Report Generator - Replacement Tables: 4th Screen)

Export Replacement Tables

Export & Report Generator: Export Replacement Tables - 4th Dialog Box

Replacement tables are used in the Export process. The ExportAdvanced_Export feature is reached by selecting FILE >> EXPORT from the Menu Bar on top of the Main Purchase Order Screen.

Replacement tables allow you to change the values in AnyPO to values compatible with the application using the export file. For instance, if a company that you contract to fulfill orders uses different catalog numbers than you, you can use a replacement table to convert your catalog number to theirs.

As an example, let's say you employ a contractor to handle some your purchasing needs, and you periodically provide them with an export file of items required. The contractor uses a code for the shipping method. For instance, they might use "U25" for UPS Ground. You, however, use the more common "UPS Ground" on your purchase orders. You can use a replacement table to convert "UPS Ground" to "U25" or to make any other shipping method conversions.

To access Replacement Tables, click on the "Other Options" button found on the bottom of the Export Profile dialog box (the second dialog box in the Import series).

Once you arrive at the "Other Options" dialog box, click on "Create New Table."

Important Note: Before building a Replacement Table, make sure you've finished creating the profile in the second dialog box of the Export series.

After you have assigned a name to the table, the following screen appears:

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Matching Field. At the top of the Replacement Table dialog box, you'll be able to indicate the matching field and replacement field(s). In almost all cases the matching field and replacement field will be the same. Choose a matching field from the list of AnyPO's fields and click the top most + to insert it in the matching field blank. If you make a mistake, you can remove it by clicking on the - sign beside the matching field blank.

As an example, let's say you want to convert the Preferred Shipping Method in AnyPO to shipping codes used by a fulfillment service. Let's say that "UPS Ground" should be converted to "U25" and "UPS 2-day" should be converted to "U27." The matching field in AnyPO would be Ship Via. Highlight 48) Ship Via in the box and click on the topmost + button to insert it in the matching field blank.

Replacement Field. Next, you need to indicate a replacement field. In almost all cases, this will be the same as the Matching Field. Using the example above, we would highlight 48) Ship Via again in the first box and click on the second + to enter it in the Replacement Field1 blank.

Replacement Table. In the Replacement Table in the middle of the dialog box, type in the value found in AnyPO in the leftmost column. In the second column, type-in the replacement value. Using the above example, you would type in "UPS Ground" in the first column and "U25" (the replacement value) in the second column. In the next row, you would type in "UPS 2-Day" in the first column and "U27" in the second column. Continue entering values in this manner until the table is complete. When AnyPO creates the export file, it will replace "UPS Ground" with "U25" and "UPS 2-day" with "U27."

If you need to indicate an empty field, use three carrots: ^^^. For example, let's say you are creating a replacement table for an on-line shipper. The shipper's on-line form requires that you spell out the recipient's country, even if it's the same as yours. You can build a replacement table to replace a blank country field with the name of your country. Let's say your country is United Kingdom. To set up your replacement table, place three carrots (^^^) in the first column. This indicates a blank country field. In the second column, type in "United Kingdom." When AnyPO does the export and comes across a blank country field, it will replace it with "United Kingdom."

You can also use three carrots (^^^) in the replacement value column. For example, you could set up a replacement table to do just the opposite of the above example. If you enter "United Kingdom" in the first column and three carrots (^^^) in the second column, AnyPO will create a blank field in the export file each time it finds "United Kingdom" in the country field.

Working With Additional Replacement Fields. If desired, you can also replace two other fields. An example of this would be a replacement table based on catalog numbers. You may need to replace your catalog numbers with the catalog numbers used by a fulfillment service. At the same time, you may also want to replace the product name and price fields with values used by the fulfillment service. Replacement Field2 and Replacement Field3 enable you to make these additional replacements in an export file.

Import. This allows you to import data to replacement table. Currently, the only import data that is available is a list of state and province abbreviations. (Others will be made available in the future.) There maybe some situation where you need to convert the state/province abbreviations in AnyPO to full name. By using a replacement table, AnyPO is able to convert the abbreviations into full names before the data is written to the export file. You can use this feature to load in all of the state/province names and abbreviations to the table without having to type each one individually.