Uniform Staff Payroll System USPS Version 4.2 Release Notes Release Date: 2008.03

Uniform Staff Payroll System
USPS Version 4.2 Release Notes
Release Date: 2008.03

This document contains information about changes, enhancements and problems corrected with the 2008.03 release of USPS Version 4.2.

1 Functional Enhancements and Changes

1.1 CALCPAY/BUDPRO: Fixed misspelling

In the last column of the report headings, the word 'unencumbered' was misspelled. This has been corrected.

1.2 CHKPRT: Add token for YTD Adjusted Gross

Added a YTD Adjusted Gross token to CHKPRT. The token is called <ADJUSTEDYTD> and can be found in both CHKPRT.DAT and DIRCHK.DAT.

1.3 NEWCNT/PURGE: Corrected help message

Rewrote the help for the Reset New Hire Date field so it now states 'field will be left as-is in USPSCN/BIOSCN' and 'the date from USPSCN/BIOSCN will not be updated.' Previously the help was incorrectly referring to the USPSCN/JOBSCN.

1.4 OSDIRPT: Add new OSDI school district tax codes

Added new OSDI school district tax codes for the following:

This information can be found on the web under the Ohio Department of Taxation at the following website, http://tax.ohio.gov/divisions/school_district_income/index.stm. The website provides the school district's tax rates and any changes in tax rates.

1.5 TAXMNT/TAXSCN: Updated OHIO tax tables for 2008

The Ohio tax tables have been updated with the new rates for 2008. This change was made according to the IRS regulations.

1.6 TAXMNT/TAXSCN: Updated FEDERAL tax tables for 2008

The Federal tax tables have been updated with the new rates for 2008. This change includes updating the Federal tax, EIC tax, Federal withholding allowance and FICA for 2008. This change was made according to the IRS regulations.

1.7 USPAUDIT: Changed wording for stop date in help screen

Changed the wording for the stop date in the help screen. Previously it stated that the stop date should be the first day of the fiscal year. Changed it from saying the first day of the fiscal year to correctly say the last day of the fiscal year.

1.8 USPEMS/PERDET: February 2008 ODE Changes

Only 1 minor change by ODE affected the PERDET reporting for February. Position code 208 no longer requires an assignment area. This check has been removed from the program and will no longer produce an error.

1.9 USPLOAD/DEDSCN: Add USER_MONEY_2 and USER_CODE_2

Added two new fields for loading to DEDSCN using USPLOAD. A user can now add field names and values for "USER_MONEY_2" and "USER_CODE_2" in the .csv file when creating/updating DEDSCN records. These two fields can be used for all deduction codes.

1.10 USPSCN/BIOSCN: Added state abbreviations

Added three new valid territory abbreviations for the military:

1.11 USPSCN/BIOSCN: Conceal mask description

The description for the conceal employees mask has been changed from 'Conceal' to 'Skip Concealed' to make it more intuitive.

1.12 USPSDAT/USPCON: Fixed two misspellings

Within the help for the pay date method field, the words 'strict' and 'adherence' were misspelled. This has been corrected.

1.13 USPS00: Added fix for DEDAMT file

USPS00 has been modified to fix the DEDAMT file when it contains spaces in the date fields. When processing, if USPS00 finds spaces in any of the DEDAMT file's date fields, it replaces the spaces with "00000000."

2 Problems Corrected

2.1 INICAL/CHKPRD: Changed warning messages from OBES to ODJFS

Changed warning messages to use the word "ODJFS" instead of "OBES". Warning messages state that "ODJFS current period closed" or "ODJFS previous period closed" or "ODJFS previous period not closed" or "ODJFS future period closed".

2.2 USPRPT/MUNDET: Eliminate DCL error that appears whenever the program is ran

An error was appearing when a user ran the MUNDET report stating "%DCL-W-SKPDAT, image data (records not beginning with '$') ignored". This error message was appearing, due to a programming problem. This error has been eliminated.

2.3 USPSWebapp/Employee: Warn if country and state entered

Within the Employee section of the web application, if a user enters both a country and a state for an employee's address, a warning displays that "Per SSA specifications it is invalid for an employee's address to contain both a state and country."

3 Technical Enhancements and Changes

3.1 GENERAL: DEDUCTION_REC.DTR_REC field name too long

In the DEDUCTION_REC.DTR_REC layout the new field for non-cash taxable amount in the federal record was too long. Name was called FEDERAL_NONCASH_TAXABLE_BENEFITS and has been changed to FEDERAL_NONCASH_TAX_BENEFITS.

3.2 STRSCOD.IDX: Added new STRS employers

The following STRS employers were added:

3.3 UDMS: Remove EMPLOYEE_PIN from EMPLOYEES view

The EMPLOYEE_PIN field has been removed from the EMPLOYEES view. Only the view was changed, not the record itself.

3.4 UDMS: Add records and views for USPS Date files

Added a Record Definition for the Dates Master record called DATES_MSTR_REC. Added a View Definition for the Dates Master record called DATES_MASTER.

Also, added a Record Definition for the Dates Detail record called DATES_REC. Added a View Definition for the Dates Detail record called DATES.

3.5 USPSCN/JOBSCN: Updating job numbers of default 1's records

Currently if a user is trying to change the job number for the default all 1's record in USPSCN/JOBSCN from 00 or blank to any other job number, it also changes the job number in USPSCN/DEDSCN. This was causing problems when creating new USPSCN/DEDSCN records for employees because the job number wasn't 00 or blank. This has been changed so that if the job number is 00 or blank in USPSCN/JOBSCN, then the job number in USPSCN/DEDSCN will NOT be changed.

3.6 W2PROC: Remove taxable wage amount on W2 if no city record, but has an OSDI record

Remove taxable wage amount in Box 18 of second locality line on employee's W2 form. This amount appeared even though no locality name or local wage amount printed. This is was only happening if there wasn't a city record for the employee. This change was overlooked when we no longer print "CITY" in the locality name and "NONE" in the local wage box if the employee has no city record. This has been fixed.

4 Modifications to Menu Files

5 Documentation

The documentation is maintained by the SSDT and can be found in the OECN$ROOT:[USPS.V4P2.DIST] distribution directory.

5.1 Documentation Summary

The following are documentation files for the Uniform Staff Payroll System package and a brief description of the contents and intended audience of the document.

Documentation produced for this package was developed with a Digital product called VAX Document. This product enables us to provide two versions of the documentation for various types of printers. The version which has an extension of .LN03 can be printed on a laser printer; while version with the extension of .PS is to be printed on a ScriptPrinter.

Table 1 Documentation Summary
Document File Revision Date Description
USPS_USER_GUIDE March, 2006 USPS User Guide
USPS_REFERENCE_MANUAL March, 2006 USPS Reference Manual
USPS_SYSMAN_MANUAL March, 2006 USPS System Manager Manual  

5.2 Documentation _UPDATE Files

The users have the ability to print the updates to the documentation manuals since the previous release, without having to print the entire documentation manuals. The updates are contained in a separate file which uses the same naming convention as the normal manual with "_UPDATE" appended. The update files are available in .LN03 and .PS versions. You will find updates to both the user and system manager manuals if changes have taken place.

The update files will include *ONLY* the modified chapters of the documentation manual, a new table of contents, and an index if one exists in the documentation manual. Updated documentation is also included in the normal documentation manuals. Therefore, if you plan to print the newest version of the entire user or system manager manual, it will *NOT* be necessary to print the update file.

It should be noted that even though the purpose of the update files is to allow the users to print only the updates, there may be cases when it would be more practical to print the entire documentation manual, rather than trying to use the update file. For instance, if a new chapter is added at the very beginning of the manual, the numbering for all subsequent chapters will change as well (the size of the update file could be almost as large as the normal documentation manual). SSDT will advise you in the release notes when the changes are so numerous that we recommend that you print the entire documentation manual.

There will only be one _UPDATE file provided each release for every manual. We do not plan to distribute updates for previous releases, as we do for the release notes.

SSDT strongly advises that you print new documentation manuals before you try to utilize the _UPDATE files.

If you print a .PS version of the entire documentation manual, be sure to print the .PS version of the _UPDATE files. The _UPDATE pages will not fit into the manual properly if you try to mix the various documentation formats.

If there are no changes in the documentation manuals, no _UPDATE file will exist on the release.

6 Package Installation and Logicals

Installing USPS involves first using the OECN_INSTALL procedure to unpack the savesets into the OECN$ROOT:[USPS.V4P2.DIST]. After the distribution directories have been prepared, INSTALL_PACKAGE is used to transfer the package from the distribution directory into the user execution directory. See the VAXMGR_HANDBOOK in OECN$ROOT:[DOCUMENT.DIST] for more information about OECN_INSTALL and INSTALL_PACKAGE.

Prior to executing INSTALL_PACKAGE it is necessary to define several system logicals required by the package. The table below lists the logicals which should be defined prior to executing INSTALL_PACKAGE for USPS:

Table 2 System Logicals
Logical Description
OECN$PAY_42 Shared directory. Contains executables and files shared by all USPS
OECN$CDD_PAY_42 CDD path name (optional, see next section)
OECN$MENU$FILES 1 Location for menu files
OECN$HELP 1 Location of VMS help libraries


1Also used by other packages

Note

USPS also requires components from the OECN and CSSR packages. These packages should be installed prior to installation of this package.

6.1 Installing CDD/DTR Definitions

The USPS distribution contains optional CDD and DTR definitions that are acceptable for use with DTR, 20/20 and other products that are integrated with DEC CDD/Repository. Data names for COBOL are provided in the record definitions. The CDD definitions are optional and are not necessary to successfully install and utilize the base USPS package. However, the are a few "supported" DTR reports. If you wish to be able to use these reports, you must install the CDD definitions.

The INSTALL_PACKAGE procedure OECN$UTL will load the CDD definitions into the CDD when either the "CDD" or "FULL" option is used to install USPS. INSTALL_PACKAGE is the only supported method for installation of CDD definitions for USPS Version 4.2

The USPS CDD definitions for USPS Version 4.2 will be loaded into the CDD path referenced by the OECN$CDD_PAY_42 logical. This logical must be defined prior to executing INSTALL_PACKAGE and should be defined as a system logical. SSDT recommends that the USPS definitions be placed in a separate CDD directory from other CDD definitions. This increases the efficiency of the CDD, allows the USPS definitions to be treated as a 'database' from 20/20, and simplifies security maintenance. For example:


$ DEFINE/SYSTEM OECN$CDD_PAY_42 CDD$TOP.OECN.USPS42 

After defining the OECN$CDD_PAY logical, the INSTALL_PACKAGE may be executed. Below is sample run of the CDD installation:


$ 
$ @OECN$UTL:INSTALL_PACKAGE CDD OECN$ROOT:[USPS.V4P2.DIST]
 
OECN INSTALL_PACKAGE (V1.1-010) Copyright © 1991, Ohio Dept of Ed, IMS 
 
%OECNINS-I-BEGIN, Begin CDD installation for USPS Version 4.2 on NWOCA0:: 
at 14-MAR-1994 15:09:36.41 
%OECNINS-I-CDD, Loading CDD definitions to CDD$TOP.OECN.USPS42 
 
OECN INSTALL_CDD (V1.0-001) Copyright © 1994, Ohio Dept of Ed, IMS 
 
%OECNINS-I-START, Starting CDD install for USPS Version 4.2 
%OECNINS-I-RECORD, Processing record OECN$CDD_PAY.ABSENCE_REC 
    . 
    . 
    . 
 

7 UDMS Dictionary Implementation

USPS contains a dictionary for use with the UDMS Report Writer product. The dictionary will be installed automatically when OECN$UTL:INSTALL_PACKAGE is executed with either the FULL or UDMS option. If a version of the dictionary has already been installed, INSTALL_PACKAGE will merge the updated version into the local copy. Thus, reports and additional views developed locally will be preserved.

USPS also contains a sharable image which is used by UDMS. The sharable image provides 3GL functions which are used in calculated fields by the UDMS dictionary. To make this image available to UDMS, you must define the following logical during system startup:


 
    $ DEFINE/SYSTEM OECN$USPS_SHR OECN$PAY:USPSSHR.EXE 
 

8 Implementation of this Release

Please implement this release as soon as possible. It is difficult for the SSDT to provide assistance to your problems if you are not utilizing the current version of the software supplied.

Please refer to the documentation files contained on the release tape to obtain a history of the modifications the software has gone through. The release documentation files are named in the format of "RELyymm.DOC" where yymm is the release date.

Should you experience any problems, or have any questions, concerning the OpenVMS/Alpha version of the USPS Version 4.2 software please feel free to contact SSDT for assistance using one of the following options:

Visit the OECN Public Forum at http://forums.oecn.k12.oh.us/forums/oecn/
DAS restricted Forum at http://forums.oecn.k12.oh.us/forums/das/
SSDT Home Page at http://ssdt.oecn.k12.oh.us/

End of Documentation for USPS Version 4.2 Release: 2008.03