The management information system (MIS) implemented in BC Excel Server is actually made up of several templates. Hence,
in the other words, the information system implemented in BC Excel Server is also considered as the designing of template.
In last section, the thing “template” has been mention. In the following sections, the concept and designing of template will
be spreader to be piece and piece for you to understand well about the structure of BC Excel Server information system. The
designing of the template is normally including data field definition, data fetcher definition, data table management, template
properties definition,
workflow definition.
From this chapter, we will start to employ a MIS called Cesoft CRM System for our case study. The implement of the system in
BC Excel Server will
focus on the functions and operations refer to the subsystem of Cesoft CRM
Template is definitely the key concept runs through the whole design of BC Excel Server. Template is a blank changeable frame
that the subsequent
operations, report filling, query etc are and will be base on it designed in
this phase.
Figure
In BC Excel Server, the
template is made in ‘design’ status, and report is filled in ‘filling’
status. The Figure
is showing the
differences of template and report in BC Excel Server.
In BC Excel Server, the
template designing permission has been assigned to the user who has ‘Report
Designers’ role.
Template design= Form mode + Form Rules
To design the template, the designer is expected to address its mode and rules. Mode is the form style which is dared via the same
operation as excel. Rules are mainly contain data field definition, data fetcher definition, data table management,
template properties definition, workflow definition. ‘Form mode + Form Rules’ is the formal manner to promptly design
a
template in BC Excel Server.
Implementation of a management information system would be started from adding template, which is the key element of the structure
in BC Excel Server. The case in this chapter will focus on adding two new templates ‘Customer Register Form’ and ‘Sales Order Form’ of
the Cesoft CRM System. The Customer Register Form is to register the new customer information including name, country, address etc.
It is designed to be a ‘Main Form’, which is generating the single fields. Sales Order Form is for handling the order from customer. It is
addressed to be both ‘Main Form’ and ‘Detail Form’, which is generating the single filed and multiple fields. The ‘Sales Order Main Form’
records the information of the customer and the ‘Sales Order_Detail Form’ is to take the products detail such as product code, product
name etc from the
customer.
Step One: Login ‘Excel
Client’ and select the ‘New Template’ in the menu ‘Template’
Select New Template
Step Two: Select ‘New Report’ in the template choosing window. If you wish to build a new template base on the mode of an existing
template, then
choose ‘New Version of an existing report’. Then click ‘ok’
Set up new template
Step Three: Setting the
template properties
Ø
Filling General information of
the template
Choosing template category
There are three template categories --- Form/Sheet, Account Book, and Statistical Report. The Form/Sheet is the common template in
BC Excel Server. It focus on the basic data in an MIS such as customer information, product information etc. Account Book is the report
that has detail data field and the data will normally be transferred e.g. order list, payment form etc. Statistical Report is the statistical
query report mostly. Usually, its data is not changed and generated automatically e.g. Sale Report, Annual Report etc. The default
category is Form/Sheet.
Choosing Report Classification
Select the report
classification which is defined in ‘Management Console’ (see Charter 5)
Filling the Report ID and name
Filling the template name
‘Registration Form’ and its ID
Ø
Setting Write Authorities.
Choose the Role name for ‘write’ permission. The permission includes designing, filling, updating. Only the user with the role that is
selected has this
permission.
Write
Authorities
Ø
Setting Write Authorities.
Choose the Role name for ‘read’ permission. The permission includes reading, query. Only the user with the role that is selected has this
permission. The report
will not be showed in the client if the login user is without the read
permission.
Read Authorities
1.
Pressing ‘ok’ once you
finish the template properties setting.
2.
Draw your own mode form in the
blank template.
Mode of Customer Information
Form
Data field is the ID for storing data in database. In BC Excel Server, the data field is link to the blank sell of template designed by you.
Several data fields
compose a relevant data table.
There are two types of
data field: Single Field and Multiple Field (see Figure
The
data is no reduplicate. The data table of multiple field
is called ‘Main Table” in BC Excel Server
Multiple Field--- Multiple Field refers to the multiple entry cells for the same item name (or title) in an Excel server table template. The links
between
cells and item name could be vertical or horizontal. The data table of multiple
field is called ‘Detail Table” in BC Excel Server
Figure
Step One: Select all the data fields with the single entry data.
Define
Single Field
Step Two: Click ‘Left Cell’ to link to the name which is on the left hand side of the field on template. Basically, you have five options ‘Upper Cell’,
‘Right Cell’, ‘Left Cell’,
‘Input’, ‘Lower Cell’ to choose. Then click ‘next’
Link the field
to the name on template
Step Three: Create the
new main data table. Then click ‘next’
Create new data table
Step Four: Define the data type and other
roles of the data table and choose the ‘Not Null’ to the field
Define data type
Step Five: Finish the
setting of single field
Finish single
filed setting
Save Template
The Report
‘Registration From’ you designed will be showed on the client ‘My
Workbench’
Report show up
A ‘Sales Order Form’ of the management system is about to build in this section. (You are expecting to define the single field yourself).
The mode of the template
is below:
Mode of the Sales Order Form
Enter the Excel formula:
|
Cell |
Formula |
Meaning |
|
H16 |
=SUM(H13+H14+H15) |
Calculate
the total amount |
|
JK16 |
=SUM(JK13+JK14+JK15) |
Calculate
the total amount |
Setting Multiple filed
Step One: Select all the
multi-entered fields
Select multi-entered field
‘By Column’, ‘and By Cross
’to choose. Then click ‘next
Link the field to the name on template
Step Three: Create the
detail data table Then click ‘next’
Create
the detail data
Step Four: Define the data type and other
roles of the data table and choose the ‘Not Null’ to the field
Data type of Sales Order_detail
Form
Step Five: Finish
Multiple Field definition.
Date table is made up of several data field (including single field and multiple fields). After define the data fields.
The data tables have been built automatically by Excel Server. Normally, there will be two data table: main table
and detail table. The
main data table is referring to the single data field, and the other one is link
to the multiple data field.
Step One: Open the
template ‘Customer Register Form’ you have built.
Open template
Step Two: Click right key of the mouse and
choose ‘Data Table’ on the template ‘Registration
Form’
Open
Data Table
Step Three: Select the
main data table of the template ‘Registration Form’
Data
table of ‘Registration Form’
Step Four: Modify the
setting in data table and click ‘update’ when you finished.
Main data table
The primary key of a relational table uniquely identifies each record in the table. The function of the PK
is controlling the duplicate input while fill the report.
Tick the PK box of the
field company of the template ‘Registration Form’
Set PK in Data Table
The system will stop you
if you have duplicate filling in field which is set as PK of the report (see Figure
Figure
The ‘Not Null’ option is to forbidden the ‘NULL’ field when user fills the report. It is set via simply tick the box refers to the
field. For example, select single field ‘Company’ as the Not Null field. Then you have to enter the symbol when you fill the
report Registration
Form.
Error
in Null input when save the report
Registration Form
You are able to change
the setting of template properties.
Choose ‘Template
Properties’ option in the design status.
Change template properties
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