Manual

DataCollector batch extraction 2.0

August 2013
UNIT4 Accountancy B.V.
Bastion 4
Postbus 755
3900 AT Veenendaal

Copyright 2013 UNIT4 Accountancy B.V., Veenendaal, the Netherlands

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 1
2. Technical requirements 2
3. Tool handling 3
3.1. Program folder structure 3
3.2. Generic screen navigation 3
3.3. Guidance 5
3.4. Screens 5
3.4.1. Select the batch files 5
3.4.2. Select the date and time to start the extraction 8
4. Tool output 11
4.1. Folders used 11
4.2. File naming conventions 11
4.3. Run time 11
4.4. Screen output 11
4.5. Log file 14
1. INTRODUCTION
With DataCollector batch extraction you can specify at what date and time the data must
be extracted. To extract data you need a batch file created by DataCollector. This file
contains the password required to log into the database. Therefore, the file is encrypted.
The extension of the file is "bef".

No installation required
DataCollector batch extraction is a runtime version. The advantage is that DataCollector
batch extraction can be used immediately (for example on a USB stick) without having to
install the software. You can copy the complete runtime folder to the system of your
client. Also within this situation no install is needed.

Meaning of the icons

The icons used in this guide have the following meaning:

This is important information

This is a tip

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2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Requirements for DataCollector batch extraction:
Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 1a or higher
Minimum 512 MB RAM; 1 GB is recommended
Minimum 200 MB free disk space
.NET Framework 2.0 or later
Write access on a medium with enough free disk space to store the extracted data
No access restrictions to the Windows Temp folder
Online access to the ERP system
No CITRIX environment
Customization in the database is not supported
Minimum screen resolution 1024x768 pixels at 100% text size

DataCollector batch extraction can be executed on Windows systems that have the
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installed. Most Windows operating systems, such as
Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista usually have the Microsoft .NET
Framework 2.0 (or later) installed by default. If this is not the case, the Microsoft
installation package can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1639.

If .NET Framework 2.0 or later is not installed the following error message appears:

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3. TOOL HANDLING
3.1. Program folder structure
The structure of the program folder is displayed in the figure below.

<root> Contains the executable of the program

Collector Contains the software packages of the ERP systems available
DLL Contains the software components used
Guidance Contains the screen guidance
Help Contains this documentation

DataCollector batch extraction creates the Guidance folder automatically when this folder
does not exist.

To start DataCollector batch extraction double-click (click the mouse button twice in quick
succession) .

3.2. Generic screen navigation

Overview buttons
Button Function
Click this button to show the contents of the batch extraction file (bef).

Click this button to go to the next window of the program.

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Button Function
Click this button to return to the previous window of the program.
Entered data will be saved during this session.
Click this button to start the extraction process.

Click this button to exit the program. You can also use the Escape
button.

Overview navigation bar

The navigation bar consists of the following two buttons:

The caption of the buttons corresponds to the names of the screens. Before each caption
an indicator is shown. Each indicator has one of the following colors:

Indicator Function
Transparent The screen is not accessible yet
(open grey)
Grey The screen is accessible, but the parameters are not entered
Yellow In the screen all required parameters are not entered
Green In the screen all required parameters are valid
Red In the screen the entered parameters are not valid

The colors dark yellow and dark green are shown on non-selected screens.
When such a screen is selected the color light yellow or light green is shown.

In the navigation bar you can always click the buttons with the indicator grey, yellow and
green. The corresponding screen will be shown. A button with the indicator transparent is
not accessible.

A screen cannot be left when the button in the navigation bar shows the color red. The
color is changed into yellow when a value of a parameter is re-entered.

It is still possible to navigate through the screens with the button and the

button.

Not all indicators are applied in DataCollector batch extraction.

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3.3. Guidance
The screens can be customized for the end user by adding screen and/or label guidance.

The end user cannot change the guidance.

Because of adding guidance the figures in this manual may look different.

3.4. Screens
In this paragraph you will find a description of the screens.

3.4.1. Select the batch files

Start DataCollector batch extraction. The following window is displayed:

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Click the button to select the folder where the batch files, created by DataCollector,
have been stored.

Select the folder and click the button.

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The status of the file is shown in the column Status. A file can have the following status:
Not executed: the bef file is not executed yet.
Successful: the bef file is executed successfully.
Outside time window: the file was not executed as the extraction was not started
within the specified time.
Incomplete: the execution of the bef file was only partially successful.
Not succesful: the execution of the bef file failed.

Click the button to show the contents of the bef file.

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The password is replaced by asterisks.

Click the button to close the batch file contents screen.

Select the batch files you want to use for the batch extraction and click the

button.

To select all files, click the button.

3.4.2. Select the date and time to start the extraction

After you have selected the files, you can specify the date and time to start the extraction.

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Select the Enable delayed extraction option to specify in the Start batch extraction
and Stop batch extraction fields the starting and end date and time of the extraction.
Batch files will not be extracted if the end time is reached and the extraction has not yet
started.

Click the button at the end of the Path field to select the folder where the extracted
data will be stored.

Press the button to put the extraction into the queue. If you do not select

the Enable delayed extraction option and you click the button, the
extraction starts immediately.

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You can close the application by clicking the button.

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4. TOOL OUTPUT
4.1. Folders used
You can select the output folder in the "Time window selection" window (see "Select the
date and time to start the extraction" on page 8).

4.2. File naming conventions

The name of the encrypted dcz file is made up as followed:

Company number
Company name
Time stamp of extraction

The date format is according to ISO 8601 standard.

The figure belows shows an example of an encrypted dcz file:

4.3. Run time

In a development environment it is not possible to determine the average time the tool
would need for an extraction.

4.4. Screen output

Once DataCollector batch extraction starts extracting the financial information the
following progress screen (or similar) will be shown:

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The summary of the data source parameters and the version number of the connected
ERP system (if available) are also shown.

After the extraction of the data, a window appears with information about the extraction.

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Click the button to close the window.

The information in this screen is also stored in a text file in the same folder as the batch
extraction files. The name of the file is BatchExtractionInfo(YYYY-MM-
DD#HH:MM:SS).txt. The time stamp corresponds with the time when the extraction
process is finished.

With the button in the Exporting data window the extraction can be
aborted. It is also possible to abort the extraction by pushing the escape button. The
following message appears:

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Click the button to abort the extraction. The current entity will be completed
and the following entities are not extracted.

The data is stored in encrypted dcz files.

4.5. Log file

When the extracted data is stored, the information of the extraction (also displayed on the
screen) is stored in a log file and HTML file. The summary of the data source parameters
and the version number of the connected ERP system (if available) are also stored. The
log file and HTML file are also added to the dcz file.

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