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Pansy

Input Format for Payment Coupon Books & Billing Statements

This document defines the record layout for payment coupon book and statement orders using files made of comma-delimited ASCII records. SouthData calls this comma-delimited ASCII file a "Pansy" format.

Pansy records can be created in a variety of ways:

• Spreadsheets such as Excel and Lotus 1-2-3
• Databases such as Access, dBase, FoxBASE, and Paradox
• Custom programs that produce comma-delimited ASCII records

No matter which of these programs is used, the data is broken down into specific fields (spreadsheet columns) in a specific order (given later in this document) and one record (spreadsheet row) per book or statement.

Pansy records may be created by following these rules:
NOTE: From this point forward association, properties, products, branches, and clients will be referred to as the term product.

• The first 12 fields must be present in every record. If a field does not contain data within the first 12 fields, it must be an actual value and not a formula. The fields following number 12 are optional and may not be needed for every application. (Refer to each field's description for details).
• All numeric fields must be right-justified. You may use any printable ASCII character, from the space through the tilde (~), unless the field is specified as being upper case.
• The first 4 characters of the file name must be your SouthData client number. Beyond that, you can use any naming convention desired. Long file names are permitted.
• When creating your file, use the default extension (.xls, .dbf, .wk3, etc.) for the program creating the data. If you create your own comma-delimited ASCII records, use an extension of ".pan."
• You may include multiple products in the same spreadsheet, table, or comma-delimited file. The SDI number, the number you provide SouthData on your Product Information Form, in the input allows South Data to tell them apart.
• For spreadsheets, Row 1 must contain the column headings (names of the columns). If you put input data in Row 1, that item will be deleted during processing.
• If using comma-delimited ASCII records, do not put the field names in the first record -- start with the first data record.
• Text fields, unless they are blank, must be surrounded by the double quote character (" or Hex 22). A comma character (, or Hex 2C) must separate each field and each record must be terminated with a carriage return/line feed (Hex 0D0A) sequence.

It is important to note that, when you place data in a particular field, you must include all preceding fields. For example, if you place an amount in field 18 (Breakdown 4) you must also include at least the field separator (a comma character) for fields 13 (Mail Code) through 17 (Breakdown 3). A record with the $124.50 in field 18 should look something like this:

...124.50,"01/01/95",,,,,,124.50 cr/lf

The lengths shown for the text fields in the table are the maximum lengths that will be processed. Fields longer than the lengths shown will be truncated.

If you need further information, please contact technical support.

Note: The number in Grace Period is added to the due date producing the late date. Entering 99 in the Grace Period field results in the late date being the last day of the due date month, regardless of number of days in that month. Entering 88 in the Grace Period field results in the late date being the last day of the 3rd month following the due date, again regardless of the number of days.

• SDI Number - This field identifies each unique product, to which the individual record applies. The first 4 characters must be your client number, assigned to you by SouthData, and formatted as ####. The remaining 4 characters must be exactly 4 non-blank characters. Those characters you assign may be any combination of numbers and upper case letters and unique for each product. Only the 5th character can be a dash. A completed Product Information Form for each product must be on file with SouthData reflecting the SDI # used. This field is required.
• Account Number - This value is the account number or unit number used by the client's accounting system to identify the individual making the payment. It may contain numbers, upper case letters, spaces, and dashes. If you use a scan line on your documents, a specific format will be required.
• Name Address 1 through 5 - These five fields are used for the customer's name and mailing address information that is printed on the payment book or statement. All five fields must appear in the record, even if some are left blank. SouthData removes blank lines before printing and US addresses are subject to standardization to US Postal Service specifications before they are printed on the book or statement. If the item is to be mailed to a foreign country, only the country name should appear on the bottom-most line. Otherwise, the bottom-most line should contain the US city, state, and zip code.
• Interval - This field is a single upper case character that describes how often payments are to be made. The valid values are shown in the Payment Interval Code Table. This field is required.
• 1st Payment Number - Payment number to be printed on the first coupon in the book. Normally this is 1, but any value from 0 through 360 is permitted. If this value is 0, payment numbers will not be printed on any of the coupons or statements. The default is 1.
• Number of Payments - This value represents the number of payments that are to be made and must be an integer value greater than 0 and less than 180. It is normally 12 for monthly payments or 4 for quarterly payments. For statements, it must be 1. This field is required.
• Payment Amount - This numeric field holds the dollar amount of each payment. Values from $0.00 - $999,999.99 are acceptable. Do not include a dollar sign ("$") or comma (",") in this value. If the payment breakdown feature is used, this field must contain the exact total of all of the breakdown items.
• Due Date - This is the date the first payment is due and may be formatted as mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy. Subsequent payment due dates will be computed from this date using the value in the Interval field. If left blank, no due dates will be printed.
• Mail Code - A single upper case character that tells SouthData how to distribute the completed product. The valid values are shown in the Mail Code Table. If this field is left blank SouthData will use the default ("B" or "M") on the Product Information Form.. Note: Failure to include the proper Mail Code can result in insufficient postage being applied and the item being returned.
• Input Type - This value is a single upper case character that indicates the type of data to follow in the record. A value of "S" indicates statement/coupon information, an "A" indicates an additional payment coupon to be placed at the first of the book, a "M" indicates multiple schedules (books with different payment amounts within a time period), a "B" indicates a payment breakdown, a "F" indicates odd first payment (this amount will be used as the first payment in the book), a "L" indicates odd last payment (this amount will be used as the last payment in the book), a "G" indicates a message line (for different messages per record within the same product), a "D" indicates late payment information, a "Q" indicates payment breakdown and message line, and a "D" Indicates late payment information.
• Break Down 1 through Break Down 4 - These fields provide for a breakdown of the total payment amount being printed on the book or statement. Up to four different items may be listed for this purpose. The titles printed for each item are provided on the Product Information Form and the amount passed in a given breakdown field for a particular SDI # must always represent the same type of charge, e.g. the "Regular Assessment" amount must always be in Breakdown 1 and the "Parking" amount always in Breakdown 2. Field 11 (Payment Amount) must contain the exact total of all of the individual breakdown items.
• Statement Date - This value is usually the date the statement data was created on your system. It must be formatted as MM/DD/YY (the slashes must be included). If it is left blank, the date the file was created (as recorded by DOS) will be used.
• Detail 1 through N - These fields are the formatted lines that make up the body of the statement and normally document the balance forward, charges, and credits to an account for a given period of time. The lines are printed EXACTLY as they are provided in the fields using a fixed-pitch font. If you want columns to line up or be justified, they must be provided that way in the data. Our system allows for 24 lines per statement page depending on the font size and space allocated.