Using an AR Export file to change the request ID field format

You can edit AR Export (.arx ) files regardless of the database underlying your . You can use the .arx strategy or a different strategy that bypasses  to operate directly in the database.

To change the Request ID field format through an AR Export file

1. In the browser, open the form that you want to change.
2. Create a report. See Creating-and-managing-reports-from-the-AR-System-Report-Console.

3. Perform the following to export the results of the  report to the .arx file format: 

   1. Select the report from the list.
   2. In the Destination field, select File.
   3. In the Format field, select .arx output format for the report.
   4. Run the report.

   For more information, see Exporting-a-custom-AR-System-report.

   To export a complete record to an ARX file on the Report Console > Reportcreator form, select each field manually. 

4. Edit the file to change the format of the Request ID field.
   See the section below.
5. In the browser, delete all requests in the form.
6. In Data Import, select File > New Mapping.
7. In the Source Data File field, enter the .arx file you edited.
8. In the Source Form Name field, enter the form from which you created the .arx file.
9. In the Target Server and Target Form Name fields, enter the server and form to which to import the data.
    This is the same server name and form name you used to create the .arx file. (You are simply changing the Request ID field on the same form.)
10. Click Auto Map to map the fields.
11. Click the Options tab.
12. Under the Data Handling panel, select the following options:
    • Make Non-Core Required Fields Optional
    • Disable Pattern Matching
13. Under the Duplicates panel, select Reject Duplicate Records from the Handle Duplicate Request IDs By list.
14. Select Import > Start Import.

Editing the .arx file

After the first few header lines, the remaining lines in the .arx file have the following format:

where <otherData> is data from the form. 

The Request ID field always follows the keyword DATA. In this example, the Request ID field has no prefix and is 15 characters in length. Use a text editor, such as WordPad, to convert the format of the Request ID field. 

The following procedures show how you can shorten a Request ID field with a length of 15 characters to 10 characters and add a prefix of ABC.

To edit the .arx file in Windows

1. Open the .arx file in a text editor that has a Find/Replace command with a feature for matching case (for example, WordPad).

2. Use the Find/Replace command to search for DATA "00000000.

   This command contains eight zeros. Five of the zeroes represent the difference between the original length of fifteen characters and the new length of ten characters. The other three zeros represent the spaces to be replaced by ABC.

3. Use the match case feature.
4. Replace all instances of:
   DATA "00000000
   with:
   DATA "ABC
5. Save the changes to the file.

To edit the .arx file in UNIX

1. Open the file in a text editor.

2. Type the following command:

   g /^DATA "00000000/s//DATA "ABC/
3. Save and close the file.