Set Symbol

Use this command to modify a symbol in the Data Server repository.

This command must be used in conjunction with Maintenance. While it is enabled, no other users can perform maintenance related activities in the Data Server repository. When you are finished, you must remember to disable the Maintenance mode, and thereby allow normal access by other users. For more information, see Maintenance or Exclusive.

SET SYMBOL DimName SymName BALANCETYPE TO BalanceType
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName DESCRIPTION LanguageCode TO "SymDesc"             
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName NAME TO NewSymName 
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName PRIORITY Parent Priority
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName[#NumLevels] ROLLUPSTATUS TO StatusType
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName ROLLUPSTATUS TO StatusType
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName SORTOPTION TO ChildSortOption 
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName TYPE TO SymType
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName VIRTUALSTATUS TO StatusType
SET SYMBOL DimName SymName WEIGHT Parent Weight

where:

• DimName is a dimension containing the symbol.
• SymName is the name of a symbol.
• BalanceType is one of: Credit|Debit|Neither. Credit and Debit are only used for symbols in the ACCOUNTS dimension. All other dimensions use Neither.
• LanguageCode is the two letter language code for the description.
• "SymDesc" is a character string to be used as a description of SymName enclosed in double quotation marks. For guidelines, see Symbol descriptions. If you do not want to change this value, use " " instead.
• NewSymName is the new name for the symbol. For guidelines, see Symbol names.
• NumLevels is optional and is the pound sign followed a number representing the number of hierarchy levels below SymName to calculate rollup status.
• Priority is a numeric value between 0 and 99 (0 representing the lowest priority) representing the position of the symbol with respect to its parent.
• StatusType can be one of the following:

  Value	Description
  ON	Parent data will be calculated dynamically (automatically).
  OFF	Parent data will not be calculated dynamically (automatically), but only during restatements. Note: StatusType cannot be set to OFF if VirtualStatus is ON.

• ChildSortOption is one of the following:

  Value	Description
  Ascending	Sorts the child symbols in ascending order.
  Descending	Sorts the child symbols in descending order.
  Manual	Allows manual sorting of child symbols.

• SymType specifies the way SymName rolls up to its parent symbol, and can be STANDARD, CARRYFORWARD, or STATIC.

  Value	Description
  Standard	To add the symbol into the parent (for example, monthly expenses added into annual expenses).
  Carryforward	When the parent value equals the value of the cell immediately preceding it (for example, cash balance as a running year-to-date, where the year-end amount equals the amount for December).
  Static	When the child value has no effect on the parent value—for example, for price symbols. (The parents of such symbols are used only to group symbols, not to aggregate their values.) Static symbols do not roll up in any direction, and override any assigned weights. Note: If the symbol is static then its type cannot be changed.

• "Weight" is one of the following:

  Value	Description
  + or 1	To add the symbol’s value to the specified parent value.
  - or -1	To subtract the symbol’s value from the specified parent value.
  0	To ensure the symbol has no mathematical effect on the specified parent value.

Note: For the Accounts dimension, weight is determined by the credit/debit balance relationship of the parent and child symbols.

Syntax example to change the alternate description of the symbol (a character string value)

MAINTENANCE ON
SET SYMBOL ACCOUNTS NewSales DESCRIPTION FR TO "Nouvelles ventes"         
MAINTENANCE OFF

Creating an ASCII input file

To change the characteristics of a large number of symbols, specify the parameters for this Database command in an ASCII file.

Create an ASCII file containing the following information for each symbol:

SymName{BALANCETYPE{TO{BalanceType
SymName{DESCRIPTION{LanguageCode{TO{SymDesc
SymName{NAME{TO{NewSymName
SymName{PRIORITY{Parent{Priority
SymName[#NumLevels]{ROLLUPSTATUS{TO{StatusType
SymName{SORTOPTION{TO{ChildSortOption 
SymName{TYPE{TO{SymType
SymName{VIRTUALSTATUS{TO{StatusType
SymName{WEIGHT{Parent{Weight                                

SET SYMBOL DimName @FileName        

where:

• DimName is a dimension containing the symbols.
• FileName is an ASCII file containing the data. It can include a complete or partial folder path in the format C:\...\FileName. If FileName includes spaces, enclose it in double quotation marks; for example:

  @"C:\My Documents\My Data.txt"

If the document is in the same location as lv_af.exe, you do not need to specify the drive or path.

MAINTENANCE ON
SET SYMBOL ACCOUNTS @C:\Temp\Test.asc        
MAINTENANCE OFF    

See also

• Assign Symbol
• Create Symbol
• Delete Symbol