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Customer Interface

Use Customer Interface to import and validate current or historical customer information from other systems into Receivables. Once customer information is imported into the system, you can use Customer Interface to import additional data for that customer (such as additional contacts or addresses) and to update existing information. You can also manually update and enter new information using the Customer windows.

The following diagram shows how customer information is imported into the customer tables.

Customer Interface Validation Rules

The Customer Interface program validates the data you load in the Customer Interface tables by ensuring that the columns in the interface tables reference the appropriate values and columns in the rest of the system. The interface supports the same data relationship for customer information as the customer window. See: Customer Overview.

Customer Interface will not create location combinations for foreign locations. The system considers a customer's address to be foreign if the country segment is not the same as the Default Country you defined in the System Options window. See: Defining Receivables System Options.

If you are trying to perform updates, Customer Interface ensures that the record to be updated either already exists within the system or is in the interface table in the insert mode.

Additionally, Customer Interface ensures that certain column values are consistent with each other. For example, if a profile class is not assigned to a customer, the interface program ensures that interest charge, collector, discount terms, and other profile class information is defined in the appropriate columns.

Customer Interface also ensures that records marked for insertion are unique.

Import Program

An import program is a custom program that you write which converts data from your feeder system into a standard data format that Customer Interface can read. The data can then be transferred into the Receivables interface tables. Once the import data is loaded into the interface tables, you can run Customer Interface to validate the data and convert it into Receivables customer information.

The type of feeder program you write depends on the environment from which you are importing data. For example, you can use SQL*Loader, SQL*Report, PL/SQL, or C to write an import program to import data from a non-Oracle system. You can also write a conversion program to import historical data from your original customer database. Regardless of the type of import program you write, the output should be in a standard data format that Customer Interface can use to import the information into Receivables.

See Also

Preparing Receivables

Interface Data Required to Run Customer Interface

System Tables Updated by Customer Interface

A Sample Customer Import

Importing Customers Using Customer Interface

Customer Interface Transfer Report

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