I'm hoping that somebody might be able to point me in the correct direction with this. I have a client that is need VERY specific inventory tracking for alcohol, thus far I have found info via a suggestion to use a did viewer. Within the daily gnd files is a column for any item rang as a modifier that ties it to the patent item it is modifying. This is exactly what I need but I have no idea how to effectively compile all of these parent-child combos over the course of a full week. I have read numerous entries suggesting that custom Crystal Reports are difficult to work with. Does anybody have any other suggestions as to retrieving this info efficiently?
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Custom Aloha Sales Report / Export
- Thread starter bufftrek
- Start date
Go into your gnditem.dbf in each dated sub.
Open it up with DBFNavigator. You can see all the items rang in for the day. What you would need to do which I am not exactly sure how to accomplish it is.
You would need to create some sort of excel template to drop the columns of item and parent in and have it count each. I would imagine you would have to create a slew of formulas to accomplish this but you could create a relatively useful template that you can keep dropping this info into and have it compile into fields telling how much of each was sold and what the mods were with it.
I don't know if you want to go that route of basically creating an inventory software or just purchasing one from a vendor. Whatever floats your boat but you should be able to go either way.
Open it up with DBFNavigator. You can see all the items rang in for the day. What you would need to do which I am not exactly sure how to accomplish it is.
You would need to create some sort of excel template to drop the columns of item and parent in and have it count each. I would imagine you would have to create a slew of formulas to accomplish this but you could create a relatively useful template that you can keep dropping this info into and have it compile into fields telling how much of each was sold and what the mods were with it.
I don't know if you want to go that route of basically creating an inventory software or just purchasing one from a vendor. Whatever floats your boat but you should be able to go either way.
- Thread starter
- #3
DBF Navigator allows queries to be executed so dropping info into Excel shouldn't be necessary. My hang up is applying this to a range of dates - opening up each file seems pretty inefficient. Furthermore, I was hoping to reduce the dependency on third party software as a whole if a custom report could be written for Aloha and executed for output purposes (much like Product Mix reports, for example).
Needless to say, your response is definitely workable and something I have done. Unfortunately it takes quite a bit of time.
Needless to say, your response is definitely workable and something I have done. Unfortunately it takes quite a bit of time.
MenulinkMan
Technical User
You could possibly convert each gnd file into a csv, then use R to parse and export data. One of my coworkers does this on occasion for various projects. To be honest, its 20x easier to use a 3rd party's software. Trying to do this stuff yourself, while doable, tends to open up a whole other world of blood, sweat, and tears.
- Thread starter
- #5
Well, I was hoping to get to a point where this could easily be done by somebody with little to no technical sense. This needs to be performed at multiple clients so the spent towards making the data extraction down to as few steps as possible will prove extremely beneficial overall. I will look into your advice a bit more - not familiar with R so there may be some steps mitigated there.
MenulinkMan
Technical User
Someone with little or no technical sense does not want to mess with csv files and R.
- Thread starter
- #7
I don't think custom reports are really an option. I have even looked through pmix settings and its not really an option there either for some reason. I think Aloha tends to leave this sort of feature out of its software in order to sell MenuLink or 3rd party licensing for integration. If you have the patience I would suggest creating your own super in depth user friendly template that any manager can just grab the data and import it into to get the desired results. I have the method and steps necessary in my mind. Just don't feel like putting forth the effort for no compensation lol. I am sure you can understand that.
- Thread starter
- #10
I actually have the tracking portion down when it comes to calculatinf theoretical usage but the time you put into the spreadsheet is appreciated. Basically I was hoping that being able to export 1 report would be a potential option (are there not any custom report set files available for Aloha?). Essentially the most ideal situation would be to take the normal a Product Mix report but substitute the initial query (I only need to extend it to include the parent is for any modifiers). Heck, I have a basic query that can de used in DBF commander that does what I need but I want to make it even more simple of a process (exposing importing sales, running queries, etc are not fool-proof enough I'm afraid).
MenulinkMan
Technical User
Aloha doesn't support the external building of custom reports at all. Now, Aloha does have a very basic inventory function built in ( might cost $$ to get licensed for it though ). You might look into that.
I personally always used Menulink ( now NCR Back Office ) for inventory/labor. Since i've switched jobs, I now use Inventory Express. So much easier than trying for a home grown option, and ends up being 20x more accurate.
I personally always used Menulink ( now NCR Back Office ) for inventory/labor. Since i've switched jobs, I now use Inventory Express. So much easier than trying for a home grown option, and ends up being 20x more accurate.
There are other fairly inexpensive products out there like restaurant 365 and peachworks. I have also seen people using cost guard. I personally use MenuLink but the licensing for it can get kind of pricy. Databases are always going to take a long time to setup as well.
- Thread starter
- #13
I currently provide a third-party inventory service so most of those options are off the table for me. In the end, I haven't worked hands on with those services but I have received feedback regarding their lack of specificity when incorporating a wealth of modifiers. That is what I am currently working towards at the moment - extending specificity beyond basic integrations in the most cost-effective way possible (less labor and steps on my end results in less overhead passed to the client).
At this point if Crystal Reports aren't a viable option then writing a third-party app that collects data from the DBF is my next option (which is what I was expecting).
At this point if Crystal Reports aren't a viable option then writing a third-party app that collects data from the DBF is my next option (which is what I was expecting).
- Thread starter
- #15
- Thread starter
- #17
Compile a weekly product mix that assigns each sold modifier to its parent item.
In short, when I run a product mix currently I get something like 10 Grey Goose, 20 Stoli, and 10 Doubles.
For the sake of inventory I'm trying to get more specific results such as 7 Grey Goose, 3 Grey Goose Doubles, 13 Stoli, 7 Stoli Doubles as well as get quickly exportable results for an extended range of time.
In short, when I run a product mix currently I get something like 10 Grey Goose, 20 Stoli, and 10 Doubles.
For the sake of inventory I'm trying to get more specific results such as 7 Grey Goose, 3 Grey Goose Doubles, 13 Stoli, 7 Stoli Doubles as well as get quickly exportable results for an extended range of time.
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