Fixed Asset Communicator Download Asset Records

Download Asset Records Overview

Fixed Assets Communicator provides download capabilities for processing files in conjunction with third-party systems .The download creates a pipe-delimited ASCII text file of assets listed in the Assets table. This file is used by a third-party system when, for example, a physical inventory of the assets is done. You only need to run the download if you want to pull asset information from the Fixed Assets system. The third-party system provides a pipe-delimited ASCII text file containing either new asset data, changed asset data, or a combination of the two. If assets are being renumbered as part of a bar code project, you must set up the User 5 field in the Fixed Assets Profile as the Old Asset ID field. The third-party software inserts the new asset ID code in the Asset ID field and the original asset ID in the Old Asset ID (User 5) field.

Prerequisites

Prior to using the Download options in Fixed Assets Communicator, a number of steps need to be completed, as outlined in the sections below.

Fixed Assets Profile

Check with your system administrator to ensure that the following changes have been made to your Fixed Assets Profile in System Administration:

User Defined Field 1 must be titled Room #. Third-party systems require this field for tracking an asset’s room number.
User Defined Field 5 must be titled Old Asset ID to track the former ID numbers of certain assets.

Fixed Assets Tables

To use Fixed Assets Communicator, a record with the identifying code 99999999 must be added to each of the following reference tables in the Fixed Assets system. The 99999999 code is used as the default value for fields that reference these tables in the new asset records created with Fixed Assets Communicator.

Activity table (activtbl)
Category table (category)
Department table (department)
Function table (functbl)
Fund Source table (source)
Location table (fix_locn)

After you post to the Fixed Assets system, you should update the corresponding fields in the new asset records by replacing their 99999999 defaults with the codes that apply. The fields affected have the 99999999 value listed in the Default column.

Lock Out for Users

Before running an upload or download, you must make sure all other users are logged out of Fixed Assets and Fixed Assets Communicator.

Download

Use this option to produce a pipe-delimited text (.txt) file containing asset records from the eFinancePlus Fixed Assets system. The file created by the download is stored in the $FASTAPDIR directory. Before running the download, ensure that all prerequisites have been completed.

The following are some additional points to keep in mind:

You can run the download as often as needed.
Each subsequent running overwrites the previous file.
Preserve the files by assigning a unique name each time you run a download.
Improvement records are not included in the download.
If you are using a download file from a third-party inventory system, use that system to compare the records in the dnload.txt file to what was physically accounted for during the inventory.

Menu Path: Fixed Assets > Entry & Processing > Communicator > Download

Download Fields

The following are descriptions and formats of the fields in the download file.

Field	Description	Format
Asset ID	Number identifying the asset	Character/10
Date Acquired	Date the asset was acquired	MM/DD/YYYY
Description	Description of the asset	Character/30
Fund Source	Source of funding for the asset.	Character/8
Vendor Code	Code identifying the vendor.	Character/8
Insurer Name	Name of the company insuring the asset.	Character/30
Manufacturer Name	Name of the asset's manufacturer.	Character/30
Model	Model number of the asset.	Character/30
Serial Number	Serial number of the asset.	Character/20
Department Code	Code identifying the asset's department.	Character/8
Location Code	Code identifying the asset's location.	Character/8
Grant Code	Code identifying the grant that funded the asset.	Character/8
Category Code	Code identifying the asset's category.	Character/8
Condition Code	Code identifying the asset's condition.	Character/8
Number of Units	Number of units of assets of this type.	Decimal/12,2
Unit Cost	Cost of one unit of the asset.	Decimal/12,2
Initial Cost	Total cost initially paid for the asset.	Decimal/12,2
Salvage Value	Total cost of salvaging the asset.	Decimal/12,2
Insurance Value	Total amount for the asset is insured.	Decimal/12,2
Last Inventory Date	Date of the asset's most recent inventory count.	MM/DD/YYYY
Last Maintenance Date	Date of the asset's most recent maintenance.	MM/DD/YYYY
Disposal Date	Date on which the asset will be retired.	MM/DD/YYYY
Status	Identifies the asset’s current status.	Character/8
User Field 1	Defined as Room Number for third-party systems.	Character/25
User Field 2	User defined in the Fixed Assets Profile.	Character/25
User Field 3	User defined in the Fixed Assets Profile.	Character/25
User Field 4	User defined in the Fixed Assets Profile.	Character/25
User Field 5	Defined as Old Asset ID to track former ID numbers.	Character/25
Fund Type Flag	B for business-type or G for government-type.	Character/1
Capital Asset Flag	Y if the asset is a capital asset or N if it is not.	Character/1
Function	Code identifying the asset's primary function.	Character/8
Activity	Code identifying the asset's activity.	Character/8

Downloading fixed asset files

Select Fixed Assets.
Select Entry & Processing.
Select Communicator.
Select Download.
In the Download Interface File page, enter selection criteria to define the records to download.
- To download all asset records in the data file, leave the fields in the Search section blank.
- To run an advanced search, Select Advanced.
Select OK.
In the Data File Name field, you may change the name of the download file as needed.
1. If you are running the download more than once, you must change the file name to avoid overwriting previous files.
Select OK to run the download.

The Download Information section indicates how many records were downloaded.

Query Symbols

You can use the following query symbols in Download Interface File page's criteria fields.

Symbol	Name	Description
\|	pipe	To select records using multiple codes, insert the symbol between codes. For example, HR\|ACCT\|PURCH would select records associated with these threedepartments.
*	asterisk	To select multiple records with ID numbers, descriptions, or codes that begin with the same characters, insert the asterisk after the characters. For example, 00014* would select all assets whose ID numbers begin with these characters.
:	colon (from-to)	To select assets based on a range of ID numbers, insert the colon between the lowest and highest numbers in the range. For example, 00600000:00605000 would select all records with ID numbers in this range. Use of this symbol depends on how your asset IDs are defined.
< or >	less than or greater than	To select assets with ID numbers that are less than or greater than a specified number, enter the symbol in front of the number. For example, >15005000 would select all records with ID numbers greater than 15005000.

Search Section

Following are the query field you can use to select the records to download. Additional fields are included in the download file. For a listing of the fields included in a download record, refer to the Download Fields section above. Many of these fields can be used as criteria in an advanced search.

Query Field	Details

Query Field	Details
Asset ID	Unique number identifying the asset.
Description	A description of the asset.
Category	Code identifying an asset’s category. The field's drop-down list is populated by the Fixed Assets system's Category table.
Department	Code identifying the department where the asset belongs. The field's drop-down list is populated by the Fixed Assets system's Department table.
Location	Code identifying where the asset is located, such as in a specific office, garage, or building site. The field's drop-down list is populated by the Fixed Assets system's Location table.
Data File Name	Identifies the location and name (dnload.txt) of the file where the data will be downloaded. You can access this field after entering your criteria and selecting OK. You may change the default file name as needed. If you are running the download more than once, we recommend you use a unique file name each time so you have a record of what was included in the individual downloads. If you do not change the name, the file from the previous download will be overwritten.