Organizational Structure
This is the settings screen for the Organization and Setup module, kept one per company. It is where you make a field compulsory, hide one the client does not use, give one a standing default, and list the contact and address types every company record is expected to carry.
What it is for
Two clients using the same screen want it to behave differently. One insists that no address is saved without a city, the other does not collect cities at all and wants the field out of the way. Nobody is going to change the software for either of them, and nobody should have to.
This screen is the answer. For any field on any screen in this module you can say: give it this starting value, make it compulsory, grey it out, or hide it. The setting is held per legal entity, so the three companies in a group can each behave their own way.
It also holds two short lists the client's own policy drives: which contact types a record must have, and which address purposes it must have. And it holds the special validations the client has asked for on named screens.
Fill it in before the client's staff start entering data, not after. A field made compulsory later does not go back and fill itself in on the hundred records already saved.
Every field, in plain words
Header
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Entity | The company these settings apply to. | 01 | Required. One settings record per company. Each company needs its own. |
Basic Data
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required Cost Object on Lines | A cost object must be named on every document line. | Leave clear in an HR-only installation | Tick it where the client costs everything through a Cost Object. |
Default Parameters - how a field behaves
One line per field you want to change. Leave the grid empty and every field behaves as it comes.
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line # | The line number. | Fills itself | |
| Processcode | Which screen the field is on. | Department | Pick it from the list of screens. |
| Object No | Which field on that screen. | Responsible | Pick it from the list of fields on the screen you chose. |
| Value | What the field starts with on a new record. | Pakistan on a country field | Leave blank if you only want to change whether it is compulsory or visible. |
| Mandatory | The record cannot be saved with this field empty. | Ticked | |
| Disable | The field is shown but cannot be typed in. | Leave clear | Use it together with a Value to show a fixed answer the user cannot change. |
| Hidden | The field is not shown at all. | Ticked on a field the client does not use | A hidden field that is also mandatory will stop records being saved with nothing the user can do about it. Do not tick both. |
Validation - extra checks on a screen
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line # | The line number. | Fills itself | |
| Processcode | Which screen the check applies to. | Legal Entity | Pick it from the list of screens. |
| Special Validation | Which check to apply. | Pick it from the list | The list holds the checks that have been built for this installation. |
Required Contact Type
The contact types a record is expected to carry. Add a line per type.
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line # | The line number. | Fills itself | |
| Code | The contact type. | MOB | Pick it from the list. Each type should appear once, the screen refuses a repeat and names the two lines. |
| Name | What that type is called. | Fills itself from the code you pick |
Required Address Type
The address purposes a record is expected to carry.
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line # | The line number. | Fills itself | |
| Purpose | The address purpose. | Registered Office | Pick it from the list. |
| Discription | What that purpose is. | Fills itself from the purpose you pick |
How to configure it
- Create the Legal Entity first. These settings hang off it.
- Open Organizational Structure and pick the Legal Entity.
- On the Basic Data tab, decide whether a cost object is required on document lines. In an HR-only installation leave it clear.
- Go through the client's list of "this field must be filled" requests. For each one add a Default Parameters line naming the screen, the field, and tick Mandatory.
- For each field the client does not use, add a line and tick Hidden. Do not also tick Mandatory on the same line.
- For a field that should always start with the same answer, add a line with the Value filled, and tick Disable if the user must not change it.
- On the Required Contact Type tab list the contact types every record must have, one line each.
- On the Required Address Type tab list the address purposes every record must have.
- Save. Then repeat the whole thing for the next legal entity, which has its own settings and does not inherit these.
Scenarios
The client insists every address has a city
Add a Default Parameters line: the address screen, the City field, Mandatory ticked. From then on an address without a city is refused.
The client never uses a field and wants it off the screen
Add a line for it and tick Hidden. Nothing is deleted and the field comes back the moment you clear the tick.
Every new address should say Pakistan without anybody typing it
Add a line for the Country field with Value Pakistan and Disable ticked. The field shows Pakistan and cannot be changed. If the client has an address abroad, leave Disable clear so it can be overtyped.
The three companies in the group want different rules
Three records on this screen, one per legal entity. Settings do not spread from one company to another, so each one is configured separately. Build the first, agree it with the client, then copy the decisions across by hand.
We made a field mandatory and now nothing will save
Check the same field is not also hidden. A field that must be filled and cannot be seen leaves the user with no way out. Clear one of the two ticks.
What it is connected to
- Legal Entity must exist first, and there is one settings record per legal entity.
- The settings apply to the screens in this module, by name, on the lines you add.
- Parameter Profile does a similar job for a group of users rather than for a whole company.
- A field made compulsory here does not change records already saved.
If something looks wrong
- "A field we made mandatory is still being left blank" - the line names a different screen from the one people are using, or the settings record is on the wrong legal entity.
- "It will not save, it says a line is duplicated with another line" - the same contact type appears twice on the Required Contact Type tab. The screen names both lines.
- "Nothing can be saved on a screen at all" - a field on it is both mandatory and hidden. Clear one tick.
- "Our second company ignores all of this" - it has no settings record of its own. Create one for that legal entity.