POL00038907 - Impact Programme - POL FS to SAPADS - Application Interface Specification (Issue No: 0.2)

Evidence on official site

POL00038907
POL00038907

Impact Programme: <>
POL FS to SAPADS Cexansa

IMPACT PROGRAMME:
POL FS To SAPADS

APPLICATION INTERFACE SPECIFICATION

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Document Contro!

Authorisations

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Role Name

Signed Date

Programme Manager Tony Brain

Reviewers

Name Reviewer(s)

Role & Review Responsibilities

Torstein Godeseth

PO Ltd Design Authority

Peter Jones

PO Ltd Test Manager

Jacqui Cave

PO Ltd Test Team

Distribution List

Name

Organisation

Jill Hollindale (for Prism distribution)

Prism IMPACT Programme Office

Debbie Shirley (for PO Ltd distribution)

Post Office Ltd IMPACT Programme Office

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POL FS to SAPADS

Table of Contents

1. Change Control
1.1 Change Process

1.2 Change History...
2. Introduction...

2.1 Purpose ...

2.3 Background ...
2.4 Terms & Abbreviations ....
2.5 Field Formats.

2.6 Reference Documentation,

2.7 Contacts
2.8 Audience.
3. Interface Details

3.1 Interface Diagram.
3.2 Data Flow ....

3.3 POLFS to SAPADS Cash Account Payments Mapping

3.4 Data Overview...

3.5 File Structure Overview ...
3.6 File Format...
3.7 File Types...

3.8 Delivery Details . 15
3.9 Volumes Anticipated. 15

3.10 Interface Availability
3.11 File Transfer ....

3.12 Fallback & Exception Processing...

3.13 Interface Security ...
3.14 Extract Rules ...

3.15 Load Rules ..

3.16 Issues ....

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Interface Diagram
Figure 2 Data Flow Diagram .

List of Tables

Table 1 Change History.
Table 2 Terms and Abbreviations

Table 3 Field Formats
Table 4 Reference Docum
Table 5 Contacts and Contributors

Table 6 POLFS to SAPADS Cash Accounts Payments Mapping

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1. Change Control

1.1 Change Process

POL00038907
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Any changes to the draft version of this document will be made, controlled and distributed by:

Steve Greenaway
Consultant
Xansa

Barker Lane
Chesterfield
S40 1DY

1.2 Change History

Issue Author Date History
0.1 (draft) I Steve Greenaway 11" August 2004 Initial draft of document
0.2 Steve Greenaway 16! August 2004 Updated to reflect:

= File format changed to match
existing interfaces.

= Clarification of required data
records.

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Table 1 Change History

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2. Introduction

2.1 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to define the Cash Account Payments interface required from the
POL Finance System (POLFS) to the SAP Advanced Distribution System (SAPADS). This interface
handles the transfer of Cash Account Payment information from POLFS for subsequent upload into
SAPADS.

2.2 Scope

The scope of this document is restricted to electronic data, which is both computer-generated and
computer-consumed and relates specifically to the transfer of data from the POL Finance System to
the SAP Advanced Distribution System.

The specification describes the format and volumes of the data files to be passed across the interface.
The data to be interfaced will be described and backed up with diagrams and appendices when
thought necessary. The structure of the interface in terms of file and record layouts is also given.

This document, once signed off, will be subject to change control procedures.

2.3 Background

Flexible planning uses Payment information as part of the calculation for outward remittances. The
Payments information it uses is Pension & Allowance, Green Giros, Giro Payments and Working
Family Tax Credits. "Universal Bank" payments are also used. Universal Bank data is considered to
be made up of Card Account withdrawals, Card Account emergency payments, Alliance and Leicester
withdrawals and Link withdrawals.

Currently, SAPADS receives the Payment information on a weekly basis from CBDB in a flat file
format. The CBDB system is due to be replaced by the new POL Finance System, POLFS. Therefore
a new interface is required to obtain the Cash Account Payment information from POLFS.

The required data will be extracted daily from POLFS in a flat file format and will be placed onto a
UNIX directory from where it will be interfaced into SAPADS via FTP.

The file will contain Payment information for the following Cash Account lines:

¢ 1028 Alliance and Leicester Withdrawals
e 1031 Working Family Tax Credit

¢ = 1033 Link Withdrawals

¢ 1034 Card Account Withdrawal

e 1040 Card Account Emergency Payments
e 1066 Pensions and Allowances.

¢ 1071 Green Giros

e 1072 Giro Payments

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2.4 Terms & Abbreviations

ppl pe
CBDB Counters Business Database
FAD Financial Accounting Description — a code which identifies the PO branch
FTP File Transfer Protocol
IMPACT Improved Accounting programme, a PO Ltd initiative to rationalise back-end
systems and processes.
POL Post Office Limited
POLFS POL Finance System
SAPADS. SAP Advanced Distribution System
SAP R/3 SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to

manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials,
personnel, plants, and archived documents.

Table 2 Terms and Abbreviations

2.5 Field Formats

Numeric digit

xI

Alphanumeric character

: Floating minus sign

Digit of year

Digit of month
Digit of day

ol ZI <

Explicit decimal point

Table 3 Field Formats

2.6 Reference Documentation

A PO Ltd Financial Systems Release 3 1.0 01/06/2004
Conceptual Design

Table 4 Reference Documentation

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2.7 Contacts

Xansa Philip Godden

Xansa Lee Sherwood '
Xansa Catherine Pierce
csc Robin Marsh

Table 5 Contacts and Contributors

2.8 Audience
e POLtd IMPACT Programme Design Authority and Test Team

e Prism Alliance

3. interface Details

3.1 Interface Diagram
The diagram shows the high level systems infrastructure involved with the interface.

The extracted data is initially dropped onto the POLFS server and an automated FTP pulls it across to
the SAPADS server whereby the data is uploaded into the system.

[0 ee ee ~  aliedieeieeiaaiainaliael _
I { FTP Pull by SAPADS: \
I from the POLFS Server I
Extract File dropped
I onto POLFS Server I
I
\ POLFS (externally hosted), Ne Northen Data Centre
POLFS to SAPADS interface
Figure 1 Interface Diagram
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3.2 Data Flow

The following schematic illustrates the data flow from POLFS to SAPADS.

~
~~ Cash Account Payment me,
from POLFS
1628 Alkan and Lsicosiar Withdraws!
oa \
a
I aN
/ Cash Account Payment Line
A from POLFS \
~__ 108 Wosting Ferty Tax Cet _ \
ee
Jeraocedy,
a \
/ ~~ Gash Account Payment Line 7. \
/ from POLFS n \
4092 Link Withers
/~ aN \\
i/ / Jano
4
If, 7 Cash Account Payment Line 7 »~ y
UA from POLFS Sn 4
1104 Care Accouns Withdeanwat A
ta!
BFAD Cale SAP ADS

—_— _
Cash Account Payment Line
from POLFS:
sa Ga Aa Ene ar
S FAD Cade
\ YY /,

“Seah Account Paymen Account Payment Line a a /
from POLFS Y Jo
\ 1068 Benen Neer a

eo aa Cash Account Payment Line ”
from POLES.
~ 1071 Green Girne
ey ca real “
77 Gash Account Payment Line” 7
from POLFS
1072 Giro Payments
—
Data Flow
Figure 2 Data Flow Diagram
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3.3 POLFS to SAPADS Cash Account Payments Mapping

The following table identifies the POLFS source of data mapped to the SAPADS Cash Account
Payment lines.

POLFS POLFS Item Description SAPADS SAPADS Cash Account Line
Itemid I . CashA/C I Description
Line Type
Code
4908 A&L Commercial Account Cash 1028 Alliance & Leicester Withdrawal
Withdrawal
5563 A&L BBA Cash Withdrawal 1028 Alliance & Leicester Withdrawal
5568 A&L Savings Account Cash Withdrawal 1028 Alliance & Leicester Withdrawal
5001 Inland Revenue Child Benefit - Order 1031 Working Family Tax Credit
Book System (OBCS)
4911 Abbey National BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
4913 Bank of Ireland BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
4915 First Trust Bank BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
4917 Barclays Bank Plc BBA Cash Withdrawal I 1033 Link Withdrawals
4918 Lloyds TSB BBA Cash Withdrawal With 1033 Link Withdrawals
Balance
4920 Nationwide Building Society BBA Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
4922 HSBC BBA Cash Withdrawal With 1033 Link Withdrawals
Balance
4923 The Co-Operative Bank BBA Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
5032 Clydesdale Bank Plc BBA Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
5033 Halifax BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
5035 NatWest BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
5037 Northem Bank BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
5039 Royal Bank of Scotland BBA Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
5041 Ulster Bank BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals.
5043 Yorkshire Bank Plc BBA Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
5054 Barclays Bank Plc Commercial Accounts I 1033 Link Withdrawals
Cash Withdrawal
5055 Lloyds TSB Commercial Account Cash 1033 Link Withdrawals
Withdrawal
5393 Bank of Scotland BBA Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals
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POLFS I POLFSItem Description == ==—(I SAPADS___I SAPADS Cash Account Line
Item Id Cash A/C Description
Code

5585 : NS&l EASA Cash Withdrawal : : 1033 ] Link Withdrawals

5789 smile Debit Card Cash Withdrawal 1033 Link Withdrawals

5790 The Co-operative Bank Current Account 1033 Link Withdrawals
Cash Withdrawal

4925 card account at Post Office Cash 1034 Card Account Withdrawal
Withdrawal

4927 card account at Post Office Withdraw 1034 Card Account Withdrawal
Limit

4907 Card account at Post Office emergency I 1040 Card Account Emergency Payments
payments

177 P&A Group 5 Child Benefit - Order Book 1066 Pensions and Allowances
System (OBCS)

178 P&A Group 6 War Pension - Order Book I 1066 Pensions and Allowances
System (OBCS)

179 P&A Group 7 Disability - Order Book 1066 Pensions and Allowances
System (OBCS)

181 P&A Group 10 Comb Benefit - Order 1066 Pensions and Allowances
Book System (OBCS)

182 P&A Group 11 Income Sup - Order Book I 1066 Pensions and Allowances
System (OBCS)

183 P&A Group 12 Industrial Injury - Order 1066 Pensions and Allowances
Book System (OBCS)

184 P&A Group 13 Retirement Pension - 1066 Pensions and Allowances
Order Book System (OBCS)

185 P&A Group 14 Invalidity Benefit - Order 1066 Pensions and Allowances
Book System (OBCS)

291 Grp 05 - Child Benefit - (NI ) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

292 Grp 06 - War Pens/Mobility Allowance (I 1066 Pensions and Allowances
NI)

293 Grp 11 - Income Support ( NI ) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

294 Grp 12 - Industrial Injury/Death Benefit (I 1066 Pensions and Allowances
NI)

295 Grp 13 - Retirement Pension (NI ) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

296 Grp 14 - Invalidity Pension ( NI ) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

297 Grp 09 - Prescrip. Refund ( NI) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

299 Grp 07 - Disability Allowance ( NI ) 1066 Pensions and Allowances

306 Grp 09 - Prescription Refund 1066 Pensions and Allowances

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POLFS POLES Item Description SAPADS SAPADS Cash Account Line
Item Id Cash A/C Description

Line Type

Code
192 Green Girocheque 1074 Green Giros
300 Violet Girocheque Cashed ( NI ) 1071 Green Giros
235 Giro Personal Withdrawal 1072 Giro Payments
237 Giro Linksave Withdrawal 1072 Giro Payments
240 Giro Business Withdrawal > oe 1000 1072 Giro Payments
4565 Girobank Business Withdrawals Less 1072 Giro Payments

Than 021000

Table 6 POLFS to SAPADS Cash Accounts Payments Mapping

3.4 Data Overview

The interface will be in flat file, fixed length format. All data will be transferred in one or more files and
each file has a header record, content records and a trailer record.

The interface file will contain the following:

3.4.4 Header Record

Identifier Source System Date

File Name

3.4.2 Content Record(s}

Identifier Date Branch Id

Item Id

Cash Account Line I Value
Type Code

3.4.3 Trailer Record

Identifier Record Count

3.4.4 Delimiters

Fields will be fixed length.

If a Character field is empty it will be populated by spaces.

If a Numeric field is empty it will be populated by zeros.

Each line will be ended with the character return of ASCII 10.

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3.4.5 Data Types
The format of each of the data types is defined using the Oracle SQL Server convention.
The character set used is ASCII.

Type Size & Description

CHAR(n) Fixed length character string of n bytes. Left justified and space filled

VARCHAR(n) Variable length character string of n bytes. Left justified

NUMBER(n) An integer with a total of n ASCII digits (this is not binary). Right
justified and zero filled.

DATETIME Fixed length character string with the format ccyymmdd999999 where
the time uses the GMT 24 hour clock and includes seconds. Leading
zeros will be used. Time format = HHMMSS.

DATE Fixed length character string with the format ccyymmyy. Leading
zeros will be used

3.5 File Structure Overview

The file structure for Cash Payments is CSV, as illustrated below:
“Identifier”"20040804”"123456""1234""1234567890""99999999999.99”
For example:

PAYHRPOLFS20040804pf20040804001 pay
PAYCR200408040049254908 10282230.00
PAYCR20040804004925556310281510.00
PAYCR20040804004925556810282231.07
PAYCR200408040049255001 10316914.25
PAYCR20040804004925491 110331202.20

PAYTROO0000028

3.6 File Format

POLFS will provide a single original file per day (so the number reference will be 001). However, if
subsequent files are sent on the same day then the number will increase sequentially. Given that the
fact that the file will be always be generated for the day before, the filename date (and the trading date
on content records) will be “yesterday” i.e. relate to the day of trading within the Branch.

e POLFS will provide a flat fixed length file.
e All fields are fixed and will include leading zeroes where necessary.

e All values are positive (no signs).

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The transfer filename structure is based upon the header record details:

xxyyyymmddnnn.pay

Where xx is the identifier for the source system and is fixed, yyyymmdd is the current date and
mn is the unique incremental number for the file.

File Type (Logical Name)

File Name

Cash Account Payments

pf20040804001.pay

3.6.2 Header Record File Format

The format of the header record is specified as follows:

Field name Description Format I Comments oF

Identifier A unique identifier for the I CHAR(S) The Header Record type. Value =
header “PAYHR”

Source System I The name of the system CHAR@®) @g. POLFS
sourcing the data

Date The current date CHAR(8) e.g. 20040804

File Name A unique file name for that VARCHAR(17) Must be the same as the terminal
day name of the Physical file. e.g.

pf20040804001 pay

3.6.3 Content Record File Format

The format of the content record is specified as follows:

Field name Description Format Comments

Identifier A unique identifier for the CHAR(5) The Content Record type. Value =
content records “PAYCR”

Date The date of trading day DATE(8) @.g. 20040804

Branch The unique branch CHAR(6) Six digit (FAD) code excluding the check
identification number digit

Group Code The Horizon Item Id CHAR() I e.g. 4908

Article The Cash Account Line Type I CHAR(10) I eg. 1028
Code

Value The value for the item CURR(13) e.g. 99999999999.99

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3.6.4 Trailer Record File Format

The format of the trailer record is specified as follows:

Field name Description Format Comments i
Identifier A unique identifier for the CHAR(14) The Trailer Record type. Value =
trailer “PAYTR”
Record Count The number of records in the NUM(10) The count of all data records i.e. the
file count of all header, content and trailer
records in the file e.g. 0000000028.

3.7 File Types
e All fields are mandatory unless otherwise stated.
« Records should be sorted as follows

— Detail records in Branch Identifier order

3.8 Delivery Details
The proposed file transmission window is advised as follows:

The data must be available to SAPADS by 8.00am on Day B, where day A = trading day. A file is
expected every day, Monday to Saturday.

3.9 Volumes Anticipated
POLFS will supply 1 file per day.

All current Cash Account Payment lines will be included in the file (currently 8, but will be reduced by 1
at some point in the future).

If each branch sends details for all current Cash Account Payment lines, then the total number of
records would be approximately 128,000 records.

3.10 Interface Availability

The interface will be provided on a daily basis, overnight. A file is expected each day and all daily files
should be received by SAPADS prior to 01:00 on the Sunday ready for the SAP ADS Weekly Planning
run.

3.11 File Transfer
FTMS should be used in line with the existing file transfer mechanism.
Acknowledgement processing in line with the current file transmissions should also be used.

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3.12 Fallback & Exception Processing

SAPADS is to poll for the interface file on a daily basis. In the event that a file is not located, the
system is to assume that there is a fault and consequently an alert will be raised to systems
management.

In the event of a file being detected but upload or processing fails, an error is also logged and an alert
should be raised through systems management. It is assumed that any faults will be resolved in
accordance with agreed service level agreements. File generation is the responsibility of POLFS.

Standard Error Messaging will also be used.

3.13 Interface Security

File transfer from the POLFS server to SAPADS is though an FTP Pull by the SAPADS system using
standard FTP account and passwords.

3.14 Extract Rules
3.14.1 Data Validation
The following main data validation rules should be used.
Header Data:
= Ensure the Identifier is correct
= Ensure Source System is valid
= Ensure Date is valid
= Ensure File Name is valid
Content Records:
= Ensure the Identifier is correct

= Trading Date should be valid (i.e. a valid date that is not after the date when the file is
created)

= Branch FAD is valid
= — Item Id is valid
= Cash Account Line Type is correct
= The Item Value is correct
Trailer Data:
= Ensure the Identifier is correct
= Ensure the Record Count is correct

3.14.2 Transmission Validation

There should be 1 file to be sent per transmission and a file is expected each day.

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3.15 Load Rules

A file is to be completely rejected if any of the above is found not to be correct. In all cases of
exceptions, the reason for failure should be captured, an alert raised and all contained within a report
for systems management and end user use where applicable.

In addition, the following rules apply:
e When the data is received into SAPADS:
— It will be processed.
— The SAPADS flexible planning calculations should be applied per individual outlet.
e Leading zeros (0) on the Branch Id is the norm.

e Re-sends should be accommodated.

3.16 issues

001 Grouping of Products in the I Decision to be made if POLFS
extract file by relevant Products are to be
Payment Line grouped or not
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