Order files should be comma delimited csv files, one record per row and contain no header row.
Order files CANNOT contain records belonging to multiple Program IDs. The Program_ID specified in the first row of the order file is used for funding. Any values specified in the Program_ID field for subsequent rows are ignored.
Order files CANNOT contain records for both Order_types. The Order_type specified in the first row of the order file is the default method of fulfillment. Any values specified in the Order_type field for subsequent rows are ignored. See Section 2 of Order File Format Notes for additional details on Bulk Shipments.
Order File Naming Convention
Although there is no specific file naming convention, in order to avoid duplication of file names, the following format is suggested:
programid\_mmddyyyy\_x.csv, where programid is the Program ID to place the order against, and x denotes the file number submitted for the day.
For example, the first file uploaded on July 1, 2012 should be named 07012012_1.csv. The second file uploaded for the day should be named 07012012_2.csv. Only one file should be uploaded with a particular name. The number of files per day submitted should be kept to a reasonable minimum.
Folder to Upload Order File
Each client is assigned a private folder on the SFTP Server, and is automatically placed in that directory after successful login. This folder contains three folders: Upload, Response, and Processed. All order files are uploaded to the Upload folder. Response files, which are discussed in Section 5, are placed in the Response folder. Error files, if applicable, are also be placed in the Response folder. After an order file from the Upload folder is processed, Virtual Incentives places the file in the Processed folder. Files in the Response folder are deleted after 90 days.
Order File Processing
Virtual Incentives reads the client’s Upload directory hourly. When it finds a file, it removes the file, processes it, and places it in the Processed directory. If no errors are encountered, a response file is placed in the Response directory with the format {original filename}_processed.csv, where {original filename} is the original file name that was processed from the Upload directory. The contents of this file are described in the next section. If one or more errors are encountered, a file with a name in the format {original filename}_error.csv is placed in the Response directory, where {original filename} is the original file name that was processed from the Upload directory.
If any rows in the csv file contain errors, the entire file will fail processing and needs to be resubmitted. The contents of the response file are described in the Response Files section. The contents of the error file are described in ErrorFile Format section.