Lead Generator

Technical Information

NIWS_PARTNER is an asynchronous web service which exposes multiple methods. The method BatchFileUpload allows an external system to submit a batch file of leads to the Netcash system

Once you have built the file, call:

• Format: Tab Delimited Text
• Web service: https://ws.netcash.co.za/NIWS/niws_partner.svc ^*
• Method: BatchFileUpload
• Service key: Lead Generator Service Key

NOTE: A unique Lead Generator Service Key is required to use this service.

^{* niws_partner service uses SOAP 1.2. with WS-* addressing. See example}

Input

Requests to the web service are sent as strings

Example

public string BatchFileUpload(string ServiceKey, string File) {
  // initialise client
  NIWS_Partner.NIWS_PartnerClient client =
      new NIWS_Partner.NIWS_PartnerClient();

  // call the BatchFileUpload method equal to a string variable
  // lead generator service key requested by channel manager
  string Request = client.BatchFileUpload(ServiceKey, File);

  // close client after response is received
  client.Close();

  // check response
  switch (Request) {
    case "100":  // Authentication failure
      break;
    case "200":  // General code exception.
      break;
    default:  // successfull
      return Request;
  }

  // use response to call RequestFileUploadReport method
  return Request;
}

 

Output

Successful request

If the method call was successful and the file is being processed, the web service will return a file token which is used to retrieve the load report

Example:  1507296452.20131202

 

Unsuccessful request

If the method call fails, the web service will return an error code:

Code	Description
100	Authentication failure. Ensure that the Lead generator key in the method call is correct
200	General code exception. Please contact Netcash Technical Support.

Input File Structure

The file is a tab delimited text file and has the following mandatory records:

H – Header record identifies the upload and passes instructions to the Netcash server to determine the purpose of the file.
K – Key record must follow the header record. The key record describes the transaction records which follow. The format defined in the key record is used to validate the record structure and content.
T – Transaction records follow the key record. The fields in the transaction records must conform to the layout defined in the key.
F – Footer record must be the last record in the file and confirms that the file is complete.

Header record (H)

Every file must contain a header record as the first record in the file.

Field	Name	Type	Value
1	Record Identifier	AN	H
2	Partner Service Key	AN	Lead Generator Service Key
3	Version	AN	1
4	Instruction	AN	Purpose of the file
5	Batch name	AN	Your identifier
6	Action date	N	CCYYMMDD
7	Filler	AN	0

Field explanations

Field	Explanation
Record Id	“H” – Identifies the record as a header
Service key	Debit Order service key
Version	“1” – This is the Netcash version of the file specification
Instruction	This is the instruction to the Netcash system. It is used in conjunction with the service key in the previous field to determine what action is taken on receipt of the file. Registration– Data submitted is for a new Netcash client account
Batch name	Use this field as an identifier of your batch.
Action date	The date on which the payments are to be made to the beneficiary.
Filler	0

Example

H C74EF975-5429-4663-85FB-2A64CA0FB9EF 1 Registration My Test Batch 20100331 0

 

Key Record (K)

• The key record is mandatory and must appear in the file between the header record and the transaction records.
• The key defines the content, order and length of the transactions records in the file. It can be likened to the column headings in a spreadsheet.
• The key lists all the possible fields contained in the subsequent transaction records, even if not every transaction record contains data in all the fields.
• While the file is customizable, it is recommended that keys are listed in ascending numerical order for ease of debugging and support.

Example

K 101 113 114 121 201 441 524 525 528

 

Transaction Record (T)

• There must be at least one transaction record in the file.
• The transaction records must conform to the order of the fields as described in the key record. (In the example above, the account reference (field id 101) is defined as the first field in the record therefore every transaction record MUST have the account reference as the first field or it will fail validation)
• Every transaction record must have the same number of fields as defined in the key record (K).
• Empty fields should be replaced by a blank tab or a default value, where one has been defined.
• Where no default is defined, empty fields are indicated by two consecutive tabs
  (IE: the field delimiters preceding and following the empty field)
• Where fields are left empty, the Netcash system will assume spaces or zeroes for fields defined in the key record.

Mandatory fields

The more information correctly supplied in the request, the less the client will have to capture on the Netcash account activation web site. This will expedite the process from request to opening the account.

The following fields are mandatory. If these fields are not present and valid, the file will be rejected.

Key	Field name	Valid criteria
101	Account reference	min2, max 22 Alpha-Numeric
113	Surname	min2, max 15 Alpha
114	First name	min1, max 10 Alpha
121	Trading name	min2, max 25 Alpha-Numeric
201	Email address	min 5 max 50 Alpha-Numeric Format: {text}@{text}.{text} Full-stop allowed in text fields.
301	Extra field	min 5 max 999 Alpha-Numeric
302	Extra field	min 5 max 50 Alpha-Numeric
303	Extra field	min 5 max 50 Alpha-Numeric
441	Telephone number	min 10; max12 Numeric
524	Notes	ISV name or ACC NR: Internal Acc # (ISV Name) eg.ABC123(SOFTWARE-NAME) EMPL BR: (Employee Bracket)eg.350 DEAL: (Promo Name)eg.VIP Premier OTHER:(optional) eg. pep name, cost center, etc. Triple space-separated.
525	Activate now	Numeric 1 = Log active opportunity

Validation of optional fields

• Any additional data supplied will be validated according to the table in Appendix 1.
• Only valid data will be inserted into the database.
• Any fields which fail content validation will not be inserted.
• Any fields which do not meet the specified minimum length will fail validation.
• Any fields which exceed the specified maximum length will be truncated.
• Non-mandatory fields which fail validation will not cause the file to be rejected.

Footer record (F)

The footer record indicates that the complete file has been received. It must be the last record in the file. If the record is not present, the system will fail the file without processing any transaction records.

Structure

Field	Name	Alpha/Numeric	Value
1	Record Identifier	AN	F
2	No of transactions	N	A count of the transaction records
3	Sum of amounts	N	The sum of the monetary fields (in cents)
4	End-of-file indicator	N	9999

Field explanations

Field	Explanation
Record Identifier	“F” – Identifies the record as a footer
No of transactions	This is the count of all the ‘T’ records in the file.
Sum of amounts	This field must contain zero.
End-of-file indicator	‘9999’ – Indicates there are no more records.

Example

F 2 0 9999

 

Example of input file

 

H 5881ed99-XXX1-XXXX-XXXX-a103255d145a 1 Registration TestFile 20131202 0
K 101 113 114 121 201 441 301 302 303 524 525
T Test100 Soap Joe Test Co test@test.net 27821234567 Sage OpCo Name 123456789 0000001 1
T Test101 Bloggs Jane Janes Hardware jane@jane.com 27113044000 Extra1 Extra2 Extra3 1
F 2 0 9999

 

Retrieving the Load Report

Postback option

If you have activated the postback option in your Sage partner profile, the load report is automatically posted back to the URL you supplied.

Polling option

If you have not activated the postback option, you will need to request the load report using the file token received from the BatchFileUpload method call.

Using the file token, call:

• Web service: https://ws.netcash.co.za/NIWS/niws_partner.svc *
• Method: RequestFileUploadReport
• Service key: Lead Generator Key

Requests to the web service are sent as strings.

Example

public string RequestFileUploadReport(string ServiceKey, string FileToken) {
  // initialise client
  NIWS_Partner.NIWS_PartnerClient client =
      new NIWS_Partner.NIWS_PartnerClient();

  // call the RequestFileUploadReport method equal to a string variable
  // the same service key used in the batch upload
  string Request = client.RequestFileUploadReport(ServiceKey, FileToken);

  // close client after response is received
  client.Close();

  // check request
  switch (Request) {
    case "100":  // Authentication failure
      break;
    case "200":  // General code exception
      break;
    case "FILE NOT READY":  // The requested statement has not yet been created.
                            // Retry later
      break;
    case "NO CHANGE":  // No new transactions are available for download
      break;
    default:  // Successful, will contain the Netcash account number registered
              // with us
      break;
  }

  // use response to output to UI
  // service will respond with the result of the file upload
  return Request;
}

 

Output file

File content

For each successful lead in the file, the load report will contain the Netcash account number for the lead. Where errors were detected, the load report will stipulate the line number and the error message

Load report structure:

Load report header (occurs once at the start of each load report)

Field	Type	Value
Record identifier	AN8	###BEGIN
Batch name	AN	{your batch name}
Result of upload	A13	SUCCESSFUL / UNSUCCESSFUL / SUCCESSFUL WITH ERRORS
Start time of report	AN8	HH:MM

Load report message (occurs multiple times – once per T record in the input file)

Field	Type	Value
Account reference	AN58	Acc Ref :{your account reference}
Batch name	AN	Line :{line in your file where error was found}
Line number	AN	The Netcash account number or error message

Load report trailer (occurs once – the last line in the report)

Field	Type	Value
Record identifier	AN6	###END
End time of report	AN8	HH:MM

Errors

The following is a list of the errors which could be returned:

Error message	Meaning
A system error occurred. Please contact Netcash.	A fatal error occurred and the file could not be processed
Invalid service key.	Partner service key could not be authenticated
Service key inactive.	Partner service key not activated on the Netcash system
Invalid instruction.	Instruction should be “Registration”
File structure invalid. Transaction record fields do not match key record fields.	Columns supplied in the transaction record(s) do not match the columns specified in the key record
Required key XXX was not provided.	A mandatory key was omitted
File structure invalid. Please check header, key or footer records.	One or more of the record types H,K or F is not present in the file.
File structure invalid. Please check transaction records.	Record type T not found
Transaction field XXX has invalid characters.
Transaction field XXX has an invalid length. Minimum X characters.
Transaction field XXX has an invalid range. Only from {1} to {2} allowed.

Examples:

###BEGIN key record UNSUCCESSFUL 16:03
###ERROR A system error occurred. Please contact Netcash.
###END 16:03

 

 

###BEGIN UNSUCCESSFUL 16:02
Acc Ref :NA Line :2 Required key 101 was not provided
###END 16:02

 

 

###BEGIN My test batch SUCCESSFUL 15:45
Acc Ref : 001 Line :3 51002977916
###END 15:45

 

 

###BEGIN My test batch SUCCESSFUL WITH ERRORS 11:45
Acc Ref : 001 Line :3 51002977916
Acc Ref : 002 Line :4 INVALID EMAIL ADDRESS
###END 11:45

 

 

Appendix 1 Transaction fields

Account reference

Key	Name	Type	Value
101	Account reference	AN22	001 for the first account in the file. 002 for the second account Etc.

Company contact details

Key	Name	Type	Value
203	Company web address	AN50	The “//:” and “.” symbols are allowed in this field
341	Company phone number	N11	Include dialing codes EG: 27117822349 min:10, max:12
342	Company fax number	N11	Include dialing codes EG: 27117822349 min:10, max:12

Company details

Key	Name	Type	Value
121	Trading name	AN25	The name of the business to be checked.
122	Registration number	N20	The number of a registered business
123	Registered name	AN25	The name of a registered business
124	VAT number	N10	The VAT number of a registered business
125	Legal entity	N1	1 = Registered company (Pty Ltd) 2 = Close corporation 3 = Section 21 company 4 = Non-profit organisation 5 = Trust 6 = Co-operative 7 = Sole proprietor 8 = Partnership 9 = Educational institution 10 = Unknown 11 = Association 12 = Incorporation

Company physical address

Key	Name	Type	Value
321	Physical address line 1	AN50	min:2, max:50
322	Physical address line 2	AN50	min:2, max:50
323	Physical address line 3	AN50	min:2, max:50
324	Physical suburb	AN50	min:2, max:50
325	Physical city	AN50	min:2, max:50
326	Physical postal code	N4	Must be 4 digits
327	Physical province	N1	1 = Western Cape 2 = Gauteng 3 = Eastern Cape 4 = Free State 5 = Kwazulu Natal 6 = Limpopo 7 = Mpumalanga 8 = Northern Cape 9 = North West

Company postal address

Key	Name	Type	Value
331	Postal address line 1	AN50	min:2, max:50
332	Postal address line 2	AN50	min:2, max:50
333	Postal address line 3	AN50	min:2, max:50
334	Postal suburb	AN50	min:2, max:50
335	Postal city	AN50	min:2, max:50
336	Postal code	N4	Must be 4 digits
337	Postal province	N1	1 = Western Cape 2 = Gauteng 3 = Eastern Cape 4 = Free State 5 = Kwazulu Natal 6 = Limpopo 7 = Mpumalanga 8 = Northern Cape 9 = North West

Account user details

Key	Name	Type	Value
111	Id number	N13	South African identity number. Must be 13 digits.
113	Surname	A15	Details to be used for Consumer enquiry
114	First name	A10	Details to be used for Consumer enquiry
119	Title	N1	1 = Mr 2 = Mrs 3 = Ms 4 = Miss 5 = Dr 6 = Prof
128	Designation	A25	Director, Member, Trustee, Sole proprietor, etc
129	Job description	A25	Manager, Owner, Bookkeeper, etc.
201	Email address	AN50	The “@” and “.” symbols are allowed in this field
441	Telephone number	N11	Include dialing codes EG: 27117822349 min:10, max:12
442	Mobile number	N11	Include dialing codes EG: 27827822123 min:10, max:12

Bank account details

Key	Name	Type	Value
132	Bank account holder	AN50	The name linked to the bank account
133	Bank account type	N1	1 = Current / Checking 2 = Savings 3 = Transmission
134	Bank account branch	N6	The branch code of the homing account. This field MUST be 6 digits. Pre-fill with zeroes if less than 6.
136	Bank account number	N11	The homing bank account number.

Software vendor information

Key	Name	Type	Value
524	Notes	AN399	ISV name, Software serial number, Software account number Triple space separated.
525	Activate now	N	1 = Log active opportunity

Read the Lead Status Update File Specification here.

Testing

See the Testing section for more details. If you require any integration assistance contact our technical support team