ACR/Summary 4.3 Release Notes

ACR/Summary 4.3 enhancements include:

User Program Extraction in ACR/Summary

ACR/Detail’s ability to employ user programs to extract from otherwise unsupported file organization types has now been extended to ACR/Summary. This means you can now use any of your own user access programs or the following user programs that were formerly available only for ACR/Detail:

• UUPDLIM. This program can be used to extract data from files containing records of variable length fields, separated by one or more separator characters or delimiters.
• UUPXML. This program can be used to extract data from XML files. Values can be extracted based on tag names or values, attribute names or values, or sequence in the XML.
• UUPEDIF. This program can be used to extract data from EDI files (in X12 format).
• UUPVREC. This program can be used to extract data from variable length records consisting of a fixed “header” area and a variable number of “line” areas.
• UUPFBIO. This program can be used to access mainframe EBCDIC fixed block input files on Windows, UNIX, and Linux.
• UUPVBIO. This program can be used to access mainframe EBCDIC variable block input files on Windows, UNIX, and Linux.

Ability to Exclude Records in Access Mode 5

Currently, when using access mode 5 for extraction using total, tally, or hash records, you can set up the definitions to include all records or to include only records matching a key value you specify.

You now have the additional alternative of excluding records that match the key value criteria you enter. This would allow you, for example, to exclude header or trailer records when hashing a file without first performing a separate step to removing the records you don’t want to be hashed.

All Counts and Amounts Extracted from RDBMS Files to Extraction Variables that Pass the Selection Criteria Will Now Be Accumulated

Previously, when counts and amounts were extracted from either relational database (RDBMS) or non-RDBMS files using standard SQL and accumulated and stored in an extraction variable, only the first record meeting the selection criteria is returned and stored in the target variable. Now, when extracting from RDBMS files, all count and amount values that meet the selection criteria will be accumulated and stored in the extraction variable. For RDBMS extraction, this eliminates the discrepancy between the accumulated results stored in extraction variables and the accumulated results stored in internal items. If you have rules that extract from RDBMS files into extraction variables, the results may now be different.

Direct Extraction from Delimited Files

A new input source indicator allows you to extract values directly from delimited data files. The new feature allows you to specify multiple delimiters, including the tab character, for keys, items, and translation tables.

Previously, ACR/Detail allowed extraction of delimited data with user program UUPDLIM. The new direct access capability will make extraction of delimited data easier by allowing you to use the mark-and-capture feature for extraction.

Note: On Windows, for tab-delimited files, the data shows in the Extract Window in the columnar (tabbed) view. This prevents automatic calculation of the number for the delimited field. When using tab-delimiters, please manually count the field number and enter it appropriately.

Create a Calculated Item that Adds to or Subtracts from the Job's Cycle Number

Cycle numbers can now be included on the right side of calculations using the new @CYCLE function. If you assign a date format to the cycle number, it will be converted to a date count before the calculation. If you assign the format As Is, the cycle number will be used as is, with no conversion before the calculation.

This new feature will allow you to easily verify that cycles are run in the correct order without having to keep an extra copy of the cycle number as an internal item.

Include Previous Cycle Numbers, Job Run Dates/Times in Rules

Currently, when a job stores history, it stores the job’s cycle number, run date, and run time along with its internal and extended internal items. History items have been enhanced to allow you to use any or all of this information in future balancing or reconciliation processing.

You can use any or all of this information directly defined as a history items. To simplify finding these items in your file, a history item can now be one of 5 item types: internal item, extended internal item, job run date, job run type, or cycle number.

This new feature allows you to validate the run time of your controls and combines with the cycle enhancement to allow you to easily validate process flows.

Specify How Numbers Containing Decimals Will Be Processed

A new Extract Decimal Indicator allows you to retain the decimal location from the input source when extracting numeric values. This feature is useful when extracting numbers that contain mixed decimals. If you set the indicator to Y, the decimal location will be retained whether you store the value in an internal item, in an extended internal item or in an extraction variable.

The Print Decimals field in the destination panel will continue to control the number of decimal places assigned to the value after extraction. The extracted number will be padded or truncated to match the entry in this field.

Edit Multiple Lines of Code in the Free-Form Report on z/OS

When editing a Free-Form Report in the Report Codes Update panel on z/OS, you can now change multiple lines of code at once, specifying different kinds of edits (insertions, deletions, replacements) at the same time. The system makes all of your changes after you press Enter.

NOTE: The message to confirm a deletion is no longer generated.

DB2 Freeform SQL Is Now Supported in the Expert File Editor

The Expert File Editor, available on z/OS, now supports the DB2 Freeform Editor, which allows you to use a tested, valid SQL query to extract data from DB2 tables. To enter your query, you simply paste the SELECT, FROM, and WHERE clauses into the appropriate panels.

Page Headers for User Reports Can Contain Multiple Types of Information

Custom page headers have been enhanced for both ACR/Summary and ACR/Detail, as follows:

• For ACR/Detail, previously your page header could show only the value of one item corresponding to the keys on the page. Now you can create a oneline page header containing a specified literal and/or the values of multiple items corresponding to the current keys.
• For ACR/Summary, in addition to page header/trailer lines, you can now create a one-line header that contains the value of a literal and/or values of one or more items defined for the job.

Encrypt Database Password and User ID

To increase the security of your databases, the ODBC and Oracle user IDs and passwords you enter in the product interfaces will now be encrypted. The encrypted values will be stored in file definition batch cards, eliminating the need for entering passwords in scripts or in environment variables.

The encrypted user ID and password will be used for database connections during batch balancing/reconciliation. Passwords currently in scripts or environment variables can be removed or can be used as an override to the encrypted value in the rules.