X9Utilities Scrub reads an x9 file in industry defined formats and applies user defined actions to remove proprietary and confidential information from the input file creating a new output x9 file. Scrub will also optionally apply replacement actions against the images attached to each item. The actions to be performed can be saved in a user defined scrub configuration file which is available for future reuse. Scrub has a standard list of available cleansing actions that can be selected based on your specific requirements.

Scrub is designed to remove varying levels of proprietary information from the currently loaded file by applying arbitrary and potentially random values to the customer confidential fields within the file. For X9 files, Scrub can also optionally perform replacement actions against the images associated with each item, allowing the image CAR/LAR to match the sanitized data content. Actions for a Scrub session to be save in a user defined scrub configuration file which is then available for future reuse.

The scrub process is very helpful when you want to use the currently loaded file as the basis to create a new output file to be used for testing or other internal purposes. This is a powerful facility, since the intent is to remove all possible customer data to create a new output file that has the same spirit as the currently loaded file, but with all proprietary information removed. Scrubbed files are very useful for testing environments where there is the need to minimize the use of actual customer data within the testing environment. Scrub is also very beneficial when you need to share the content of an existing file with a business partner, but you do NOT want to share customer information such as account numbers or check images.

Scrub has a standard list of available cleansing actions that can be selected based on your specific requirements. The current implementation is very robust however we realize that there is always room for improvement. Please let us know if you have additional scrub actions that you feel are missing that we can add to our standard scrub process. Scrub will consistently update various records within the currently loaded file. For example, if you are scrubbing user or reserved fields, then those fields will be sanitized (replaced with spaces) across all record types that contain those specific field types.

Scrub Multi-File

Scrub within X9Assist runs on a single file basis as part of the user interface. However, note that scrub is also available from our X9Utilities product, where it can be run in multi-file mode, against a folder or group of folders. The scrub facility in X9Utilities is also multi-threaded for increased performance when running against a large number of files.

Scrub Actions

Scrub actions are used to direct the specific sanitization efforts to be applied:

Scrub images
Scrub item fields
Scrub file headers/trailers
Scrub amounts
Scrub other headers/trailers
Scrub addendums
Scrub item sequence numbers
Scrub date fields
Scrub file ID modifiers
Scrub user fields
Scrub reserved fields

Scrub uses an xml parameter file to define the actions to be applied to the input x9 file. This xml file is created and tested using our X9Assist desktop tool. This approach allows you to define, test, refine, and review these parameters on a repetitive basis against x9 files to ensure that your scrub definition produces the desired results. These xml definitions are stored by X9Assist in folder / Documents / x9_assist / xml / scrub /. X9Assist allows you to create as many of these definitions as you need to perform your desired scrub actions. The shared used of these xml parameter files between X9Assist and X9Utilities is a key part of our design since it provides the same experience between these environments.

Images

Scrub has the ability to replace check images within the x9 file, which is critical when the MICR information and amounts on checks have been changed. There are several options available:

Draw images using the new MICR and amount information for each check: new images are drawn which will contain fields such as payee, date, courtesy amount, legal amount, memo, etc. The MICR line is obtained from the original image and will be drawn onto the new image within the clear band area. This allows you to eliminate a large amount of possible customer privacy information from the check since the redrawn image allows that data to be completely eliminated and replaced with a redrawn template image. X9Assist ensures that the newly drawn image meets tiff x9 exchange standards. You can use the image templates tab to select the business check formats (artwork) which will be used when dynamically drawing these images. X9Assist must use the business size checks to ensure that sufficient width exists to copy the MICR line data to the new image.

Draw images while retaining the MICR line from the original images: images will be replaced with your defined “missing image” document. Note that this document can be customized as part of your X9Assist installation.

Use missing image documents: images will be replaced with your defined “missing image” document. Note that this document can be customized as part of your X9Assist installation. The created missing image documents will include a MICR line that is drawn from the current x9 data.

Scrub existing images using an XML definition that describes how input images should be manipulated to meet your specific business requirements: the image scrub process uses the original image to create a scrubbed image that retains portions of the original image. Parameters are then used to manipulate the image data to meet your specific business requirements while obfuscating as much data as possible. The image scrub process is applied to each incoming image (both front and back), allowing the physical image dimensions of those images to be retained. XML options are used to define the image manipulations that are applied, with separate actions defined for the front versus back images.

Scrub image XML definitions are located in folder / documents / x9_assist / xml / scrubImages /. When image scrub is selected, you must then also indicate which XML definition will be used to control the scrub process. There are a series of standard definitions that are provided by X9Ware which can be modified as needed. The list can also be extended with your own unique image scrub actions. Please see below for a list of the standard image scrub definitions that are distributed with X9Assist and the parameters that can used within these definitions.

Image scrub can retain the existing MICR line from the current check image, but be advised that this can be done only when the amount and MICR line data is not being modified by the current scrub operation. Retaining the MICR line has advantages when your exchange partners may not be consistently populating fields such as auxiliary OnUs in the type 25 records, which would prevent X9Assist from accurately drawing a new MICR line from the x9 data.

When retaining the MICR line, scrub will preserve the entire OCR clear band area at the bottom of each front image. This area is dedicated to the E13B MICR line on all check designs and should contain MICR data only. However, many checks impinge on that and may include lines and other check artwork within the clear band, even though they should not do so per defined standards. Customer signatures and other written notations may also appear within the clear band. Since scrub will retain the entire OCR clear band area, it is possible that some of this erroneous data is carried over into the new image that is drawn.

Scrub will copy the clear band to the new image exactly as it appears within the original image. On the SDK tab within program options, you can specify the size of the MICR line area that will be copied to the newly drawn check image, with the default to copy the bottom one inch. This preserves the MICR line and provides substantial information even if a strip has been applied to the bottom of the check as part of reject repair.

Scrub will inform you (as an error) when your scrub actions are not consistent with the image scrub definition that has been selected. For example, you cannot scrub MICR lines and then select an image scrub definition that retains the MICR line. Scrub image ensures that the redrawn images meet tiff x9 exchange standards and that the front images created by image scrub will always match the associated x9 data.

Command Line Switch	Description
-config:	Use a specific x9 configuration for validation which defaults to “x9.37”. For example, the CPA 015 standard can be selected as: “-config:x9.CPA_015”.
-parms:	Identifies the scrub xml parameter file which will be applied to the input x9 file. This xml file is created and tested using X9Assist and the scrub tools within that product, and can then be used by X9Utilities.
-outExtension:	Defines the output extension to be assigned to the created output x9 file when that file name is not specified on the command line; default is “new”.
-t	A summary text file will be created with a suffix of “_summary.txt” in the same folder as the input x9 file.
-x	A summary XML file will be created with a suffix of “_summary.xml” in the same folder as the input x9 file.
-l	Will list all x9 records to the system log.