Constructing the backfeed URL

An explanation of each backfeed parameter is provided below:

Child database parameter [did]

If the child database parameter is not specified then each child database that the candidate has access to will be checked in turn for a matching Unique Reference Number in the MARSC_Contact_History table.

Outcome code value [occ]

This is the desired outcome from the interview and can contain a number of outcome possibilities. Each will require pre-set up in the Q_Panel database before the interview can be successfully completed.  This is a mandatory parameter.

Unique reference number [ref]

This is the reference matching the Unique Reference Number in the database relating to the candidate history entry for the individual interview. This is sequentially generated by Q_Panel.

Response ID [rid]

When using the Q_Panel email manager this can be generated. However, this can also be an imported list to be used by the Q_Panel email manager. The response ID can also be provided independently for appending to the Q_Panel database.

Interview start date [ins] and interview end date [ine]

Denotes the time the interview was started or completed.

Date format for the backfeed should be ‘yyyy-MM-ddTHH:MM:SS’ (note the T to indicate where time starts).

Timezone offset [tzo]

The time zone offset parameter specifies the offset to apply to the Interview Start and Interview End date time values in order to convert these values to UTC.

If the time zone offset parameter is not specified then the IIS servers’ time zone offset will be used.

For example:

Interview Start Date = 2013-01-01T09:30  and Timezone Offset =  -60

MaRSC_ProjectBackfeed.prgbInterviewStartTime value would be 2013-01-01T08:30 as this is deemed to be the UTC value of the supplied Interview Start datetime value.

Note that the Timezone Offset parameter is negated, in other words, if the user knows the Interview Start and End datetime values were generated by a system running in the Arizona timezone (-7 hours), then tzo=7.  Likewise, if the values were generated by a system running in the Bangkok timezone (+7 hours), then tzo=-7.

Redirect url [rdu]

At the end of the interview the candidate can be directed to a specified website if required.

A backfeed response page can be built using HTML for each outcome code.  If a redirect URL parameter is not specified, the candidate will be directed to the backfeed response page, if one exists, for the given outcome code.  Backfeed response pages can be built, one per outcome code, using Outcome Code Manager from the Q_Panel Maintenance menu.

Reward points [pts]

The number of reward points to be awarded for the outcome.

Encoding

Parameter values that contain restricted characters need to be encoded – this is particularly relevant to the Redirect url [rdu] option.

Encoding Dates

The Interview Start and End date time values contain semi colons which require encoding in order for the resulting URL to be valid.

For example:

Interview start datetime  =  2013-01-01T09:30:00

The encoding can be done in server side code using Server.UrlEncode(“2013-01-01T09:30:00”)

The result would be: 2013-02-01T09%3a30%3a00 and this value can now be added to the URL

http://www.marsc/ClientBackfeed/OutcomeResult.aspx?ins=2013-02-01T09%3a30%3a00

Encoding Redirect URLs

When specifying a redirect URL, this would require double encoding if it contains a querystring with values containing restricted characters.

For example, if the user needs to be redirected to the following URL:

http://www.mypage.com?name=johnsmith

The encoding can be done in server side code using Server.UrlEncode(“http://www.mypage.com?name=johnsmith”)

The result would be: http%3a%2f%2f www.mypage.com%3fname%3djohn smith and this value can now be added to the URL

http://www.marsc/ClientBackfeed/OutcomeResult.aspx?rdu=http%3a%2f%2f www.mypage.com%3fname%3djohnsmith