Output processing is managed by the output controller and the output collection module.

• The output controller manages the overall output process. You can configure output properties that apply to all streams. See "Output Controller".

  The Output controller performs the following functions:

  • Manages the output stream's trailer information.

  • Rejects input streams when they exceed a specified maximum number of errors.

  • Checks for duplicate CDR files.

  • Notifies the Transaction Manager when a transaction ends.

  • Stops the pipeline when critical errors occur.

  The input stream's trailer information can become invalid when a pipeline discards or rejects individual EDRs or when a pipeline splits EDRs into multiple output streams. For example, the input stream's trailer contains a total charge amount field, which contains the charge amount for all EDRs. When a pipeline discards some EDRs in the input stream, the total charge amount is no longer valid. To correct this, the Output Controller automatically recalculates the trailer information for each output stream.

• Output collection defines all the output streams for the pipeline. The Output Collection module performs the following functions:

  • Generates the output devices that are specified in the registry at system startup.

  • Passes the EDR container to the specified output device.

  You configure the Output Collection module by editing a pipeline's OutputCollection section of the registry file. For information, see "Output Controller".

The following output modules are available:

• OUT_GenericStream: Used to process rated events. This module converts the EDR format to a format needed for further processing, for example, RE Loader format to load rated events or TAP format for outcollect processing of roaming records.

  See "Configuring Output for Rated Events" and "OUT_GenericStream".

• OUT_Reject: Used to process rejected or duplicate events. See "Configuring Output for Rejected or Duplicate EDRs" and "OUT_Reject".

• OUT_DB: Used to send data to the database. See "Sending Output to a Database" and "OUT_DB".

• OUT_DevNull: Used to discard EDRs that you don't want to recycle. See "Configuring Output of Discarded EDRs" and "OUT_DevNull".

• EXT_OutFileManager: Used to manage the output files of the OUT_GenericStream module and the OUT_Reject modules. See "EXT_OutFileManager".

Output processing uses the following types of files:

• Temporary data file: Stores records during processing. There is one temporary file for each external file being processed. If the entire external file is rejected, the temporary file is not used.

• Output File: Stores the EDRs after processing. This file is derived from the temporary file. When processing is completed successfully, the temporary file is renamed and becomes the output file.

• Temporary stream file list: Stores the names of temporary data files. This is required when the Replace registry entry is enabled. In that case, the output file name is appended with a sequence number. Each output stream uses a separate temporary stream file list. For example, the telephony output stream registry includes these entries:

  TempDataPath       = ./samples/wireless/data/telout
  TempDataPrefix     = tel.tmp.
  TempDataSuffix     = .data

  Note:

  These registry entries are used for internal pipeline processing only and should not be changed.

These output processing files are managed by the "EXT_OutFileManager" module.

ASN.1 objects are composed of a triplet TLV (Tag/LengthOfValue/Value). Therefore, before writing ASN.1 to the output, you must calculate the LengthOfValue field for every element of the ASN.1 tree that you are building. To do this, use the EXT_AsnTree module.

This extension has functions to perform the following tasks:

• Builds a tree of ASN.1 objects.

• Updates the LengthOfValue fields of the ASN.1 objects.

• Flushes the resulting ASN.1 data block to an output stream.

The output section in a pipeline has this hierarchy:

Pipeline
  Output
      Output controller
         Output collection
             Output streams

• The output controller manages the overall output process. You can configure output properties that apply to all streams. See "Output Controller".

• Output collection defines all the output streams for the pipeline. You configure the Output Collection module by editing the OutputCollection section of the registry file. For information, see "Output Collection".

• Output streams send EDRs to the appropriate output location. See "About the Output Modules".

Events from different services (GSM, SMS, and so forth) must be delivered to the RE Loader or a prepaid network in separate files. To do this:

• Configure the IRL_EventTypeSplitting iScript to split EDRs by service code. See "Sending EDRs to Pipeline Output Streams".

• In the registry, configure an instance of the OUT_GenericStream module for each service.

Each EDR must have a default output stream and may also contain additional output streams. Use the following iScript functions to manipulate multiple output streams in a single registry:

• edrAddAdditionalStream

• edrRemoveAdditionalStream

• edrGetAdditionalStream

• edrContainsAdditionalStream

To add output streams to the default stream in the sample registry:

1. Create an iScript file that adds the stream.

   The edrAddAdditionalStream iScript document contains an example addoutmod.isc iScript file that shows how to add two additional output module streams.

2. Reference this iScript file in the pipeline FunctionPool registry section.

   The edrAddAdditionalStream iScript document contains an example function registry section that shows how to use the addoutmod.isc file to add an output stream in the function registry.

3. Define the stream in the pipeline output registry section.

   The edrAddAdditionalStream iScript document contains an example output registry section that shows how to configure additional output streams by using OUT_GenericStream.

See edrRemoveAdditionalStream for an example that shows how to remove an EDR output stream.

You configure a DataDescription section in the registry for each pipeline. The DataDescription section specifies the stream format description and input mapping files (see "About the Input Process") and the output mapping file.

DataDescription
  { 
   Standard 
   {
   ModuleName = Standard 
   Module 
   { 
   StreamFormats
   {
     Format1 = ./formatDesc/Formats/Flist/Flist_v01.dsc
   }
   InputMapping
   {
    Mapping1 = ./formatDesc/Formats/Flist/Flist_v01_InMap.dsc
   }
   OutputMapping
   {
    Mapping1 = ./formatDesc/Formats/Flist/Flist_v01_OutMap.dsc
   }
   }
   }
}

Use the TempPrefix registry entry to specify the prefix for temporary data files.

See "EXT_OutFileManager".

Use the OutputPath, OutputPrefix, and OutputSuffix registry entries to manage the output files for each stream.

See "EXT_OutFileManager".

Use the UseInputStreamName registry entry to specify to use the input file name to build the output file name.

For example, when UseInputStreamName = [2,4;4,6;8,&], the following characters from the input file name are used to build the output file name:

• Characters 2 to 4.

• Characters 4 to 6.

• Characters 8 to end of string, where the '&' symbol indicates the end of the string.

For instance, if the name of the input file is test12345678, Outputprefix is test, and Outputsuffix is .edr, the output file name will be testestt1245678.edr

See "EXT_OutFileManager".

Use the SequencerPrefix registry entry to specify a prefix to the sequence number before it gets appended to the generated output file name.

For example, when SequencerPrefix is "+", Outputprefix is test, Outputsuffix is .edr, the output file name will be test+000002.edr.

By default, the SequencerPrefix is "_" and if no SequencerPrefix is needed, it has to be specified as SequencerPrefix = ""

If you want to use the output of one pipeline as the input for another pipeline, you must move the output file to another directory before it can be used by the next pipeline. You move the files by using Event Handler and an external script. Event Handler would run your external script when prompted by a specified internal event. The external script would move the output file from one directory to another.

For example, if you want to use the output file from pipeline A as the input file to pipeline B:

• Configure pipeline A to generate output files in directory 1.

• Configure pipeline B to process input files from directory 2.

• Create a simple script (ExternalScript) that moves the output files from directory 1 to directory 2.

• Configure Event Handler to run ExternalScript whenever pipeline A generates an output file. For example, you can configure Event Handler to run ExternalScript when it receives an EVT_OUTPUT_FILE_READY event from the "EXT_OutFileManager" module.

The parameter file contains key and value pairs. The keys are used by other configuration files (SqlBeginStream, HeaderTableDefinition, DetailTableDefinition, TrailerTableDefinition, SqlEndStream). The syntax to recognize keys is ${KEY}. When the other files are processed, all found keys are replaced by the corresponding values. The files are not deleted.

It is possible to change the database tables in a running system if there are no open streams.

The SqlBeginStream file and the SqlEndStream file are used to define SQL statements that are passed to the database. The begin stream statement is run before the first EDR arrives, and the end stream statement is run after the last EDR is processed.

The HeaderTableDefinition, DetailTableDefinition (only if the NumberOfRows registry entry is set to 1), and TrailerTableDefinition files are used to describe the table in which the EDRs must be stored. For more information, see "HEADER, TRAILER, and DETAIL Table Definitions".

First the table name is defined with ${TABLE}, which is replaced by the definition in the parameter file. Then the column names of the table are defined. Each line holds a column of the table and its EDR container field, which is mapped into this column. The value is the EDR container field with external and alias names delimited by a comma ( , ).

${HEADER_TABLE} 
;RECORD_TYPE      = HEADER.RECORD_TYPE   , HDR_RECORD_TYPE 

Each column starts with the FieldDelimiter after the table name.

Because schema definition is not supported by the RWDBBulkInserter, when the NumberOfRows registry entry is set to 1, the columns are defined like the example above. For bulk insertion into the database when NumberOfRows is greater than 1, the column definition is deleted from the table definition file and the schema of the table definition in the database is used to create the BulkInsert. The following example shows the DETAIL table definition file for BulkInsert:

${DETAILTABLE} 
;DETAIL.RECORD_TYPE   , RECORD_TYPE 
;DETAIL.RECORD_NUMBER , RECORD_NUMBER 
...

In this case, each sequence of the EDR container field definition in the table definition file must be in the same order as the column definition in the database table.

Each logical block must end with two number signs ( ## ) except within the table definition file. A comment line must start with two slashes ( // ).

All these files result in one final configuration file for each stream with replaced parameter keys within the SQL statements, except optional registry keys. The registry keys (StreamNameAlias and RowNumAlias) are replaced immediately before the SQL statement is passed to the database.

The name of the final configuration file is the stream name. It is located in the ControlPath. If the SaveConfigurationFile registry entry is enabled, a suffix is added. If processing is successful, the suffix is .done; otherwise, it is .err.