05 other es2c features
Other ES2C Features
Control may transfer from any of these screens to the ES2D transaction by using the F6 key, which will display those accounts included in the same county, ownership, and NAICS classification. On the other hand, if the user had entered ES2C by selecting an account listed on the ES2F screen, the F6 entry will return to ES2F instead (as is noted in the PF key descriptions at the bottom of each ES2C screen). Transfer may also go to the multi-balance screen (ES2H) via the F9 key. If this transfer uses a worksite, any worksites preceding it in the family will not appear in the initial ES2H display. The transfer to the EARS system Refiling File maintenance screen (EARC) is reached by pressing the F4 key, though updates to narrative comment information (transferring to ES2Y with the F2 key) are only available from the Front Screen. On-line editing (with the ES2E screen) is accessible from any “C” screen with the PF16 (Shift-F4) key.
Record processing options found in the lower lines of the screen include adding, changing, and deleting records, as well as inquiry (the default), though record addition and deletion are not available in any but the front ES2C screen. Adding a record after the “not found” condition is declared (or would be declared if the Enter key were pressed), is performed with the F5 key, while deletes are handled with a “*D” entry in the NEXT-SESA-ID field. Inquiry-to-change mode transition is enacted automatically in any ES2C screen by pressing the tab settings/change mode key (F10). The change mode also remains in effect when the F7 and F8 keys are used to scroll backward and forward, respectively, through records on the Micro File. This mode is also kept in effect when switching to and from the multi-family display screen (transaction ES2H). In most other cases, however, the mode defaults back to inquiry when returning to ES2C from another screen.
When a record is added, if the new record represents a worksite with a higher reporting unit than the master account’s current maximum value, the master account will be updated automatically to reflect the new maximum reporting unit number, once the worksite has been written to the file. When multiple worksites need to be added for a family, the ES2V screen is generally used instead of ES2C, since it allows up to 20 worksites to be added at once. Sometimes ES2V additions, however, will be performed one at a time, so that unique coding and address placement can be specified with each addition. For more information about how this works, refer to the ES2V documentation, later in this section.
The entry of a new U-I account number and/or reporting unit number does not need to include leading zeroes. Since the NEXT-SESA-ID field is initially blank, only essential digits need to be entered. For instance, if a single account has a U-I account number of 0000027451, the trailing digits, ‘27451’ would be entered into the U-I account field, and the reporting unit would be left blank (defaulted to zeroes). Similarly, a worksite with reporting unit number of 00007 can be entered simply as ‘7’. The check digit is a displayed field, but it is never entered on-line. Any data loading for this field needs to come through an IMT update, since it is never actually used or verified throughout the system.
Before an account is displayed on the Front Screen, the Micro Edit Cross Reference (MEXR) File is checked to determine whether this is an edit-exception account. If so, the “S4=ES2E” prompt is displayed in pink. This acts as a signal for the QCEW analyst that the PF16/Shift-F4 key can transfer directly to this account in ES2E, rather than using the last bookmarked record or going to the beginning of the Micro Edit File. For a turquoise-colored account number, however, this transfer may seem bogus, since the edits run on ES2E will show that there are no edit exceptions for the establishment; so the message “ALL ERRORS HAVE BEEN RECONCILED” gives the false impression that there used to be errors that were just fixed. It becomes a sort of loaded question of “Have you stopped messing up your data?”, when there was nothing wrong before.
Another aspect of the account number entry field (applying only to the first ES2C screen) is that the first character of the 10-digit root account has a multi-purpose nature. Several of the other CICS screens can be reached directly by entering the last letter of the transaction ID into the next U-I# field. These transfers include:
- ‘E’ = Transfers to the ES2E editing screen (the same effect as using PF16/Shift-F4 (on the front screen, but available for all of the other ES2C screens as well)1.
- ‘G’ = Transfers to the ES2G predecessor/successor search utility.
- ‘H’ = Transfers to the ES2H multi-family processing screen (same as using PF9).
- ‘R’ = Transfers to the ES2R MWR data entry screen.
- ‘V’ = Transfers to the ES2V multi-worksite add/change utility.
- ‘W’ = Transfers to the ES2W ACES/EXPO display facility.
- ‘Y’ = Transfers to the ES2Y narrative comment processing (same as using PF2).
Besides these six transfer codes, three code letters are available for specialized processes. These code letters include the following:
- ‘C’ = Toggles the right-most quarterly field between its two values of quarterly comment codes and the quarterly state usage field.
- ‘P’ = Displays the predecessor of the account currently shown; if no predecessor is identified, or if the predecessor account no longer exists on the Micro File, a warning message is displayed, and the original account remains on the screen.
- ‘S’ = Displays the successor of the currently displayed account; if the successor number is blank, zero, or non-existent on the Micro File, a warning message is issued, and the original account continues to be displayed.
Any of these letters, followed by the Enter key, provides a quick means of switching from the ES2C transaction to almost any other application that relates to the employer in question.
In the case of predecessor/successor relationships, the user can toggle between the two related accounts by alternately entering the ‘S’ and ‘P’ codes. The exception occurs when the relationship is not reciprocal. If account “1” has a successor of “2”, but account “2” shows a more recent predecessor account “3”, for instance, the original account cannot be recovered with the shorthand notation. Another situation is a breakout or consolidation, which can exhibit multiple accounts or worksites with the same predecessor or successor, while that common account has references to all of its predecessors or successors, the return entry will select the first one it finds, rather than the one previously displayed. Such a many-to-one or one-to-many relationship can become a literal maze of passing from one account to another.
When a predecessor or successor entry is made on the front ES2C screen, a reverse entry will be generated, establishing this predecessor/successor pair as the most recent association for both employers. Since the Predecessor Successor Actual File sorts its entries by entry date, earlier entries will take a back seat to the new association. This avoids dual-entry of these transitional relationships. Many-to-one and one-to-many should be handled in the ES2G screen, since it is far more capable of handling more complex associations.
In editing employment and wage data, comment codes may need to be entered on the first screen. Up to three 2-digit comment codes can be assigned per quarter per micro record. All of these comment codes will be forwarded to BLS in the EQUI deliverable. As was previously mentioned, to obtain a description for one of the displayed comment codes, move the cursor to the queried comment code and press the Enter key. The comment description is listed in red in the general messages line, just above the function key descriptions. Since inquiry mode prevents the tab key from reaching the comment code fields, it is best to click on an unknown comment code with the mouse.
Another aspect to comment code entry is the identification of unique situations that need a verbal explanation. These are called narrative comments, and can be entered for the current (second occurrence) quarter directly from the primary ES2C screen. Unlike most other fields on the screen, however, all narratives are stored in a separate file. Traditionally, narratives have been assigned to a comment code of “99”, which includes “see narrative” in its standard description. Although the ‘99’ code is not a requirement to accompany the narrative, there must be at least one comment code present to which the narrative can be associated. The ES2C transaction will add a ‘99’ comment code to the codes already present, except when there are already three comment codes present (the limit for any quarter).
Perhaps you might wonder why a ‘99’ code would be added to existing comment codes. Surely the narrative is plainly visible on its own. However, once the quarters have shifted so that the formerly current-quarter codes become part of the historical data, the narrative will vanish from the screen. If the ‘99’ comment code is still visible, however, it continues to flag the narrative’s existence. To display a back-quarter narrative, click on its ‘99’ code; the message line at the bottom of the screen will show the narrative in red. When any other quarter requires a new narrative comment to be inserted, it must be entered from the ES2Y screen, which is reached by pressing the PF2 key while in the Front Screen.
It is also sometimes helpful to have a permanent (or perennial) note displayed for the analyst. This type of note can be entered in the “NOTE” (prompt in yellow) field of the front screen. The note is stored in the Narrative Comments File with a year/quarter assignment of ‘999’ to distinguish it from single-quarter notes. The PF13/Shift-F1 key can be used to toggle from the perennial note to a perennial comment display. Perennial comments have no set purpose. When in the comments mode, any entry into the “CMNT” field (formerly shown as “NOTE”) will be coded as a perennial comment in the Narrative Comments File.
1 The transfer to and from the ES2E screen is valuable in on-line editing, since additional data may be needed for a specific account on the Micro Edit File. The “E” screen can transfer directly to any of the four ES2C screens directly, while all of the “C” screens can return to ES2E with the “E” entry.
Related Links
