Configuration Editor

Pro API is supplied with a Win32 Configuration Editor. This enables you to do the following:

The Configuration Editor contains the ability to specify Pasting Options, but these have no effect on the Pro API.

Layout Manager

The Layout Manager is used to specify layouts for each address dataset. Pro API uses a layout to determine:

To view the Layout Manager, click on the Layout Manager button on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can select Layout Manager from the View menu.

The Layout Manager appears, listing your datasets and the layouts available for each. From here you can view and alter the existing layouts, or create new layouts. Click on a dataset to display the Dataset Properties pane, which shows summary information about the dataset. Click on a layout to display the Layout Properties pane, which shows summary information about the layout.

Each installed dataset has a default layout associated with it. You can modify this layout, but Experian recommend that you leave it as it is and create a new layout if you want different settings. You will want to create more than one layout for each dataset if you intend to paste addresses into multiple applications which require different address formats.

Creating A New Layout

To create a new layout, follow these steps:

  1. Expand the Layout Manager in the outline control and click on the dataset for which you want to create a new layout.
  2. From the Layout menu, select the New option. Alternatively, click the secondary mouse button on the data mapping, and select New from the menu.
  3. If you are creating a new layout for a USA data mapping and you have USA DPV data, DPV footnote DataPlus elements will automatically be added to your new layout to enable DPV.
  4. For datasets which include more than one Form of address, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland datasets, you must choose the Form of address before the new layout is created. For more information about Forms of address, see the Data Guide for your dataset.
  5. Your new layout appears with an automatically generated name in an editable text box. Edit the name and press Enter. You can include any alphanumeric character, and the space character in the names of layouts.
  6. In the Layout Properties pane on the right, under Comment you can enter a short text description of the layout for your own reference. The larger Summary box at the bottom of the pane provides a summary of all the settings in the layout. Initially these correspond to those of the standard layout (for the current dataset) which was copied to create the new layout.

The new layout will have the same settings as this dataset's default layout.

Formatting The Returned Address

Now that you have created a new layout, you can specify exactly how you want your addresses to look using the Address Format pane. To view this pane, expand your new layout (by clicking on the plus sign next to the layout name), and select Address format from the list that appears.

The Address Format settings will initially be the same as the default layout. The pane will contain the address elements for the dataset you chose for your layout. From here, you can use the functions on the pane to fully customize the address elements you want your layout to return. For more information see the Configuration Editor Help program.

Configuring DataPlus Lines

If you have one or more DataPlus sets, you must specify the format of the returned information by clicking on DataPlus in the list under your layout name. This window is structured in a similar way to the Address Format window. For more information see the Configuration Editor Help program.

Saving Your Layout

Click the Save button on the toolbar at any time to save the changes you have made to your layout. Alternatively, press CTRL+S, or click Save on the File menu.

User Interface Options

This section allows you to specify which options will be available on the main Pro interface.

Dataset Manager

The Dataset Manager shows the datasets that are currently available.

The Dataset Manager pane is split into two parts. The Currently Installed Base Datasets list shows each installed dataset, its identifier, data release and expiry dates, and its location. The Current Data Mappings list shows the datasets and additional datasets that have been mapped.

Click Licences... to open the Licence Manager dialog, which displays a list of all currently installed licence keys. From this dialog you can add, delete and view licence keys. See the Configuration Editor Help program for more information about the Licence Manager.

Activating A Group Of Multiple Additional Datasets

You can create and activate groups of multiple additional datasets, called data mappings, using the Configuration Editor's Dataset Manager. Creating a mapping allows you to simultaneously search the data in every additional dataset in the group.

To activate multiple datasets, follow these steps:

  1. In the Data Mappings pane, click on the Add... button to open the Mapping Editor.
  2. In the Select Primary Dataset for this Mapping list, you can see all the datasets you have installed and activated. For example, you could have the United Kingdom, Ireland and Gazetteer datasets available. Click on the relevant line, such as GBR, to display all available additional datasets in the Select Additional Data for this Mapping list.
  3. To create a group of additional datasets, tick the boxes next to the additional datasets you want to include in the group. For example we could create a group consisting of Names, Gas and Electricity additional datasets.
  4. In the Data Mapping ID box, assign the group of additional datasets a clearly identifiable three letter code. The code can consist of a mixture of letters and numbers. It is used to identify the group.
  5. In the Data Mapping Name box, assign the group a clearly identifiable name.
  6. Click OK. The group will appear in the Layout Manager list.
  7. To search using this data mapping in Pro API, select the name you gave to your data mapping as the dataset.