Customizing Format Files

SmartCAM uses a specific text formatting language for customizing what information is displayed based on the item's Section Number. Generally, you will use it to create or modify JOS Report format files.

In general, the process is very straight-forward. The format file contains information used by SmartCAM which describes what information should be displayed for the Job, Step, and Tools. To configure SmartCAM, you will create command statements associated with a specific Section Number; the section number telling SmartCAM when to use your custom output. Each block, associated with the Section Number, contains format statements. The format statements describe what to output and how to format the output (number of decimal positions, for example). And reference the JOS Data Tags to tell SmartCAM what information to display.

The topics in this section explain the overall organization and usage for the format files. For a complete walk-through on exactly how to use the format files to create a custom JOS Report, see the Creating a Custom JOS Report Format File topic. Additionally, you will need to be familiar with Section Numbers of JOS Data Tags.