Gift Batch Import File Specification

Description of Current Implementation in Open Petra (October 2014)

The purpose of this entry is to define the Gift Batch file layout and the way in which the data is validated.

Gift batch import records must be in CSV format, i.e. variable length fields separated by a delimiter (commonly a semi-colon, although commas are acceptable) with text fields enclosed in quotes. A position in the record must be left for each field, even if the field is empty.

The CSV format file is, of course, human readable but may contain accented characters (for a donor's name for example) and the file may be encoded in a number of different formats. There is a special wiki page devoted to Text File Encoding in Open Petra.

The file is parsed line by line and, provided there are no errors, the batches are saved to the database. However, if there are critical errors no data is saved. The whole file content is rejected. But an attempt is made to read the file in its entirety so that a complete list of errors is built up and can be reported to the user. If more than 100 messages are found then the read is aborted because this is usually symptomatic of the same error(s) being duplicated many times over so there is little point in continuing. The goal is that the user should present the file to Open Petra and get a list of a few mistakes, which can all be corrected so that at the second attempt the file is parsed correctly.

Note that multiple mistakes on a single line are all reported.

Validation is performed at five levels:

• Parsing. Each token is parsed as one of string, boolean, Int64, Int32 or Date. If the text in the file does not convert to the expected data type a parsing error is generated and a 'default' value is assumed so that it is possible to continue reading the file. For numbers a default value of -1 will be assumed, which is typically an invalid value, but this is preferable to using a default that might be valid. For decimals a value of 1.00 is assumed and for a date: 'Today'.
• Standard Open Petra Validation. This is the validation that checks that critical strings are not empty, that strings do not exceed the allowable character count and so on.
• Additional Open Petra manual validation. The finance modules have additional validation that follows the standard Open Petra Validation Framework and is used to check the 'business logic'.
• Import-specific validation. While most validation falls into one of the above categories there are a few cases where the validation is import-specific. So, for example, the number of columns in the row must be correct and the first row of a file must describe a Batch and not a Gift.
• Foreign Key Exception Handling. The intention is that the validation performed using the Validation Framework should mean that this level of exception handling never occurs. However there is specific foreign key exception handling in place that will show a 'friendly' message should an attempt be made to submit a row to the database that has a foreign key error. If this does occur, reading the file will stop at the offending row.
• Other Exception Handling. The intention is that as far as possible validation should read the whole file detecting errors and reporting them once the file has been completely read. Until the first error has been found each row is provisionally added to the database, but once the first error has been found this process ceases, because attempting to add a bad record to the database would cause an 'exception' to be raised which would bring the import to a halt on that line. However, if some aspect of validation has been missed in the design of the code, any database errors will be handled by a 'master exception handler' and the reason displayed and code will stop reading the file on that row.

Gift import batches consist of a repeating sequence of a batch header record followed by a collection of one or more individual gift records.

File Structure

Any lines that start with # or /* are treated as comments and are ignored. The first line in the file should be a 'Batch'. If the first line is a transaction, the code will create a dummy batch so that the file can continue to be read (but nothing will be saved to the database). A Batch Header Record must contain 9 columns. A Gift Record must contain either 21 or 27 columns (there are two possible formats).

Batch Header Record

Row Type - “B”

Validation Rules: There must be 9 columns

Batch Description – [80ch. maximum] Required. Gift batch description

Validation Rules: Cannot be empty field. Length must be 1-80 characters.

Bank Account Code – [16ch. maximum] Required. The bank account code for the batch. For a normal gift this should be an active bank account code. For "Gift in Kind" or "Other", it can be any active posting account.

Validation Rules: The code must exist in the a_account table and must reference an active account. Import fails if the account is inactive. (Incomplete Validation)

Hash Total – [decimal] Required. As with entering a batch using the Client GUI, this value can either be zero or should be the anticipated sum total of the batch. A zero value would mean that the batch could be posted. Any other value would mean that the batch cannot be posted unless the batch total and hash total are identical.

Validation Rules: The field cannot be blank. There is no check at import time that a non-zero hash total matches the batch total. (Validation differs from spec.)

GL Effective Date – [Date] Required. The date must be within the date range of the current and open forward periods.

Validation Rules: The date must be within the date range of the current and open forward periods.

Currency Code – [16ch. maximum] Required. Must be a valid currency code from the OpenPetra currency table. If the account specified above is a foreign currency account, then this entry must match the currency of the account.

Validation Rules: If the currency is not the same as the base ledger currency, there must be a pair of entries in the Corporate Exchange Rate table for the month in question. (Incomplete Validation)

Exchange Rate To Base – [decimal] Required. Cannot be 0. Enter the exchange rate at the time the deposit was made. If the gift currency is the same as the base ledger, then exchange rate must be 1.

Validation Rules: The exchange rate must be a positive decimal. If the currency is the ledger base currency the rate must be 1.00.

Bank Cost Centre – [24ch. maximum] Required. The cost centre which is applied to the bank. Must be an active local posting cost centre for the ledger.

Validation Rules: The cost centre code must exist in the a_cost_centre table and must reference an active account. Import fails if the account is inactive. (Incomplete Validation)

Gift Type – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If blank, populate the field from MFinanceConstants.GIFT_TYPE_GIFT. If non-blank, must equal one of GIFT_TYPE_GIFT, GIFT_TYPE_GIFT_IN_KIND or GIFT_TYPE_OTHER.

Validation Rules: None! (Incomplete Validation)

Gift Record

Row Type - “T”

Validation Rules: There must be either 21 or 27 columns.

Donor Key – [Int64] Required. The partner key of the donor. The donor must be entered as a partner before the gift batch is imported. Note that if the donor's partner record has been merged into another partner, then the new partner key must be specified instead of the key of the merged record.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid key into the partner table, p_partner. Note that a partner key of 0 is treated as valid. (Is that right?) A merged partner key is not allowed. (Validation differs from spec.)

Donor Short Name – This field is included for compatibility with the Gift Batch Export. It is not used on import.

Method of Giving Code – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If not blank the option must be one that is defined in the Method of Giving table for your installation.

Validation Rules: None - apart from foreign key exception handling! (Incomplete Validation)

Method of Payment Code – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If not blank the option must be one that is defined in the Method of Payment table for your installation.

Validation Rules: None - apart from foreign key exception handling! (Incomplete Validation)

Reference – [20ch. maximum] Optional.

Validation Rules: None beyond the standard validation of the maximum length.

Receipt Letter Code – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If not blank the option must be one that is defined in the Form Letter Design table. (Does this table exist??)

Validation Rules: None! (Incomplete Validation)

Receipt Number (27 column version only) – [Int32] Optional. A receipt number. If blank it will default to 0. (Urgent - will default to -1!)

First Time Gift (27 column version only) – [Boolean] Optional. "yes" or "no". Enter yes to indicate a first time gift. Defaults to "no".

Receipt Printed (27 column version only) – [Boolean] Optional. "yes" or "no". Enter yes to indicate a receipt has been printed. Defaults to "no".

The following fields make up the gift 'detail'. If the "T" row field values for the previous columns match exactly the same columns in the previous "T" row, then this row is saved as part of the same gift as an additional gift detail.

Recipient Key – [Int64] Required. The partner key of the recipient in the p_partner table. Partner Class must be "FAMILY" or "UNIT". If Family, tnen special type (p_partner_type) must be "WORKER". Partner status must not be "MERGED".

Validation Rules: Partner key must be a valid, non-merged, partner that is either a FAMILY or UNIT. No check is made on the partner_type of a FAMILY. Note that the recipent key can be 0. (Incomplete Validation)

Recipient Short Name – This field is included for compatibility with the Gift Batch Export. It is not used on import.

Recipient Ledger Number (27 column version only) – [Int64] Optional. Meaning depends on recipient partner key type.

Gift Amount – [decimal] Required. The amount of this gift.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid non-zero decimal number. Can be positive or negative.

Gift Amount International (27 column version only) – [decimal] Optional. The amount of this gift in the ledger international currency. If blank a value of 0 will be used.

Confidential Gift Flag – [Boolean] Optional. "yes" or "no". Enter yes to indicate a confidential gift. Defaults to "no".

Validation Rules: If "yes" the value is taken as TRUE. Any other text, or none, is taken as FALSE.

Motivation Group Code – [16ch. maximum] Required. Select an entry from the installation's Motivation Group table for the active ledger.

Validation Rules: If the code is MOTIVATION_GROUP_GIFT and the recipient partner key cannot be 0. No check is yet made that the code specified exists. (Incomplete Validation)

Motivation Detail Code – [16ch. maximum] Required. Select an entry from the installations Motivation Detail table for the selected Motivation Group Code for the active ledger.

Validation Rules: No special validation. (Incomplete Validation)

Cost Centre Code (27 column version only) – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If specified, it must refer to an existing active cost centre.

Gift Comment 1 – [160ch. maximum] Optional. Long description of the gift.

Validation Rules: No special validation.

Gift Comment 1 Type – [160ch. maximum] Optional. If used, must contain a valid Gift Comment Type. Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 1 is used.

Validation Rules: Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 1 is specified. No check made on a specific value. (Incomplete Validation)

Mailing Code – [16ch. maximum] Optional. If used it must be a valid mailing code from the p_mailing table.

Validation Rules: No special validation. (Incomplete Validation)

Gift Comment 2 – [160ch. maximum] Optional. Long description of the gift.

Validation Rules: No special validation.

Gift Comment 2 Type – [160ch. maximum] Optional. If used, must contain a valid Gift Comment Type. Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 2 is used.

Validation Rules: Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 2 is specified. No check made on a specific value. (Incomplete Validation)

Gift Comment 3 – [160ch. maximum] Optional. Long description of the gift.

Validation Rules: No special validation.

Gift Comment 3 Type – [160ch. maximum] Optional. If used, must contain a valid Gift Comment Type. Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 3 is used.

Validation Rules: Cannot be blank if Gift Comment 3 is specified. No check made on a specific value. (Incomplete Validation)

Tax Deductible Flag – [Boolean] Optional. if blank, it will be filled from a_tax_deductible_flag_1 from the Motivation Detail.

Validation Rules: No special validation. (Urgent! This implementation is incorrect).

Date Entered – [Date] This field is currently not used. The code will need changing to implement it. (Urgent!)

Earlier Specification Prepared by Dwmosman in 2013

This specification has been retained so that it can be compared to the current implementation.

NOTE: This specification is a work in progress and has not yet been implemented. - Dwmosman 18:32, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

The purpose of this entry is to define the Gift Batch file layout and its validation requirements. The validation process should follow the OpenPetra validation framework.

Gift batch import records must be in CSV format. I.e., variable length fields separated by a delimiter (commonly a semi-colon, although commas are acceptable) with text fields enclosed in quotes. A position in the record must be left for each field, even if the field is empty.

Gift import batches consist of a batch header record followed by a collection of gift records.

Batch Header Record

Row Type - “B”

Batch Description – [80ch. maximum] Required. Gift batch description

Validation Rules: Cannot be empty field. Length must be 1-80 characters.

Bank Account Code – [16ch. maximum] Required. The bank account code for the batch. For a normal gift this should be an active bank account code. For "Gift in Kind" or "Other", it can be any active posting account.

Validation Rules: Cannot be empty. Must be an existing account in table a_account for the active ledger. Must be a posting account (a_posting_status_1). If gift type(a_gift_type_c) = MFinanceConstants.GIFT_TYPE_GIFT, then must be a bank account (a_account_property = "BANK ACCOUNT"). Generate a warning if the account is not an active account.

Hash Total – [decimal] Optional. If blank or 0, then this hash total will be ignored. If non-zero (plus or minus), then this will be compared against the sum of all gifts in the batch.

Validation Rules: If non-zero, then the hash total must equal the sum of the gift amounts from the batch.

GL Effective Date – [date] Required. The date must be within the date range of the current and open forward periods.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid date in the date format specified for the batch. Validate against period dates. Search for TFinancialYear.IsValidPostingPeriod. For an example, see csharp\ICT\Petra\Server\lib\MFinance\GL\GL.Importing.cs.

Currency Code – [16ch.] Must be a valid currency code from the OpenPetra currency table. If the account specified above is a foreign currency account, then this entry must match the currency of the account.

Validation Rules: The value must exist in table a_currency (a_currency_code_c). If the bank account specified above is a foreign currency account (a_foreign_currency_flag_1), then this field must match the currency of the account (a_foreign_currency_code_c).

Exchange Rate to Base – [decimal] Cannot be 0. Enter the exchange rate at the time the deposit was made. If the gift currency is the same as the base ledger, then exchange rate must be 1.

Validation Rules: Cannot be 0. If currency code above equals the currency of the active ledger, then exchange rate must equal 1.

Bank Cost Centre – [24ch.] The cost centre which is applied to the bank. Must be an active local posting cost centre for the ledger.

Validation Rules: Must be an existing entry in the cost centre table (a_cost_centre) for the active ledger with a_cost_centre_type_c = "Local" and a_posting_cost_centre_flag_1 = true. The user should be allowed to specify in the import dialog box that, in case of failure, a leading 0 should be added to the account (eg. "0300" instead of "300") and the lookup re-attempted.

Gift Type – [16ch.] Must be a valid gift type, "Gift", "Gift In Kind" or "Other".

Validation Rules: If blank, populate the field from MFinanceConstants.GIFT_TYPE_GIFT. If non-blank, must equal one of GIFT_TYPE_GIFT, GIFT_TYPE_GIFT_IN_KIND or GIFT_TYPE_OTHER (use the hard coded constants from Shared/lib/MFinance/Constants.cs, GIFT_TYPE_*)

Gift Record

Row Type - “T”

Donor Key – [Int64] The partner key of the donor. The donor must be entered as a partner before the gift batch is imported. Note that if the donors partner record has been merged into another partner, then the new partner key must be specified instead of the key of the merged record.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid key into the partner table, p_partner. However, if the partner status is "MERGED", then the new partner must have been used so the import will fail (ideally the new partner key that should have been used will be included in the error message).

Donor Short Name – This field is included for compatibility with the Gift Batch Export. It is not used on import.

Method of Giving Code – [16ch.] Select one of the options defined in the Method of Giving table for your installation.

Validation Rules: Must be an existing "a_method_of_giving_code_c" code in the Method of Giving table, a_method_of_giving.

Method of Payment Code – [16ch.] Select one of the options defined in the Method of Payment table for your installation.

Validation Rules: Must be an existing "a_method_of_payment_code_c" code in the Method of Payment table, a_method_of_payment.

Reference – [20ch.] Reference number/code for the gift transaction.

Validation Rules: Cannot be longer than 20 characters.

Receipt Letter Code – [16ch.] Optional. "<none>" is the same as blank. Otherwise select one of the values from your installations Form Letter Design table.

Validation Rules: If empty or "<none>", populate the field with "<none>". Otherwise, the entry must be an existing code (p_design_name_c) in the table p_form_letter_design.

Recipient Key – [Int64] Select the key of the recipient from the partner table.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid key (p_partner_key_n) from the partner table, p_partner. Class (p_partner_key_n) must be "FAMILY" or "UNIT". If Family, tnen special type (p_partner_type) must be "WORKER". Partner status must not be "MERGED".

Recipient Short Name – This field is included for compatibility with the Gift Batch Export. It is not used on import.

Gift Amount – [decimal] Enter the gift amount.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid non-zero decimal number. Can be positive or negative.

Confidential Gift Flag – [boolean] Optional. "yes" or "no". Enter yes to indicate a confidential gift. Defaults to "no".

Validation Rules: Must be "yes", "no" or blank. If blank, default to false.

Motivation Group Code – [16ch.] Select an entry from the installation's Motivation Group table for the active ledger.

Validation Rules: Must be a valid code (a_motivation_group_code_c) from the Motivation Group table, a_motivation_group, for the active ledger (a_ledger_number_i).

Motivation Detail Code– [16ch.] Select an entry from the installations Motivation Detail table for the selected Motivation Group Code for the active ledger

Validation Rules: Must be a valid entry in the Motivation Detail table, (a_motivation_detail: a_motivation_detail_code_c, a_ledger_number_i = active ledger, a_motivation_group_code_c = motivation group code) and with status = true (a_motivation_status_1). The motivation detail recipient key (p_recipient_key_n) must match the recipient key on the import record if they are both non-zero.

Cost Centre Code – This field is included for compatibility with the Gift Batch Export. It is not used on import.

Gift Comment One – [160ch.] Optional. Long description of the gift.

Validation Rules - Cannot be more than 160 characters in length. No need to check for SQL Injection if the SubmitChanges DataAccess Methods are used as these always use Parameterized SQL queries. With that kind of SQL queries the Gift Comment One will be a Parameter of Type string to the SQL query and the RDBMS will never execute Query Parameters as SQL, hence SQL Injection cannot happen.

Gift Comment One Type – Optional. If used, must contain a valid Gift Comment Type. Cannot be blank if Gift Comment One is used.

Validation Rules: - blank (cannot be blank if Gift Comment One is not blank) or a valid GIFT_COMMENT_TYPE. See Shared/lib/MFinance/Constants.cs, GIFT_COMMENT_TYPE*. (Note: that Constant.cs file is actually missing more constants: Donor, Recipient, Office)

Mailing Code – [16ch.] Optional. "<none>" is the same as blank. Otherwise select one of the values from your installations Mailing Code table.

Validation Rules: If empty or "<none>", populate the field with "<none>". Otherwise, the entry must be an existing code (p_mailing_code_c) in the table p_mailing.

Gift Comment Two - See Gift Comment One

Gift Comment Two Type - See Gift Comment One Type

Gift Comment Three - See Gift Comment One

Gift Comment Three Type - See Gift Comment One type

Tax Deductable [boolean] Optional. if blank, it will be filled from a_tax_deductible_flag_1 from the Motivation Detail.

Validation Rules - Must be blank, "yes" or "no". If blank, then the field will be populated from the a_tax_deductible_flag_1 field from the selected Motivation Detail.

Date Entered – [date] Optional. If blank, the gift batch effective date is used.

Validation Rules: Must be blank or a valid date in the specified import format. If blank, then the field is populated from the batch effective date.