ARC Templates Help
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What is the ARC
Template? |
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The IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB)
is undergoing an enhancement project that is aimed at improving the
functionality of the web site. This ARC Template has been designed to
facilitate: 1) the submission of ARC dates in one standard format; and 2) the
automated processing of this information in an internal database. Use the ARC template to submit: ü Up to 12 months of ARC dates in a
single file, ü ARC data for all 23 data
categories or a any sub-set
(e.g. Real Sector) thereof. ü “Notes” information for
processing by the IMF Statistics Department. |
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Using the ARC Template |
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The ARC template is a MS Word document containing the
following elements: 1. The user area – use to identify
the country, beginning month and year of the submission. Also provides access
to the “Edit Notes”, “Clear All”, and the “Shift Left” buttons. 2. The data area – enter data for Release Dates, Reference Period, Notes and
Flexibility. Data can only be entered in the shaded cells. 3. Notes table – contains the text
for all notes. Text cannot be modified in this table. Access to the Notes
text is provided via the Notes Editor. 4. Notes Editor – use to add and/or
change the ARC notes and tag previously submitted notes for deletion. Suggestions and Restrictions: ü The ARC template has been password protected to secure the
format and structure and facilitate the automated processing of submissions
by the IMF Statistics Department upon receipt. ü To use the ARC template you will
need MS Word97 or higher. ü If you are using Word 97/2000, you may be
prompted to “enable macros” (dependent upon your local security settings)
when you open the file. You must Enable Macros in order for the template to
work correctly. ü The Word 2002(XP)/2003, dependent
upon your security settings you may be prompted to “enable macros” when you open the
file. Select Enable Macros if prompted or else open word and change macro settings to medium
by choosing Tools -> Macro -> Security -> Security Level (Medium or ü The
template has been designed to include all SDDS data categories for a maximum
of 12 months. (A minimum of 4 months is required). ü Do not use parentheses "( )" in the
Reference period column as these are generated automatically. Use, Eg: Jan/05, Q2/04, 2004, etc. ü Use first
letter of the month in capital in Reference period column: Jan/04, Mar/31/04,
Aug/12-19/04, etc. ü Please use English language (for months) in
filling the template: Jan/04, Jul/31/04, Aug/19-26/04, etc. ü Release
Dates should be entered using the following formats: Precise date: 5 No later than: NLT 5 Range: 5-12 Weekly: 5,
12, 19, 26 ü Reference Periods should be
entered using the following formats: Monthly: MMM/YY (Jan/04, Feb/04, etc) Weekly:
MMM/DD/YY (Jan/17/04, Feb/21/04, etc.) Quarterly: Qx/YY (Q1/04, Q2/04, etc) Annual: YYYY (2004,2005, etc) Semi-Annual: SAx/YY (SA1/04,SA2/04
etc) Annual
(Fiscal Year): YYYY-YYYY (2006-2007,2007-2008,etc) |
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How do I use the ARC
Template? |
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1. Save the appropriate ARC
template to your local hard drive. 2. Enter data in the template using
the instructions detailed in this document. 3. Save the completed template to
your local hard drive. 4. Submit the file – as an email
attachment - to the IMF Statistics Department, Data Dissemination Division (STADD@IMF.ORG) |
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Questions? |
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Any questions regarding the use of the ARC templates
should be directed to the IMF Statistics Department, Data Dissemination
Division at STADD@IMF.ORG . |
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Tips and Tricks |
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ü Use the mouse or tab key to
position your cursor in the relevant cell. The structure of the template is
protected and the cursor can only be positioned in the shaded cells in the
template. ü Use the F1 key to access
context sensitive help for each data type (e.g. Release Date, Reference
Period, Notes, Flexibility). ü Copy data from one data category to
another using Copy and Paste buttons located at the top of the template. You
can also use the Alt-C (copy) and Alt-V (paste) functions. 1. Position your cursor in any of
the data cells of the source data category. 2. Click on the copy button (or use
Alt-C) to copy all data from the selected data category. 3. Position your cursor in any of
the data cells of the target data category. 4. Click on the Paste button (or use Alt-V) to paste the copied data. ü Delete the data from a single data category
using the Alt-X (cut) function. 1. Position your cursor in any of
the data cells of the source data
category. 2. Use Alt-X to clear the contents
of the selected data category. ü Clear the entire contents of the
template (excluding Notes text) using the “Clear All” button or using the Alt - L combination. ü All of the buttons in the
template have a short cut key. Use Alt
+ the underlined character on the button label to activate. ( e.g. Alt-N is a short-cut for loading the Notes
Editor.) |
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Submitting Data Using the ARC |
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To enter data in
the ARC template proceed as follows: 1. Save the original ARC template to
a local hard drive. 2. Open the template in MS Word. 3. Enter the name of the submitting
country in the Country field: a.
Click on the down
arrow to display the list of country names. Select a country from the list, or
b.
Position your cursor
in the Country field and begin
typing the country name 4. Enter the beginning month** of
the data submission in the Month
field: a.
Click on the down
arrow to display the list of months. Select a month from the list, or b.
Position your cursor
in the Month: field and begin
typing the name of the month. 5. Enter the beginning year** of the
data submission in the Year field: a.
Click on the down
arrow to display the list of years. Select a country from the list, or
b.
Position your cursor
in the Year: field and begin
typing the year. 6. Wait for the date indicators
(MM/YYYY) on each data category row to populate with the selected dates.
(This could take a few seconds). 7. Enter Release Date and Reference
Period data for each relevant data category and month (use formats as
described in the “Suggestions” section on page 1 of this pamphlet). 8. If
necessary, Add/Edit Notes (refer to the section “Submitting Note Information”
on page 3 for further detail). 9. Save
the modified template to your local hard drive. 10. Submit the completed template- as an email attachment -
to the IMF, Statistics Department, DD Division (STADD@IMF.ORG)
** For subsequent ARC submissions, open the previously
saved template and use the “Shift Left” button to shift all data
columns to the left by one month. *** To revise previously submitted ARC dates, open the
previously saved template and edit the appropriate cells accordingly. |
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Adding New Notes to the ARC Template |
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Adding notes to an ARC submission is a two-step process.
First, enter or edit the text of the note using the Notes Editor. Secondly,
enter the note reference number to the Notes and/or Flexibility cells for
each relevant data category. 1.
Enter the text of the Note in the Note Editor. i.
Click the Notes
button (at the top of the template) to load the Notes Editor. (Alt-N will
also open the Notes Editor). ii.
Position your cursor
in the Edit Notes field of the editor and type the text of the note. iii.
Click the Add button
to add the note to the Notes list section of the screen. The note should
display in the top half of the editor with the a reference number assigned to
it. iv.
Repeat steps i. –
iii for each additional note. |
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v.
Click the Apply
button when finished to close the Notes Editor . 2.
Add note reference
numbers to the relevant Notes and Flexibility cells in the template. i.
Position your cursor
in the relevant Notes or Flexibility cell of the template and enter the
relevant note reference number(s) separated by commas (e.g. 1,3,5) ii.
Repeat as required
for each data category. |
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Adding New Notes to the ARC
Template |
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1. To change the text of an existing
note:
i.
Click the Notes
button (at the top of the template) to load the Notes Editor.
ii.
Select the note to
be modified in the Notes List: section of the editor.
iii.
Modify the text as
required in the Edit Notes: section (bottom half) of the editor.
iv.
Click the
Change button to store the new text in
the Notes List.
v.
Repeat steps ii. –
iv. as required. 2. To remove or delete an existing
note: i.
Removing a note from
a newly populated template (before it has been saved the first time). a.
Click the Notes
button (at the top of the template) to load the Notes Editor. b.
Select the note to
be removed in the Notes List: section of the editor. c.
Click the Remove
button to delete the Note from the Notes List: d.
Repeat steps b. –
c. as required for other notes. e.
Click the Apply
button to complete and close the Notes Editor. ii.
Removing a note from
a previously populated/submitted template. NOTE: Previously submitted notes are not actually
removed from the template, but are
identified or flagged for deletion using the Deactivate button in the Notes
Editor. (If you are using a previously populated template, the Remove button
is replaced with a Deactivate button).
The text of the Note is not removed from the Notes List: or the
template, but rather flagged as inactive in the Notes List: section of the
editor. In the Notes table at the bottom of the template, inactive notes are
displayed with strike-through. To remove (deactivate) a previously submitted note for deletion,
proceed as follows: a.
Click the Notes
button (at the top of the template) to load the Notes Editor. b.
Select the note to
be deleted in the Notes List: section
of the editor. (Figure A below) c.
Click the Deactivate
button to flag the Note for deletion and the note will be flagged as Inactive
in the Notes List. (Figure B below) d.
Repeat steps b.-c.
as required for other notes. e.
Click the Activate
button at any time to “undo” a deletion if necessary. f.
Click the Apply
button to complete and close the Notes Editor. g.
Do not remove the
note references in the Notes and Flexibility cells of the template. |
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Figure A |
Figure B |
Last Updated: OCT 13th 2005
