Accumulator

*** This is an ADVANCED feature.

When importing or exporting, Collect! can automatically total field values and keep count of records. This feature is especially useful for verifying that the correct number of records or other data has been transferred.

Select File from the top menu bar and a list of choices will be displayed. Select Import/Export and a submenu will show additional choices. Choose either Import File or Export File. At the bottom of the form that is displayed in either case, you will see a button labeled Totals. Select this button to open the Accumulator form.

The Accumulator form displays 19 lines specifying fields to accumulate values for. (You can actually store up to 20 items in the Accumulator record although the form only displays the first 19.) When you have not specified fields to accumulate values for, this form will be blank.

Creating Accumulator Fields

The Accumulator record type contains fields, just as the other record types do. The fields are defined manually, by the user, in the Accumulator form. Or, you can include a Record Definition for the Accumulator when designing your import/export map.

Description

Give your Accumulator Record a title that will help you identify it.

Label1

This is the name of the item that you want to tally. For instance, "Number of clients".

Count1

This field will contain the Count that Collect! reaches for this accumulator field during the import or export procedure.

Total1

This field will contain the Total that Collect! calculates for this accumulator field during the import or export procedure.

Accumulator Fields

There are a total of 20 fields in the Accumulator form. Each one of these can be used for a different counting or totaling of records by Collect! as the import or export proceeds.

OK

Select this to save any information you have entered and return to the previous form.

Cancel

Select this to ignore any changes you may have made and return to the previous form.

Print

Select this to bring up the list of reports. Choose Quick Print to print this form.

Help

Press this button for help on the Accumulator form and links to related topics.

Using Accumulators

In the Import Field Specification form, you will notice a field labeled Accumulator. The Accumulator field specifies where to total the count and value (if it is numeric) of the field being imported or exported. A number between 1 and 20 can be entered in the Accumulator field to have the information in this field totaled in the Accumulator record. The number you enter in the Accumulator field is the same as the number of the Accumulator line item defined in this Accumulator form. This is where the information will be stored.

For example, if you are importing Principal amounts and would like a total value for all the accounts that you import, enter 1 in the Accumulator field on the Import Field Specification for the Debtor Principal. Then, in the Accumulator form, for the first item, enter a description in the field labeled Label1 so that you will know that this line is totaling Principal amounts. Collect! will do the tallying when you run the import/export routine.

When importing, you can use this to verify total counts, dollar amounts and other checks. The results can be printed in a report.

When exporting, you can total the counts and values of information exported, then place the totals at the top or bottom of the file exported.

This feature is very powerful and can be combined with the Import Record Options header switch. Together, they will count record types and values being exported and then prepend the totals to the export file. For example, this option satisfies one of the requirements of London Bridge (LBSS) ACSwitch interface.