More FRX Hints and Tricks

Here are some more hints and tricks for working with FRX.  This is a continuation of an article written for the November 2003 ezine.

I. Rows

a. When working of your row areas, there are three function keys which are useful:  F1 brings up the help screen for a field, F2 moves you into edit mode for a single field and F3 does a zoom or lookup function.

b. You can dress up a report so that you create a box around one or more sections. This is accomplished by using the BXB format code.  Insert a BXB format code on the row where you want the box to start, and a BXC format code on the row where you want the box to be completed.

c. You can document you thoughts when creating rows by using the REMARK as your row format code.  When this format code is used, the description column can be a documentation field. Examples of uses for REMARKS include: who originally developed the row report, date developed, date modified and reason for modification.

d. You can develop sophisticated reports with IF Then logic.  To put an IF The statement into a row, use the CAL Format code in column C and the IF Then statement in column D.

e. When creating a balance sheet type report, you can avoid the problem that may occur when you display totals without showing the pennies in your numbers.  This may occur when presently whole numbers or results rounded to $000 positions etc.   There is a built in function to solve this dilemma.  Go to the Edit menu, then rounding adjustments menu choice and complete this screen.   The round off difference between total assets vs. total liabilities and equities can be forced to a specific account, keeping your balance sheet always in balance.

II. Columns

a. Reports designed with FRX can show favorable and unfavorable variances.  Report designed can use a concept called XCR in the print control row of the Column layout to show whether the difference between actual and budget should be displayed as a positive or as a negative value.  XCR is a simple method to ensure your variances are displayed properly.

b. When developing column layouts, you can suppress columns that contain periods that are later than the report date.  This is done by selecting the P <= B option in the print control section for each column.  This is especially useful when creating a trended monthly P&L type report and you only want the see columns through the current period (for instance Feb =Period 2) and suppress all the months after February. 

III. Miscellaneous

a. In version 6.0 or 6.5 there are 10 additional text fields in column Z of the tree.  You can pull the text into a report header or row format by using the codes @unit1, or @unit2, or @unit10.  This gives expanded functionality to our report headers and row format descriptions.

b. You can have FRX create an exception report that shows any accounts that are missing from the row format, as well as any that are duplicated. I particularly like this feature for tracking missing accounts.  The report only shows up when there are accounts which would normally be expected to be in the report.  This feature is very helpful to catch the problem that a new General Ledger account was added in the General Ledger, but FRX has not be updated to reflect this new account.  See the catalog area, report options,  advanced tab:

c. As a routine practice the compact database function should be performed. We recommend at lease 1x / month.  This process will create a duplicate copy of your FRX report data and delete unnecessary information, and reorganize the valid FRX information in this new database.  This function can be accessed from the File menu, then the compact database menu.

As a standard practice compact both the spec set and the FRX system database.  (Note: the system database may not be always be compacted in some FRX versions).