Database Setup

The Database Setup section allows you to make changes to categories and types within the database.

The Product Categories tab contains the list of product categories that exist in the system, and allows you to manage them. Fields and icons are explained in the table below.

Field or icon Description
Name Name of the product category. The maximum length is 50 characters. Names must begin with an alphabetical or numerical character and cannot contain = \ ; : * <> / @ ? | “ +.
Primary Price Variable Variable that contains the price for the selected category.
Alternative Price Variable Variable that contains an alternative price for the selected category.
The ellipsis button Opens the Select a Variable Definition dialog.
The pen button Renames the selected category.
The cross button Deletes the selected category.
The up arrow button Moves the selected category one position up.
The down arrow button Moves the selected category one position down.
The Add button Adds a new product category.

On the Others tab you can specify general settings which are applied to all projects in the database. All options are explained in the table below.

Option Description
Do not discount historical values Values prior to the discount date will not be discounted.
Do not escalate historical values Values prior to the discount date will not be escalated.
Do not inflate historical values Values prior to the discount date will not be adjusted for inflation.
Ignore leap years All years will have 365 days.
Make periods equal If this option is checked, the year is divided into 12 equal periods instead of calendar months.
Abandonment Treatment Specifies when abandonment happens: in the month when the economic limit is reached, or in the following month.
Scalar Currency Value Conversion Settings

This option is used only if you have currency variables that are scalar variables. It determines which exchange rate will be used when you convert values from one currency to another.

  • Convert at document start date: In this case, the project start date will be used as the exchange rate date.
  • Convert at period prior to document start date: If you select this option, then the exchange rate date will be calculated as the project start date minus one year.
  • Convert at: This option allows you to specify the exact date to be used to retrieve the currency exchange rate.
Default Calculation Settings

Determines which calculation option will be offered to users by default. This section contains the following options:

  • Allow user to override: Check this box to allow users to select an option other than the default one.
  • Always default calculation to the local PC: If you select this option, by default calculations will be performed on the user's computer.
  • Always default calculation to the server: If you select this option, by default calculations will be performed on the calculation server.
  • Always schedule on server even if offline: This checkbox is activated if you select the Always default calculation to the server option. If you check this box, calculations will always be performed on the server.
Document Attachment Here you can specify the maximum size of attachments added to consolidation nodes and projects.
Database Compression Compressing tables is used to improve application performance by reducing the size of Result Sets in the database. This function is only available for SQL Server 2008 or later in the DataCenter, Enterprise and Developer editions.
Uncompress Existing Tables This option is used if you have compressed the database by using the Database Compression options and now want to open it in an earlier version of the SQL Server.