README for CheckLinks.py
Information about the program:
CheckLinks.py will perform a series of checks in your format 202 link file to ensure that the data is all right. If no errors are detected then a zip file will be created. The zip file represents your checked links file ready to upload to the Interbull Centre IDEA database.
The checks relate to:
- Record type: must be 202
- Record length: must be 44
- International identification numbers (first ID, second ID)
- Correct three digit country code as in the ISO 3166 standard
- Correct three digit breed code according to the Interbull breed codes
Allowed breed-country combination
- see file CheckLinksAuth.txt (created by the program)- Correct construction of the numerical part of the ID (registration numbers, right justified, leading blanks as zeros)
- UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU (19 U's) is only allowed for the second ID
- Sex code of the two IDs (they must be the same and M or F)
Before Running the Program:
Install Python (Python2 version 2.5 to 2.7), or Python3 (at least version 3.6, preferable as Python2 is no longer supported by developers)
- Create a working directory/folder
Download the CheckLinks.py program from https://idea.interbull.org/software and copy it to your new directory
- Copy your pedigree link file to the working directory
Running the Program:
- Ensure there is a working network connection
Use the command: python CheckLinks.py -m <ORGCODE> -f <filename>
Use your uppercase ORGCODE as shown on the upper right hand side of the IDEA page.Your organization code is reported within brackets beside the "Logged in as" information.
- The program checks its internal version with the value stored on the Interbull server. You will have to download the most recent version if there is a mismatch.
After Running the Program:
If no errors are detected, the pedigree file will be written into a zip file called IB202-org_code-yyyymmddThhmmss.zip. Upload the zip file to Interbull's data exchange site https://idea.interbull.org/
In case of errors, no zip file will be created. Please correct your data and re-run the program until the data successfully pass all required checks.
A summary of errors is written to the file CheckLinksLog.txt.
All errors are listed in detail in the file called CheckLinksErrors.txt.
Note:
Please do not modify the program to circumvent any checks. Doing so would be pointless because the same checking routine is used again at the Interbull Centre to double-check the link file uploaded in the zip file.
If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at interbull@slu.se .