Technical
Information
The validation process begins with the receipt of the NCIC $B message which indicates there are records to validate. This message automatically triggers a process which receives the records to be validated. The NCIC fixed records may be compared with in state mirror files (noting any differences) and may be combined with state specific files to form the validation database.
The validation database is utilized throughout the cycle to provide administrative reports and to become the authority for the record owners who are performing validation. Once the database is created, the application generates and sends notification messages the owners of records. The notification messages are sent immediately, as well as at the 10 and 20 day marks to report progress and provide reminders.
At the end of the validation sequence, the application initiates a purge process which will delete all records which have not been validated. This process may be configured to provide users with a grace period, or to move records into an “unvalidated” holding table instead of deleting the records. The system provides notifications to system administrators prior to any automatic record purge, so that they may take appropriate action to prevent the loss of useful or critical information.
Online Validations Utilizing OpenFox™ Messenger
Because the OpenFox™ Validations process is transaction based, it works with any workstation in the enterprise; however, it integrates best with the OpenFox™ Messenger. Once a notification is received, the record owner performs an inquiry resulting in the following report:
Each report row contains a hyper link which, when clicked, will initiate a new transaction to the OpenFox™ Information Broker / Message Switching System. This transaction retrieves the details of the records requiring validation.
The record details are presented to the user in the following display.
This display lists all the pertinent identification information in the record. OpenFox™ Messenger provides hyper links following each record. These hyperlinks allow the user to validate the record, modify the record if it is still valid but requires field modifications, or to clear or cancel the record if it is no longer valid.
These hyperlinks bring the user to a Messenger transaction form with pre-filled record identification information. If the user clicks on the “Validate this Record” link, he will be presented with the Validation form. This form will be pre-filled to submit the proper modify message key. In addition, Messenger will parse the NCIC number and the OCA number from the record details and it will use these values to pre-fill the corresponding fields on the form. Messenger also pre-fills the “Name of Validator” field with the name of the user currently signed on. The Validate Record Screen is shown following:
Validate Record Screen
Pre-filling the screen with known values minimizes the key strokes required by the user, avoids the accidental validation or modification of other records, and increases the overall efficiency of the validation process. The other operations: modify, clear and cancel are processed in much the same way. The user clicks on the link and the Messenger presents the correct form with pre-filled values.
