Choosing an External ID
You must make sure that the external ID for a bank format record is unique, meaningful, structured, and relatively short. Remember that you might want to update many external IDs in an exported JSON file with a single search and replace. Do not include spaces.
A good external ID indicates some or all of the following:
- The target bank format, such as PO3, ABA
- Its output sequence
- Its place within the object model hierarchy
Example
A bank has sent us a bank file format specification for a new bank format. It has a header, a detail section, and two footers. The header has two bank format definition fields, the detail has five fields, the first footer has three fields, and the second footer has eight fields.
Here are example external IDs:
Name | External ID | |
---|---|---|
Bank Format Definition | My Bank Format | MBF |
Header
Name | Output Sequence | External ID | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank Format Definition Record Type | MBF Header Record Type | 1 | MBF_1 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Header Record Value | 1 | MBF_1_1 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Header Blank 1 | 2 | MBF_1_2 |
Detail
Name | Output Sequence | External ID | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank Format Definition Record Type | MBF Detail Record Type | 2 | MBF_2 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Detail Record Value | 1 | MBF_2_1 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Detail Blank 1 | 2 | MBF_2_2 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Detail Account Name | 3 | MBF_2_3 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Detail Blank 2 | 4 | MBF_2_4 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Detail Total Amount | 5 | MBF_2_5 |
Footer 1
Name | Output Sequence | External ID | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank Format Definition Record Type | MBF Footer 1 Record Type | 3 | MBF_3 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 1 Record Value | 1 | MBF_3_1 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 1 Blank 1 | 2 | MBF_3_2 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 1 Total Amount | 3 | MBF_3_3 |
Footer 2
Name | Output Sequence | External ID | |
---|---|---|---|
Bank Format Definition Record Type | MBF Footer 2 Record Type | 4 | MBF_4 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Record Value | 1 | MBF_4_1 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Blank 1 | 2 | MBF_4_2 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Total Amount | 3 | MBF_4_3 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Total Number of Lines | 4 | MBF_4_4 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Blank 2 | 5 | MBF_4_5 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Company Name | 6 | MBF_4_6 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Blank 3 | 7 | MBF_4_7 |
Bank Format Definition Field | MBF Footer 2 Bank Account Name | 8 | MBF_4_8 |