Table of Contents

Event and Milestone Formatting

The Document Reporting module includes powerful capabilities for formatting event and milestone data in your reports. This functionality allows you to present date-based event information in a consistent, readable format that meets your business requirements.

Understanding Event and Milestone Formatting

Events and milestones are time-based data points that track key activities in your business processes. The formatting system allows you to:

  • Display events and milestones in a standardized format
  • Control how date and time information is presented
  • Apply different formatting to different types of events
  • Include descriptive text with formatted dates/times

Key Components of Event/Milestone Formatting

1. Event Milestone Format Templates

Event Milestone Format Templates define how event and milestone data will be formatted in reports. Each template includes:

  • Code: A unique identifier for the template
  • Description: A descriptive name for the template
  • Format Settings: Controls how event data is formatted and structured

2. Event Milestone Format Template Lines

Format Template Lines define the specific formatting rules for individual event types or categories:

  • Event Milestone Code: The specific event/milestone to format, or blank for all
  • Date Type: The type of date (Estimated, Actual, From/To, etc.)
  • Value Format: How the date values should be formatted (Standard, FromTo, etc.)
  • Field Format Code: The field format to apply to date values
  • Sorting Order: Controls the order of events in the output
  • Multi Lines: Determines if data should be displayed on multiple lines
  • Topic: Optional header text for the event group

Setting Up Event/Milestone Formatting

To create a new Event Milestone Format Template:

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature icon, enter Event Milestone Format Templates, and then choose the related link.
  2. On the Event Milestone Format Templates page, choose the New action.
  3. Fill in the following fields:
    • Code: Enter a unique code for this template.
    • Description: Enter a descriptive name for the template.
  4. Choose the Lines action to configure format template lines.

To configure Event Milestone Format Template Lines:

  1. On the Event Milestone Format Template Lines page, choose the New action.
  2. Fill in the following fields:
    • Event Milestone Code: Select a specific event/milestone code, or leave blank to apply to all events of a certain date type.
    • Date Type: Select the date type this line applies to (Specific, From/To, etc.).
    • Value Format: Choose how date values should be formatted (Standard, FromTo, EarliestLatest, BetweenAnd).
    • Field Format Code: Select the field format to apply to date values.
    • Sorting Order: Set the order in which events should appear.
    • Multi Lines: Enable this option to display data on multiple lines.
    • Same Date: Specify how to handle dates that are the same (ShowBoth, SkipDate).
    • Suppress Empty Time: Enable to hide time portions when they are zero.
    • Caption: Select what caption to use (Description, Usage, NoCaption).
    • Topic: Enter optional header text for the event group.
    • Empty Line Topic: Select where to add empty lines around topics (None, Before, After, BeforeAndAfter).
    • Advanced Description: Enter a formula for advanced description formatting.

To associate Format Templates with Report Definitions:

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature icon, enter Report Definitions, and then choose the related link.
  2. Select the report definition you want to modify.
  3. Fill in the EM Format Templ. Code field with the code of your event milestone format template.

Value Format Options

The Event Milestone Format system supports several value format options:

  • Standard: Displays dates in a standard format (e.g., "2023-06-15 / 2023-06-20")
  • FromTo: Uses a "From [date] To [date]" format
  • EarliestLatest: Uses an "Earliest [date] Latest [date]" format
  • BetweenAnd: Uses a "Between [date] and [date]" format

Advanced Description Formatting

The Advanced Description field allows you to create complex descriptions using placeholders:

  • %1: Estimated (Full text)
  • %2: Updated (Full text)
  • %3: Actual (Full text)
  • %4: Last Filled (Full text)
  • %5: Estimated (Short text)
  • %6: Updated (Short text)
  • %7: Actual (Short text)
  • %8: Last Filled (Short text)
  • %9: Estimated Date/Time value
  • %10: Updated Date/Time value
  • %11: Actual Date/Time value
  • %12: Last Filled Date/Time value
  • %13: Event Usage
  • %14+: Custom placeholders (if defined)

Example: %5: %9 - %7: %11 might produce "Est: 2023-06-15 - Act: 2023-06-20"

Multi-Line Formatting

When the Multi Lines option is enabled, the system creates separate lines for each part of an event:

  1. Description Line: Contains the general description of the event
  2. From Line: Contains the "from" date with appropriate label
  3. To Line: Contains the "to" date with appropriate label

This creates a more structured, hierarchical view of event data.

Use Cases for Event/Milestone Formatting

Use Case 1: Shipping Milestone Formatting

For a shipping process with estimated and actual dates:

  1. Create a format template with two lines:

    • Line 1: For Estimated dates with Standard value format
    • Line 2: For Actual dates with Standard value format

  2. Set appropriate sorting orders to ensure Estimated dates appear before Actual dates.

  3. Apply to shipping reports to clearly show planned vs. actual dates.

Use Case 2: Advanced Date Range Formatting

For date ranges where the presentation needs to be customized:

  1. Create a format template with the Multi Lines option enabled.

  2. Set Value Format to FromTo, EarliestLatest, or BetweenAnd based on your preference.

  3. Configure formatting for each line with appropriate descriptions.

  4. Apply to reports showing date ranges such as delivery windows or project timeframes.

Use Case 3: Grouped Events with Topics

For reports that need to group related events with descriptive headers:

  1. Create a format template with Topic fields filled in.

  2. Set Empty Line Topic to add spacing as needed.

  3. Configure appropriate sorting to ensure events appear in the right order within each topic.

  4. Apply to reports showing multiple categories of events, such as project milestones or order processing steps.

Best Practices for Event/Milestone Formatting

  • Maintain consistent formatting across similar events for better readability
  • Use clear, descriptive topics to organize event groups
  • Consider language requirements when setting up format templates
  • Test with various date scenarios including empty dates, same dates, and date ranges
  • Use sorting order to present events in a logical sequence
  • Apply field formats consistently for dates, times, and date/time values
  • Document your format templates for future reference and maintenance

Integration with Field Formats

Event Milestone formatting works closely with Field Formats (see Field Format Documentation) to control the precise appearance of date, time, and date/time values.

  1. Create appropriate field formats for dates and times
  2. Reference these formats in your event milestone format templates
  3. The system will apply the specified formatting to all date/time values

This combination allows for highly customized presentation of event data in your reports.

For more information about report definitions and data items, see Report Definitions and Data Items.

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