NRDS bridge setup and configuration

To start using the NRDS bridge, you must do the following:

Install the WebSphere MQ Client and use the iMIS DB Maintenance Utility to create the required NRDS pieces.
Configure the NRDS Bridge with the NRDS host credentials and map the NRDS fields to iMIS fields.
Set up windows to view and edit the NRDS data.

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Warning
You must set up and configure the NRDS bridge before you can synchronize any data.

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Note
If you plan to set up a test database before implementing NRDS in your live system, contact NAR first to obtain connection information for their test database, so that you do not update any live data while testing.

To install the NRDS foundation

Download and install the free IBM WebSphere MQ Client on your iMIS application server.

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Note
After unzipping the WebSphere MQ Client zip file, open the Windows folder and run setup.exe.

Restart your application server.
From the Start menu, go to the iMIS program group and run the iMIS DB Maintenance Utility tool.
Enter your database connection information.
From the Options tab, click Add NRDS Items.
Check the Output section below the button to verify that no errors occurred.

To configure the NRDS feature

Add the NRDS configuration page to your website.

From RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content, create a new content record and add the NRDS Configuration content item (located in the Utility folder of Content Gallery).
Configure the content item as desired, then Save & Publish the content record.
From RiSE > Site Builder > Manage sitemaps, select a website from the dropdown list.

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Note
You can select any WCM website or your staff site.

Create a new Website Navigation Item.
For the Content or URL to Link to, select the NRDS configuration content record you created.
Save, and then Publish the navigation item.

From the configuration page, enter your NRDS host credentials and map the NRDS fields to iMIS fields. The mapped fields are automatically updated when iMIS and NRDS are synchronized.

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Note
The following fields are automatically mapped and cannot be edited from the configuration page: name fields (including Prefix, First, Middle, Last, and Informal/Nickname), Gender, Birthdate, Title, Join Date, and CO_ID (for members if the primary office record is in iMIS or for offices if the parent office or association record is in iMIS).

Navigate to the NRDS configuration page you created.
Click the edit icon.
In the NAR Host Credentials section, enter the NRDS host credentials provided to you from NAR, so that iMIS can connect to NRDS.
For each NRDS field listed in the Member, Office, and Association field mappings sections, specify which iMIS field you want to map it to, or leave it blank if you do not want to synchronize the data with a standard iMIS field.
- Member type fields: Enter the iMIS customer types that you want to map to the NRDS member types. You can map the NRDS member types to a single iMIS customer type or to multiple types using a comma-separated list (e.g. M,IM). In addition, note the following about the Member, Office, and Association member type sections:
  - Member type mappings: For each NRDS type listed, you can specify one or more member types or member type-category combinations. For example, to map the NRDS Realtor type to the iMIS Member type (M), enter M. If you would also like to map that member type to a category (for example, Cat1), enter M-Cat1. In this case, when a new realtor is synchronized from NRDS, it will be marked as a Member in Cat1.
  Multiple NRDS types can be mapped to the same iMIS type if needed. For example, if you do not use customer types to keep track of whether or not a member is a Realtor or a Realtor Associate, then you can map both of those NRDS fields to the same iMIS customer type.
  
  You can map a NRDS member type to multiple iMIS customer types and categories using a comma-delimited list. If multiple types and/or categories are listed, then all of the listed values are considered a valid mapping and are not overwritten in iMIS when a record is updated from NRDS. For example, you may have three types of Realtors defined in iMIS (R, R2 and R3) and two related categories (Cat2 and Cat3). For the Realtor type in this case, enter R,R2-Cat2,R3-Cat3. When a new Realtor is added to iMIS from NRDS, they are assigned to the first item in the list: R. If you then change that person in iMIS to R2 instead and add them to Cat2, those changes will not be overwritten when the record is updated from NRDS.
  - Office member type: This field is required and must be unique. None of the other NRDS member types can be mapped to the iMIS customer type listed here.
  - Association member type: This field is required and must be unique. None of the other NRDS member types can be mapped to the iMIS customer type listed here. If you do not synchronize association records, you can enter text that is not a valid iMIS customer type, such as N/A or XYZ.
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  Note
  Customer types are set up in iMIS. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up module > Customer types. Categories are defined in the CATEGORY table. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up tables > General lookup/validation.
- Member, Office, and Association status mappings: Enter the iMIS statuses that you want to map to the NRDS statuses. You can leave a status field blank, if you do not want to automatically map a NRDS status to an iMIS status. For example, you may not want to mark a record for deletion in iMIS if it is terminated in NRDS.
While not required, we do recommend mapping each NRDS status within an area (member, office, or association) to a unique iMIS status. By default, the available iMIS statuses are A (Active), D (Marked for deletion), I (Inactive), and S (Suspended). You can define additional values in the MEMBER_STATUS table. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up tables > General lookup/validation.
- Branch to category mappings: (for Office records only) Enter the iMIS categories that you want to map to the NRDS categories. The categories available in iMIS are defined in the CATEGORY table. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up tables > General lookup/validation.
- NRDS ID: You have two options for mapping the NRDS ID. The option you select for the Member NRDS ID is also applied to
  - ImisId: Select this option if you want to use the ID sent from NRDS as the iMIS ID. If you select this option, you must disable the Auto Assign Member Numbers option. Go to Desktop > Set up module > General > Basic Options.
  - MajorKey: Select this option if you want to save the NRDS ID in the contact record’s Major key field. This allows you to maintain your iMIS ID numbering scheme and provides an alternative way to find NRDS contact records. The Major key field is displayed in Desktop > Customers > Manage customers > Profile tab. You can also display this value in any query or report. To change the label displayed for this field, edit the Major Key Prompt. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up module > General > Basic Options.
- NRDS ID prefix: Enter a value if you want to add a prefix to NRDS member and office IDs. For example, you might want to add different prefixes to the member and office IDs so that you can easily distinguish between them, such as M and O.
- Addresses/phones/fax/email fields: Select the iMIS address type that will store the corresponding NRDS data. The iMIS options available in the dropdown lists are drawn from two places: the three main iMIS address types (labels are defined in Desktop > Customers > Set up module > General > Address and Notes) and any additional address types defined in the ADDRESS_PURPOSE table (Desktop > Customers > Set up tables > General lookup/validation). For phone numbers and email address, you have an additional option to save the value in the Name Table, which displays as part of the contact’s main record.
  
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  Note
  You can only record one phone number and address per each iMIS address type available in the dropdown lists. For example, you cannot map both the Home phone and Cell phone to the Home Address type. Each must be mapped to a unique address type.
  
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  Warning
  You can set up iMIS so that changes to a company address flow down to employee records; their primary address is automatically updated to match the parent company’s address. In this case, a change to the address of a NRDS office triggers an update to the address of each NRDS member on the office’s roster, which is then sent to NRDS during the next scheduled synchronization. If you are concerned about that automatic update, you can turn this feature off. Go to Desktop > Customers > Set up module > General > Advanced. Select the checkbox for the option Disable Auto Flow Down of company address Information.
  
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  Warning
  If you have set up iMIS so that the phone numbers, fax number, or email entered on the main contact record (the Name Table) flow down to an address type (the target), then you should not map a NRDS phone, fax, or email field to that target address type. For example, if the iMIS Home Phone is set up to flow to the Home Address, then you should map the NRDS Home Phone to the Name Table, and not to the Home Address. Otherwise, it is possible that changes synchronized from NRDS will be overwritten in iMIS. This setting is defined in Desktop > Customers > Set up module > General > Address and Notes > Synchronize Phone Numbers & Email section.
- Post sync stored procedure: If your organization needs to apply any special business rules after a member or office is refreshed from NRDS, then you can specify the name of the iMIS stored procedure to run after each synchronization from NRDS in this field. Only one stored procedure can be entered.
  
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  Note
  Write the stored procedure to take a single parameter of @imisId, so that it can be run for each member and office after a synch from NRDS.

Setting up iMIS to view and edit NRDS data