Data Validation

The GlobalCapture platform is all about marrying actionable data to documents being processed.  Whether data is automatically extracted, manually keyed, or imported from another system, GlobalCapture is responsible ensuring the integrity of the data provided.  Problems can arise when data in an index field does not conform to the rules of that field.  For example, you can not input letters into a date field.  While you might expect a data entry user would be able to understand an issue like this, when performing automated extraction, the rules are not as clear.  When a zero is misread as the letter O, GlobalCapture can be configured to automatically do the replacement.  If you have not built this level of control into your process, there needs to be a way to manage the problem.

Many of the Nodes in a GlobalCapture workflow support a property named Data Validation.  By default, this property is on.  When left on, Data Validation will trigger an error on the document process any time the data in a field does not conform to the field's properties.  In many cases, if might be desirable to allow documents with bad data to pass through a node so all errors can be managed in a single step.  Turning off Data Validation will allow this pass through behavior.

Specific nodes may have slightly different behaviors as outlined below:

• Import, Call Assembly, Data Lookup, and Set Process Field Nodes
  
  With Data Validation enabled, these Nodes will create a process error anytime data does not match the defined data type or exceeds the specified length for the field.  When disabled, any data of any type can be sent to any of the Process Fields for the workflow.  This may be necessary when performing actions like importing data and documents from a CSV, importing by file name, or pulling in data from an external data source that you don't control.
  
  
• Classify
  
  When enabled, a data type mismatch (sending alpha characters to a numeric field) will not error the process, but will result in no data being sent to a field.  Disabling Data Validation will allow any data extracted to pass through.  Customers upgrading from a version prior to 2.1 should use caution with this option on Classify steps.  The potential exists for templates that previously did not match a document to now match with Data Validation off.
  
  
• Validation
  
  The Validation Node always forces Data Validation on for user based interactions.  When a user accesses a document in validation, they are expected to correct any data errors that present at that time.  For system level actions, the option can be configured.  Data Validation is only relevant for customers using GlobalForms 10 or higher, leveraging the GlobalForms Resubmission system action.  When enabled, data sent to GlobalCapture on a resubmission step must conform to type and length requirements.  For initial form submissions, settings from the Import Node are respected.  Remember that Data Validation has no impact on the user experience for the Validation node.  This option only affects the system action for re-submitting web form data.
  
  

If you want to set Data Validation on or off for all nodes, access the Settings menu from the toolbar.  In the Data Validation section, you can choose to Enable or Disabled the option for every node of the workflow.  If at any point your workflow contains nodes with mixed states, this menu will show neither option selected.

Validation and Hidden Fields

It is important to know that fields that are hidden can not be edited. If you do not allow for certain fields to be exposed and those fields carry invalid data, you might end up with an unrecoverable error scenario where only an administrator can resolve conflicts. Use caution and be sure your workflow is designed to manage and control all scenarios before going into production.