If you can’t visit at least FEED yourself

You don’t have to visit this web site to get the information that is posted here. You can use RSS, which is short for Really Simple Syndication, in conjuction with a news reader such as FeedDemon, to subscribe to and pull down the comments posted here.

This RSS stuff may sound a bit complicated, but it’s really quite easy. On the Tutorial page, you can access a screencast by Alex Barnett that shows you how easy it is to use RSS. More importantly, subscribing to a web-site’s feed means you don’t have to always navigate to that site to get the information you’re looking for. It will save you time and make you more productive. Give it a try! Oh, and make sure you add this site to your reading list!

Using Advanced Filters

If you need to create a report of subcontract Vendors that have expired insurance dates, you’ll need to learn how to use Filters. There’s two types of filters. The first type of filter I call a Simple filter because you use a series of pull-down boxes to define your filter. The second type of filter is an Advanced filter where the filter definition is manually constructed.

In this example, we’ll need to use an Advanced filter, because the Simple filter can’t handle the complex logic. Remember, the report must show all subcontract Vendors (Vendors with a Normal G/L Account of 507000) where the Workers Comp, General Liability, or Other Insurance dates are expired (expired before the current terminal date).

Here’s the filter:

NORMAL_GL_ACCOUNT$="507000" AND
(WORKERS_COMP_INSUR_EXPIR_DATE$ < X$(41,2)+X$(37,2)+X$(31,2)+X$(34,2)
   OR
GENERAL_LIAB_INSUR_EXPIR_DATE$ < X$(41,2)+X$(37,2)+X$(31,2)+X$(34,2) 
  OR 
OTHER_INSURANCE_EXPIR_DATE$ < X$(41,2)+X$(37,2)+X$(31,2)+X$(34,2))

The X$ stuff represents the current date, so this filter shouldn’t need to be changed each time it’s used for a report.

If you ever need to report data and don’t want to see pages and pages of information, then remember to use a Filter. And if the Filter is complex, you may need to resort to constructing an Advanced filter.

Monarch mines for data

As good as Maxwell’s DataLink Module is at exporting reports and data to text, Excel, and PDF files, there are times when you need something more in your tool-kit. That extra tool could be Monarch Pro from Datawatch.

Monarch Pro is called a data mining or data extraction tool. It takes the output from any report you have, extracts the data from the report, and outputs it into a file, such as an Excel spreadsheet, for easy manipulation.

The beauty of Monarch Pro is it’s simplicity. Just print your report to a text file, then point Monarch Pro to that file. Then a simple to use parsing tool scans, filters, and extracts data from your report into a spreadsheet like format. The data can then be output to almost any type of file including spreadsheets. And once the parsing rules are defined, you save those rules as a template to be over and over each time you print the report.

Monarch Pro can also access data files directly. Almost any file can be read by Monarch Pro. Access and Excel files as well as any data file accessible via ODBC can be read and manipulated.

So if you can’t get just the right data extracted using your standard tools, consider Monarch Pro (priced at $559.00 at this time).

Welcome to Hancock Data’s Blog

They say it’s never too late to start with a blog, so, this post represents the first entry in the Hancock Data blog site.

The intention of this site is to provide additional information and support for users of Maxwell Systems Maxwell Management Suite Software.

For the uninitiated, the Maxwell Management Suite is designed specifically for constructions and service companies. Currently the software is used nationwide by a variety of contractors and service companies.

This site was created using the WordPress publishing tool. From time to time, various features and content will be added to make this site more informative and easier to use.

Please feel free to comment and post any suggestions or changes you might like. Thanks for taking the time to view this.