Segment keys (CS202000)
A segmented key is a system entity that you use to define the structure of IDs for a certain type of objects. The segmented key then serves as a template when a user creates an ID for a new object of the type.
During initial system setup, for each segmented key, you define:
- The number of segments the key has
- The length of each segment
- The type of each segment
- The list of values for each segment
Users then create object IDs by selecting values for each segment of the segmented key. Also, users can create new segmented keys for use in a specific workspace.
The top part
In this area, you can select a segmented key and view or edit its settings.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Segmented key ID | The ID of the segmented key. Select the key from the list of available keys, which can include the following:
The list of available segmented keys depends on the functionality is enabled in the Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000) window. |
| Parent | The key that determines the Parent account values displayed for customers (in the Customers window) and for suppliers (in the Suppliers window). |
| Lookup mode | To help the system narrow the search and improve the speed on search, select the lookup mode that fits your search. The options are:
|
| Allow adding new values on the fly | This option affects only the INLOCATION and SUBACCOUNT keys. A check box that (if cleared) forces the users to specify objects on data entry windows only by selecting existing object IDs from the list. The list of subaccounts is created in the Subaccounts window. The list of warehouse locations is created in the Warehouses window. Select the check box to give the users the ability to enter object IDs on data entry windows as combinations of available segment values—there will be no need to create all the allowed IDs on the dedicated windows before they can be used on data entry windows. |
| Specific workspace | The workspace, by its abbreviation, where the user-defined segmented key will be used. |
| Numbering ID | An optional number series that is used for the segment that has the auto-numbering option selected. The segment length should be equal to the number of characters used in the selected number series. |
| Description | A detailed description of the segmented key. |
| Max length | The maximum total length of the key. This field appears after you select a key. |
| Length | The total length of the key. The length is automatically calculated as the sum of the lengths of all segments. |
| Segments | The number of segments defined for the key. The system automatically updates this value once you add a segment. |
The table
You can use the table to configure segments for the selected key.
Segments can be numeric, alphabetic, or alphanumeric, and they can have different lengths.
For each segment (table line), you can create a list of possible values, or for one segment in the key, you can select an auto-numbering option. For auto-numbering, a number series must be specified.
For information on configuring segmented keys that inherit their structure from parent keys, see: About ID segmentation.
Segment values are used when a user creates IDs for new objects. If the segment validation option (Validate) is turned on for the segment, the user must select one of the predefined values for the segment. For a one-segment key, segment validation cannot be turned off.
If the validation option is turned off, the system validates only the number of characters ( Length ) and the type of the string ( Edit mask ) for a segment; hence, IDs of new objects may contain segment values that are not on the list of possible segment values.
| Custom action | Description |
|---|---|
| View segment | Opens the Segment values window for the selected segment. |
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Segment ID | The system-generated number representing the order of the segment in the segmented key. |
| Description | The user-defined segment description. |
| Override | Read-only. A check box that indicates (if selected) that the segment value overrides the value inherited from the parent. This column is available only for the segmented keys that have a parent (such as CONTRACT, CUSTOMER, and EMPLOYEE). |
| Length | The maximum length of the segment. Make sure that the total length of all segments does not exceed the maximum length, which is specified in the Max length field in the top part. |
| Align | The segment value alignment in the segment; select one of the following options: Left or Right. |
| Edit mask | The type of characters allowed for the segment values. The following types may be used:
The underscore symbol( _ ) is one of the SQL wild-card characters. If you search for an entity by its ID that contain this symbol, the system considers underscore as the wild-card character (a substitute for any single character)and returns corresponding results. |
| Case conversion | An option that reflects whether the case of alphabetic characters will remain as it was typed by the user ( No Change ), be automatically converted to upper case ( Upper case ), or be automatically converted to lower case ( Lower case ). |
| Validate | A check box that indicates (if selected) that validation of segment values is turned on. It means that you can add a value to each particular segment only by selecting the value from the list of available ones. You open the list of segment values by pointing to the required segment and pressing F3. This validation works only in windows that can be used to create objects (data entry windows), where objects are selected by their IDs. Only segment values of the segments requiring validation can be included into a restriction group. For the consolidation process, we recommend that you select this check box if the length of the subaccount segment in the consolidating company (shown in the Number of characters column) differs from the length of the subaccount segment to be mapped (shown in the Length field). |
| Auto number | A check box that indicates (if selected) that the number series selected in the Number series ID field will be used to generate values for this segment in IDs. If the Auto number option is selected on for the segment, select the Unicode option in the Edit mask column. The auto-numbering option can be applied to only one segment in a key. It is recommended that if you need to use auto-numbering for specific IDs, you configure the appropriate segmented key as a single-segmented key. If the auto-numbering option is selected for the single segment of the segmented key, the number series assigned to the segment may be defined with Start number and End number that have less characters than the segment length. |
| Separator | The character that will be used as the segment separator when the object ID is displayed. This separator doesn’t affect the ID length. The character specified here must be different from the one specified in Prompt character for the segment. |
| Prompt character | The character that will used for displaying this segment at input prompts. You can use different symbols for each segment, but it must be different from the value used as separator for each segment. The default column value is _ (underscore) and the column is hidden by default. If you want to use the underscore symbol as the segment separator, change the default value of this field to another symbol. We do not recommend changing a prompt character after you have started entering IDs. If you change the prompt character to a character that has been used in some of the existing IDs, you are not be able to view, edit or find entities whose IDs contain the new prompt character. |
| Consol. order | The number that represents the order of this string among other strings in the parent company’s subaccount; this column is displayed for only the SUBACCOUNT key. For more details, see: General ledger consolidation - overview. This column is available only if the General ledger consolidation functionality is enabled in the Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000) window. |
| Number of characters | The length (in characters) of the string in the parent’s subaccount to which the segment value is mapped; this column is displayed for only the SUBACCOUNT key. This setting is used only if the company is a consolidation unit for the parent company. This column is available only if the General ledger consolidation functionality is enabled in the Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000) window. If the number of characters is set to 0, then this segment will be skipped during import of the consolidation data. |