Upgrading from Batch V3 API to Batch V6 API

Requirements

You will require the following information or resources to perform this upgrade. If you cannot meet the requirements, you will need to consult your IT department/ IT administrator.

1. The location on your computer of the current data files

2. The current QAS program files location

3. What data you will require for the new product (address data, data plus sets, other countries)

4. What your requirements are for the output data – any other additional data/ reporting you would like to have, any use of suppression data sets?

5. Understand of the structure and format of your input data – eg. Is your input file an xls or csv. What are the address fields you would like to clean? What country addresses does your file contain and therefore what country would you like to clean the data against.

6. Match codes generated in Batch V6 are different from those in V3 and you will need to understand what match level you want to accept back to your database. Once you have installed Batch, please see the ‘Address Match Codes section’ in the help file.

7. Ensure there is a nominated person to perform the quarterly data updates. Failure to perform updates will result in the data expiring and the product not working. If this nominated person changes, you should contact us to get the address or name information updated on your account.  

8. You will need to decide if you would like to create a Primary or User Interface integration.

9. You will need to have experience developing software in the language you are integrating in. This would include error handling and also testing.

10. Time – a User Interface integration will probably take 1-3 days for the integration and then some testing time. A Primary integration will probably take 3-6 days. We recommend integration assistance with the Batch product as there are many different settings and configurations that you can set to get optimal results. Please contact your Account Manager for more information.

11. If you would like to take advantage of our Electronic Updates product then please contact your Account Manager.

Steps to be Taken

1. Install and configure the Batch V6 API software, as per the V6 API Guide.

2. Test your installation with the supplied Test Harness, using the latest test address to ensure you have the most recent data.

3. Compared with your existing code, the program flow will be largely the same. However the function calls will be different, for example whereas V3 uses QABatch_Startup, V6 uses QABatchWV_Startup.

4. You should now write your V6 based on the functionality of your existing integration, or rework if necessary. For best practice advice, refer to the Batch V6 API Guide or the supplied sample code.