Outbound Segments page

The outbound segments page is used to view and manage segments as they are being created in Distribution. It displays basic information about the segments that are associated with a specific business day. Segments are small groups of transactions that are being built continuously throughout the day as transactions are being processed.

The size of the segments is controlled by configuration values, both in the Distribution engine (see Segment properties page) and in the building options configuration for each defined endpoint. A segment stays in an open status, which means the segment can receive more transactions, until it reaches the configured size. When this condition occurs, the segment is written to the hard disk drive, and a new segment is opened to receive the next set of transactions.

Note: Each segment is associated with an endpoint and a bank. All transactions within a segment do not contain mixed transactions for any other endpoint or bank.

Columns

The columns that are available on the page are shown in the following table.
Table 1. Outbound segments page columns
Column name or function Description
Selection control The first column on the page is used to select one or more segments from the list. Selecting the box in the table header selects all of the segments in the list.
Replica Identification A batch (ICL) is identified as a replica when the associated endpoint configuration has an assigned replication endpoint. The replica batches (ICLs) are contained in a replica transmission. The replica batch (ICL) that is created and processed for the replication endpoint is identified by a shaded background and by a replica icon that looks like sheets of paper.
Sidepoint Identification A segment is identified as a sidepoint when it contains copies of transactions. Copies of transactions are created by Business Rules during ingestion. The copied transactions might be included in multiple segments, and each of these segments might have different building options. A sidepoint icon, which resembles lines of text with an arrow, is shown next to the name of the segments that are sidepoints.
Business Day The business day field represents the processing date and category with which this segment is associated. The value for the business day field is a combination of the site, business date, and category fields separated by commas. The category can be used to separate work for the same business date. The status of the business day is shown within parentheses.

For example, 0, 2008–05–21, 4 (Active)

Business days are created and maintained by the Transaction Server. For more information about business days, see Business Day Management.
Identifier The identifier represents a unique key for the segment record.
Bank The bank number is a unique identifier that represents the processing bank that is associated with this segment. The bank number is created and maintained by using the manage banks page. It is assigned as work is loaded through the Gateway for electronic transactions. For more information about managing banks, see Banks Management.
Endpoint The ID of the endpoint for this segment. An endpoint identifies how work that is being exchanged between two trading participants is to be financially settled. For more information about endpoints, see Endpoints / Sidepoints page.
Distribution Type The distribution type for the segment. It is endpoint, sidepoint, reversal, or remake.
Building Option The building option is a definition that is associated with an endpoint that contains instructions on how the transactions within the segment are to be built. Distribution uses this option for identifying how many transactions go in a segment and which image views to include. Building options are created and maintained by using the manage building options page. For more information, see Manage Building Options page.
System credit amount The calculated value of all of the credit transactions in the transmission for this segment. The amount is displayed in the system currency when the use system currency to format control amount property is set to true. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
System debit amount The calculated value of all of the debit transactions in the transmission for this segment. The amount is displayed in the system currency when the use system currency to format control amount property is set to true. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Control credit amount The expected value of all of the credit transactions in the transmission for this segment. The amount is displayed in the system currency when the use system currency to format control amount property is set to true. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Control debit amount The expected value of all of the debit transactions in the transmission for this segment. The amount is displayed in the system currency when the use system currency to format control amount property is set to true. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Credits The credit value represents the total number of credit transactions that are found within this segment. This field is shown as a whole number. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Debits The debit value represents the total number of debit transactions that are found within this segment. This field is shown as a whole number. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Transactions The total number of transactions associated with this segment. The number is the total number of credits and debits. If the total number of transactions is greater than zero for a segment and the segment is not a replica, the number is a link to the transactions page. The transactions page displays the transactions that are associated with the segment record that contains the hyperlink.

The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Warnings During processing of segments, warnings can occur for a particular segment. If warnings exist, a warning indicator is visible for the associated segments. To view the warnings for a segment, click the warning indicator to display the segment warnings page. The warnings page shows a more detailed view of all the warnings that are associated with the segment.
Status Displays the status of the segment. Valid values for the segment status are shown in the following list.
Open
The segment is able to receive more transactions.
Locked
A Distribution engine has a dedicated lock on this segment and is working on the segment. The locking of a segment prevents two or more processes from trying to do similar work on a segment concurrently and possibly corrupting the integrity of the data.
Queued
A segment was submitted to be processed in an asynchronous manner. When the segment is in a queued status, it is actively sitting on a messaging queue, waiting to be picked up by the Distribution engine to be processed.
Queue error
The segment failed to be placed on the messaging queue for processing. Some typical examples of why a segment might fail being submitted to a queue are shown in the following list.
  1. The queue manager is not available.
  2. The queue is full.
  3. The queue is put inhibited.
Building
The segment is building in preparation for presenting to the participant.
Building error
The segment failed to build successfully for presenting to the participant.
Built
The segment finished building successfully and is stored on the hard disk drive. The segment is stored until the transmission is requested to be presented to the participant. After building of the transmission is started, the segment is placed inside the transmission for transport.
Released
The segment that is now contained in the transmission was successfully placed in the release location directory on the hard disk drive. For more information about the release location property, see Transmission properties page.
Addenda Count The total number of addenda records associated with the segment. The column header displays the aggregate total for all of the records in the column.
Payment scheme The payment scheme that is assigned to the batch (ICL).
Distribution Window Name The distribution window name assigned to payments held by the segment.
Batch / ICL Identifier The identifier of the batch (ICL) for the segment.
Segment Type ID The segment type identifier
Valid Debit Amount The total value of all check detail records that contain the defined value 1 in the MICR Valid Indicator.
File Path The location on the hard disk where the segment file exists.
File Size Segment file size, in bytes.
Images Number of images in the segment.
Missing Images Number of missing images in the segment.
Number of Records Number of records in the segment file.
Sequence Number The sequence in which the segment was created for the enclosing batch (ICL).
Document Type The document type indicator. For more information, see the relevant check reference specification.
Remarks Information regarding processing of the segment. For example, whether an error occurred during processing.

Data filtering

Use the filter functions to filter the list of segments. To filter the segment list, first select a business day or a range of business days. The default for the business day filter is the most recent business day. You can filter on all business days or on a single business day by using the Business day filter fields.

After a business day is identified, choose a column on which to filter. Apply the filtering by clicking Go. To clear the filtering, select No Filter from the Filter field and click Go.

The following table shows the columns that are available for filtering.
Table 2. Available columns for filtering segments
Filter Operator type Search term examples
Identifier Numeric 89
Bank Numeric 5
Endpoint String 12345678
Distribution Type Static Select from a list of distribution types.
Building Option String Unique Building Options
Credit amount Numeric 127000 or 127000.50

The filtering on financial data does not support the grouping delimiters, such as commas.
Debit amount Numeric 127000 or 127000.50

The filtering on financial data does not support the grouping delimiters, such as commas.
Credits Numeric 100
Debits Numeric 250
Status Static Select a status from the list.
Warnings Static Select from the following search terms.
  • no warnings
  • has warnings

Actions

The actions that are available on the page are shown in the following list.
  • Help link opens the help page.
  • Build starts the building of the selected segments. The segments are written to the hard disk drive for storage until the transmission is requested to be presented to the participant. This action is not allowed for replica segments. A segment must be in one of the following statuses to be available to build:
    • Open
    • Building error
    • Queue error
    • Built
  • Reset status to open resets the segment status back to open for the selected segments. Use this action only when you are sure that resetting the status back to open does not corrupt the integrity of the transmission. This action is not allowed for replica segments. Some typical uses of resetting a segment back to an open status are shown in the following list.
    1. WebSphere® Application Server rebooted during processing and transmissions are in a status where you cannot restart.
    2. Messages on queues for building were deleted and transmissions are in a status where they cannot be restarted.
  • View details displays more detailed information for the selected segment.

Asynchronous Actions

When the build action is done for multiple records, the action submits the selected records on a messaging queue to be processed. The action is considered successful when the all of the selected records are placed on the messaging queue.

To track the status of the selected segments after they are submitted to be built, refresh the page to get the current building status.