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What's New
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BOSMAC Updates for Version 07
If you are using BOSMAC07 (the version on the
Web) then you are using the latest version of BOSMAC.
more...
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BOSMAC Release Notes
This page presents a running history of BOSMAC versions,
their release dates, and summaries of the changes
made.
more...
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The Boston CPD office has significantly enhanced its BOSMAC program to better assist you in analyzing your IDIS reports (.rpt files). The enhanced program, BOSMAC07.xls, is an EXCEL program that converts eight IDIS text file Reports (PR01, PR02, PR03, PR06, PR07, PR08, PR14, and PR22 downloaded from IDIS) to data files that can then be analyzed with EXCEL filters, pivot tables and other tools. In addition to these eight files that are converted to EXCEL data files, BOSMAC can format – similar to WORD - every IDIS report for viewing and printing. All IDIS reports converted by BOSMAC are automatically saved in a folder named BOSMACFILES (not case sensitive) that can be located anywhere.
Note that BOSMAC07 does not download the IDIS reports. Downloads from IDIS must be done prior to using BOSMAC07.
Trying to analyze the downloaded IDIS text reports for a medium to large city without use of these MACROS is very labor-intense and inefficient. For example, a typical PR03 report can vary from 280 to 2,000+ pages and is not in a user-friendly format for a grantee or CPD rep looking for answers to questions such as:
- (PR02)-What is the current funding status of any formula activity?
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(PR03)-How many Projects are not complete and are more than one year old?
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(PR03)- What are the open IDIS projects by year, and how many are there?
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(PR03)-What are the Admin/Planning activities?
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(PR03)-Which projects have an LMA National Objective?
were created?
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(PR03)-What are the job creation activities and how many jobs were created?
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(PR03)-How many current year activities do not show accomplishment data?
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(PR03)-What are the Public Service activities for the current year?
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(PR07)-What are the drawdowns for a particular Fund, Period, or Activity?
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(PR22)-Which HOME projects have final draws more than 120 days old and are not completed?
To answer these kinds of questions using the text reports as initially downloaded from IDIS would require searching each page and marking the records that meet the search criteria. With the equivalent EXCEL spreadsheet of the same report, (made possible with BOSMAC07), a user can simply apply a filter that immediately displays the data of interest.
BOSMAC07 is a simple “point and click” system. After the IDIS Report has been downloaded simply click the “CONVERT” button and within a few seconds, the output data file is automatically saved to your BOSMACFILES folder as a text file. Note that the PR01, 02, 03, 06, 07, 08, 14, and 22 reports are saved as spreadsheets as well. For these reports, both the text view and spreadsheet view are opened at the same time. Shifting between the two views is a matter of clicking on their respective tabs.
Text and spreadsheet views open at same time for PR01, PR02, PR22, etc.
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