02 - 050 Coding Guidelines for Attribute Values

Attribute Values General Coding

The attribute value is 8 characters long. Any number of these characters may or may not be used - at the discretion of the creator. The description associated with the value is 50 characters long, this is what will be printed on a report when this attribute type and value are used.

There are several guidelines to consider as one builds values for their attributes.

• Sorting
  • The attribute values will be what is sorted in the report. The user-friendly title related to the value will be printed, but the value is what is sorted.
  • When it is important that some value appear before another in a report, the values must sort that way or the report will not appear as desired.
  • The reporting uses an alpha-numeric sort, with numbers sorting before letters
  • Recommendation: use the first two characters of the value code as being numeric - then the remaining 6 characters to identify the value's purpose at your discretion.
  • Include a leading "0" when referencing single digit numbers. This will keep the sorting in proper order
  • Example:
    • 05SOMETH
    • 10SOMEEL
    • 15EVERMR
    • 20ATTOP2
• Leave room for expansion
  • When initially creating values - leave gaps in the numbering so that future needs may be met without significant effort.
  • Begin numbering at "05xxxxxx" or "10xxxxxx" and continue in increments of 5 or 10 respectively. When there is a need for an intervening value there are available numbers that will keep the report sorting correctly
  • If you have a type with a large number of values - you may want to use the first three characters for the number fields and the last five to identify the purpose
  • Example:
    • 005SOMET
    • 010SOMEE
    • 015EVERM
    • 020ATTOP
• Other Existing conventions
  • Maintain the use of existing conventions described elsewhere when codification involves campus or department identification
  • Such as:
    • Campus indicators of 1, 5, 6, etc.
    • Campus letter indicators of U, P, K, Y etc.
  • See
    • Procedure 02-022-USNH General Coding Conventions for FUND
    • Procedure 02-032-Organization (ORGN) coding Conventions
• Include "ZZNOTAPP" as a value that can be assigned to elements which are not to be included in your report.
  • The "ZZ" at the front will typically sort below anything else that has values which will include anything with these values in the report, but will confine them to the very bottom of the report until properly classified.
  • Doing this makes it possible to determine when there are elements that do not yet have values assigned.

The attributes provide significant flexibility and control over how a report can be generated. Proper coding of the values related to the types is critical to achieving the desired reporting outcomes.

Example

The example below helps to demonstrate the utility of the codes as well as the need to carefully code each type-value combination to each FOAPAL element.

In the following example, using the

FCAMPUS, FSUBCAMP and FDIVRCM types and the values assigned to the funds - a tiered report can be created and would also support subtotals for dollars at each level.

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