In a first of a series of How to blog posts, we take a look at how you can create user-defined fields or UDFs.

Why would you want to create a UDF?

Well, UDFs can be used to record information about customers, vendors or any other data that may not be provided by the Sage 100 ERP program.

To create a UDF, we recommend that you use the Customizer. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Expand Custom Office and Main. Double-click User-Defined Field and Table Maintenance.
2. Expand the module folder.
3. Select the table (entity), and click the Edit Fields button.
4. Click the Add button.
5. In the Add Field window, enter the field name and description.
6. Select an object type, and specify the UDF attributes.
7. Click the Validation tab, and enter data validation types if desired. Click OK.
8. In the User-Defined Fields window, Click OK.

You’ve now successfully created a UDF. And now that you have, there may be a situation where you may want to add a UDF to a graphical form or custom report.

These are the steps to add a UDF to a graphical form or customer support. Please note that these steps assume that you’ve already created the UDF.

1. Select Custom Office Main menu > User-Defined Field and Table Maintenance.
2. Select the module and add the UDF to the work table for the report. For example, if you are adding a UDF in the GL Account Master table to the Chart of Accounts report, the UDF must be added to the GL Chart of Accounts work table. Use the following steps to add the UDF to the report work table:
   
   

• Select the report work table to which you are adding the UDF, and click the Edit Fields button.
• In the User-Defined Fields window, click the Add button.
• In the Add Field window, in the Field Name field, type the name of the existing UDF. At the Description field, type the description.
• In the Data Source field, select the table that contains the UDF to add to the report work table.
• In the Column field, select the UDF to add to the report work table. Click OK.
• In the Edit Field window, enter a description and caption if necessary, and click OK.
• In the User-Defined Fields window, click OK. A message appears asking if you want to begin the update process. Click OK.
  
  

1. Start Crystal Designer. Select File menu > Open, and select the report file to which you will add the UDF. All standard reports are located in the Sage 100 ERP Reports folder.
2. Select Database menu > Verify Database.
3. In the Sage 100 ERP Database Signon window, select the company and user codes for the report. Click OK. A message appears indicating that the database has changed. Click OK.
4. Select Insert menu > Field Object.
5. In the Field Explorer window, select Database Fields, and then select the report work table the UDF is located in. In the work table, select the UDF you are adding.
6. Drag and drop the UDF to the appropriate location on the report.
7. Close the Field Explorer window and save your report changes.

The UDF is added to the report. You can enter ranges of UDF data to print in the Selections grid of any applicable report window.

If you have any questions about how to create a UDF, let us know in the comments section.

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