Choosing Which Records Are Selected

The system is delivered with some background processes that utilize the Select Records plug-in spot to select the records to be processed. It is important to note that these background processes do not utilize the Process Records plug-in spot. This logic is hardcoded as these background processes are some of the core system functions such as billing and collections. This functionality provides flexibility in choosing which records are processed, but not how they are processed.

The background processes delivered with the system optionally selects records based on CIS Division. One example is the batch control (BILLING) and algorithm (C1-BILL-SR). The background process and select records algorithm work as a pair. The batch control defines the parameter to be used by the select records algorithm.  The algorithm defines the thread strategy, key fields, and makes the batch control parameter available to be used in the SQL algorithm parameter.

Customizing Which Records Are Selected

There are two ways to customize what is provided with the system. 

If your organization processes records using the same criteria as the samples delivered in the system, in this case CIS Division, simply create a custom batch control for each CIS Division and specify the corresponding parameter value.

If your organization processes records using different criteria, the following points summarize the steps needed to implement a new background process using plug-ins for the specific functionality:

  • Duplicate an existing batch control

  • Remove the batch parameter not relevant to your organization and replace with the relevant batch parameter. Note: only the batch parameters associated with selecting records should be removed or updated. Parameters uses to process records must remain.

  • Duplicate the plug-in script associated with the select records algorithm type. Modify the script to pass the new batch parameter(s) to bind variables and remove those that are no longer batch parameters.

  • Duplicate the select records algorithm type and associate with the new script.

  • Create an algorithm for the new algorithm type. The SQL parameter value should be copied from the original algorithm type’s algorithm parameter value and modified to make use of the newly added bind variables. (Note: Do not change the fields selected or their order.)

  • Update the batch control to use the new select records algorithm.