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Ned
(member)
07/05/07 08:23 AM
Conditional in report?  

I'm doing a packing slip. One of the intents of the packing slip is to head off inquiries by showing what I did.

I'd like to print the word "Insured" on the slip, if the shipment was insured. In other words, if Insurance Cost > 0, print "Insured".

I do not want to print the Insurance Cost value.

I've rummaged around in the report customization, but it's not obvious how to do this.

Any ideas? Is it even possible?

Ned





bluepennylady
(veteran)
07/05/07 01:44 PM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

I have an Insurance field in the top portion of my packing slip. I'll send you the file so you can see what mine looks like. I have the Shipping method as well as the Insurance displayed. Really helps in packaging.

Judy/blue



Ned
(member)
07/05/07 04:27 PM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: bluepennylady]  

Judy,

Thanks for the report format, but that's not what I want. I want the word "Insured" to appear, not a dollar amount.

Ned




bluepennylady
(veteran)
07/05/07 04:30 PM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

You are welcome. And I'm sorry

I believe that can be done. I'll check to see after I am done doing a backup and the database rebuild.

Judyblue



bluepennylady
(veteran)
07/05/07 06:58 PM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

You can use User 1, 2 or 3 fields next to the Invoice items. Type "Insured" into whichever field you decide to use.

Customize the report by using the DBText. In the far right hand side click the drop down and change from "invoice" to InvoiceItems" In the field next to InvoiceITems choose Whatever the user field you selected.

If you need the User field where you don't have to scroll, just drag and drop it anywhere into the grid. You can change the User defined field labels to whatever makes sense to you by going to File | Program options. On the first window of the applet, left hand side are the User defined fields.

Will that work? I can send you the customized report I did if you want to see it.


Judy/blue



Ned
(member)
07/06/07 09:02 AM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: bluepennylady]  

Thanks for your effort Judy.

The workaround you propose (typing "Insured" into a User Field) will work. In fact, I may very well use it. But it is very bad design practice. Let me explain why.

My objection may be clearer if instead of "Insured" we use the text "Insurance Cost > 0". Using the workaround sets up the AW database so that the state of one field is recorded in another. So now you have two fields purporting to "know" the same information. What happens when those fields do not agree?

Since I am the entire development staff--and the entire user base--I can get away with this, though even a one-man band can trip on a problem like this. When it does happen, at least I won't spend a lot of time finger-pointing .

Your operation, Judy, is in more danger from this sort of thing, but an organization of maybe a half-dozen users, low turnover, and good communication can probably get away with this. You would rely upon your people not to make a mistake, even though the database design is set up to make it possible.

If your staff were a hundred, you couldn't afford to use this workaround. Too many people could trip over it too often.

In this particular case, the cost of an error is pretty low, low enough that you're probably wondering why I'm bothering with it. It's the principle. In this case we'll probably be OK. In another, doing something like this workaround could be very confusing and costly.

Ned




bluepennylady
(veteran)
07/06/07 11:25 AM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

Those fields should never disagree. The package is either insured or it is not. To avoid errors of any kind in our system I do not have multiple personnel recording payments. My staff is departmentalized. The shipping staff are responsible for recording payments, packaging and shipping. The warehouse staff is responsible for addressing buyer inquiries prior to the buyer making a purchase. Warehouse also take care of entering in Inventory Items. I have even have someone (which is sometimes me :o) who is responsible for pulling orders so the same person who pulls does not pack. That way the staff can double check each other.

Displaying the actual Insurance cost as well as the "Ship via" fields is a better design. The likelihood for errors to occur is remote if the proper procedure for recording payments, extracting information and printing the reports is followed. In fact, there is almost no room for human error.

When associating payments with Invoices, extract the buyer's name and address. The Paypal payment also provides the "Ship via" as well as the Insurance cost. Which must be extracted into the invoice. About half the time the buyer cannot remember which shipping method they elected to use. Displaying the "Ship Via" field serves as a reminder the buyer elected Parcel post when they thought they chose Priority and then wonder why it took 10 days to get their package.

Displaying the Insurance cost is equally important to help the buyer differentiate between the cost for shipping versus the Insurance cost. The insurance charges displayed at eBay's checkout level are according to your "Preferecence | Insurance Cost settings. Unless there is a hard copy in the buyer's hand, they will not remember what the shipping charge was versus the Insurance cost when submitting feedback. It is also a great reminder to the buyer when the package arrives grossly damaged by the USPS and the "Insurance Cost" field displays $0.00 that they elected to decline Insurance.

The less typing done, the less likely for a human error to occur which is why we use the extracting feature in AW2000 and then display those fields in our reports. The girls here do make mistakes but it is not usually an error associated with an AW2000 feature or function. It is usually us breaking our own procedure, swapping paperwork accidentally, transposing a hand written number, etc.

Judy/blue



Ned
(member)
07/06/07 11:41 AM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: bluepennylady]  

In reply to:

Displaying the Insurance cost is equally important to help the buyer differentiate between the cost for shipping versus the Insurance cost....Unless there is a hard copy in the buyer's hand, they will not remember what the shipping charge was versus the Insurance cost when submitting feedback. It is also a great reminder to the buyer when the package arrives grossly damaged by the USPS and the "Insurance Cost" field displays $0.00 that they elected to decline Insurance.


Many packing slips don't have dollar amounts on them. I guess that was part of the reason I didn't want the insurance charge displayed either.

It's always good to manage the expectations of the customer. You're right that showing insurance cost paid (or not) is a good way to do it.

Ned







bluepennylady
(veteran)
07/06/07 11:58 AM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

The only field displaying any cost on my packing slip is the Insurance cost. The item cost does not display so if the package is going to a company, their shipping and receiving personnel or if we ship to a third party, they do not have access to any of those figures.

I do have a packing slip that displays nothing except the Auction title and qty. My name and email address is removed as well as all the other fields. There are a few of my buyers that purchase and then ship to third parties that do not want them to know anything about where it came from. The only problem is the Endicia or UPS labels supply my company name and address :o) Can't get around that. But I do not use that report often.

Judy/blue





Ned
(member)
07/06/07 12:18 PM
Re: Conditional in report? new [re: bluepennylady]  

In reply to:

The only problem is the Endicia or UPS labels supply my company name and address :o) Can't get around that.


Endicia's Dazzle lets me change the return address name to anything I want--totally generic like "Fulfillment" or maybe obscure like "BPL Shipping". Is there a downside to changing the return address name (assuming the PO and UPS understand)?

Ned




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