Changes from Previous Specifications
There have been several changes to the technical specifications
for electronic filing of campaign expense reports. There have been changes to
the layout for all five data files. These changes were necessitated by the
changes to the paper campaign expense reporting form. Highlights of the changes
are listed below: In all five files, (filer.txt, contrib.txt, expense.txt,
debt.txt and receipt.txt) the year has been added. >In the filer.txt
file, the separate fields for candidate name (last, first, middle and
suffix) have been removed. If the report is filed by a candidate, the name
should be concatenated into the filer name field. In the filer.txt file, the
treasurer name, address and phone number has been removed. The only address that
is to be provided now is the address from the expense report cover sheet. In the
filer.txt file, the office codes have changed from numeric to more intuitive
3-letter codes. Refer to the office
code table below. In the filer.txt file, the party codes have been changed
from numeric to more intuitive 3-letter codes. Refer to the party
code table below. In the contrib.txt
file , a new section code field has been added. This is to identify which
section of the report the contribution record is to appear. In the contrib.txt
file, the contributing committee number has been removed. In the contrib.txt
file, there are now three separate date and amount fields to indicate if a
particular contributor has given multiple contributions to the filer during the
reporting period. In the contrib.txt file, the payment method has been removed.
In the expense.txt
file , the recipient identification number has been removed. In the
expense.txt file, the expenditure code has been removed. In county
code table , Forest county should be number 27, and Franklin county should
be number 28. This is to correct an oversight in the original specifications.
The Department will support these new specifications
immediately. It is our hope that the certified vendors will have their
applications modified, and distributed to their customers by December 31, 1999.
The Department will stop supporting the original specifications at some point
past that date.
General Requirements for All Files
All data files provided to the Department of State must be ASCII
text files. All data files must be comma (,) delimited; that is, a comma must
separate all fields in the file. All data files must be text qualified with
double quotation marks ("); that is, any field defined as alphanumeric must be
enclosed by double quotation marks. A sample of this type of file is provided
below:
1234,"Mary Jones",150.00,"123 East Main
Street","Anytown","PA","171021234"
5678,"William A. Smith",,"123 West Main Street","Anytown","PA",""
In this sample, there are seven fields. The first field is a
numeric field, followed by an alphanumeric name field, a numeric dollar amount
field, an alphanumeric address field, and alphanumeric city field, an
alphanumeric state code field and finally, an alphanumeric zip code field. In
the case where no value is available for a numeric field, only a comma should be
placed in the file. For alphanumeric fields that are not available, a set of
empty double quotation marks should be placed in the file. These cases are both
illustrated in the second record above. Note : This sample is for
illustration purposes only.
Files to Be Provided
There are five basic types of information that are to be data
entered: basic filer information, contributions, other receipts, expenditures
and debts. This information will be provided to the Department of State in five
files: filer.txt,
contrib.txt,
receipt.txt,
expense.txt
and debt.txt,
respectively.
Filer.txt will contain the information about each filer. This
information is found primarily on the first page of the expense report.
Contrib.txt will contain contribution information from Schedule I, Parts A, B, C
and D as well as in-kind contributions from Schedule II, Parts F and G.
Receipt.txt will contain information from Schedule I, Part E. Expense.txt will
contain information from Schedule III. Debt.txt will contain information from
schedule IV.
Filer.txt This file
is to contain basic filer information. This information is found primarily on
the report cover sheet. |
Field |
Data Type |
Source and Comments |
Filer Identification Number |
Numeric, 7 |
Cover sheet |
Year |
Numeric, 4 |
Cover sheet |
Report
Type/Cycle Code |
Numeric, 2 |
Cover sheet, Must be 1-7. See cycle code table.
|
Amendment |
Alphanumeric, 1 |
Cover sheet, Y if report is an amendment, N
otherwise. |
Termination |
Alphanumeric, 1 |
Cover sheet, Y if report is a termination, N
otherwise. |
Filer Type Code (1,2 or 3) |
Alphanumeric, 1 |
Cover sheet, 1 Candidate, 2 Committee or 3 Lobbyist.
|
Filer Name |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Cover sheet |
Filer Office |
Alphanumeric, 3 |
Cover sheet, See office code table. |
Filer District |
Alphanumeric, 3 |
Cover sheet |
Filer Party |
Alphanumeric, 3 |
Cover sheet, See party code table. |
Filer Address 1 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Cover sheet |
Filer Address 2 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Cover sheet |
Filer City |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Cover sheet |
Filer State |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Cover sheet |
Filer Zip Code |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Cover sheet, 5 plus 4. No separator |
Filer County |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Cover sheet, See county code table. |
Filer Phone |
Alphanumeric, 10 |
Cover sheet, Area code and phone, no parentheses or
dashes. |
Beginning Cash Balance |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Cover sheet, (999999999.99) Include decimal
|
Unitemized Monetary Contributions |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Sch. I Detailed Summary (999999999.99)Include decimal
|
Unitemized In-Kind Contributions |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Sch. II Detailed Summary (999999999.99)Include
decimal |
Contrib.txt
This file is to contain contributions from Schedule I,
Parts A, B, C and D and Schedule II, Parts F and G. |
Field |
Data Type |
Source and Comments |
Filer Identification Number |
Numeric, 7 |
Cover sheet |
Year |
Numeric, 4 |
Cover sheet |
Report Cycle Code |
Numeric, 1 |
Cover sheet |
Section Code |
Alphanumeric, 3 |
Identifies section of report,IA, IB, IC, ID, IIF or
IIG |
Contributor Name |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule I or II |
Contributor Address 1 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I or II |
Contributor Address 2 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I or II |
Contributor City |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule I or II |
Contributor State |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Schedule I or II |
Contributor Zip Code |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Schedule I or II , 5 plus 4. No separator in field.
|
Contributor Occupation |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule I or II |
Employer Name |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G |
Employer Address 1 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G |
Employer Address 2 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G |
Employer City |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G |
Employer State |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G |
Employer Zip Code |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Schedule I Part D or II Part G, 5 plus 4. No
separator |
Contribution Date 1 |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule I or II, (YYYYMMDD), No separators.
|
Contribution Amount 1 |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Schedule I or II, (999999999.99), Include decimal.
|
Contribution Date 2 |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule I or II (YYYYMMDD) No separators, I.
|
Contribution Amount 2 |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Schedule I or II, (999999999.99), Include decimal.
|
Contribution Date 3 |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule I or II (YYYYMMDD) No separators, I.
|
Contribution Amount 3 |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Schedule I or II, (999999999.99),Include decimal.
|
Contribution Description |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule II Part F or G |
Receipt.txt
This file is to contain other receipt information from
Schedule I Part E of the expense report. |
Field |
Data Type |
Source and Comments |
Filer Identification Number |
Numeric, 7 |
Cover sheet |
Year |
Numeric, 4 |
Cover sheet |
Report Cycle Code |
Numeric, 1 |
Cover sheet |
Source of Receipt (Name) |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule I Part E |
Source of Receipt (Address 1) |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I Part E |
Source of Receipt (Address 2) |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule I Part E |
Source of Receipt (City) |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule I Part E |
Source of Receipt (State) |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Schedule I Part E |
Source of Receipt (Zip Code) |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Schedule I Part E , 5 plus 4. No separator |
Receipt Description |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule I Part E |
Receipt Date |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule I Part E, (YYYYMMDD), No separators.
|
Receipt Amount |
Number, 9.2 |
Schedule I Part E, (999999999.99), Include decimal.
|
Expense.txt
This file is to contain expenditure information from
Schedule III of the expense report. |
Field |
Data Type |
Source and Comments |
Filer Identification Number |
Numeric, 7 |
Cover sheet |
Year |
Numeric, 4 |
Cover sheet |
Report Cycle Code |
Numeric, 1 |
Cover sheet |
Recipient Name |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule III |
Recipient Address 1 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule III |
Recipient Address 2 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule III |
Recipient City |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule III |
Recipient State |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Schedule III |
Recipient Zip Code |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Schedule III, 5 plus 4. No separator |
Expenditure Date |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule III, (YYYYMMDD), No separators. |
Expenditure Amount |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Schedule III, (999999999.99), Include decimal.
|
Expenditure Description |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule III |
Debt.txt
This file is to contain debt information from Schedule
IV of the expense report. |
Field |
Data Type |
Source and Comments |
Filer Identification Number |
Numeric, 7 |
Cover sheet |
Year |
Numeric, 4 |
Cover sheet |
Report Cycle Code |
Numeric, 1 |
Cover sheet |
Creditor Name |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule IV |
Creditor Address 1 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule IV |
Creditor Address 2 |
Alphanumeric, 50 |
Schedule IV |
Creditor City |
Alphanumeric, 25 |
Schedule IV |
Creditor State |
Alphanumeric, 2 |
Schedule IV |
Creditor Zip Code |
Alphanumeric, 9 |
Schedule IV, 5 plus 4. No separator |
Date Debt Incurred |
Alphanumeric, 8 |
Schedule IV, (YYYYMMDD), No separators. |
Amount of Debt |
Numeric, 9.2 |
Schedule IV, (999999999.99), Include decimal.
|
Description of Debt |
Alphanumeric, 255 |
Schedule IV |
Pennsylvania County Code
Table: |
01 - Adams |
24 - Elk |
47 - Montour |
02 - Allegheny |
25 - Erie |
48 - Northampton |
03 - Armstrong |
26 - Fayette |
49 - Northumberland |
04 - Beaver |
27 - Forest |
50 - Perry |
05 - Bedford |
28 - Franklin |
51 - Philadelphia |
06 - Berks |
29 - Fulton |
52 - Pike |
07 - Blair |
30 - Greene |
53 - Potter |
08 - Bradford |
31 - Huntingdon |
54 - Schuylkill |
09 - Bucks |
32 - Indiana |
55 - Snyder |
10 - Butler |
33 - Jefferson |
56 - Somerset |
11 - Cambria |
34 - Juniata |
57 - Sullivan |
12 - Cameron |
33 - Lackawanna |
58 - Susquehanna |
13 - Carbon |
36 - Lancaster |
59 - Tioga |
14 - Centre |
37 - Lawrence |
60 - Union |
15 - Chester |
38 - Lebanon |
61 - Venango |
16 - Clarion |
39 - Lehigh |
62 - Warren |
17 - Clearfield |
40 - Luzerne |
63 - Washington |
18 - Clinton |
41 - Lycoming |
64 - Wayne |
19 - Columbia |
42 - McKean |
65 - Westmoreland |
20 - Crawford |
43 - Mercer |
66 - Wyoming |
21 - Cumberland |
44 - Mifflin |
67 - York |
22 - Dauphin |
45 - Monroe |
|
23 - Delaware |
46 - Montgomery |
|
Report
Type/Cycle Code Table |
01 |
6 th Tuesday Pre Primary Election |
02 |
2 nd Friday Pre Primary Election |
03 |
30 Day Post Primary Election |
04 |
6 th Tuesday Pre General/Municipal Election |
05 |
2 nd Friday Pre General/Municipal Election |
06 |
30 Day Post General/Municipal Election |
07 |
Annual Report |
08 |
2nd Friday Pre-Special Election |
09 |
30-Day Post Special Election |
Office Code
Table |
GOV |
Governor |
LTG |
Lieutenant Governor |
ATT |
Attorney General |
AUD |
Auditor General |
TRE |
State Treasurer |
SPM |
Justice of the Supreme Court |
SPR |
Judge of the Superior Court |
CCJ |
Judge of the Commonwealth Court |
STS |
Senator in the General Assembly |
STH |
Representative in the General Assembly |
CPJ |
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas |
MCJ |
Judge of the Municipal Court |
TCJ |
Judge of the Traffic Court |
PH1 |
Mayor, City of Philadelphia |
PH2 |
District Attorney, City of Philadelphia |
PH3 |
City Controller, City of Philadelphia |
PH4 |
City Council Member, City of Philadelphia |
PH5 |
City Commissioner, City of Philadelphia |
PH6 |
Register of Wills, City of Philadelphia |
PH7 |
Clerk of Quarter Sessions, City of
Philadelphia |
Party Code
Table |
DEM |
Democratic Party |
REP |
Republican Party |
CST |
Constitutional Party |
LIB |
Libertarian Party |
REF |
Reform Party |
OTH |
Other |