Equifax ePORT
Batch File Processing Guide
Company Administrator Edition
Updated: February 2010
ePORT Batch File Processing – Company Administrator Edition – February 2010 2
Confidentiality Agreement
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Information Services LLC (“Equifax”). By accepting this guide, recipients agree not to
disclose any information contained herein to any third parties and/or to reproduce any
part of this guide without, in each instance, the prior written consent of Equifax by
writing to:
Equifax Information Services LLC
Marketing Communications, H-22
1550 Peachtree Street, N.W.
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Equifax and Equifax ePORT are registered trademarks of Equifax Inc. Copyright 2010 Equifax Inc., Atlanta, Georgia. All rights reserved.
ePORT Batch File Processing – Company Administrator Edition – February 2010 3
Table of Contents
Before You Begin................................................................................................................ 4
Batch Processing on ePORT ............................................................................................... 5
File Management............................................................................................................. 7
Format Management (Input) ........................................................................................... 8
Submit a Batch Job........................................................................................................ 10
Error Processing ........................................................................................................ 11
Batch Output ................................................................................................................. 12
Batch Job Detail ........................................................................................................ 14
Cancel Batch Jobs ..................................................................................................... 15
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Before You Begin
Before users attempt to use the batch processing feature, users should have all of the
following information available:
• A file that contains delimited records of inquiry information.
• Knowledge about the format of the data contained in the file.
• Access to the eCredit Information service with appropriate report profiles setup.
Delimited Input
When using the batch capability on ePORT, data uploaded to ePORT must be in
delimited file format. Additionally, input fields must contain data in certain formats and
lengths. Each data element is considered an inquiry field.
The user is responsible for ensuring that the data is in a delimited format. Common ways
in which data can be stored in delimited format is by using a spreadsheet (Microsoft
Excel allows saving the file in a comma delimited format), by some type of application
program that saves data in a delimited format, or from a customer database which has
been saved in delimited format.
Example Comma Delimited File
Data
000-00-0000,Last Name,First Name,123,Main,Street,Alpharetta,GA,30005
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Batch Processing on ePORT
Company users have the ability to process large numbers of eCredit Information requests.
Click the Batch link to proceed to the Batch Processing flow.
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The Batch Home page is displayed once the Batch link is clicked on the CustomerPort
page.
Batch Processing is a four step process:
• File Management – Upload a delimited input file that contains inquiry information.
• Format Management (Input) – Identify the order and format of the input data fields.
• Submit a Batch Job – Name the batch job, identify the product (report profile) to be
processed and submit the batch job for processing.
• Batch Output – Review the report results.
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File Management
Click the File Management link to upload a file from your PC or network. The Batch
Input File Management screen displays once the File Management link has been clicked.
Viewing Data
The user has the ability to view existing files by clicking the View Data link. The screen
is preset to view a maximum of 25 records. Additionally, the user can delete unwanted or
previously processed files by clicking the Delete link. Other details included in this view
include the number of records within each input file, the size of the input file, the
company user who uploaded the file and the date/time stamp.
Uploading a File
• Refer to the ePORT Inquiry Format Rules link to make sure that you have
acceptable field formats in your input file.
• Click the Browse… button to find the file containing records to be imported into the
file management system.
• Click the UpLoad File button to upload your file into the file management system.
• Click the Batch Home button to return to the Batch home page.
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Format Management (Input)
The batch system has to be able to recognize the order of the data included in the file.
Click the Format Management (Input) link on the Batch Home page to define the input
format or change an existing input format. The Batch Input Format File Management
screen displays once the Format Management (Input) link has been clicked.
The user has the ability to edit existing input file formats by clicking the Edit link. In
addition, the user can delete unwanted or previously processed files by clicking the
Delete link. The user also has the ability to add new input file formats to the batch
system.
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Adding a new Input File Format
• Click the Add New button
• Enter an input Format File Name
• Select the Format type (DELIMITED is the only current option)
• Select the appropriate delimiter from the Delimiter is drop down menu
• Select the appropriate Available Fields in the logical order as they appear on each
row of the input file and click the Add>> button
• Click the Save button after completing the input file format
• Click the Batch Home button to return to the Batch home page.
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Submit a Batch Job
After uploading your input file and defining the input format, the user is now able to
submit a batch job. Click the Submit a Batch Job link from the Batch Home page to
view the Submit a Batch Job screen.
Batch Submission is a five step process.
1. Create a batch job name
Select and enter a name for the batch job that would help you quickly identify it
later
2. Select the name of the file you uploaded
Select the input file previously uploaded for processing. The drop down menu
will contain all files available for processing. Company Administrators can view
all files uploaded by any company user. However, end users can only view their
own uploaded files.
3. Select the input format file name
Select the input file format previously created for processing. This format should
represent the layout for the selected input file. The drop down menu will contain
all input file formats that are available for processing. Company Administrators
can view all files uploaded by any company user. However, end users can only
view their own uploaded files.
4. Select the report profile (product) name
Select the desired eCredit Product from the Report Profile (Product) drop down
menu.
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5. Submitting the Batch Job
After completing previous steps, check whether or not you wish to be notified by
email and click the Submit File button. If the email notification is checked, then
you will be prompted to verify and/or enter an email address in order to receive
notification that the batch job has been completed.
Error Processing
IMPORTANT: The batch system will pre-process the input file to verify that an equal
number of fields exist on the input file as are described by the input file format. If there
are an unequal number of fields on the input file and the input file format, then an error
condition will occur.
Errors are generally caused by the following situations:
• The data on the Input File does not have the same number of fields as the Input
Format File that was selected:
Solution: Either change your Format File or correct your data.
• The users selected a Report Profile with required data elements that do not exist in the
corresponding Input Format File:
Solution: Either correct the Input Format File or select an appropriate product that
the corresponding Input File Format can support.
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• The Input File may be using a different delimiter than what was selected in the Input
File Format:
Solution: Verify the delimiter in the input file.
Batch Output
After a file is processed, the user may be notified via email if the Notify me by e-mail
when the batch is complete checkbox is checked on the Submit a Batch Job home page.
Once the process is completed, select Batch Output from the Batch Home page. The
following screen shot will display once the Batch Output link is clicked.
This page allows the user to:
• View Batch Contents
• Cancel batch jobs that are waiting to be processed
• Delete previously submitted batch jobs
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View Contents
The batch job contents can be viewed by clicking the View Contents link.
This page allows the user to:
• Search for reports by Consumer Last Name, SSN and Reference Number by clicking
the Search button
• Save reports by selecting the desired save option from the Save Reports drop down
menu and clicking the Save button
• View Individual Reports by clicking the Report link
• View Original Requests by clicking the Inquiry link
• Print reports by clicking the Print Reports button
• Delete reports by clicking the Delete Reports button (Only company administrators
have the ability to delete reports)
• View Batch Job Detail by clicking the View Batch Job Detail link
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Batch Job Detail
The Batch Job Detail contains the following statistics:
• Batch job name
• Status of the batch job
• User ID that submitted the job
• Input file name
• Input file format name
• Request product (report profile)
• Number of records on the input file
• Number of records successfully processing
• Number of records with a processing error (if any)
• Number of records that could not be processed (if any)
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Cancel Batch Jobs
The user has the ability to cancel batch jobs that are waiting to be processed. All
cancelled records are deemed unprocessed records. These records can be viewed by
clicking the View Contents link for a file that has a Cancelled Batch Status. Once the
cancelled Batch Job Content window displays, click the Unprocessed / Processing
Errors link. Records in this view did not process due to problems with the data or the
job was manually cancelled while processing.
This page allows the user to:
• Resubmit a batch job for processing by naming the new batch file and clicking the
Submit button
• Access the Inquiry page where they can resubmit the request by clicking the Online
Inquiry link
• Edit records so that another batch may be resubmitted by clicking the Edit Record
link
• Delete records by clicking the Delete link