CIFF Processing

CIFF stands for Common Import Format File. The Gateway Server processes incoming CIFF files by loading items to Transaction Server. To enable CIFF file processing, a local processing control file must be available and the fileRouteMode for incoming files must be set to PROCESS for CIFF files.

Adjusting the database table column size may be needed to process CIFF files correctly. If Gateway Server is logging SCA00005W warning messages, the table column size must be adjusted. To adjust the size, increase the value in the ITEM_RECORD.RECORD_DATA database column to accommodate the size of the original record data. The size of the original record data must include the size of the following records:
  • CIFF item index record
  • CIFF item image header
  • CIMS object header (208 bytes)
  • CIMS segment zero (1500 bytes)
The total size of these records is approximately 2200 bytes, but it may be more.
Note: CIFF is owned by Fiserv, Inc. Please obtain any needed documentation regarding CIFF format files from Fiserv, Inc.
There are two properties for CIFF processing. The property ciffFileExt (default .ciff) must be set to the extension of the incoming CIFF files. If the CIFF files contain index definition records, the property ciffMicrMapTable must be set to a valid table file. A sample table file, ciffFieldMap.TBL, is provided in the standard Gateway Server installation. Table 1 shows the contents of the sample table:
Table 1. CIFF sample table file contents
Index MICR field name CIFF field name
0 AmountField = Amount
1 PCField = PC
2 AccountField = Account
3 Field4Field =  
4 RTField = R/T
5 Field6Field =  
6 AuxOnUsField = Serial No.
7 Flag2Field = FLAG2
8 User1Field =  
9 User2Field =  
10 User3Field =  
11 Flag3Field =  

The left side of the equals sign specifies an individual MICR field, while the right side is the name of the field which appeared in the CIFF index definition record. For a particular installation, the left side would not change, while the right side would be modified to accommodate the specific situation of the index definition of the CIFF files being processed.

The Flag2Field entry, when set, is for determining if an item is a credit item (in particular, for web captured CIFF documents). According to the CIFF index definition field specification for web capture, a credit item is determined by the 0x04 bit setting in the FLAG2 field.

The User1Field, User2Field, and User3Field are optional entries for the user to set to any CIFF index field. These fields are passed on to the batch (ICL) attribute user exit class.

Since one CIFF file index definition could potentially be different from another file, a CIFF file set can include a field mapping table file. The table file has the same name as the CIFF file, with the .TBL extension. If this .TBL file is provided, it takes precedence over the default one specified in the Gateway Server properties file.