TrackAbout API and Integration Points

Overview

TrackAbout integrates with several business accounting systems including Infonetics, Mind Your Own Business, Computers Unlimited (TIMS, TIMS 3.0, WISDOM), and Oracle.

TrackAbout integrates with storeroom management systems by eRPortal.

TrackAbout integrates with third-party bill presentment and procurement systems from SourceCorp.

TrackAbout supports several ways of getting data into and out of the system.

Manual user-uploading of CSV, fixed-width, tab-delimited or XML files
Automatic pickup and processing of files transferred via FTP or other means
Exported text and XML reports made available for automated pickup
Fully integrated Web Services based on the RESTful model (see here and here).

TrackAbout also provides a set of published URL Redirects for getting quick access to such things as customers, invoices, assets and more via the web site.

Legacy Accounting System Integration

TrackAbout's small-to-medium sized customers in the gas distribution industry typically use one of the four incumbent accounting system providers in that industry: Computers Unlimited, Dataweld, Infonetics and Barry Weir. These systems provide varying degrees of "openness" ranging from "none" to "just barely enough."

From these industry-specific accounting systems, it is usually only possible to export data, not import. This provides for a one-way integration: exporting data from the accounting system into TrackAbout. The exporting of data usually takes the form of tab-delimited, fixed-width columnar or comma-separated values (CSV) files (if we're lucky) or paged text reports (if we're not-so-lucky).

For importing the tab-delimited, fixed-width columnar or CSV files, TrackAbout can create a relatively simple mapping configuration file which models the structure of the file. Once configured, these kinds of files can be posted or uploaded. The paged text reports usually require custom development work to convert them a file format TrackAbout can understand.

TrackAbout can also export data in several formats for automated pickup by our customers' systems.

File-Based Import/Export

Import

Importing data files into TrackAbout can be done in one of the following ways:

Uploading Manually To a Page

User logs in and navigates to a page in the Integration section of the web site.
User uploads the file manually and specifies some settings to use while processing the file.
User waits for processing to finish.
Page displays warnings or errors upon completion.

Automated Processing of Uploaded Files

User or automated process transfers the file to the TrackAbout server (usually via FTP).
Periodically the files are picked up and processed using preconfigured settings.
Any warnings or errors are sent to a list of preconfigured email addresses.

Types of Imports

Import Certificates Of Analysis
Import Crib Inventory
Import Invoices
Import Legacy Asset Info
Import Legacy Deliveries
Import Quality Control Data

Export

TrackAbout can export data to flat files in various file formats to an FTP location for pickup.

Types of Exports

Export Asset Info
Export Crib Orders
Export Delivered Assets
Export Deliveries
Export Fills
Export Inventory
Export Lots At Customer
Export Post Fill Analysis
Export Rental
Export Verified Invoices

Automated Invoice Imports

The most common integration linkage to establish is the regular and automated exporting of invoice data from the accounting/order entry system and importing into TrackAbout. This enables TrackAbout to compare the invoice/order info to the actual records collected in the field by workers doing deliveries. This is a huge value-add for TrackAbout, as we help our customers catch mistakes in the field. Being able to compare expected to actuals allows TrackAbout to automatically verify delivery records when the two match.

Occasional Balance Imports for Comparison

Another integration point is the balance import. The client's accounting system maintains its own record of each customer's balance, independent from TrackAbout. Because of the lack of strong two-way integration, it is possible, over time, for balances in the accounting system to drift away from those of TrackAbout, the system of record. We have created a process by which a user can export customer balance reports from their accounting system, then import these reports into TrackAbout for comparison. The user can then see where the differences lie. If they so wish, they can perform a "right-sizing" and force TrackAbout to agree with the accounting system. This is achieved by adding Not-Scanned Assets to the customer balances. Generally, we prefer that customers do not right-size TrackAbout to match the accounting system, because we feel TrackAbout is the more accurate system. However, clients will sometimes have an established history with a given customer and an agreed-upon balance for which the customer is being billed rent.

TrackAbout Support Tools

To get a new customer up and running with TrackAbout requires bulk loading certain types of data. TrackAbout Support has private tools which provide for bulk loading the following:

Asset Categories, Asset Groups and Asset Types
Product Codes (aka part numbers) and mapping of Product Codes to Asset Types
tracking data from legacy tracking systems
Custom Asset Info, such as manufacture date, retest date, valve types, and other asset-specific data.
Customers
Rental Rates
Asset Agreements (leases)
Subactions (i.e. specific types of Maintenance)
Orders for Paperless Delivery
Billing Exchange Balances (for Exchange Type assets)
Customer Owned Offsets for Rental

Web Services

For our customers who run their businesses on more modern back-end systems (such as those who have adopted the TECSYS/TrackAbout combined platform, or those on Oracle Financials or other similar systems), integration can be made much tighter. We have integrations in place where completed and verified order data from TrackAbout is pushed back to the client's system in order to release invoicing, and where monthly calculated rental bills are exported to the back-end systems for clients who wish to print their own rental bills.

TrackAbout maintains web services for the following purposes:

Add/Modify/Delete of Order data for Paperless Delivery
Posting of Cylinder Fill data
Posting of Cylinder Validation data
Posting of Telemetry Device data
Exporting of Verified Deliveries
Exporting of Customer Balances
Exporting of Rental Invoices

Public Redirect URLs

The following published URLs will not change over time and will be supported indefinitely.

Note that these URLs do not provide for authentication. That is, you cannot specify username/password as part of the request. Instead, upon the first request to a URL, the user will be redirected to the standard login screen. Upon successful login, the user will then be automatically redirected to the requested page.

All URLs must begin with the path to the server (i.e. "https://www.trackabout.com"), so this is omitted below.

Any special characters or spaces in the querystring portion of the URL must be properly url-encoded. For reference, see http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/ref_urlencode.asp. For example, the correct URL-encoding for a single space character is the plus sign: +

These URLs are implemented as regular-expression-based URL redirects, so there are no ?, & or = characters.

Asset URLs

URL	Redirects To
/barcode/(a barcode)	The Asset Search results page, or directly to Asset History page if only one match is found.

Customer URLs

These all work with either /cust or /customer. We will show /customer in all examples below.

URL	Redirects To
/customer/(a customer ID)	Customer Detail page. If more than one match, then redirects to the Customer Search results page.
/customer/(a customer ID)/assetlist	Asset List page. If more than one match, then redirects to the Customer Search results page.
/customer/(a customer ID)/assetbalance	Asset Balance page. If more than one match, then redirects to the Customer Search results page.
/customer/(a customer ID)/rentalbalance	Rental Balance page. If more than one match, then redirects to the Customer Search results page.

Lot URLs

URL	Redirects To
/lot/(lot #)	Lot Search results page.

Order/Invoice/Delivery Ticket/Packing Slip/PPS URLs

Some of our customers use the term "invoices", others call them "orders", "packing slips", "delivery tickets", or "PPS". This is the number used by drivers during deliveries.

URL	Redirects To
/invoice/(an invoice #) or /order/(an order #)	Invoice/Order Search results page, or directly to the invoice/order summary page if only one match is found.

Rental Invoice URLs

These are used to link to TrackAbout generated rental invoices.

URL	Redirects To
/rinvoice/(a rental invoice #) or /rentalinvoice/(a rental invoice #)	Rental invoice search results page.

If you require shortcut URLs to be added to our public API, let us know.