Customizable UDF's - reporting and searching

I am finding CUDF's a real problem to work into reports, especially if there are 2 or more of them that need to be related to a single item like a Customer Order Line Item, Part, WO, or PO. I'm using Synoptix for BI reports. How are other users doing with this? Looking for solutions I may have overlooked.

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Legacy Contributor

I work in crystal, and the easiest thing I have found when using multiples is to first convert them to a view. Now some people will tell you views are eviiiil. Sometimes evil is necessary.

Legacy Contributor

Patric,

Are the "views" in Crystal the same as in Synoptix? I already have many views/spheres/reports that use CUDF's. My frustration is that I can't figure out how to get more than 1 CUDF on a line item report. For example, if CUDF001 is a fixed date we put in an Operation, and CUDF002 is the name of a person involved with something on that date, I don't know how to get a detail report that list the operations in the same line with both CUDF's as a simple list. Please explain if I am missing something.

My other frustration is that it appears impossible to search on a CUDF within Visual, you can't get them into the search criteria for CO's, WO', Parts, PO's, Receiver, etc.

Legacy Contributor

I meant database views.

Also, the udf's are not searchable in the browse because they are not part of the table you are browse-ing. They are their own table.

Legacy Contributor

Yes, I know they are in the USER_DEF_FIELDS, and they reference the "Program" (= the window in Visual) and the # of the WO/CO/PO/Receiver, etc. This confirms what I thought--the CUDF's are not search-able in Visual because of the way they sit on a separate table with a double-reference system that doesn't even reference the actual tables such as Work_order, Customer-order, etc.

So, can you pull more than one into a QRP report?

Legacy Contributor

So the user defined fields are not searchable? I had been told by my implementation consultant that they were searchable - that they are the only way to search for things. So I've been putting information in them assuming that if I have a Quality issue, I will be able to search for key components in these fields to make Quality updates.

For example, I list the process in one of these fields so if I have to make a change to all items of a certain process, I can search by the UDF field with the process listed.

Is this not accurate?

WFM User Group September 2023 - Shift Billboard.mp4

Legacy Contributor

Terri,
The standard user defined fields that come with the Visual product are searchable.
The product also has the ability for a user to add CUSTOM user defined fields. These custom fields are a little clunky to work with and have serious limitations, in my humble opinion.

Legacy Contributor

Tom,
I don't use Synoptix, I use Crystal, and you can add a table more than once there. Just give the table a different name in the report when you add it the second time, such as USER_DEF_FIELDS and USER_DEF_FIELDS_2.

Between the program_id and the document _id fields you should be able to link to your other tables.

Legacy Contributor

Got it. Thank you Gail!

Heart attack averted...

Legacy Contributor

Gail,

I would agree about SERIOUS limitations. That's why I'm trying to make sure I have not overlooked anything, as we are embarking on a major improvement project, for which the CUDF's are key. The most serious limitation I have found is the inability to include CUDF's in searches within Visual. What are other limitations you have run across?

I can link the tables via custom views/spheres in Synoptix. I guess I need to find out how to add a table a second time in Synoptix.

I wish Visual had added 20 normal UDF fields--10 Date, 10 Numeric--to every table that has UDF's. That would have been a lot easier way to get custom info in and be able to search within Visual, make detail reports easily, etc

I'm concerned especially about the apparent inability to get CUDF's in searches within Visual, such as CO's, WO', PO's, Part Maintenance, Receiver, etc.. Has anyone been able to do this?

Legacy Contributor

Gail,

I overlooked mentioning--you said CUDF's ARE searchable in Visual. How can they be added to the search windows? Everyone else is saying, "no way".

Legacy Contributor

Tom,
The limitations I know of are:
1. You can only have 7 fields on a single tab.
2. You are limited to a total of 10 string fields. TOTAL. You can have 2 tabs with 7 fields on each, but only 10 of those 14 fields can be a string.
3. The number field is decimal (15,6).

There are probably more limitations, for example you might want to test and see if there is a limit on the other types of fields (number, datetime) you can have, or a limit on the number of tabs you can add.

Legacy Contributor

Tom,
I don't know of any way to search the CUDF's from the applicaton. The STANDARD user defined fields are searchable.

Legacy Contributor

Gail,

The unsearchability factor is truly serious. The other limitations are significant to usability/efficiency as well.

I'm thinking about proposing a change through the User Group. You seem experienced with use of Visual: so what is your opinion of asking Infor to replace the CUDF's with adding 10 Normal UDF's that are date-formatted and 10 Normal UDF's that are numeric-formatted to all Visual tables that have UDF's?

Legacy Contributor

Tom,
Well, my first thought is that getting Infor to make a change is going to take a while. And you can see why this might be. You would like 10 each of date and numeric fields as standard. I am more interested in having them be strings. It is impossible to please everyone.

Legacy Contributor

CUDFs are both searchable and usable on reports, although probably not QRP reports.

To use them on reports, I've found it easiest to pivot the data into something more 'JOIN' friendly by creating a view like this:
CREATE view [dbo].[zPartUDFs]
as
select DOCUMENT_ID as 'PART_ID',
MAX(case when udf.ID = 'UDF-0000041' then NUMBER_VAL else null end) as 'CASE_LENGTH',
MAX(case when udf.ID = 'UDF-0000043' then NUMBER_VAL else null end) as 'CASE_WIDTH',
MAX(case when udf.ID = 'UDF-0000044' then NUMBER_VAL else null end) as 'CASE_HEIGHT',
MAX(case when udf.ID = 'UDF-0000045' then NUMBER_VAL else null end) as 'CASE_WEIGHT'
from USER_DEF_FIELDS udf where PROGRAM_ID = 'VMPRTMNT' group by DOCUMENT_ID

For searching (at least in VISUAL 7.0.0), your VMBROWSE.INI file should have this line:
[Part]
cudfappid=VMPRTMNT

When you click the magnifying glass by Part ID and go to Data-> Edit Columns, the CUDFs should be available. Otherwise, in VMBROWSE, you can join the view you created and get the fields that way.

The biggest limitation with CUDFs that I've found is that they're not usable in workflows.

Legacy Contributor

JEREMY: SWEET! Thanks!! We have CUDF's for Customer Order Entry, WO Operations so far. Does the INI file need to have similar entried such as

[OrderEntryWindow]
cudfappid=VMORDENT

[ManufacturingWindow]
cudfappid=VMMFGWIN

etc?

GAIL: the reason I suggest Dates and Numeric is because there are already 10 string UDF's. You can't enter a real date or number and be able to search by the date and number. Maybe 10 string, 10 date, 10 numberic added?

Legacy Contributor

The browse is specific to the lookup - anytime there is a magnifying glass, there will be a VMBROWSE entry. For the order id lookup, it's under the [Customer Order] heading. The same fields will appear anywhere in VISUAL where there is an order id lookup.

Keep in mind that this isn't a global configuration - VMBROWSE must be configured on every machine running VISUAL.

Legacy Contributor

Jeremy: thanks! I have an incident open with Infor Support on this subject and I have referred them to this thread. I think there is a LOT of misunderstanding about the capabilities of CUDF's.

Legacy Contributor

Jeremy,

Infor is saying that the CUDF search capability is restricted to only Parts, and only after version 7.0.0.074. Is that what you have found?

Legacy Contributor

I have cudfs in parts, customer orders, and shipments, and I see the cudf columns are available for all three. I am running VISUAL 7.0.0.125.

Legacy Contributor

Jeremy,

Could you please post the code in the .ini used to enable CUDF searches in Customer Orders and Shipments. I think there is a LOT of misunderstanding about the capabilities of Visual, since Infor Support just told me, after research, that CUDF searches are only available for Parts. I need to get to the bottom of this before we go too far with using CUDF's for major company improvement efforts, only to find we cannot extract the data within Visual.

If you were to use CUDF's in Work Orders, how would you go about enabling CUDF searches in the Manufacturing Window?

Thanks a whole lot for your help in this!

Legacy Contributor

Below is my order lookup settings. I believe this is the default configuration. I never had to actually edit my VMBROWSE to get the fields to be available. If you open the search window, and go to Data->Edit Columns, the cudf columns are there near the bottom with their 'UDF-0000xx' IDs.

Infor is probably right about needing to be at least build 7.0.0.74 or higher. Make sure you have this version or newer. If not, there's other things you can do in VMBROWSE to get the cudf fields, but it's not as user friendly.

[Customer Orders]
version=28
table=CUSTOMER_ORDER,CUSTOMER
title=Customer Orders
key1=CUSTOMER_ORDER.ID
sort=CUSTOMER_ORDER.ID
order=1
where=CUSTOMER_ORDER.CUSTOMER_ID=CUSTOMER.ID
searchfirst=0
autorefresh=0
decode=CUSTOMER_ORDER.BACK_ORDER,Boolean,CUSTOMER_ORDER.EDI_FLAG,Boolean,CUSTOMER_ORDER.EXCH_RATE_FIXED,Boolean,CUSTOMER_ORDER.MARKED_FOR_PURGE,Boolean,CUSTOMER_ORDER.POSTING_CANDIDATE,Boolean,CUSTOMER.BACKORDER_FLAG,Boolean,CUSTOMER.DUNNING_LETTERS,Boolean,CUSTOMER.TAX_EXEMPT,Boolean,CUSTOMER.TAX_ON_WHOLESALE,Boolean,CUSTOMER_ORDER.FREIGHT_TERMS,FreightTerms,CUSTOMER_ORDER.STATUS,Status,CUSTOMER_ORDER.TERMS_DISC_TYPE,TermsType,CUSTOMER_ORDER.TERMS_NET_TYPE,TermsType,CUSTOMER.CREDIT_LIMIT_CTL,CreditLimitCtl,CUSTOMER.CREDIT_STATUS,CreditStatus,CUSTOMER.FREIGHT_TERMS,FreightTerms,CUSTOMER.TERMS_DISC_TYPE,TermsType,CUSTOMER.TERMS_NET_TYPE,TermsType
cudfappid=VMORDENT
colA=CUSTOMER_ORDER.ID,Order ID,1,1.50,5,0,
colB=CUSTOMER.ID,Customer ID,2,1.53,5,0,
colC=CUSTOMER.NAME,Customer Name,3,3.47,5,0,
colD=CUSTOMER_ORDER.STATUS,Status,4,1.10,5,0,
autobrowse=1

Legacy Contributor

Jeremy,

Thanks!

Well, I actually just got off the the phone with Infor Support. They were unsure themselves. We tested, I checked our version of Visual, and here's the SCOOP:

YOU CAN SEARCH ON CUDF'S IN ANY WINDOW YOU USE THEM ON.

Customer orders
Work Orders
Parts
etc.

Yay!!

Jeremy, thanks for your help, you were critical in me finding out what can actually be done.

Legacy Contributor

Gail:

Below is the info I got from Infor Support as to the number of CUDF's per tab. I am seeing a lot of different takes on the CUDF's, both amongst users and amongst Support--I've asked that the next Visual Town Hall spend a few minutes clearing things up.

The total number is 40 per UDF tab

10 numbers
10 strings
10 string lists
5 boolean
5 date/time

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