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Dedicated 8XX batch file format

The 8XX Bulk Add File Format template is located in Control Center (Orders > Manage Orders > Batch (select the Dedicated radio button). First, you need to download the template Excel file.

 

The template is a spreadsheet used to arrange the data to be loaded into the Batch Formatter application, then uploaded via the Lumen Protected Internet Delivery [QPID] utility for scripted uploads to the Control Center folders, or in Control Center (Orders > Manage Orders > Batch (select the Dedicated radio button).

 

The Excel template contains two tabs:
 

  • 8XX Bulk Add Template—divided into three sections: Header Record, Data Record, and Trailer Record. You must fill in each field with the required information so we can provision the order.

  • Required Field Key—explains the required indicators for each field in the batch file.
Header and trailer records
Data records
File naming conventions
Data dictionary

To download the template Excel file:

  1. Click Orders, click Manage Orders, then click Batch.
  1. In the Ordering Type field, select the Dedicated radio button.
Batch Order (showing Dedicated selected)
  1. In the Templates section, click Dedicated 8XX Batch Ordering Template.

    Control Center downloads the Excel template.

Header and trailer records

  • The file must be tab-delimited.
  • The header record must be the first line of the file and be followed by a carriage return.
  • The trailer record must be the last line of the file.
  • A tab must come before and after fields in the header and trailer.
     

For more details, see the Dedicated 8XX Batch File Format Data Dictionary.

Data records

  • A tab must follow each data field between the first and last field of each record. If a field is null, a tab should be inserted before and after the null value. (e.g., If there are three fields and the second field is a null value, the format would be: Field 1{tab}{tab}Field3 where Field1 and Field3 represent the field contents
  • For each data record, you should have 84 tabs (85 data fields total)
  • When viewing the file, field spacing may be different for each record due to the tab-delimited format (e.g., The Comment_Remarks field may be 20 characters long for one record and 75 characters long for another.)
  • Don't add a tab after the last field; instead, use a carriage return

File naming conventions

To successfully upload a Dedicated 8XX batch file, you must name it using the following criteria:

 

  • Use a unique file name (at least 13 characters long)
  • Use .txt as the file extension (and save the file in tab-delimited format)
  • Month, day and year are in MMDDYYYY format (e.g., 06122021)
  • The three-digit customer code (ex.: CTL). (The customer code is validated during the submission process and must be populated correctly)
  • The letter T identifies the file as tab-delimited
  • Sequential letters of the alphabet identify more than one file sent in one calendar day, e.g. A for the first file and B, C, D, etc. for subsequent files sent the same day
  • Example: 06212021CTLTA.txt

 

File names with the same root name but different extensions are not recognized as different files. Submitting files with the same name will result in the file being rejected by Control Center. For example: 11082003CTLTA.txt, 11082003CTLTA.tx1, and 1108CTLTA.tx3 would all be viewed as the same file (11082003CTLTA) and be rejected by the system.

Data dictionary