Data Capture

All systems which supply data can be charged at Valuemation.  This are for Example measured data of telecommunications,  data from a time reporting system or any other accounting data.  These data are transferred to Valuemation. The data will be shaped into a unified form, in some cases it may take place a compressing of the data.

Data Capture

In order to offer an extensive flexibility, it is possible in certain places in Valuemation to call userexits (small add on programs) in order to accomplish e.g. customized reports. Valuemation permits thereby at comparatively small expenditure the assumption of arbitrary performance data.

The emphasis of Valuemation lies in the supply of a versatile applicable tool for the accounting of arbitrary services, among other things also from pure computer center achievements. Valuemation makes therefore no firmly defined interfaces available to measuring data, but offers the possibility of generating interfaces dynamically on basis from table entries to. These interface descriptions can be maintained and/or supplemented on-line, without having to take the assistance up of the manufacturer.

This characteristic is fundamentally important, since the accounting procedure of Costing & Charging is subject to very frequently evolutionary processes. Such an interface and/or record descriptor defines a carrier type in such a way specified. This structure is put down into tables. By this table administration, the system extents self-explanatory and can answer simply e.g.: "which data fields include CPU accounting?" .

The assumption of the data takes place in 3 steps:

• Definition of the assumption interfaces
• generation of the transfer programs --> interface program
• assumption/import of the data

With the interface definition a carrier type is defined per independent data source. For each carrier type, a structure is specified, the length and description of the data is recorded.

Over a generation script with integrated interface (COBOL program) now on the basis the interface structures assumption a program defined before is generated and compiled. If the generation took place and of the developed COBOL SOURCE code compiled, an executable file e.g. EXE is at disposal.

The Exe file is called in the assumption Script for the import of the clarification data. The clarification data are transferred now to the Costing & Charging data base.