Cutoffs and deadlines

In the user interface, the user defines cutoffs and deadlines for each type of transmission that a partner receives. The transmission types are defined by using a transmission definition instance. When defining each partner, you can define multiple cutoffs and deadlines for each transmission definition. The cutoff is the time that the engine stops adding new transactions to the transmission. Any transactions that are processed after the cutoff date for a transmission are added to the next available transmission whose cutoff has not passed. The deadline is the time by which the transmission must be sent. If the deadline time passes and the transmission has not been sent, an alarm is sent and the Distribution user interface displays an indication that the deadline has passed and the transmission was not sent in time.

In addition to the cutoff and deadline times, the user enters a business day offset for the cutoff. The business day offset is used to indicate that the cutoff time for a transmission is on a different day from the business day. For example, if the 6/17 business day is opened at 8:00 PM on 6/16, and the first send for the 6/17 business day needs to be at 10:00 PM on 6/16 with a cutoff of 9:45 PM, enter a business day offset of -1 for the 9:45 PM cutoff and the 10:00 PM deadline. If the next send is at 2:00 AM, with a cutoff of 1:45 AM on the same day as the business day, enter a business day offset of 0 for the 1:45 AM cutoff and 2:00 AM deadline.

If all of the deadlines for the partner and transmission definition have already expired for the business day being processed, the transmission is created without a cutoff and deadline. When this happens, the transmission is not scheduled to automatically be released. The operator must use the Distribution user interface to manually force the transmission to process and to be released.