Berkeley Lab Travel Express

Gelco System Improvements

Gelco will be replaced with an intuitive, user-friendly system in ~ 2Q FY08. In the interim, we are following through on the commitment that was made to the user community last fall to make a couple of system improvements. For a minimal cost, two of the frequently reported system problems have been fixed and will be implemented in production on February 21st . These fixes will: (1) Enable the user to globally apply actual costs over a range of dates using the “Copy Through” function; and (2) Prevent the use of “unallowable” characters when naming documents which often leads to routing (“edit locking”) problems. For further details, see below.

Reported System Problems

The “Fix”

When choosing to enter actual costs rather than per diem, and the costs were the same over a range of dates, people were having to use a temporary workaround and key in the data for each and every day.

In the “Expenses” screen, the “Copy Through” function will now allow users to globally apply actual costs over a range of dates.

The system allowed a user to create a “Document Name” that included “unallowable” characters. As a result, documents could become “edit locked” and not be routed through the system.

The system improvement will prevent the use of “unallowable” characters when naming documents. The only characters that will be permitted are alpha-numeric, a dash, and an underscore. Spaces will also be allowed.

Note:

Documents that were created prior to this change which contain characters not mentioned above may continue to experience routing and edit lock problems
If using the short cut method of copying an existing document in order to create a new one, be sure to give the document a new name using only the allowable characters listed above.

If you have any questions about these Gelco system improvements, contact Craig Gaylor at CRGaylor@lbl.gov or x4206.