Configure Update Company
Explanation
The Update Company feature is useful in the following cases:
- A new component is installed and added to an existing installation of IFS Applications that contains active companies, and you need to add company-related basic data to the new component
in one or more existing companies.
- An installation of IFS Applications is upgraded to a new release. The new release contains new company-related basic data that is to be added fully, or partly, to an existing
company.
The upgrade mechanism makes it possible to add company-related basic data automatically (rather than doing so manually). Note that this feature does not update any existing data in a company; it only adds new basic data.
Prior to performing the update, you need to consider the following:
- What basic data do you want to add to an existing company?
- Should data be added on the so-called "key level" or not?
- If you are updating on the key level, should both non-account and account-related Logical Units be updated, or only one of those two types?
- What should be the source for the update?"
If a company was originally created in the 2001-3 release or earlier, then the
From Company and the From Template ID fields will be empty in the
Update Company dialog box. This is because there was no Company Template feature in those releases. If this is the case, you must select a Company Template as the source for the update. Choose a template that is most compatible with the installation, i.e., choose the standard company template that is built to fit the needs of the current company.
If a company was originally created in a release later
than the 2001-3 release, then the source company or source company template that
is used
to create the current company will be displayed in the dialog box. A natural choice is to
also use the
original company source when upgrading the current company.
In any case, you can select any existing company template as the basic data source. The template should be selected with care.
Two different update mechanisms are supported:
- Standard update
Each logical unit checks to see whether there is any
data associated with the company. If yes, nothing will be added, otherwise new data will be added.
- Update on key level
Each logical unit checks (in the company to be updated)
the existence of all basic data records from the source, and adds the data that does not already exist.
Since an update on the key level may cause some inconveniences, there
are two possible options related to this type of update:
- Update only the non-account related Logical Units.
This is the suggested option, since it will not affect the chart of accounts
and posting control related data.
- Update only account-related Logical Units.
This option means that account-related Logical Units, e.g., the chart of
accounts, will be updated. This might be handy in a case where the current
company uses the chart of accounts as defined in the source company/template
and it is desirable to add new accounts added in the new release.
The following special company update configuration is
also available:
- Specify that the logical units is a part
of the update.
- Generate a difference template
showing the data in the update source that does not exist in the current
company. The difference template can be used as a source for the update. It is
also possible to specify the exact basic data in the difference template to
be used during the company update.
You should determine the purpose of the update and then
configure the parameters and options in the best possible way before starting
the update process.
Prerequisites
An active company must exist and you should want to add new
basic data (normally for one of the following reasons):
- An upgrade of IFS Applications to a new release has
been performed. The new release contains new basic data that you want to add
to an existing company.
- A new component, supporting the Create Company
concept, is added to an existing installation of IFS Applications. You want to
add basic data associated with the new component to an existing company in
order to get
started quickly with the basic data setup.
System Effects
The configuration will affect how the update process is executed.
It is important to note that the process only adds new basic data to an existing
company. Existing data is never modified or removed.
Window
Company
Related Window Descriptions
Update Company
Procedure
- Query for the company to be updated in the
Company window.
- Right-click, and then click Update Company.
- Decide if an update on the key level should be performed, and in
this case decide if the update should affect non-account related Logical Units, account related Logical Units, or both.
- If needed, define a company template as basic data source.
- If needed, perform special configuration such as:
- Selecting the Logical Units to be part of the
update.
- Generating a difference template and specifying
exactly what basic data is to be active in the update process.
- Click OK to start the update process.