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<ManualTopic ID="/baanerp/tc/onlinemanual/000004" xml:lang="en">
   <Header>
      <Title>To use number groups and series</Title>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e1438801">
         <Level1>Number groups</Level1>
      </Keyword>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e1438804">
         <Level1>Series</Level1>
      </Keyword>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e1438807">
         <Level1>First free numbers</Level1>
      </Keyword>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e1438810">
         <Level1>Order numbers</Level1>
      </Keyword>
   </Header>
   <GeneralSection>
      <Paragraph>You identify orders,
		contracts, invoices, and other documents by their order number or document
		number. The document number consists of the series code followed by a
		sequential number. In addition, you can use series codes and series numbers to
		identify other types of records than documents.</Paragraph>
      <List>
         <ListIntro>For example, you can use series to identify:</ListIntro>
         <ListItem>Business partners</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Addresses</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Purchase contracts</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Sales orders</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Production orders</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Service orders</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Warehousing orders</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Freight orders</ListItem>
      </List>
      <Note>
         <SectionTitle>Note</SectionTitle>
         <Paragraph>For financial documents, you must define the series and
		  document numbers in the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tf/gld/tfgld0114m000" role="session">Transaction Type Series (tfgld0114m000)</GUIRef> session in <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tf" role="package">Financials</GUIRef>. For details,
		  refer to <Link href="/baanerp/tf/onlinemanual/000121" role="manual">To determine document numbers by transaction type</Link>.</Paragraph>
      </Note>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>Number Groups</SectionTitle>
      <List>
         <ListIntro>You use <Link href="/baanerp/tc/glossary/glossary#NumberGroup_tc" role="glossary">number groups</Link> to assign
		  series sets to different types of orders, documents, and other records. For
		  each number group you define:</ListIntro>
         <ListItem>One or more series codes</ListItem>
         <ListItem>The length (number of
		  characters) of the series code</ListItem>
         <ListItem>The starting number
		  (first free number) of each series</ListItem>
      </List>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>Series code</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>You can define
		alphanumeric series codes of up to 8 characters. The maximum length of the
		series code plus the number within the series is 9 characters.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>To use the series for a
		type of document or record, you must assign the number group to the document
		type or record type. You can assign a number group to only one type of document
		or record.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>As the series codes can be alphanumeric, the generated document
		numbers can be alphanumeric and they can consist of up to nine characters.</Paragraph>
      <Note>
         <SectionTitle>Note</SectionTitle>
         <Paragraph>You can use identical numbers for related records. Refer to <Link href="#tc4A" role="internal">To use identical numbers for related records</Link>.</Paragraph>
      </Note>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>Dedicated number groups</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>You can use dedicated number groups to generate unique numbers
		for orders and documents for a specific use. All the series numbers that ERP Enterprise generates in number
		groups dedicated to the same type of use are unique. To ensure that the numbers
		are unique ERP Enterprise checks that
		the series codes that you define in the number groups cannot result in
		duplicate numbers. See also the <Link href="#tc4B" role="internal">Examples of dedicated number groups</Link>
      </Paragraph>
      <List>
         <ListIntro>You can dedicate number group to these purposes:</ListIntro>
         <ListItem>
            <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#freight.wh" role="option">Freight/Warehouse</GUIRef>
         </ListItem>
         <ListItem>
            <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#invoicing" role="option">Invoicing</GUIRef>
         </ListItem>
         <ListItem>
            <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#production" role="option">Production</GUIRef>
         </ListItem>
         <ListItem>
            <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#service" role="option">Service</GUIRef>
         </ListItem>
         <ListItem>
            <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#none" role="option">Not Applicable</GUIRef>
         </ListItem>
      </List>
      <Paragraph>You assign the number groups to various purposes in the
		corresponding sessions. For example, in the <Link href="/baanerp/td/sls/tdsls0100s400" role="session">Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400)</Link> session you can select the number group for sales
		orders and sales schedules. In the <Link href="/baanerp/td/sls/tdsls0512m000" role="session">Sales Offices (tdsls0512m000)</Link> session you can then select a series of that number group for
		the sales orders generated by a specific sales office.</Paragraph>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>First free number</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>ERP Enterprise numbers the orders, documents, or other
		records sequentially by using the first free number in the series. You specify
		the starting number of each series in the <Link href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0150m000" role="session">First Free Numbers (tcmcs0150m000)</Link> session.</Paragraph>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>Order numbers</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>The resulting number
		consists of the series code followed by the first free number. The number must
		consist of 9 characters. ERP Enterprise adds leading zeroes to the first free number
		to make up the required number of digits.</Paragraph>
      <ExampleSection>
         <SectionTitle>Example</SectionTitle>
         <List>
            <ListIntro>The series code is NR08. The first free number is 100.
			 Documents in this series get the numbers:</ListIntro>
            <ListItem>NR0800100</ListItem>
            <ListItem>NR0800101</ListItem>
            <ListItem>NR0800102</ListItem>
         </List>
      </ExampleSection>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection>
      <SectionTitle>First free numbers cache</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>To improve the
		performance of sessions in which new order numbers are assigned, you can define
		a cache size for a series. The cache size is the number of new series numbers
		that ERP Enterprise generates and
		puts in the user's cache. The users do not have to wait while ERP Enterprise generates and checks
		the next series numbers.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>If you use the first
		free numbers cache, the order numbers can be nonsequential; the numbers that
		are still in the user's cache are lost when the user logs off.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>If you do not want to
		use the first free numbers cache, you must set the cache size to zero.</Paragraph>
      <ExampleSection>
         <SectionTitle>Example</SectionTitle>
         <Paragraph>You set the cache size
		  to four. The first time a user creates a new order, ERP Enterprise generates four new
		  series numbers and puts them in the user's cache. The user has to wait while
		  this happens. The first number is used for the new order. ERP Enterprise retrieves the numbers
		  for the next three orders that the user creates from the user's cache. When the
		  user creates a fifth order, ERP Enterprise generates another four numbers, puts them in
		  the user's cache, and so on.</Paragraph>
         <Paragraph>If the user creates
		  six orders and then logs off, the last two series numbers that ERP Enterprise generated for the user
		  are not used.</Paragraph>
      </ExampleSection>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection ID="tc4A">
      <SectionTitle>To use identical numbers for related records</SectionTitle>
      <ProcedureList>
         <ListItem>Define a number group for each type of record, by using the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0151m000" role="session">Number Groups (tcmcs0151m000)</GUIRef> session.</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Define identical series codes in the number groups, by using
		  the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0150m000" role="session">First Free Numbers (tcmcs0150m000)</GUIRef> session.</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Define the same first free numbers in the identical series, by
		  using the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0150m000" role="session">First Free Numbers (tcmcs0150m000)</GUIRef> session.</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Assign the number groups to the two types of records, by using
		  the appropriate session.</ListItem>
         <ListItem>Select the identical series for the records.</ListItem>
      </ProcedureList>
      <Paragraph>ERP Enterprise generates identical codes when you create the different types of records that
		you want to link. You can use this, for example, to use identical codes for
		related orders or contracts in different companies.</Paragraph>
   </GeneralSection>
   <GeneralSection ID="tc4B">
      <SectionTitle>Examples of dedicated number groups</SectionTitle>
      <Paragraph>You define number groups with the following details:</Paragraph>
      <TABLE border="1" cellpadding="3" borderstyle="default"
             space-and-orientation="indented-estimated">
         <THEAD noTR="1">
            <TR no="1" isLast="true">
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0151m000#tcmcs051.nrgr" role="manual">Number Group</GUIRef>
               </TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0151m000#tcmcs051.lngt" role="manual">Series Length</GUIRef>
               </TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/mcs/tcmcs0151m000#tcmcs051.dctd" role="manual">Dedicated for</GUIRef>
               </TD>
            </TR>
         </THEAD>
         <TBODY noTR="4">
            <TR no="1" isLast="false">
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SF1</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#production" role="option">Production</GUIRef>
               </TD>
            </TR>
            <TR no="2" isLast="false">
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SF2</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#production" role="option">Production</GUIRef>
               </TD>
            </TR>
            <TR no="3" isLast="false">
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SF5</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#production" role="option">Production</GUIRef>
               </TD>
            </TR>
            <TR no="4" isLast="true">
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">IN9</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2</TD>
               <TD valign="top" align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">
                  <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/domains/dctd#invoicing" role="option">Invoicing</GUIRef>
               </TD>
            </TR>
         </TBODY>
      </TABLE>
      <Paragraph>If the SF1 number group
		contains a series <Code>KJ</Code>, ERP Enterprise does not
		allow you to insert the same series code ( <Code>KJ</Code>) into the SF2 number group.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>If the SF1 number group
		contains a series <Code>AA</Code>, ERP Enterprise does not
		allow you to insert the series codes <Code>AA1</Code>, <Code>AA5</Code>, or <Code>AA9</Code> into the SF5 number group, because this can result in the same numbers
		as those generated in the SF2 number group.</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>If the SF5 number group
		contains a series <Code>DF2</Code>, ERP Enterprise does not
		allow you to insert a series <Code>DF</Code> into the SF1 or SF2 number groups, because they can result in the same
		numbers as those generated in the number group SF5, if very high numbers are
		generated (such as <Code>DF2255734</Code>, <Code>DF2766438</Code>, and so on).</Paragraph>
      <Paragraph>Regardless of the series defined in number groups SF1, SF2, and
		SF3, you can insert any series in the IN9 number group, because IN9 is
		dedicated to another type of use.</Paragraph>
   </GeneralSection>
   <RelatedTopics>
      <SectionTitle>Related topics</SectionTitle>
      <RelTopic>
         <Link href="/baanerp/tc/onlinemanual/000006" role="manual">To define order numbers</Link>
      </RelTopic>
      <RelTopic>
         <Link href="/baanerp/tc/onlinemanual/000008" role="manual">To change the series</Link>
      </RelTopic>
      <RelTopic>
         <Link href="/baanerp/tc/onlinemanual/000007" role="manual">To assign number groups</Link>
      </RelTopic>
      <RelTopic>
         <Link href="/baanerp/tf/onlinemanual/000121" role="manual">To determine document numbers by transaction type</Link>
      </RelTopic>
   </RelatedTopics>
</ManualTopic>