FeedXChange User Guide¶

Introduction¶

"FeedXChange is part of the ReactorCX platform and is used to define and orchestrate specific types of batch processes, such as processing partner accruals, enrollments, and bulk changes to members and reference data." The FeedXChange product uses an intuitive interface to define file templates and validation criteria, response file generation rules, and other metadata describing how feed input and outputs work. You can also use it to schedule and run integrations on a recurring basis.

One of the key principles of FeedXChange is that it's designed to adapt RCX to any existing file formats, rather than force every system to convert to a single format. This allows RCX implementations to be quicker, as existing file formats don't need to be redesigned on source systems or converted.

FeedXChange is also an operations manager tool, issuing alerts, providing dashboards for monitoring and reporting, and providing a user interface to investigate issues with individual batch process runs.

Core Concepts¶

Within FeedXChange you can manage a number of pre-defined common processes, as well as your program-specific activities which can be configured as Custom Activity processes.

RCX Processes¶

FeedXChange supports the following types of processing within RCX:

Partners¶

The RCX platform recognizes external partners and their representatives when operating a coalition program. A partner is an external organization that participates in the program—for example, a co-branded credit card partner or an industry partner such as a car rental agency.

In RCX, a Hosting Partner is the organization which owns the program and is responsible for the overall program management.

Integrations¶

An integration is a scheduled process that runs on a recurring basis. It's defined by a set of rules and criteria that are used to determine when the process must run, what types of files it accepts, and what types of files it produces. An integration run is a single execution of an integration.

Templates¶

A Template is a way to describe what a file structure in sufficient detail to allow FeedXChange to understand how to validate and process it correctly. Templates include detailed field definitions, validation rules and response file generation rules.

Each Template is associated with an RCX Process and belongs to a Partner.

Connections¶

A Connection is a way to describe a storage location where files can be downloaded and uploaded. A Connection is associated with a Partner who owns and manages the storage location. FeedXChange supports SFTP and S3 types of storage currently.

Browsing Templates¶

To browse Templates available in FeedXChange navigate to the Templates tab in the side-panel menu as shown below:

Figure 1. Browsing Templates

You can filter the template list by RCX Process, Partner, and Last Updated By. In addition, you can use the global template search to search template names and descriptions. Use the Reset Filters button to reset the filters and show all templates in the system.

When you select a Template in the list, you can view the integrations associated with that template in the list view at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to gauge the impact of editing a Template on any integrations.

You can use the Create New button at the top right corner to create a new Template.

You can use the following Action Buttons to take action on a specific Template:

Button	Description
	Copy a template under a new name
	Edit a template
	Delete a template
	Export a template

Viewing a Template¶

To view a Template without the risk of changing it, click the title of the template, which is a hyperlink that takes you to a read-only view of the template and all of its details.

Editing Template Configuration¶

To edit the configuration of a Template, you need to either create a new template, or edit an existing template via the edit Action Button.

The Template Editor has two panes - the structure pane is on the left and the detail pane is on the right as shown below:

Figure 2. Template Editor

Managing Field Lists¶

Before we dive into configuration, we covers some basics of how field lists are managed when defining file layouts. This provides the context for later sections that deal with field configuration.

Within a Template, each section of an Input or Response file (for example Header, Footer, Body) has a list of Fields that must be to define the layout of the file. In this section we describe how to add, remove, copy**, and** re-arrange fields in a list.

Below is a screen shot of a list of fields under the Input File Header as an example:

Figure 3. Field List Operations

• To add a field, click the Add button at the bottom of the list.
• To configure a field, click the field to make it active. The field details can be edited in the detail pane.
• To remove a field, click the trash can icon at the right-hand side of the field box.
• To copy a field, click the clipboard icon at the right-hand side of the field box.
• To Move a field up or down, drag and drop the field using the gray dot handle at the left-hand side of the field box.

Template Properties¶

When you select the Template Properties tab of the Template Editor, you can edit the following properties:

Input File Configuration¶

Input files are posted by Partners to initiate bulk processing for a specific RCX Process.

To define the Input File layout click the Input File box in the structure pane. This allows you to define overall Input File Properties, as well as define the structure of the Header, Body**, and** Footer of the input file..

Input File Properties¶

Click File Properties under Input File, to configure the overall properties of the file:

Figure 4. Input File Properties

The following properties can be configured:

Input Header Fields¶

To configure the Header fields for the Input File, click the Header box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the Header field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 5. Input File Header Field Configuration

The following properties can be configured:

Input Body Fields¶

To configure the Body fields for the Input File, click the body box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the Body field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 6. Input File Body Field Configuration

Array Fields¶

To configure array fields under the Body Fields, select any array field from the RCX-field, and a sub-tree will be generated. The array field definitions can then be configured at the field level, alongside normal fields. Additionally, the Fixed Array Length field must be configured to specify the length of the array.

Figure 7. Input File Body Array Field Configuration.

The following properties can be configured:

Transforms¶

The Transform field in the Input Body Properties allows you to apply transformations to the data before processing.

Configure the Transform:

1. Select the Transform:

   Navigate to the Transform property in the Input Body Field configuration after selecting the appropriate data type for the desired field. From the dropdown menu, select the type of transform you want to apply (for example, Join, Arithmetic, Date, or Mapping).

2. Add Transform Details:
   For all transforms except Date Transform, Add appears next to the dropdown. Click the Add button to open a pop-up dialog box.
   
   Figure 8. Add Transform.

The following types of transforms are supported:

• Join Transform:
  Joins multiple fields into one.
  Example: Combine FirstName and LastName with a separator '-' to assign the resulting value to the current field.
  Figure 9. Join Transform.

• Arithmetic Transform:
  Performs mathematical operations on numeric fields.
  Example: Subtract Points from Price to calculate Total.
  
  
  Figure 10. Add Arithmetic Transform
  
  
  Figure 11. Arithmetic Transform.

• Date Transform:
  Converts a date from one format to another.
  Example: Change a date from MM/DD/YY to YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:ss.SSSZ.
  
  Figure 12. Date Transform.

• Mapping Transform:
  Maps values from one field to another based on predefined rules.
  Example: Map Status values like 1 to Active and 0 to Inactive.
  
  

  
  Figure 13. Add Transform Of Type String.
  
  

  
  Figure 14. Mapping Transform Of Type String.

  
  

  
  Figure 15. Add Transform Of Type Boolean.

  
  
  Figure 16. Mapping Transform Of Type Boolean.

• Save the Transform:
  After configuring the transform, click the Submit button in the pop-up to save it.

• Verify the Transform:
  Confirm that the transform is displayed correctly in the Transform Expression property of the field.
  
  Figure 17. Transform Expression.

Input Footer Fields¶

To configure the Footer fields for the Input File, click the Footer box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the Body field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 18. Input File Footer Field Configuration

Response File Configuration¶

Response files are generated after processing of an input file, and typically used to hand back to the partner who posted the input file, and to indicate success/failure at the record level.

To define the Response File layout click the Response File box in the structure pane.This allows you to define overall Response File Properties, as well as define the structure of the Header, Body**, and** Footer of the response file.

Response File Properties¶

Click File Properties under Input File, to configure the overall properties of the file:

Figure 19. Response File Properties

The following properties can be configured:

Response Header Fields¶

To configure the header fields for the response file, click the Header box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the header field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 20. Response File Header Field Configuration

The following properties can be configured:

Response Body Fields¶

To configure the body fields for the Response File, click the Body box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the Body field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 21. Response File Body Field Configuration

The following properties can be configured:

Response Footer Fields¶

To configure the Footer fields for the Response File, click the Body box in the structure pane to expand it. Under that box is a list of the Body field definitions that can be configured at the field level:

Figure 22. Response File Footer Field Configuration

The following properties can be configured:

Template Import and Export¶

Export¶

To export a specific template, click Export in the corresponding list view. Then, confirm the action by click Yes in the confirmation popup.

Figure 23. Export confirmation dialog box.

Import¶

To import a template, click the Import button located at the top right of the list view. Then, upload the .json file of the template you wish to import. Additionally, you can enable the toggle to override any existing template that's configured with the same name.

Figure 24. Import file upload dialog box.

Import Status¶

To check the import status, click the Import Status button located at the top right of the list view.

Figure 25. Import Status dialog box.

Browsing Integrations¶

To browse integrations available in FeedXChange navigate to the integrations tab in the side-panel menu as shown below:

Figure 26. Browsing Integrations

You can filter the integration list by Name and by Partner. In addition, you can use the global integration search to search integration names and Descriptions. Use the Reset Filters button to reset the filters and show all integrations in the system.

You can use the Create New button at the top right corner to create a new integration.

You can use the following Action Buttons to take action on a specific integration:

Button	Description
	Copy an Integration under a new name
	Edit an Integration
	Delete a Integration
	Run an Integration once
	Schedule an Integration
	Un-schedule an Integration
	upload file

Viewing an Integration¶

To view an integration without the risk of changing it, click the title of the integration, which is a hyperlink that takes you to a read-only view of the integration and all of its details.

Editing Integration Configuration¶

To edit the configuration of an integration, you need to either create a new integration, or edit an existing one via the edit Action Button.

The integration Editor has two panes - the structure pane is on the left and the detail pane is on the right as shown below:

Figure 27. integration Editor

Integration Properties¶

When you select the integration Properties tab of the integration Editor, you can edit the following properties:

Input Properties¶

The Input Properties define how an integration receives its inputs:

Figure 28. integration Input Properties

The following properties can be configured:

Response Properties¶

The Response Properties define how an integration writes its outputs:

Figure 29. integration Response Properties

The following properties can be configured:

Integration Parameters¶

Integration Parameters are additional properties passed to the RCX Processed that an integration is running. For example, there is a Persist parameter, which when set to False causes the integration to do a dry run on all the transactions instead of actually posting them to RCX.

Please refer to the integration Parameter reference section for further details on RCX Process parameters.

Figure 30. integration Parameters

Use the Create New button to add new parameters.

Use the Action buttons to Edit the value of a parameter and to Delete a Parameter.

Scheduling¶

The Scheduling tab allows entering a single, or repeating schedule to run an integration.

Figure 31. integration Scheduling

The following properties can be configured:

Alerts¶

The Alerts tab allows configuring alerts when certain conditions are met, such as when integrations start, fail, or succeed.

Figure 32. integration Alerts

Use the Create New button to add new Alerts.

Use the Action buttons to Edit the values of an Alert and to Delete an Alert.

The following types of Alerts are currently configurable:

• Start - issued when an integration starts.
• Success - issued when an integration succeeds.
• Records Failed - issued when some records failed, but the integration run was still successful.
• Integration Failed - issued when the integration run failed.

Dependencies¶

The Dependencies tab allows configuring dependencies between integrations, which ensures execution order.

Figure 33. integration Dependencies

The following dependency types can be configured:

• All Must Succeed- all of the selected dependencies must succeed before the current integration can run.
• One of Must Succeed - one of the selected dependencies must succeed before the current integration can run.

Error Code Mapping¶

The Error Code Mapping tab is used to translate RCX Error codes to error codes that are used by Partners. This is sometimes required in order to harmonize error handling between Partners.

Figure 34. integration Error Code Mapping

Use the Create New button to add new Alerts.

Use the Action buttons to Edit the values of an Error Code Mapping and to Delete an Error Code Mapping.

Browsing Connections¶

To browse Connections available in FeedXChange navigate to the Connections tab in the side-panel menu as shown below:

Figure 35. Browsing Connections

You can filter the Connections list by:

• Partner
• Connection Type
• Connection Name
• Connection Test Status

In addition, you can use the global Connection search to search Connection names and Descriptions. Use the Reset Filters button to reset the filters and show all Connections in the system.

You can use the Create New button at the top right corner to create a new Connection.

You can use the Test button to test one or more connections that can be selected using the check-box on the left of the Connection list. The Test attempts to connect and reflect the validity of the connection in the list, as well as update the last date when the connection was tested.

You can see the integrations which use a particular Connection by selecting the Connection in the table and checking the list of integrations at the bottom of the screen.

You can use the following Action Buttons to take action on a specific Connection:

Button	Description
	Edit an Connection
	Delete a Connection
	Test a Connection

Viewing a Connection¶

To view a connection without the risk of changing it, click the title of the connection, which is a hyperlink that takes you to a read-only view of the connection and all of its details.

Editing Connection Configuration¶

To edit the configuration of a connection, you need to either create a new connection, or edit an existing one via the edit Action Button.

SFTP¶

To edit or create an SFTP connection, select "SFTP" as the connection type and choose the desired authentication method, either password or key file.

Figure 36. Configuring connection details

Password¶

For password-based authentication, select "Password" as the authentication type and configure the username and password.

Figure 37. Configuring SFTP connection using authentication as password

Key File¶

For key file-based authentication, select "Key File" as the authentication type. Then, configure the username, upload the key file, and provide the passphrase if the uploaded file is encrypted.

Figure 38. Configuring SFTP connection using authentication as key file

S3¶

To edit or create an S3 connection, choose "S3" as the connection type and configure the access key ID, secret access key, and the corresponding region..

Figure 39. Configuring s3 parameters

Encryption and Compression¶

Encryption¶

You can enable the encryption field, which allows you to configure the two fields below: the algorithm and the passphrase. Here, you can select the algorithm and enter the passphrase to decrypt the file that was dropped via this connection.

Encryption using Algorithm and Passphrase

Figure 40. Configuring encryption parameters

Encryption using Algorithm, key file, Passphrase

Encryption using a key file and passphrase (since GPG supports both methods), with the passphrase also being used to decrypt the key file.

Figure 41. Configuring encryption key file parameters

Compression¶

You can enable the compression field, which allows you to configure the two fields below: the algorithm and the compression level. Here, you can select the algorithm and enter the compression level to decompress the file that was dropped via this connection.

Figure 42. Configuring compression parameters

S3 Connections¶

For Connections with Connection Type of S3, the following Configuration properties are available:

SFTP Connections¶

For Connections with Connection Type of SFTP, the following Configuration properties are available:

Browsing Partners¶

To browse Partners available in FeedXChange navigate to the Partners tab in the side-panel menu as shown below:

Figure 43. Browsing Partners

You can filter by:

• Partner Type
• Partner Name
• Last Updated By

You can use the global Partner search to search Partner names and Descriptions. Use the Reset Filters button to reset the filters and show all Partners in the system.

You can see the Partner Admins for a particular Partner by selecting the Partner in the table and checking the list of Admins at the bottom of the screen. The same table has buttons to Create, Delete**, and** Edit Admins.

You can create a new Partner by clicking the Create New button at the top right corner.

You can use the following Action Buttons to take action on a specific Partner:

Button	Description
	Edit an Partner
	Delete a Partner

Viewing a Partner¶

To view a Partner without the risk of changing it, click the title of the Partner, which is a hyperlink that takes you to a read-only view of the Partner and all of its details.

Editing Partner Configuration¶

The following properties can be configured for a Partner:

Figure 44. Partner Details

Monitoring Integrations¶

Integration Runs¶

An integration run is a single execution of an integration. For example, if the integration is scheduled to run every 15 minutes, then a single integration run occurs every 15 minutes.

FeedXChange Operations Dashboard¶

The FeedXChange Operations Dashboard is a summary of all the integration that have been run in the system recently:

Figure 45. FeedXChange Operations Dashboard

The dashboard allows looking at recent integration runs for:

• The past day
• The past week
• The past month

The dashboard provides basic metrics and trends for the integration runs:

• Failed Runs - number of runs that failed to complete successfully.
• Success Runs - number of runs that completed successfully.
• Failed integration - number of integration that failed to complete successfully.
• Success integration - number of integration that completed successfully.

The dashboard also provides a list of the integration that have failed the most recently. Click the Run Id for a failed integration to navigate to Run History and look at the details of the failed run.

The dashboard also provides a list of the integration that have succeeded or are currently running. Click the Run Id for a successful integration to navigate to Run History and view run details.

Run History¶

The Run History is a list of all integration runs:

Figure 46. Run History

Filters can be set by status, run ID, integration name, and for a date range.

The following operations are available for each run via the Action Buttons at the end of each row:

Button	Description
	View Run Logs
	View Run Details

Viewing Run Logs¶

The run logs provide detailed information about the run, which can be used to troubleshoot any issues that may have occurred. You have a quick search option in the dialog box, or you can use Download to analyze with other tools and log viewers.

Figure 47. Run Logs

Viewing Run Details¶

Run details allows easy access to the Input and Response files, as well as the Run Id and associated integration Name.

Figure 48. Run Details