Section 11
Control Numbers Table

The Control Numbers table permits you to assign sequence numbers that can be linked to transactions. During entry of the transaction, if a valid control number table entry exists, you will be able to press a command button and have the RASWIN program assign a sequence number to the transaction, independently of the transaction receipt number.

For example, you might be issuing permits for garage sales and need to assign sequential numbers to the transaction to link the issued permit to the receipt for tracking purposes. Using the control numbers table, you can do this.

The control number itself is a sequentially assigned value, though it can contain other text or data values (as described below in the FORMAT MASK section). It is independent of which register requests it.. so, for example, if you have three registers processing garage sale permits, each time a register requested the next number it will get the data value from the table, use it as the current value, and then increment the value stored in the table so that the next register that requested a value would get the next sequential number. Once a number is used it will not be reassigned, even if the receipt is cancelled. This is because we can't be sure that another register has not requested a number in the time between entry of the line items on the initial receipt being entered on the first register. Also, on a multiple transaction receipt, it is possible for the control numbers assigned to separate lines to be non-sequential, as would happen in the case where between entry of the individual lines on a single receipt, another register used the next available sequence number.

Each field in the table is listed, along with a short description, below:

1. CONTROLKEY
   
   This is the number or name of the sequence. This must be a unique value, such as GARAGE or 001. We recommend that you use a text name value since it is easier to remember. It can be up to 15 characters long. This value links directly to the controlkey value in the Trancodes table
   
   
2. FORMAT_MASK
   
   This value defines the text values (see list below) that are linked to the sequence number, as well as the size of the sequence number portion of the reference number itself. These values can include literal text, such as GS- or GARAGE-SALE:, plus date/time values, plus a user defined sequence number of a user defined size. For example, you might wish to have your reference number for the permit look something like this:
   
   GARAGE-SALE-2011-#########
   
   The 2011 portion would represent the year, and the ######## portion would represent the sequence number itself.
   
   The sequence number data value options are defined below. If you include these character strings in your edit mask, the program will
   
   substitute the data value shown for the character string. For example, yyyy will result in the YEAR being used, as shown above.
   
   
   1. YYYY - The 4 digit year portion of the accounting date.
      
      
   2. YY - The 2 digit year portion of the accounting date.
      
      
   3. MMM - The short month name (e.g., JAN, FEB) portion of the accounting date.
      
      
   4. MM - The 2 digit month value (e.g., 01, 02) of the accounting date.
      
      
   5. DDD - The short day name (e.g., MON, TUE) portion of the accounting date.
      
      
   6. DD - The 2 digit day value (e.g., 01, 02) of the accounting date.
      
      
   7. JJJ - The Julian day # of the year (e.g., 001=Jan 01, 002=Jan 2, etc.) of the accounting date.
      
      
   8. HH - The hour portion of the current time.
      
      
   9. MM - The minutes portion of the current time.
      
      
   10. SS - The seconds portion of the current time.
       
       
   11. ##...##
       
       The sequence number. The number of #'s controls how many digits will appear in the sequence number. Leading zeros will be in front of the number if it not as big as the defined sequence number.
   Sample edit masks might look like this:
   
   YYYY-MM-DD:#######
   
   GARAGE SALE-YYYY:#######
   
   FILED: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS #######
   
   
   
3. CONTROL_NUMBER
   
   This is the numeric value of the last sequence number assigned. During processing, if you request to have a sequence number assigned, this value will be updated after you request the number assignment.