The Consortium Parser utility reads an available Electoral Data Consortium data feed. The parser is installed locally on the system running Elector and the Elector database.
Elector can support other data feeds as needed. Contact Bannister Lake Support for assistance.
Important: This parser utility must be running in order to receive new election data. If you are troubleshooting a lack of new content, ensure that the Consortium Parser utility is running, correctly configured, and functional. See the following sections for details.
Access Consortium Parser
To access the Consortium Parser utility, run it from its desktop icon on the Elector system.
Database & Consortium Connection
You need to connect the Consortium Parser utility to your Elector database and provide Consortium user credentials, including Login, Password, IP address, and Port information. Connection and user authentication values would have been correctly configured during the initial installation. Use caution when modifying these values. Contact Bannister Lake Support for assistance.
To modify the database connection values, select File > Preferences.
Modify the database connection values and settings as needed.
Click OK to save your changes.
Set the Election Date
Elector is designed to preserve and utilize your election data from election to election. Therefore, you must set the correct Election Date in the Consortium Parser so that incoming election data is correctly attributed to the current election.
Enable the Consortium Parser
Click Start Reading Datafeed to enable the Consortium Parser to enable the incoming parser data feed. You can also:
Enable poll updates using the Update Polls option. When enabled, the parser updates poll reporting data automatically. If you clear this option, poll information must be manually updated in Flow.
Enable automatic election declarations using the Declare Elected option. When enabled, a candidate leading their riding is automatically declared elected when all polls have reported. If you clear this option, the parser does not declare any candidate elected and election declarations must be manually managed in Flow.
Click Stop Reading Datafeed to disable the incoming parser data feed.
Consortium Parser Status
Flow provides you with a status interface for utilities, including data parsers, data feed readers, as well as BLADE Runner, connected to the Elector database. This visual status indicator offers you a quick and easy way for you to check utility status. You will find the utility status indicator on the Flow Home page in the top right corner.
- Green indicates that a number of connected utilities are fully operational.
- Amber indicates that a number of connected utilities are running but are not returning data, or are late in returning data from the configured feed.
- Red indicates that a number of connected utilities are currently not running and cannot return data.
Click on a status icon for more details on which utilities require your immediate attention.
Note: The amber status generally applies only to utilities that are manually launched and run, such as the Consortium Parser utility. Utilities that run automatically or include automatic timers to run typically show a green or red status only.
Consortium Parser Logs
The Consortium Parser system log is available for troubleshooting purposes. Select Help > Diagnostics > Read Log. You can manage verbose logging by enabling or disabling Help > Diagnostics > Verbose Logging.
You can also clear the log file by selecting Help > Diagnostics > Clear Log.
Note: If you contact Bannister Lake Support for assistance, you may be asked to send along the log file contents for review; therefore, do not clear that log file until Support has had a chance to review them.
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