Appendix C. USING THE EURO › C.3 Euro Rate Table Conversion Utility

C.3 Euro Rate Table Conversion Utility

The Euro Rate Table Conversion Utility converts rate tables
from a lead currency, the currency in which the charges are
currently calculated, to a target currency.  Typically, the
conversion will be from the national currency to euros.

The utility:

o Follows euro conversion and rounding rules.

o Does not affect current charging.

o Handles pre-existing effective dates.

o Operates in Report and Replace modes.

o Converts all rate tables or a specified list.

o Prints before-conversion and after-conversion rate reports.

o Posts all changes to the MICSLOG.


Follows Euro Conversion and Rounding Rules

The conversion utility uses the euro conversion and rounding
rules to convert the rates from the lead to the target
currency.  The rates are rounded to four decimal places after
the conversion, in accordance with the rate table's limits.

If a rate rounds to zero after conversion, a warning message,
ACT03093, will be printed to the MICSLOG.  Note that this
message will not be printed for rates that were 0 to begin
with, but only for those that rounded to 0 as a result of
conversion.

If a rate is too large, after conversion, to fit in the rate
table's eight-character field, an error message, ACT03094,
will be printed to the MICSLOG.  Further action will depend
on whether the utility is running in report or replace mode:

o  In report mode, the rate appears as OVERFLOW in the
   after-conversion rate report.

o  In replace mode, the job abends.

Does Not Affect Current Charging

The conversion utility can be run as soon as you decide on
the conversion date.  It uses this date in conjunction with
the rate table effective date feature so that the converted
rates will take effect on the conversion date and not before.
Currently charged items will be unaffected by running the
utility.  This allows you plenty of time to review the
results before the conversion date arrives.

While charging for current items is unaffected by the
utility, the utility may impact your ability to charge for
older data that might be forced into CA MICS.  Under certain
circumstances, described below, charging items that have been
superseded by a more recent effective date are dropped from
the rate table in order to make room for the converted rates.
In this case, the older rate is no longer available for
charging older data, and if such data is forced in, it will
not be charged.


Handles Pre-existing Effective Dates

Each row is examined to see if its effective date is before
or after the conversion date:

o  If the effective date is blank, or before the conversion
   date, an additional row is added for that compcode, with
   a converted rate, and the effective date set to the
   conversion date.

o  If the effective date is after the conversion date, the
   rate for that row is converted in place, with the
   effective date left unchanged.

If the number of effective dates that could be defined per
compcode was unlimited, all rows in the rate table would have
been handled in this way.  However, there is a limit of two
effective dates per compcode per charging algorithm.
Therefore, the utility has been written to handle situations
in which two effective dates have already been defined for a
charging element:

o If either of the rows is currently being charged, the
  utility replaces the other row with a conversion row,
  converting the current rate and setting the effective date
  to the conversion date.

  Note that this may affect the charging of older data that
  might be forced in after the conversion utility is run.  If
  the rate that would have been used with that data has been
  dropped, the data will not be charged for that item.

o If neither of the rows is currently being charged, but one
  of the rows will be in effect by the conversion date, the
  utility keeps that row and replaces the other row with a
  conversion row, converting the kept row's rate and setting
  the effective date to the conversion date.

o If both the rows will take effect after the conversion
  date, the rows will be converted in place, with their
  effective dates left unchanged.


Operates in Report and Replace Modes

When the utility is run in report mode, the entire conversion
process is carried out, but the results are not saved.
Before- and after-conversion rate reports are printed, but
the original rate tables are not changed.  This is the
default mode.

When the utility is run in replace mode, the reports are
printed, and the original rate tables are replaced by their
converted counterparts.  Copies of the original rate tables
are saved as MAF$RTuO, that is, the existing rate table name
with an O appended to the name.  The original complex-level
rate table is saved as MAF$RT$O.


Converts All Rate Tables or a Specified List

By default, the utility converts the rate tables for every
unit that contains accounting, as well as the complex-level
rate table, if it exists.

You can also specify a list of unit IDs to the utility, in
which case it converts only the specified rate tables.


Prints Before- and After-Conversion Rate Reports

As each rate table is converted, a rate report is printed
both before and after conversion.

Used with the utility's report mode, these reports enable you
to examine the converted rate tables ahead of time.  This is
especially helpful if your rate tables make extensive use of
the effective date feature, since converting such rate tables
may involve changing the available rows.

Used with the utility's replace mode, the reports are a
convenient reference for the new rate table's contents.

Please note that the rate reports will not include
information on currently inactive journal files.  However,
the algorithms for these inactive journal files will be
converted.


Posts All Changes to the MICSLOG

All changes are posted to the MICSLOG, organized by type of
change:  dropped rows first, followed by modified rows and
added rows.

RUNNING THE EURO RATE TABLE CONVERSION UTILITY

The Euro Rate Table Conversion Utility is run from member
sharedprefix.MICS.CNTL(ACTEUROC).

Running the Euro Rate Table Conversion Utility requires
defining lead and target currencies and a conversion date.
There are also two options you may define:  the REPPARM
option and the UNITLIST option.


LEAD AND TARGET CURRENCY SPECIFICATION

The lead and target currencies will determine the conversion
rate and method.  You define the lead and target currencies
in the Euro Conversion Specifications panel of MWF.  See
Section 4.5.6 for more information on this panel.


CONVERSION DATE SPECIFICATION

The conversion date is a required parameter. It is used as
the effective date for the converted rates.

You specify the conversion date via the CONVDATE data
definition of the ACTEUROC JCL.  It must be specified in an
mm/dd/yy format.  This example defines a conversion date of
January 31, 1999:

//CONVDATE DD *
01/31/99


REPPARM OPTION

The REPPARM option is used to put the utility in report or
replace mode.  As discussed above, report mode converts the
rate tables, prints before- and after-conversion rate
reports, but does not save the converted tables.  Replace
mode replaces the original tables with the converted ones.  A
copy of the original tables is saved under another name.

The REPPARM option has two valid values:

NOREPLACE  Puts the utility in report mode.  This is the
           default.

REPLACE    Puts the utility in replace mode.

You specify the REPPARM option via the REPPARM data
definition of the ACTEUROC JCL. This example places the
utility in report mode:

//REPPARM DD *
NOREPLACE


UNITLIST OPTION

By default, the conversion utility converts the rate tables
for all units in which Accounting is currently installed, as
well as the complex-level rate table if it exists. Rate
tables that exist in ISPTLIB for units that no longer exist,
or that no longer have Accounting installed, will NOT be
converted.  You can override this behavior using the UNITLIST
option.

The UNITLIST option lets you specify a list of rate tables to
convert.  These units' rate tables will be converted if they
exist.  The utility does not confirm that Accounting is
installed in the unit before converting its rate table.

You specify the UNITLIST option via the UNITLIST data
definition of the ACTEUROC JCL.  Enter the one-character unit
IDs of the units whose rate tables you want to convert.  Use
a dollar sign ($) to select the complex-level rate table.
Enter all the unit IDs in one line, separated by blanks.
This example converts the complex-level rate table and the
rate tables for units A and B:

//UNITLIST DD *
$ A B

To run the utility:

1. Specify your lead and target currencies following the
   instructions in Section 4.5.6.

   Note:  The utility will abend if these have not been
   specified at run time.

2. Specify the conversion date via the CONVDATE data
   definition in sharedprefix.MICS.CNTL(ACTEUROC).

   Note:  The utility will abend if this is not specified.

3. Specify the REPPARM option to put the utility in report
   or replace mode.  Use the REPPARM data definition in
   sharedprefix.MICS.CNTL(ACTEUROC).

4. Specify the UNITLIST option, if desired.

5. Run sharedprefix.MICS.CNTL(ACTEUROC).