1. Converting DataQuest Reports or UDR’s to Excel or Word

2. Welcome !
In this presentation you will learn how to convert User Defined Reports and other Application reports to Excel Spreadsheets, Word Documents or even to documents.

3. User Defined Reporting is a feature included in several of your DataQuest Applications. Accounts Receivable, Business License, Fixed Assets, General Ledger, Inventory Control, Payroll, Utility Billing, Vehicle Maintenance and Work Orders - to name a few.
Reports from any DataQuest Application (once spooled – printed to printer 99) are stored on the server disk drive as text files and can be easily converted to Excel, Word or documents.

4. The Spooler (Printer 99)
A Key to understanding how this works is understanding how the Spooler (printer 99) in your DataQuest Applications works.
The Spooler (printer 99) is simply a printer definition on the system that creates the output on the disk as a text file rather than sending the output to a print device (such as a Okidata printer).

5. How do I locate Spooled output ?
When you send a DataQuest Report (regular or UDR) to the Spooler (printer 99) it creates a text file containing the output in the Users Home Directory.
User – being the person that is logged on as the report is spooled.
Home Directory - is an area on the servers disk drive dedicated to storing information for each individual user.

6. Where is my Home Directory ?
The location of a users home directory will vary depending on your servers operating system.
DataQuest customers have servers that run either the Unix operating system or a Windows operating system (such as Windows 2000 Server or Windows NT Server).
If you are not sure what your servers operating system is you can ask your system administrator or contact DataQuest Support.

7. Home Directory – Unix Servers
If your server is a unix server your home directory will be located in
/thms/udd/username
(Where username is the users login)
Example – If a user logs in as billgates and sends a UDR or regular report to the Spooler it will create a text file containing the output in the /thms/udd/billgates directory on the unix server.

8. Unix – Users Home Directory
The slide above shows an example of spooled reports in the user “jefff” directory on a Unix Server.
To get this listing I logged on to the unix server as root to get to the unix shell.
Next I used the ( cd ) command to change to the user jefff’s home directory /thms/udd/jefff.
Once in a users home directory the ( l *LS ) can be used to list all of the spooled DataQuest reports within that directory.
Note – the user jefff is a User Defined Report user. I can tell that by the spooled UDR listings in his home directory. The filename that is assigned to UDR’s when spooled will always have UR in positions 3 and 4 of the filename. The next two digits of the filename will be = the UDR number.

9. Home Directory – Windows Servers
If your server is a windows server your home directory will be located in
Serverdrive:\dqz\usr\username
(Where username is the users login)
Example – If a user logs in as billgates and sends a UDR or regular report to the Spooler it will create a text file containing the output in the serverdrive:\dqz\usr\billgates directory on the windows server. Serverdrive is the disk drive on the windows server dedicated to your DataQuest applications. Contact your network administrator if you need help determining this.

10. Home Directory – Windows Servers
The next couple of slides shows an example of navigating a Windows Network to locate a Users Home Directory.
In this example the user is Connie and we started at the Windows Desktop – selected the My Computer Icon, the Serverdrive that DataQuest is installed on, the DQZ folder, the USR folder and finally the user Connie’s home directory folder.
Each of these options or folders were selected/opened by using a double-click with the mouse.
Note – in this example the Serverdrive is described on the network as - D on ‘Server’ (T: ) - this will vary by site and if you need help identifying your Serverdrive you should contact your Network Administrator.

12. Windows – Users Home Directory
After you navigate the network and locate the users home directory you can then double-click the directory to open it and view the contents. This slide shows the view after I double-clicked the user Connie home directory folder. She has several UDR’s and other regular reports from the Utility Billing application stored in her spooler. You can identify the DataQuest application that generated the report by the first two digits of the report filename. UB = Utility Billing, PP = Payroll, GL = General Ledger, AP = Accounts Payable, etc…
Filenames that end in LS are spooled report listings. Also notice that she has one filename that ends in LB and that represents output from a DataQuest program that produced labels.

13. CAUTION - Something you need to know !
It is not safe to open and modify just any file that you may find within a users home directory. This is true for Unix and Windows Servers. There are files located within a users home directory that make things like executing the DataQuest Main Menu happen for that user and other important files that you simply should not open/modify or delete. Be sure you limit your attempts to convert spooled output to ONLY the filenames within the users home directory that end with LS or LB. There are exceptions to this rule that are OK but you should contact DataQuest Support if you need help determining that.

14. More details on spooled output “filenames”.
Now that you know how to locate your spooled output in your user home directory. You may need some more details to help you identify the output filenames listed there. We have already mentioned that the first two digits of the filename will be = the DataQuest Application that generated the output. UB = Utility Billing, PP = Payroll (for example). We also mentioned that digits 3 and 4 of the filename will be UR if the output is from a User Defined Report and the next two digits 5 and 6 will indicate the UDR Number. We also mentioned that Report Listings will end in LS and Labels LB.
In the case of output from DataQuest regular (on the menu) type reports, the report filename will contain the Program ID that produced the output in the filename digits 3,4,5 and 6.
More details on the next few slides.

15. Identifying spooled output filenames
This slide which list the contents of the user Connie home directory has spooled output represented by the filename UB7610LS. This is a good example of output generated from a DataQuest Regular Report which has the Program ID included in the filename. All of the DataQuest Regular (on the menu type reports) will have the Program ID included in the spooled output filename as digits 3,4,5 and 6.
In this example the Program ID that produced the output is 7610.
The next slide shows how you can locate the Program ID as you are completing the run-time screen to produce the report.

16. Regular Report Program ID spooler filenames
In the Utility Billing application, the A/R Detail report is produced by Program ID You can see the Program ID for any DataQuest Regular report while you are on the run-time screen that generates the report output. By run-time screen I mean the screen that ask you the questions specific to how you want the report to be run. While on that screen the Program ID is displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen. It is also printed on the report in the heading section of each printed page.
The next few slides show examples of other DataQuest Regular Reports and the Program ID’s.

17. Regular Report Program ID spooler filenames
In the General Ledger application the Expense Report Program ID is If you send this report to the spooler (printer 99) and then list the contents of your home directory it will be identified by the filename GL6660LS.

18. Regular Report Program ID spooler filenames
In the Accounts Payable application the Invoice History report Program ID is If you send this report to the spooler (printer 99) and then list the contents of your home directory it will be identified by the filename AP4610LS.
This method of identifying spooled output filenames for DataQuest Regular reports works with each of the DataQuest Applications and the Regular Reports that are available on each applications menu.

19. Converting spooled output to Excel or Word documents.
Now that you know how to locate your home directory and identify the spooled output there the next step is converting the output to Excel or Word documents.
Before this can be done the output file must be located on a Windows Computer that has the Excel or Word applications installed on it.
In the case of Unix Servers the spooled output must be transferred from the Unix Server to a Windows Computer before it can be converted. If your server is a Unix Server and you do not know how to transfer files from it to your Windows Computer contact DataQuest Support. We will be glad to help you with this and can even automate the transfer process to make it almost push button easy for you.
In the case of Windows Servers the spooled output can be converted to Excel or Word from any Windows Computer on the network that has those applications installed (including the Windows Server).

20. SAMBA – another option for (networked) Unix Server sites.
SAMBA is a application that can be installed on your Unix Server that will allow your Windows Computers that make network connections to the Unix Server access files on the Unix Servers disk as if they were residing on a Windows Server.
This eliminates the need to do file transfers from the Unix Server to a Windows Computer when you wish to convert spooled output to Excel or Word documents.
You can simply start on your Windows Computer and Navigate your way to the Unix Servers folders/files and access them as if they were part of your Windows Network.
At this time DataQuest does not sell or install SAMBA but we do work with another company that does. If you are interested in this product contact DataQuest Support.

21. Converting Spooled Output to Excel or Word documents.
Once you have the spooled output either (transferred to) or accessed from a Windows Computer that has Excel or Word installed on it the rest is easy. You simply start the Windows Application (Excel or Word) you wish to open the spooled output with and import the file.
Windows Servers - We showed previously how you can start with the My Computer icon then open the Serverdrive, the DQZ folder, the USR folder and then the Users Home Directory to list the spooled output. Once you start the Excel or Word application you must ask that application to open the file that you wish to convert. You must know the exact location of the file and the filename in order to complete this step.
Unix Servers - If you are not using SAMBA, you will have to transfer the files to your windows computer. During the transfer process you will specify what directory on your windows computer the files land in. Once the transfer is complete you can start the Excel or Word applications and request to open/convert files from your transfer directory. It is very important that you know how to navigate you way to that directory.

22. Converting Spooled Output to Excel or Word documents.
In the next few slides I will demonstrate how to convert a couple of DataQuest Regular Reports to Word Documents.
Microsoft Word is the most widely used Word Processing Application worldwide. It is a very powerful word processor and once you convert your DataQuest report to a Word Document you can use the tools available within Word to really dress up your report, edit the report, search for text strings within the report, etc.
Once you have your report converted to a Word Document you can easily attach it to and send it to anyone you can access by . For example a Department Manager that works at a remote location across town, Your co-worker on the second floor, or to your auditor where ever he/she may be located.
Support Tip - If you are having a problem with a DataQuest Report or if you would like to submit a Software Maintenance Request (SMR) to DataQuest Programming you could us a sample of the report showing the problem or exactly what you would like changed about the report.

23. Converting a Regular Report to a Word Document
In this slide I printed the General Ledger Summary Expense Report to the Spooler (printer 99). Notice the Program ID is That means this report will be stored in the users home directory as filename GL6660LS.

24. Converting a Regular Report to a Word Document
Once you have spooled the report and you have identified the output filename in your user home directory (or the directory you transferred the file to if on Unix) the next step is to start the Microsoft Word application on your Windows Computer. This can normally be done by going to – Start – Programs – Microsoft Word but the exact steps can vary with each individuals Windows Computer depending on the setup and how Microsoft Word is installed. If you need help starting Microsoft Word you should contact your Network Administrator.
Once you successfully start Microsoft Word a blank document screen similar to the one in this slide should be displayed.
To begin converting your spooled output file to a Word Document start by selecting the open-folder option which is circled above.

25. Converting to Word
When the open-folder option is selected the window to the right will be displayed. This is when it becomes very important that you know where the file is located and what the filename is. In the “Look in:” box you must select the users home directory that contains the file or the directory you transferred the file to - if on Unix.
It’s very important that you select “Files of type:” All Files(*.*). If you don’t you will not be able to locate your spooled output files.
Once you locate the file – select it – and open it.

26. Converting to Word
Once the spooled output file is opened with Word it will look similar to the example in this slide. You can tell it’s your report but some of the detail lines may wrap around to the next line. This will happen with any DataQuest report that is more than 80 characters per line.
It only takes a few seconds to fix this with Microsoft Words powerful editing tools.
The next few slides will detail how to shape up your report.

27. Step 1 Change the Page Setup – Paper Size – to Landscape.
Select the File option (circled above) and then the Page Setup option. When the Page Setup option is selected the window to the right will be displayed. Select the Paper Size tab and then set the Orientation to Landscape and click OK.

28. Step 2 Select a Font of Courier New and a Point size of 8.
To do this select the Edit option (circled above) and then the “Select All” option. This will cause all of the text in the report to become selected which is indicated by the shaded area behind the text in this display. Once all of the text is selected you can select a Font of Courier New and Point Size of 8 using the available Font and Pitch selection boxes indicated above.

29. The finished product in Word Document form.
The slide above shows the Summary Expendature Report after it’s converted to a Word Document and cleaned up a bit using the Microsoft Word editing features. It took me a total of about 20 seconds to accomplish this. Notice the Font and Pitch selection above – Courier New – 8 point.

30. Saving your results as a Word Document
When you are finished editing your new Word Document you can save it by selecting the File option (circled above) and then the Save As option. When the Save As option is selected the window to the right will be displayed. Here you can specify the directory to save the file in, the filename and the Save as Type.
Be sure and change the Save as Type: to Word Document(*.doc).

31. Converting spooled output to Word Documents
Notice that after I have converted the spooled output to a Word Document and saved it in Word Format (.doc) that I now have two copies of the file in the users home directory.
The original file GL6660LS is still there and is unchanged. It’s the same file, in the same format as it was when we printed it to the spooler.
The GL6660LS.doc is the new version of the file after it’s been converted to and saved as a Word Document.
If you do plan to the report to someone be sure that you attach the version that is in Word Document (.doc) form.

32. Converting a Regular Report to a Word Document
In this slide I printed the Utility Billing A/R Detail Report to the Spooler (printer 99). Notice the Program ID is That means this report will be stored in the users home directory as filename UB7610LS.

33. Converting to Word
In this slide I started the Microsoft Word Application – selected the Open-Folder option (circled above). I then completed the “Look in:” box to specify the directory to open the file from and selected the spooled output filename UB7610LS to open.
Notice – I do have the” Files of type:” set to All Files (*.*). This is very important. If you don’t do this you will not see your spooled output filenames listed in this window.

34. Converting to Word
I used the same editing features of Microsoft Word that were detailed in the first example to produce the example in this slide.
A quick recap of what was done.
File – Page Setup – Paper Size – Landscape
Edit – Select All
Font – Courier New
Point Size – 8

35. Microsoft Word’s Edit-Find feature
Once you have the report converted to a Microsoft Word document you can use the “Find” option to help you locate exactly what you need to find within the report.
Start by selecting the Edit option (circled above) and then the Find option. The window to the right will be displayed. In the Find what: area enter any string of data (letters or numbers) that you want to locate. Select Find Next to start the search. In this example I searched for the amount

36. Microsoft Word’s Edit-Find feature
In a split second the first occurrence of the amout is located within the report (on Page 205) and that page is displayed with the amount selected in the display. If you click “Find Next” again it will attempt to locate the next occurrence of the same amount. If the amount only occurs one time within the report it will inform you of that.

37. Storage Space - Something else to consider
This slide shows the user Connie home directory after saving the Utility Billing A/R Detail report as a Word Document (.doc) format.
Notice the UB7610LS.doc file above and the file size is 3,276KB.
The report is over 200 pages long.
One 650 MB CDR (Compact Disk) could store up to 198 reports this size. CDR Disk cost about $1.00 each. You can easily store 100 of them in a shoe box sized space. How much paper, how many binders and boxes and how much storage space would it take to keep 198 printed hard copies of a 200+ page report ? How about 19,800 copies of a 200+ page report. That’s about how many you could store in a shoe box sized space on CDR media.
In the time it takes you to print the hard copy report and put it in a binder you could easily have it converted to a Word Document and saved on a CDR disk or in a Shared Windows folder on your Network so that others can access the document as needed.

38. Have you ever had the need to locate information on one of your printed reports that dated back several years ?
A trip to the storage room, searching for the box, the binder, the hard copy report and then searching possibly hundreds of pages manually to locate the exact data you need.
What if you had been storing the report in Word Document format on your Windows Network all along.
The difference would be, from your desk you could simply double-click your way to the report, open it and search it using the “edit - find” option within Word to locate the exact information you need. A real time saver and storage space saver.

39. Converting Spooled Output to Excel Spreadsheets.
In the next few slides I will demonstrate how to convert a DataQuest User Defined Report (UDR) to an Excel Spreadsheet.
Microsoft Excel is the most widely used Spreadsheet Application worldwide. It is a very powerful spreadsheet application and once you convert your DataQuest User Defined Reports to an Excel Spreadsheet you can use the tools available within Excel to “crunch the numbers” as you please. You can sort the data as you wish, calculate new data from existing data using formulas, produce graphs and perform many other spreadsheet functions.
Once you have your report converted to a Excel Spreadsheet you can easily attach it to and send it to anyone you can access by . For example a Department Manager that works at a remote location across town, Your co-worker on the second floor, or to your auditor where ever he/she may be located.
Note – you will be tested soon – pay close attention to the next few slides and recall the previous information in this presentation about filenames associated with spooled User Defined Reports.

40. User Defined Report setup screen 01
The next few slides show examples of a UDR that I created to produce address for a Water Quality Survey.
This slide shows the UDR definition screen 01.
Notice this is a Utility Billing – User Report – and the UDR number is 88.

41. User Defined Report setup screen 02
This slide shows screen 02 of my UDR setup.
Notice I have selected to include on the UDR detail line the Customer Name, Mail Address 1, Mail Address 2, Mail City/St, Mail Zip

42. User Defined Report – Search Criteria
This slide shows the search criteria I have defined on the UDR. Remember that you select the search criteria option when you are printing the report not as part of the report definition. In this case we only want to send the Water Quality Survey to (Active, New or Connect status) Water Customers that are inside the City. In the case of this Utility District the rate code 11 represents inside city water customers and service 1 is the water service..

43. Spooling the UDR
Once the search criteria screen is completed I specified printer 99 to spool the User Defined Report output.

44. Search Criteria in Action
Notice that as the report is being spooled that the screen displays details about the number of Customers Read, Selected and Estimated Number of Records to Print.
You will see information populated in these fields when you have search criteria defined as it is filtering the records to include on the report.

45. The answer is provided on the next slide.
Here’s the TEST !
Now that we have spooled the User Defined Report what filename do we look for in the Users Home Directory when converting the file to an Excel Spreadsheet ?
Think !
The answer is provided on the next slide.

46. Spooled Output filenames for UDR’s
If you answered UBUR88LS you are correct.
The first two digits are UB because it’s generated from the Utility Billing application.
The next two digits are UR because it is a User Report.
The next two digits are 88 because that was the User Report number.
The last two digits are LS because this is a Listing.

47. Converting a UDR to an Excel Spreadsheet
Once you have spooled the UDR and you have identified the output filename in your user home directory (or the directory you transferred the file to if on Unix) the next step is to start the Microsoft Excel application on your Windows Computer. This can normally be done by going to – Start – Programs – Microsoft Excel but the exact steps can vary with each individuals Windows Computer depending on the setup and how Microsoft Excel is installed. If you need help starting Microsoft Excel you should contact your Network Administrator.
Once you successfully start Microsoft Excel a blank workbook screen similar to the one in this slide should be displayed.
To begin converting your spooled output file to a Excel Spreadsheet start by selecting the open-folder option which is circled above.

48. Converting to Excel
When the open-folder option is selected the window to the right will be displayed. This is when it becomes very important that you know where the file is located and what the filename is. In the “Look in:” box you must select the users home directory that contains the file or the directory you transferred the file to - if on Unix.
It’s very important that you select “Files of type:” All Files(*.*). If you don’t you will not be able to locate your spooled output files.
Once you locate the file – select it – and open it.

49. Converting to Excel
When you attempt to open a text file with Microsoft Excel you will most likely be presented with the Text Import Wizard window shown in this slide. Newer releases of Excel (the XP version for example) may skip this step and automatically import the text where older versions of Excel ( 95, 98 or 2000 for example ) may present you with this option more often.
You should check out the Help features available in the Excel application for more information on this feature.
With DataQuest UDR’s you can simply click Finish to accomplish the import.

50. Converting to Excel
Once the spooled output file is opened with Excel it will look similar to the example in this slide. You can tell it’s the data from your report but the data columns may be all crunched together as in this example.
It only takes a few seconds to fix this by adjusting the column width to match the data that is in each column.
The next slide shows the same information once the column width has been adjusted and the heading lines removed.

52. Saving your results as an Excel Spreadsheet
When you are finished editing your new Excel Spreadsheet you can save it by selecting the File option (circled above) and then the Save As option. When the Save As option is selected the window to the right will be displayed. Here you can specify the directory to save the file in, the filename and the Save as Type.
Be sure and change the Save as Type: to Microsoft Excel Workbook (*.xls).

53. Converting spooled output to Excel Spreadsheets
Notice that after I have converted the spooled output to an Excel Spreadsheet and saved it in Microsoft Excel Format (*.xls) that I now have two copies of the file in the users home directory.
The original file UBUR88LS is still there and is unchanged. It’s the same file, in the same format as it was when we printed it to the spooler.
The UBUR88LS.xls is the new version of the file after it’s been converted to and saved as an Excel Spreadsheet.
If you do plan to the spreadsheet to someone be sure that you attach the version that is in Excel Format (*.xls) form.

54. The END
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