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The following document describes the xml format for transferring data into the various Forbes packages including accounts, company secretarial, client database, payroll, tax etc. XML has been chosen as the format as it is structured, yet essentially is just a text file with < and > signs liberally spread around.
| clientid | this is a string that uniquely identifies this client. |
|---|---|
| originator | this is a string that identifies your product. |
| originator version | optional version number. |
| Settings | Via this section it is possible to set various configuration parameters of the forbes software. |
| Common | This is where information common to multiple forbes products resides e.g. company name |
| Accounts | This is where information accounts specific data is held |
| CoSec | This is where company secretarial specific data is held |
| Actions | Here you can list actions that you want the Forbes software to perform e.g. prepare accounts, form company etc. |
The individual elements such as Common, Accounts, Payroll etc will be descibed in detail below.
The data file should be saved with the .fsi file extension. This can then be sent by email or some other medium to the Forbes user. Double clicking on the .fsi file will launch fcsimport.exe which will take the appropriate actions.
Alternatively if the Forbes installation is on the same machine it can be launched by passing the path of the .fsi file into the windows api call ShellExecute e.g. ShellExecute(0,0,"myfile.fsi",0,0,SW_SHOWNORMAL)
It is also possible to run fcsimport.exe passing the file name on the command line. fcsimport.exe sist in the root forbes install directory - "c:\forbes" by default. This location can be found by looking in c:\windows\forbes.ini [paths] install.
Finally you can always just fcsimport and use File the Open
All xml elements have an optional time stamp attribute. This may be set to the modification time of this (and all subelements). It is the time in seconds since 1st January 1970 - i.e. as return by the C++ function time().
At various points in the data format addresses will appear.
| ID | Identifies this address. If the same address is used mutliply in the file, then it would be useful to have the same id. |
|---|---|
| Line3 | Should always contain the post town |
| Line5 | Should always contain the postcode (why you may well ask is it not called postcode then !). |
At various points in the data people or other contacts appear.
| ID | Identifies this contact. If the same contact is used mutliply in the file (e.g as a director, shareholder and company secretary), then it would be useful to have the same id. |
|---|---|
| Address | This is covered above |
This contains information that is used by multiple products
A key field here is Type. It can take the value "Limited Company", "Sole Trader", "Partnership", "Trust".
It contains a lot of textual information. Key points are registered office address, directors, share holdings, registration number.
Some further documentation (note the scroll bar !)Short tag names
| mapping | Indicates the codes in the journal entries are using a foreign codelist. xxxx to be agreed with forbes. |
|---|
The easiest way to produce a codelist map is to go into forbes accounts and choose Tools / advanced / create codelist map.
Here is an example one
This section indicates what functions you you like the forbes software to perform.
The .fsi file is more than just a passive data file, the actions section can include a series of actions you want the Forbes modules to perform.
Put all the child elements together to give an xml file with the sttucture outlined in "overall structure" at the beginning of this document.