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Planning for File Parser and External Award Processing

Use the File Parser utility to map external award data files and convert data to the External Award staging tables. The delivered External Award context definition defines the target External Award staging tables, fields, and mapping action. Use this section to determine how to create File Parser mapping definitions for external award processing.

This section discusses how to:

The context definition identifies the target table that the File Parser populates with external data. A context definition identifies the hierarchy of the target record structure and fields available to be mapped and updated. Your Campus Solution database is provided with the context definition for the External Award process. The External Award context definition contains the External Award Stage records and fields, which are the target records for mapping any external data file for the External Award process. Do not change any record or fields defined in the External Award context definition unless you need to reduce the number of fields that are visible for mapping.

Use the File Mapping Definition component to map and define a data file to be converted to target staging tables. The key element in a File Mapping definition is the context definition to be referenced. After you identify the context definition, identify the external data file layout. The external fields are then mapped to the available target records and fields.

Use the File Definition tab to identify the context definition and general attributes of the data file to be processed. Use the External Award Load context definition for external files that contain data that you want to convert and update the external award staging tables. If your external file has multiple row types, then only identify the row types that have data that you want to convert.

Use the File Layout tab to identify the external file fields and format.

Use the Mapping tab to define how the target staging table and fields are updated when the external file is processed. For example, your external file probably contains a field comparable to the required SFA_EA_REPORT_CD field on the staging table record SFA_EASTAGE_DTL. On the Mapping tab for this field, set the Mapping Action field to Default Value and enter A=Append, R=Replace, or N=New. When the external file is processed, the SFA_EA_REPORT_CD field is then populated with that value.

The record layout and field definitions describe the External Award staging tables. The layout also identifies which fields are visible for mapping in the File Parser Mapping Definition component. The four records are:

  • SFA_EASTAGE_HDR: The header record, which contains the highest keys.

  • SFA_EASTAGE_DTL: The award details at an annual award level.

  • SFA_EASTAGE_DSB: Award disbursement details.

  • SFA_EASTAGE_CNT: Summary counter and amounts.

External Award Stage Header Record and Fields

This is the parent record to the SFA_EASTAGE_DTL and SFA_ESTAGE_DSB records.

Field Name

Description

Visible for Mapping

Comment

SFA_EA_TRANS_NBR

Transaction number

  

Key assigned by the system.

TRANSACTION_DATE

Transaction date

  

Assigned by the File Staging process.

PROCESS_INSTANCE

Process instance

    

SFA_EA_TRANS_SRCE

Transaction source

  

Assigned by the system. 01 = Manual Entry, 02 = External Data file, 03 = Loan Certification file (not currently used), 04 = Student Financials Feed, 05 = Self Service.

OPRID

User ID

  

Assigned by the File Staging process.

SCCFP_MAP_ID

File mapping ID

  

Assigned by the system.

FILENAME

File name

  

Assigned by the File Staging process.

CPS_SCHOOL_CODE

School code

Yes

Not currently used.

Context Definition is Visible for Mapping.

SFA_EA_STDNT_COUNT

Transaction student count

  

Field exists on the SFA_EASTAGE_CNT record. If mapped, the field is used to capture source transaction student count.

SFA_EA_AWARD_TOTAL

Transaction award total

  

Field exists on the SFA_EASTAGE_CNT record. If mapped, the field is used to capture source transaction award total.

SFA_EA_RSLT_COUNT

Actual count

  

Number of row counts in SFA_EASTAGE_DTL when source is external file.

SFA_EA_RSLT_TOTAL

Actual total

  

Sum of awards in SFA_EASTAGE_DT, when source is external file.

SFA_EA_FILE_STATUS

File read status

  

Assigned by the File Staging process.

PKG_STATUS_CD

Packaging status

  

Error number. Assigned by File Staging process.

External Award Stage Detail Record and Fields

This is the child record to the SFA_EASTAGE_HDR record.

Field Name

Description

Visible for Mapping

Comment

SFA_EA_TRANS_NBR

Transaction number

  

Key assigned by the system

SFA_EA_SEQNO

Sequence number

  

Key assigned by the system

NATIONAL_ID

National ID

Yes

Available as a Search/Match element. If EMPLID is provided, the Search/Match routine is bypassed.

BIRTHDATE

Date of birth

Yes

Available as a Search/Match element. If EMPLID is provided, the Search/Match routine is bypassed.

LAST_NAME

Last name

Yes

Available as a Search/Match element. If EMPLID is provided, the Search/Match routine is bypassed.

FIRST_NAME

First name

Yes

Available as a Search/Match element. If EMPLID is provided, the Search/Match routine is bypassed

MIDDLE_NAME

Middle name

Yes

Available as a Search/Match element. If EMPLID is provided, the Search/Match routine is bypassed.

EMPLID

Employee ID

Yes

If EMPLID is provided, then Search/Match parameters are bypassed during the External Award Load process.

INSTITUTION

Academic Institution

   

AID_YEAR

Aid Year

    

ACAD_CAREER

Academic Career

Yes

(Optional) The External Award Load process uses an active career, as determined from the FA Term record for the student ID. If the student has multiple careers within one aid year, the External Award Load process errors out with a message indicating that the student has more than one active career. If you are running the External Award Load process from batch, you can allow the External Award Load process to post an external award transaction to the first active career found.

SFA_EA_PROC_STAT

Processing Status

 

The processing status of the External Award transaction:

  • Unprocessed: All transactions start with this value except student-reported aid (Self Service).

  • Processed: Indicates a successful External Award Load.

  • Error:

  • Adjusted: Assigned as a result of Multi-Career batch option, Term Mismatch batch option, or a reduction by the Engine (in the case of a loan certification request).

  • Duplicate: Assigned during EA Load. If the reporting code is New and the student's award package already has Financial Aid Item Type posted, the External Award Load process returns Duplicate. The status can also be changed manually to Duplicate.

  • Suspend: Based on the Search/Match option.

  • Skip: Based on the Search/Match option, Multi-Career batch option, or Term Mismatch batch option.

  • In Progress: Assigned to transactions selection for a particular External Award Load process. Thus, if the program terminates during processing, batch transactions remain at this status. Change the value manually for the batch to be selected again by the External Award Load process.

  • Reported: Assigned to all new External Awards with data source of Self Service.

SFA_EA_PROC_DTTM

Date/Time Processed

    

SFA_EA_EA_TYPE

External Award Type

Yes

(Optional) If no financial aid item type is provided, then external award attributes of Type, Source, or Program code are reviewed against External Award Cross-Reference item type setup.

SFA_EA_SOURCE

External Award Source

Yes

(Optional) If no financial aid item type is provided, then external award attributes of Type, Source, or Program code are reviewed against External Award Cross-Reference item Type setup.

SFA_EA_PROGRAM_CD

External Award Program Code

Yes

(Optional)

SFA_EA_LOAN_CERT

Loan Certification

Yes

(Optional) Indicates external award data is based on a Loan Certification Request. If yes, then a corresponding Related Item Type Group or Item Type value must be identified. If yes, Reporting Code becomes New by default.

See Awarding Loan Certifications as External Awards.

SFA_EA_REPORT_CD

Reporting Code

Yes

(Required) Determines how transaction data is posted to a student's award package:

  • New: If item type to be posted already exists, the External Award Load process sets the transaction to Error. This is used ideally for external awards reported once each aid year.

  • Replace: The default value when you are entering transactions manually. Use this value to change existing annual and disbursement details of an award. If item type to be posted does not already exist, the External Award Load process treats transaction as if Reporting Code value were New. Be careful when using the Replace value and providing only term amount details. See NET_AWARD_AMT field to understand how field amount is determined.

  • Append: Use this value to add an amount to an existing award. Append transactions can increase the annual award amounts for specific disbursement IDs. If item type to be posted does not already exist, the External Award Load process treats the transaction as if Reporting Code is New.

ITEM_TYPE

Item Type

Yes

If this field is blank, the External Award Load process uses the External Award Item Type Cross Reference setup to determine the item type to be added or updated.

REL_ITEM_TYPE

Related Item Group

Yes

Available only when Loan Certification equals Yes. This value is intended to determine Stafford eligibility. The Related Item Type group should identify both Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford item types.

See Awarding Loan Certifications as External Awards.

DESCR

Description

Yes

(Optional) Enter a 30-character award description. The description is displayed in Self Service.

DISBURSEMENT_PLAN

Disbursement Plan

Yes

(Optional) If provided, the disbursement plan (DP) is used. If the disbursement plan is not provided, the default DP from the item type's career default DP/Split Code (SC) is used. If no default DP/SC is defined for career, a DP/SC is used from the student's term enrollment. If a DP/SC is not found, External Award Load errors out the transaction.

For Replace/Append transactions, this must be the same value used on the posted (noncanceled) award. A Split code does not need to be provided if a Disbursement Plan code exists. Providing only a Disbursement Plan code allows the External Award Load process to establish the term disbursement structure and define the specific distribution based on amounts provided in transaction.

SPLIT_CODE

Split Code

Yes

(Optional) If provided, this split code is used to determine the disbursement split formula. Split code is set to XX if disbursement data is provided on the External Award transaction.

NET_AWARD_AMT

Net Award Amount

Yes

(Optional) The annual amount to be posted. If scheduled disbursement amounts are provided, the cumulative scheduled disbursement amounts must equal the net award amount. If this field is blank, and scheduled disbursement detail is provided, then the net award amount is assigned the sum of scheduled disbursement amounts.

DISBURSED_AMOUNT

Disbursed Amount

Yes

(Optional) The total disbursed amount to be posted. If disbursement detail amounts are provided, the cumulative amounts must equal the disbursed amount. If this field is blank and disbursement detail is provided, then disbursed amount is assigned the sum of the disbursement detail amounts.

Note: The disbursed amount on the posted award is updated only when the disburse method for the item type is No.

SFA_EA_PAY_STATUS

Paid Status

Yes

(Optional) Indicates that the annual amount has been fully paid to the student. If you select Yes, the annual disbursed amount is equal to the net award amount.

Note: The disbursed amount on the posted award is updated only when the Disburse method for the item type is No.

SFA_EA_ADJ_REASON

Adjustment Reason

Yes

(Optional) Use this 3-character field to capture additional information. Any data mapped to this field is visible when you are viewing external award transaction data.

SFA_EA_INELIGIBLE

Ineligibility Reason Code

Yes

(Optional) Use this 3-character field to capture additional information. Any data mapped to this field is visible when you are viewing external award transaction data.

SFA_EA_SUSPEND_RSN

Suspense Reason

  

1-character suspense code. Currently not being used.

SFA_EA_LOAD_ERROR

Load Error Code

  

External Award Load Error Message codes are maintained in the Message Catalog/Message Set Number = 14402/Message Set range 600s.

SFA_EA_SS_VISIBLE

Self Service Visible Code

  

Yes/No. This field is available on the Award Detail component for each external award transaction. Select Yes to show the DESCRLONG value as award detail in Self Service.

FIN_AID_TYPE

Financial Aid Type

  

Used by External Award Load process to evaluate award posting.

DESCRLONG

Description

  

Used with the SFA_EA_SS_VISIBLE field. If the Visible field is selected, descriptions entered are available for the student to view in Self Service, Reporting Outside Aid-Award Details.

External Award Stage Disbursement Record and Fields

This is the child record to the SFA_EASTAGE_DTL record.

Field

Description

Visible for Mapping

Comment

SFA_EA_TRANS_NBR

Transaction number

  

A key assigned by the system.

SFA_EA_SEQNO

Sequence number

  

A key assigned by the system.

SFA_EA_DISB_SEQNO

Disbursement Sequence

Yes.

(Required) A key assigned by system. It represents each unique disbursement detail for the transaction.

If you map several disbursement detail rows from an external file, when you define the mapping, set Mapping Action to become a 2-digit numeric value by default. This ensures that the key is created when the external file is processed.

STRM

Term

Yes

(Optional) If provided, the External Award Load process determines whether it is valid with the student's enrollment. If a disbursement ID is not provided, then the first disbursement ID for STRM is updated.

DISBURSEMENT_ID

Disbursement ID

Yes

(Optional) Use to append the disbursement amount to an existing award.

SCHEDULED_AWARD

Scheduled Award

Yes

The scheduled or allocated disbursement amount at the disbursement sequence level.

DISBURSED_AMOUNT

Disbursed Amount

Yes

The disbursed or paid amount at the disbursement sequence level.

Note: The disbursed amount on the posted award is updated only when the Disburse method for the item type is No.

SFA_EA_PAY_STATUS

Paid Status

Yes

(Optional) Identify the paid status at the disbursement sequence level. If you select Yes, the disbursement sequence amount is equal to the resulting scheduled award amount.

Note: The disbursed amount on the posted award is updated only when the Disburse method for the item type is No.

External Award Stage Counter Record and Fields

This is the child record to the SFA_EASTAGE_HDR record.

Field Name

Description

Visible for Mapping

Comment

SFA_EA_TRANS_NBR

Transaction number

  

A key assigned by the system.

SFA_EA_STDNT_COUNT

  

Yes

If mapped, this field is used to capture source transaction student count, but no processing logic is associated with the field.

SFA_EA_AWARD_TOTAL

  

Yes

If mapped, this field is used to capture source transaction award total, but no processing logic is associated with the field.