Workgroup Translation

With version 1.8 of the CC1 Web Services, the concept of Workgroup Translation has been introduced. Workgroup Translation is the one to one mapping of a unique external identifier and the seven workgroup identifiers normally used to identify an employee’s workgroup within Attendance on Demand (aka WorkgroupSet).

When integrating a 3rd party solution to Attendance on Demand, it is necessary to properly cross-reference employee Workgroup (Department) assignments between systems. If the 3rd party solution does not use a multi-level strategy similar to Attendance on Demand, a cross-reference is needed. The external unique identifier is a string value that is known to an external or 3rd party application. This string value is internally mapped to a WorkgroupSet within Attendance on Demand. Once established, Attendance on Demand can act upon input data (in nearly all cases) containing the external unique identifier. Conversely, when Attendance on Demand sends back information (in nearly all cases) the internal Attendance on Demand WorkgroupSet is complemented with the 3rd party’s external unique identifier.

Below is information on preparing the use to workgroup translation

Step 1: Prepare the Database

The client database receiving the Workgroup Translation values must be prepared. For databases created prior to April 4th, 2010, execute a Version Upgrade (using the Attendance on Demand Administrative Portal) or an Attendance on Demand technician can perform this operation upon request.

Step 2(a): Upload 3rd Party Departments

Upload 3rd party departmental organization values via the setManuallySelectedSetupData() CC1 Web Services method. This method is designed to accept a string array formatted in a manner that contains (at minimum) a unique identifier and a descriptive string label:

010002000300, Building 3 Shipping

020002000300, Office Clerical

etc.

This information is temporarily stored within Attendance on Demand until a service technician manually creates the mapping between the external departmental identifiers and the internal Attendance on Demand workgroups. This operation is performed by the Attendance on Demand Service Module and contains a number of functions to assist in rapid workgroup creation and mapping.

Step 2(b)

Instead of performing the operations shown in Step 2(a) above, a mapping library can be created programmatically by the 3rd party developer by directly calling the new methods added for this purpose:

maintainWGXlate()

removeWGXlate()

extractWGXlates()

These methods use the TAeWorkgroupXLate structure which in essence is a mapping between an external string identifier and the 7 integers that represent a single WorkgroupSet in Attendance on Demand.

Step 3

When uploading employee information via CC1, populate the WGDescr field. This field normally has no purpose when Attendance on Demand is receiving employee data. However, if Workgroup Translations are in effect, the system will lookup the unique identifier provided in the WGDescr field and automatically populate the WG1…WG7 fields with the corresponding 7 integer values defined in the TAeWorkgroupXLate structure.

When receiving employee information via CC1, Attendance on Demand will populate the WGDescr field with the cross referenced external unique identifier if a match is found for the WorkgroupSet.

Using Workgroup Translation, 3rd party solutions can benefit from the mapping capabilities added to Attendance on Demand and avoid having to build an external mapping operation.

Notes

The Workgroup Translation function within Attendance on Demand requires a one to one mapping logic with no duplications. Please anticipate this when making your determination to use Workgroup Translation.

Workgroup Translations are supported by nearly all, but not all CC1 methods. Validate that all expected capability is present before making your determination to use Workgroup Translation.

Key Concepts