Bulk Account Unlock Process

The Bulk Account Unlock Process is essentially a batch version of calling /account/unlock repeatedly. To issue several requests to unlock accounts, please use this process. Throttling mechanisms exist in the Helix API to ensure timely responses. See Batch Processing Overview for more information.

Basic Workflow

  1. You upload a Bulk Account Unlock Request File
  2. Helix processes it then uploads a Bulk Account Unlock Response File containing the results

Detailed Workflow

  1. You upload a properly formatted Bulk Account Unlock Request File to sftp.corepro.io
  2. Later that same day Helix calls the /account/unlock functionality for each content row in the file, but in a vastly more efficient manner
  3. Helix writes the results to a Bulk Account Unlock Response File and uploads it to sftp.corepro.io
  4. You inspect this response file for success and failed counts, and process accordingly. NOTE: Only failed account unlock operations will appear in the content section of the response file

Bulk Account Unlock Request File Definition

The Bulk Account Unlock Request File is a file created by the client to perform the equivalent of several requests to the /account/unlock endpoint. Multiple files per day can be processed, typically on an hourly basis. It has the following properties:

  1. Fixed-length
  2. ANSI endocded
  3. Line endings are Windows-style CarriageReturn + LineFeed (\r\n, or 0x0D0A)
  4. File must be uploaded to the relative directory of /BulkAccountUnlock
  5. File name follows a specific, case-insensitive pattern of: yyyyMMddhhmm_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCK.txt
    • The date in the file name should be the creation date of the file.
    • For example, if the file name is 201501080015_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCK.TXT, the data it contains will apply to Jan 8, 2015.
    • The header record contains an EffectiveDate field. This should be the same value as the CreatedDate field.

🚧

Format Disclaimer
Helix reserves the right to append new field(s) to the end of any Header or Content line without notice. This is to allow new data points to be added as needed in a timely fashion.

Implementation Note
Your code should be written such that unexpected characters after the "last" field but prior to the end of each line should be ignored. That is, if the file is documented as being 872 bytes per line, receiving a file with 984 bytes per line should not disrupt your processing. This applies to both Header and Content lines.

File Name Disclaimer
The date in file name should be used as a guideline for human eyes only. Any date-related programmatic dependencies should rely on the FileCreatedDate or FileEffectiveDate contained within the header line of each file, as these will be precise to the second and will be in the appropriate timezone.

Header Row

PropertyData Type (Length)AlignmentStart PositionDescription
RecordTypestring (1)Left1The flag for the header row. Will always be H.
FileNamestring (50)Left2The name of this file excluding path.
Format: yyyyMMddhhmm_ACCOUNTUNLOCK.txt
Example: 201407162348_ACCOUNTUNLOCK.txt
RecordCountinteger (10)Right52The number of records represented within the file. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000872
FileCreatedDatedatetime (34)Left62The date the file was created. Follows same format as API.
Example: 2014-10-20T10:30:31.456-05:00
See data format guidelines
FileEffectiveDatedatetime (34)Left96The date to which the data in the file pertains. Follows same format as API. Example: 2014-10-20T23:59:59.999-05:00
See data format guidelines
ReferenceIdstring (50)Left130A client-supplied unique identifier that will be included in the header row of the response file after Helix has processed this file. This allows correlation of the request and response files.

Content Row

PropertyData Type (Length)AlignmentStart PositionDescription
CustomerIdinteger (10)Right1The Helix-assigned unique ID for a customer. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000872
AccountIdinteger (10)Right11The Helix-assigned unique ID for an account. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000112
Notesstring (256)Left21Optional note to show within the Admin Portal on the customer screen
IsDemographicUnlockstring(1)Left277Optional field. Values are:

- Y: releases a demographic lock from all Helix accounts for a customer, as well as all cards and external accounts associated with those accounts
- N: releases a lock from only the account of the defined AccountId


Bulk Account Unlock Response File Definition

The Bulk Account Unlock Response File is created by Helix after Helix processes a Bulk Account Unlock Request File. It has the following properties:

  1. Fixed-length
  2. ANSI encoded
  3. Line endings are Windows-style CarriageReturn + LineFeed (\r\n, or 0x0D0A)
  4. File will appear in the relative directory of /BulkAccountUnlock/Response
  5. File name follows a specific, case-sensitive pattern of: yyyyMMddhhmm_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCKRESPONSE.TXT
    • This file is an exception in the naming convention used by other files. The date in the file name is the exact same date as the one in the corresponding Bulk Account Unlock Request File. It is NOT the CreatedDate of the file.
    • For example, if the Bulk Account Unlock Request File name is 201501080015_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCK.txt, the response file name will be 201501080015_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCKRESPONSE.TXT regardless of the actual CreatedDate or EffectiveDate

🚧

Format Disclaimer
Helix reserves the right to append new field(s) to the end of any Header or Content line without notice. This is to allow new data points to be added as needed in a timely fashion.

Implementation Note
Your code should be written such that unexpected characters after the "last" field but prior to the end of each line should be ignored. That is, if the file is documented as being 872 bytes per line, receiving a file with 984 bytes per line should not disrupt your processing. This applies to both Header and Content lines.

File Name Disclaimer
The date in file name should be used as a guideline for human eyes only. Any date-related programmatic dependencies should rely on the FileCreatedDate or FileEffectiveDate contained within the header line of each file, as these will be precise to the second and will be in the appropriate timezone.

Header Row

PropertyData Type (Length)AlignmentStart PositionDescription
RecordTypestring (1)Left1The flag for the header row. Will always be H.
FileNamestring (50)Left2The name of this file excluding path.
Format: yyyyMMddhhmm_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCKRESPONSE.TXT
Example: 201407162348_BULKACCOUNTUNLOCKRESPONSE.TXT
NOTE: File name will not contain the CreatedDate. It will consist of the same file name as the Bulk Account UNLOCK Request File that caused this file to be generated but with "RESPONSE" appended to the end of the file name prior to the file extension.
RecordCountinteger (10)Right52The number of Content lines in this file. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000003
FileCreatedDatedatetime (34)Left62The date the file was created. Follows same format as API.
Example: 2014-10-20T10:30:31.456-05:00
See data format guidelines
FileEffectiveDatedatetime (34)Left96The date to which the data in the file pertains. Follows same format as API. Example: 2014-10-20T23:59:59.999-05:00
See data format guidelines
ReferenceIdstring (50)Left130The client-supplied unique identifier that was supplied in the corresponding request file.
SuccessCountinteger (10)Right180The number of records successfully processed by Helix. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000001
FailedCountinteger (10)Right190The number of records that failed processing by Helix. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000003
ProcessedCountinteger (10)Right200The number of records processed (either successfully or unsuccessfully) by Helix. Should always match the number of content rows in the corresponding request file and this response file. This field is zero-padded on the left side
Example: 0000000004

Content Row

PropertyData Type (Length)AlignmentStart PositionDescription
CustomerIdinteger (10)Right1The Helix-assigned unique ID for a customer. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000872
AccountIdinteger (10)Right11The Helix-assigned unique ID for an account. This field is zero-padded on the left side.
Example: 0000000112
UnlockResultCodeenum (3)Left21Possible values:
- UNL: Successfully unlocked
- LCK: Unlock was unsuccessful
- NFD: CustomeId and/or AccountId not found
UnlockFailReasonstring (255)Left24The reason the requested unlock failed. Will be NA if the request was successful or the CustomerId/AccountId was not found. See Error Codes section on /account/unlock for possible values.

{ "file_type": "fixed_length" }