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Introduction

A Hansa system consists of two or more modules which interact with each other in several ways. Each module uses a number of registers, or files, in which all information of a particular type is stored. For example, all information about Customers is stored in a Customer register, all information about Suppliers is stored in a Supplier register and so on. The smallest system (the Accounting package) consists of four modules with the following registers:

The integration between modules is quite straightforward in this small system. Apart from the Account and Object registers, there are no common registers in this case: information can be entered to each one from only one of the modules. Nevertheless, the different modules need to be able to access the information stored in registers in other modules. For example, the Sales, Purchase and Nominal Ledgers can all access the members of personnel, stored in the Person register in the System module.

In addition to the registers, there are several smaller files known as 'Settings' in each module. The difference between a setting and a register lies in the frequency and nature of use. The information with which you will be working daily, such as Customers, Suppliers, Sales Orders and Invoices, tends to be stored in registers, while information stored in settings tends to be used in 'look-up' tables or used to determine the manner in which a particular function operates.

Larger Hansa systems have a more complex structure. The Customer and Item registers, for example, are used in several modules - Quotations, Sales Orders, Sales Ledger, Stock, Contracts and Job Costing.