Entry Allocation Tasks

During entry allocation, batches (ICLs) are aggregated into entries, which is called marking. The marking process uses an entry services profile to control how the batches (ICLs) are aggregated as they are assigned to entries. Refer to Entry Services Profile for more information about the entry services profile.

Occasionally, available batches (ICLs) are not marked because the minimum aggregation requirements are not met. This usually happens because the business day to which these batches (ICLs) belong is an active business day. Once the business day is closed, the marking process ignores the minimum threshold limits so that all of the remaining batches (ICLs) in the business day are not left unallocated.

After the batches (ICLs) have been marked, information about the entry to which it is assigned is applied to each batch (ICL) in the entry. This is called allocation. Allocation requires an entry number allocation parameter to control how entry numbers are assigned to the entries.

Entry allocation is performed by the following Services Framework tasks:

EntryMarkerTask
EntryAllocationTask

Configure as many entry marking tasks as are needed to support the aggregation and threshold requirements of the business. Each task instance should use a different profile name in the entry services profile file. Only one entry allocation task is needed because it can support multiple entry marking tasks.

To ensure that entry marking occurs on a regular basis during the business day, create a Services Framework scheduled configuration to periodically run the entry marking tasks. Set the start time of each task to run at different times to avoid database contention. As an entry marker task successfully completes aggregating batches into an entry group, it forwards the group to the entry allocation task to assign the entry number and complete the allocation. Since the entry marker tasks start it, the entry allocation task does not need to be a scheduled task. Refer to New Scheduled Configuration for more information about creating scheduled configurations.

The entry marking task also supports running when an presentment or presentment group event occurs. The task ignores the unit of work (UOW) ID from the event and uses its configuration in the entry services profile to begin marking. To enable this functionality, configure a Transaction Server event handler for the specific presentment or presentment group events. Refer to Available Messaging API Event Handlers for more information about configuring event handlers for these event types.

Note: Scheduling the entry marker tasks is preferred over using events. Scheduling the tasks ensures that event marking is run throughout the day and also reduces the risk of introducing database performance problems.

These tasks must be registered and configured before they are available for use. Refer to Services Framework task registration and configuration for more information about registering and configuring these tasks in Services Framework.

Runtime Characteristics

These tasks have the runtime characteristics shown in Table 1 and Table 2

Table 1. Entry Allocation Task Runtime Characteristics
Characteristic	Setting	Description
Manual run	Allowed	This task can be run manually
Scheduled run	Allowed	This task can be scheduled to run using a Services Framework scheduled configuration.
Concurrent run	Allowed	The entry allocation task can run concurrently

Table 2. Entry Marker Task Runtime Characteristics
Characteristic	Setting	Description
Manual run	Allowed	This task can be run manually
Scheduled run	Allowed	This task can be scheduled to run using a Services Framework scheduled configuration.
Concurrent run	Prohibited	The entry marker task cannot run concurrently