SECTIONSAnalyzing the Bank File Format Specification
Banks ask for electronic payments in a specific format. Each bank publishes a file format specification with guidance on how to format and structure the bank file.
An example specification is the ABA or Cemtext file format document issued by the Australian Bankers Association (ABA).
You must analyze this document:
- How is the file structured (header, details, footer)?
- Is alphabetic data in upper case?
- How does the app know when one field ends and the next starts?
- Is this indicated by its position on the line or are values separated by commas?
- What happens if the data is shorter than the field?
- Is there an end of line character?
When you have all the information that you need, you are ready to create bank format definitions, bank format mappings, and mapping joins.