NYS Comptroller Seal  

Bureau of State Payroll Services

Date: April 21, 2000

 Bulletin No. 158

Subject Public Queries in PS Query Database
Purpose To provide information about public queries available for agency use
Affected Employees  Agency PaySR users with access to create and run PS Queries
Effective Dates Immediately
Background Information Generic public queries have been developed for use by all users with access to PS Query. Some of the queries are based on queries designed by agency staff and responses to an agency survey about the Query tool. Additional generic queries will be developed in response to agency requests.

The names of generic queries start with "00-" (zero zero hyphen). They appear at the top of the public query list.

PS Query data is refreshed each day at the close of business. The queries provide data which has been entered by users through the close of business of the previous day. The query does not include inbound file transactions or automatic processes completed during the previous night’s production batch schedule. In addition, the query will not include data entered on the current day.

The query will not run properly if any of the prompt boxes are not filled. If a 2 digit year format is entered for any date prompts (02/15/00), it will be automatically converted to a four digit year.

The available queries are explained on the attached listing.

PS Query Security Access Users with "Create and Run Query" access can open public queries and then save the query as private. Users are encouraged to work with private queries to reduce the risk of modification to the public queries.
Users with "Run Only" access can run public queries but cannot modify the query or save a private version.

The following instructions are in two sections based on the user’s security access to PS Query.
Log In Instructions
for All Users

 

 1. Double click the Query Database icon on the PaySR Desktop.

2. Enter your Operator ID and Password.

3. Click OK or press Enter. (If the login fails three times, contact your agency security administrator who can obtain a new password or resolve other login issues with the OSC Security Unit.)

Instructions for Users with "Create and Run" Security Access Instructions for First Time Use
1. From the Menu Bar, click File and then Open.
2. Click (highlight) the public query you wish to open. (Public queries have an "X" in the right column.)
3. Click Open.
4. From the Menu Bar, click File and then Save As.
5. Verify that the name of the query is listed in the Save Query As dialog box and then click the box next to Public to remove the "X". (Private queries can have the same name as Public queries.)
6. Click OK.
7. If you previously saved a private query with the same name, a message box will appear. Select the appropriate option.
8. You have now saved the query as a private query for your own use.

Any time you save a private or public query, save it with an agency-specific name, using your agency code as the first five digits of the name. If the file is saved with a file name that is the same as the generic public query, the revised query will overwrite the public query described on the attached listing.

Instructions to Run a Query
1. If necessary, repeat login steps for all users, shown above.
2. From the Menu Bar, click File and then Run.
3. Highlight the query you wish to run in the dialog box. All of your private queries are listed above any public queries and do not have an "X" in the right column.
4. Click either the Listbox or Spreadsheet output option.
5. Click the Run button.
6. Enter your DeptID (agency code) and any other appropriate entries in the prompt boxes.
7. Click ok to run the query.
Instructions for Users with "Run Only" Security Access 1. Follow login steps for all users, shown above.
2. A Run Query dialog box will appear. All public queries to which you have access will be included in this list.
3. Click (highlight) the query you wish to run.
4. Click the Run to Listbox button to display the query results in a list on the screen. This is a "view only" option. The list cannot be printed or modified.
5. OR Click the Run nVision button to display the query results in an Excel spreadsheet. (nVision is the link between PaySR and Excel.) Enter your DeptID (agency code) and any other appropriate entries in the prompt box.
6. Click OK.
For More Information Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Query Help mailbox. To obtain access to the PS Query database from the main PaySR menu, contact your agency PaySR security officer.
PS Query - PaySR Public Queries