additional condition
=	Equal to	T	Test

5 Enter a qualifier for the filter. For example in the expression GROSS >500, "500" is the qualifier.

6 If you want a complex filter, select another operator, and repeat the above steps.

7 Click Save.

8 Position the field on the report and click the left mouse button.

Example To create a calculated field that multiplied an employee's YTD wage by 6% and only applied to employees whose surname was Jones and who worked in the Sales department, you would do the following:

$image\dash.gif$ In the Heading box, enter the name, Projected Wage.

$image\dash.gif$ On the Pays tab, locate 'Gross' and double click on it. 'Gross' appears in the Calculation box.

$image\dash.gif$ Click on the multiplication (x) sign. 'x' appears in the Calculation box.

$image\dash.gif$ Using the numeric keypad, enter '1.06'. This will provide us with an increased salary, not just percentage of the salary.

$image\dash.gif$ Click Filter.

$image\dash.gif$ On the Employees tab, locate 'Employee Number and double click on it. 'Employee Number' appears in the Filter box.

$image\dash.gif$ Click on the equals sign (=) sign. '=' appears in the Filter box.

$image\dash.gif$ Enter the employee number, '1"

$image\dash.gif$ Click Save.

$image\dash.gif$ Position the field on the report and click the left mouse button.

Step 3 - Advanced

When the advanced button is clicked on the Object Properties window the tab will change to display various options. These are:

Remove Cents From Result – Selecting this option will drop the cents from a numeric field. No rounding is involved, the cents are simply lost.

Do Field Filtering After Total – This will force any calculated fields that have a filter on them to only work after a sub-total or grand total has been generated.

Field Justification – This list can be used to specify how the field is displayed on the screen. For example, if centre was selected, the field would be centred within the left and right margins of the field area displayed on the screen.

Number of Export Characters – If the report is to be exported to a file, this can be used to specify that this field will never contain more than this number of characters. This is useful for programs that specify certain fields must be of a certain length.

Position of Field on List – When a field is added to a list it is assigned a number. This number can be changed to move the field left or right in the list.