Adding a Column Definition

Columns Definitions define the contents of your report or budget plan columns, any calculations specific to your column, and the column headings within your report.

The information in a Column Definition is combined with the Line Definition that you will specify and store for the Report Definition or Input Definition.

To create a simple Column Definition:

Step 1: Click on the Columns bar to open the Columns Navigation Pane.

Step 2: Select the Columns Definition folder and then click on the New  icon.

Step 3: Type a name and label for the new Column Definition in the pop-up box and then click OK.

Step 4: Your Column Definition will be created with the following columns by default:

•      Column A will be a Type field of “Row Definition Description”.

•      Column B will be a Type field of “Balance”.

Step 5: In the Column Definition workspace, change the information in Column B:

•      In the Type field, choose the type of data from the drop-down menu. For example, select: “Balance”, “Row Segment ID”, “Row Definition Description”, “Calculated”, “Detail”, or “Blank”. For the purposes of this exercise, leave the value as “Balance”.

•      In the Book Code field, use the ellipsis button to choose the book code from which data should be pulled. For example, select: “Actuals”, “Budget”, etc. For the purposes of this exercise, leave the value as “ACTUAL”.

•      In the Year field, use the ellipsis button to open the Year Options dialog. Or, enter the four-digit year to specify which report year should be used. For the purposes of this exercise, leave the value as “YEAR”.

•      In the Period field, use the ellipsis button to open the Period Options dialog. Or, enter the numeric period to specify which report period should be used. For the purposes of this exercise, leave the value as “Period”.

•      In the Value Type field, use the drop-down menu to select the Value Type. For the purposes of this exercise, leave the value as “Periodic” to default to the period specified on the report.

Step 8: Click Save or Ctrl+S to save the new Column Definition.

To insert additional columns:

1.  Select a cell in the Column Definition workspace grid.

2.  Right-click to display the pop-up menu.

3.  Select the Insert column option to add additional column(s).

4.  (Specify the number of columns to add.)

5.  Select the OK button to confirm the addition.

You can also select multiple columns for deletion using the Shift key and using the mouse to click on each column you wish to delete. Then, use the right mouse-click to select the Delete option from the pop-up menu.

To move a column:

You can drag-and-drop your columns from one location to another if necessary.

1.  Highlight the entire column by clicking on the column label

2.  Drag (and then drop) the column to the desired location.

To remove a column:

1.  Highlight the entire column by clicking on the column label

2.  Right-click to display the pop-up menu.

3.  Select the Delete column option.

4.  Or, drag the column off the Column Definition workspace.

5.  When prompted, select the Yes button to confirm your delete action.

For more information on the specific fields defined in each Column definition refer to the Column Fields topic.