The ASCII file formats supported by Sage HRMS Link are: comma-delimited, space-delimited, tab-delimited, and fixed-length.
The comma-delimited format is the most widely used for ASCII file transfer. Data fields appear in a record and are separated by commas:
Example: "Brooks","James","",04121992,"SMD Corporation",35000
Note: When exporting data to ADP, the system converts any commas in the fields p_fname, p_lname, p_hstreet1, p_hstreet2, and p_hcity to spaces (blanks) to avoid creating extra columns when the data is imported to ADP.
When you create or edit a template, each field you choose from the database file is identified as a character, date-character, date-numeric, or logical field. You can also find the field type in the data dictionary.
| Character Fields |
Character fields and date-character fields consist of letters, numbers, or symbols and are enclosed in quotes. Examples
Note: Quotes are not necessary when you are importing |
| Numeric Fields |
Numeric and date-numeric fields can only contain numbers and are not enclosed in quotes. Examples
|
| Logical Field |
A logical field, such as Yes/No or On/Off, appears as T (True) or F (False) in an ASCII file. In the Sage HRMS database, it will appear as .T. or .F. with the letter T or F preceded and followed by a period. The field length is always one character and not enclosed in quotes. Note: Periods are not used when the T or F is exported. |
If the ASCII file you are transferring does not have a corresponding field in the database, you must create a place holder, or a DUMMY field, that marks the place in the Sage HRMS database file.
Example: In the example above, the middle initial field is blank, so it is represented by a set of open and closed quotes along with the normal comma-delimiter. If a blank field is numeric, only an extra comma marks the field, since open and closed quotes are not used for a numeric field.
When you create a template for ASCII files with blank fields, you must tell Sage HRMS Link which fields are blank. Use the DUMMY field name (located at the end of the field name list) to indicate a blank field.
The space-delimited format uses a blank space (instead of a comma) to separate the fields in each record. There is no distinction between a character, date or numeric field. Unnecessary spaces at the beginning or end of a field are deleted since the space determines where one field ends and the next field begins. Thus, the length of each record may vary. As a space-delimited record, our example appears as:
Example: Brooks James 04121992 SMD Corporation 35000
This format type is not generally used because it creates problems when transferring records that include fields which normally contain spaces within the field. In the example above, Sage HRMS Link would view SMD Corporation as two fields, SMD and Corporation, because they are separated by a space. Because of this limitation, we recommend you do not use the space-delimited format for records with fields containing internal spaces, such as names, addresses and titles.
The tab-delimited format is the same as the space-delimited format except a tab symbol is used instead of a space to separate each field. As a tab-delimited record, our example appears as:
Example: Brooks→ James→ 04121992→ SMD Corporation→ 35000
This format is based upon the fixed length of each field in a record, with all records containing the same selected fields. Since the exact length of each field is known, no comma or space is needed to separate the fields. As a fixed-length record, our example looks like this:
Example: Brooks James 04121992SMD Corporation 035000
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The dashed line represents blank spaces to help you count the spaces in the record.
Our record contains the employee's last name, first name, middle initial (this field is blank), hire date, previous employer and salary. The field lengths for these fields are 25, 14, 1, 8, 20 and 10, respectively. Each record in the file contains the same number and length of fields.
If you do not have any data recorded in a particular field, such as the middle initial, you still must include that field when you create your template for the transfer. As explained previously, use the DUMMY field name (located at the end of the field name list) to indicate a blank field.