TEMPORARY MODIFICATION

All default Inquiries that come with the software can be modified to present different information than what currently appears in the screen shot.  All you have to do is to first position your cursor in the column where you would like to edit the Inquiry and click on the Select icon at the top of the inquiry screen. Alternatively, you can actually LEFT click on the Column Header for the column you want to modify or type ALT + S on the keyboard.

Next, the Column Option window appears and offers you to choose one of the four column options    .

In this example, the vendors’ State will be inserted before the Amount Open column.

Upon clicking OK in the Column Option window, a new window appears:  Column Definition   

Since the State record resides in the Vendor file, scroll down to “State” and double click on it so it fills the Heading area.

Click OK and the field will be inserted into your inquiry in between Name and Amount Open, as you can see below.

Keep in mind that the information you are looking for may not be in the field that appears when the Column Definition window opens.  If this is the case, select the INDEX button below the Field table and search for the record you need.

NOTE:  It is most important that you know which Field to use to add to your Inquiry, for it is possible that said Field may not appear in the Index list.  This is totally determined by the structure of the default Inquiry.

NOTE:  You CANNOT SAVE these changes.  Once you exit from the modified Inquiry, the edits are lost and the default Inquiry returns to its original design.

PERMANENT MODIFICATION

Similar to Report Designer (RD) for reports, you need the application Inquiry Designer (ID) to permanently change an Inquiry screen.  There are three types of changes that can be made to an existing Inquiry:

• Change the Default View
• Modify Views
• Modify Conditions

Change the Default View

Every level of an inquiry has a default table view and its related form view.  You can select a different default table view at any level.  For this example, we are going to change the default table view for the AP Vendor Summary inquiry.

To change a default table view, open the ID module and from the menu bar select Inquiry >Inquiry Manager.

3. Select Define Levels and proceed to the view that you want to change.                                     

 4. This is the default view for this Inquiry.

5. Click on the drop down list and select the new view to use for this level. For this example, Vendor Summary will be chosen to replace Vendor Totals.
   
   
6. Click on the Change Default View icon (ALT + H for keyboard users) to lock in the selection and save this new view as the default view.

Modify Views

A default table view can be modified from any inquiry that uses it.  The view can be modified by opening it in ID, editing the view and saving the changes.  For this example, we are going to permanently insert Send cost to Billings in front of Cost Unit Description in the Standard Categories inquiry located in the Lists menu group in JC.  To modify the default table view, again open the ID application and from the menu bar select Inquiry > Inquiry Manager.

1. Select the module in which the inquiry is located (Job Cost)and click on OK.
2. Select the inquiry name you want to modify (Lists – Standard Categories) and click on Change.
3. Select Define Levels and proceed to the view that you want to change.
4. Click on the Select icon (or the column header or ALT + S), and choose how you want to edit the Inquiry (as either an insert before the column chosen, an add after the column chosen, or as an edit to override the column chosen) and click OK.
5. Double click on the record that will represent your change.
6. Click on OK to create the change and upon closing the revised Inquiry, click on YES to permanently save the change.
7. Another window, “Save View”, will open, enabling you to optionally give your modified view a new name.

NOTE:  A specific view might be used in more than one inquiry.  Changes to the view will be reflected in all inquiries that use that view.

Add or Modify Conditions

Now let’s take an Inquiry, PR Check Information>Check Time, add a condition to it so it only shows OVERTIME, and save it as a NEW inquiry.

Repeat steps 1 through 3 in the Modify Views section above.  Here is the default screen shot from a typical data folder.

Next, click on the Conditions icon (or ALT + C for keyboard users) and select a Field, an Operator and a Value for the condition.  In this example, select “Pay Type (not Pay ID) equal to “Overtime” “.

Here is how your Inquiry appears with the new Condition:

If a condition already exists in the inquiry, you can choose Add, Change, or Delete to further modify the conditions of the inquiry.

If finished click on Yes to save your work.  Best Practices says to give this Inquiry a new name so it can be added to your existing Inquiry list.

In summary, Inquiry Designer (ID) is Sage 300 CRE’s user-friendly tool to add or modify inquiries you use in each of your applications.