NEWCNT Import/load option Step by Step Instructions for NEWCNT Import/load option

How to access the NEWCNT program: From the main USPS Menu select the Annual / Quarterly Programs or type newcnt at the menu prompt.

NEWCNT Options Menu The first step is to build new contract records. Option #2

Build New Contract Contract Start Date is required. Contract Stop Date is Optional Y = Include jobs of concealed employees in the build option. N = Skip over jobs of concealed employees. Job Status of 1 is Active, 0 is inactive and * will select both Active and Inactive Employees.

You can pull specific jobs in by Pay Groups: Press F7 to view your districts Pay Groups. Scroll down to the Pay Group you want to work with and press enter. You can select all Pay Groups with the same contract start date by leaving the Pay Group field blank.

How to Update Contract Data by the Import Option: Open MS Excel…Click on Data Tab…From Other Sources…From Microsoft Query

Under Data Source select USPS (or the area you want to export from)…then click OK

Enter your State Software/Reflections Username and Password…then click OK

The Query Wizard will appear…scroll down to the NEW_CONTRACTS view.

Click on the Plus Sign for the NEW_CONTRACT view to expand the field names as show below.

Select fields by highlighting the field name and clicking on the >sign. Click Next to go on to the next step. (To select all fields under NEW_CONTRACT, click on “NEW_CONTRACTS” to highlight and then the >sign). You can also move the column headings around using the up & down arrows on the side.

If you want to select “types” of information, you may select the field name and enter criteria to limit the information that is extracted. You may want to work with your pay groups and contract types separately…but it is not a requirement. If no filters were used…just click Next.

You may choose how you want your data sorted before it is extracted…Click Next after making any sort choices.

Click on the Return Data to Microsoft Office Excel button…Click Finish.

Your data should pull into the spreadsheet so you can make your changes for contract amounts and any other data you want to update.

You will need to change the field names from the Safari ODBC Extraction to relate to the valid fields required for the NEWCNT import (see separate handout).

After making changes…delete blank sheets by right clicking on the tab and select the delete sheet option (there is a picture of a spreadsheet next to the delete option)…save the spreadsheet as a .csv type.

You will get a pop-up warning…click YES.

You will need to upload NEWCNT_IMPORT You will need to upload NEWCNT_IMPORT.csv back to the state software system. Log into Reflections FTP from “My NCOCC” web page.

Log in using your State Software/Reflections username and password and click Connect.

Find the NEWCNT_IMPORT Find the NEWCNT_IMPORT.CSV file on your PC (left side of the FTP screen). Make sure the File Transfer mode on the toolbar is set for ASCII (the ABC button). With the NEWCNT_IMPORT.CSV file selected…Click on the folder with the arrow pointing up to transfer the CSV file to Reflections.

Open the NEWCNT program and select the IMPORT option.

Enter your NEWCNT_Import.csv file name and a Contract Start Date.

Field Definitions: Enter the name of the file to be imported in the Import filename field. Enter the format of the file in the Format of import file field. The format choices are as follows: CSV - Comma Separated Value TAB – Tab-delimited Enter a default contract start date in the Contract start date field. This date will be used if a contract start date is not provided in the import file. NEWIMPORT.TXT is the default file name for the error report. These can be changed by entering a new file name in the Error output file field.

The Import program has the ability to create an options page for each report that is generated detailing how the program was run. The creation of the page is controlled by the Print options pages? field. “Y” (yes) will generate the page “N” (no) will not generate the page. A printed record of the various sort and selection options and dates chosen can be helpful when researching problems. Information entered in the Optional heading field will appear at the top of each page of the report. This field can also be used to enter a date, date range, or specific selection options you would like printed at the top of each page.

If importing a New Contract (Contract_Type=4) and a contract start date is not supplied in the import file, it will be set to the contract start date entered in the NEWCNT Import screen. For all other contract types, if the date is not supplied in the import file, the value from JOBSCN will be used.

Run Reports before Purging!!! You may now run NEWCNT Reports to “balance” or verify your changes BEFORE purging into your live JOBSCN’s. (Once the information is purged from NEWCNT, all contract information is removed from the NEWCNT program).

Salary Notice If you need to create Salary Notices you may also use the system Salary Notice program which uses the data contained in NEWCNT, or you may use the data you extracted into a spreadsheet from the State Software using SAFARI, and do a mail merge into a MS Word template document.

Miscellaneous Notes: Set Default Function: The Set Default function in the MAINT option of NEWCNT allows you to input common or default values to fields for data entry. However, if the employee already has a job in JOBSCN and pay accounts in PAYSCN, certain fields will not change to Set Default values entered. For example, when using the Set Default function, all of the field on NEWCNT screens 1 through 3 can be set to a defaulted value. But, if the employee being added already has a job in JOBSCN and pay accounts in PAYSCN, these fields from JOBSCN and PAYSCN will override the defaulted values entered in the Set Default function: If there are spaces or zeros in the above JOBSCN and PAYSCN fields, then the values entered in the Set Default function will be placed in these fields. If nothing (spaces or zeros) is entered from the Set Default function for any other fields used in JOBSCN or PAYSCN, then the fields from JOBSCN and PAYSCN will be placed in the NEWCNT fields.