Global Vehicle Change

NOTE: This utility program requires the use of the Report Writer program.
This time saving utility program allows a field in the vehicle record to be changed in multiple vehicle records. Global Vehicle Change is actually a two-part process. The first part is performed entirely through a Report Writer program, to create an ASCII file containing a list of vehicle numbers to change, the ID code for the field to change, and the new data value. The second part, performed through the Global Vehicle Change utility, processes the ASCII file and updates the vehicles listed with the new data.

Part 1: Creating the ASCII Input File

The first part in using the Global Vehicle Change utility is creating the ASCII file. The ASCII file can be created with the Crystal Report Writer program or another method as long as the output contains the file layout shown.

The ASCII file provides the list of vehicles to change, the field ID code, and the new data value for that field. Most of the fields in the vehicle record can be changed. There are some fields, however, that cannot be changed globally using this utility but may be changed through other utilities. For example, the vehicle PM information cannot be modified through this utility but can be modified by using the Set PM utility from the Utilities 1 Package.
The following data fields cannot be changed globally using the Global Vehicle Change utility.

The following data fields can be changed using the Global Vehicle Change utility. Refer to the chart for the field ID code. For example, to change the data in the department field, an ID code of A012 would be used in the ASCII input file.

An ASCII text file named VTREC.PRT will need to be created containing the data changes desired, and then provided to the Global Vehicle Change utility. A sample ASCII file is shown below.

If the sample file above was processed by the Global Vehicle Change utility, the value of FIRE would be pushed into the department field for vehicle numbers 1807 and 1808 in facility 1, vehicle number 1825 in facility 2, and vehicle number TL228561 in facility 3, regardless of what value may have been in the department field previously.
Once the ASCII file has been created, refer to the next section to run the Global Vehicle Change utility program.

Part 2: Running the Utility Program

1. Select System > Custom Utilities II > Vehicles > Global Vehicle Change from the RTA main menu (SIVG).
2. Read the message displayed and then choose Yes to continue.
3. When prompted for the input file name, press Enter to accept the default file shown (vtrec.prt) or enter the name of the input file to process. Any filename is valid as long as the file layout is correct.
4. Choose OK to continue.
5. Choose Yes to confirm and start the process.

Undoing the Global Changes

Each time the Global Vehicle Change utility is run, the system creates a backup file (undofile.und) just in case you need to undo the changes. This file is of the same format as the input file, except that the new value field actually contains the old data value that was stored in that field prior to the change. The undofile.und file is overwritten each time the Global Vehicle Change utility is processed, so you should verify the most recent change that was processed prior to processing the next change (i.e. you can only undo the last change). To undo the last global vehicle change processed, simply repeat steps 1 – 5 listed in "Part 2: Running the Utility Program"-except, when prompted for the filename, enter undofile.und as the file to process.
TIP: If you want to keep all the undo files as a backup, simply rename the undofile.und file after each run (deptchg.und, classchg.und, and so forth).