This document is for those associations who subscribe, through Custom Data Systems, Inc., to the optional software/data package provided by Aristotle which is available to associations through the Association Manager system.
In this document the Association Manager system will be referred to as AM.
The subscription includes two separate products: PTK and District Matching Dataset (DMDS). These are used in conjunction with the Lobbying module, but are not part of the standard module.
Support
Although the basic products are provided by Aristotle, they are customized by CDS for use in the AM system. Do not contact Aristotle directly for support on these products. They are unable to answer specific questions about how the programs are used in the AM system.
For support, contact Phil Sayers at [email protected] or at 1-804-612-9457.
Scheduled Tasks
Keeping the district data in Names file maintenance accurate and current is an ongoing task which requires periodic updated Aristotle data files, jobs on the AM.NET Job Server, and the running of an AM routine on a regular basis. The running of the jobs on the AM.NET Job Server, and the AM routine, do not necessarily coincide with receiving new Aristotle data files.
The term “update” is used both in the process of receiving new data files from Aristotle, and in the use of these files to perform maintenance on the Names and Legislators tables in the AM system. To differentiate them, the first will always be referred to as an Aristotle, PTK, or DMDS update; the second will always be referred to as an AM update.
To make maximum use of the Aristotle PTK and DMDS products, the following tasks need to be performed, on the schedule indicated:
PTK and DMDS Data Updates
Aristotle releases data updates for PTK and DMDS approximately once a quarter, which are located on their website. Approximately once a month, when there are changes since the last quarterly update, Aristotle also provides, to CDS, data updates which are located on the CDS website. Additional interim updates may also be provided immediately after the November elections, when the data tends to change more rapidly.
For current subscribers, data updates for PTK and DMDS are automatically downloaded to your server from both websites, via scheduled events setup on your server that run daily. Note: these Aristotle updates do not update any records in the AM system. That is handled through the AM.NET Job Server and AM update routine as explained later.
The PTK package contains every known address in each state, and the associated nine-digit zip code.
This data is used in the Address Correction job run from the AM.NET Job Server, as explained later.
The DMDS data update contains two separate data sets: (1) a file that matches all +4 zip codes to the appropriate House, Senate, and Congressional districts used in the district update job run from the AM.Net Job Server; and, (2) current name and address information for all legislators used in the Legislator Update job run from the AM.NET Job Server and when running Lobbying – Routines – Aristotle Data Updates - Update Legislative File. Details are explained later.
All the associations that subscribe to DMDS use the district matching feature. Most also use the legislator update feature, although a few particularly active associations feel that they can better maintain the legislator data manually. In that instance, the Update Legislative File routine described below would be ignored. In this case the association is responsible for gathering and maintaining all legislator data outside of the processes described in this document for Update Legislative File
If your association wants to ignore the Update Legislative File routine, and manually maintain the legislator records, remove rights for all users so no one can run the routine. Do this by going to Users and System Security. Remove the right for Lobbying – Aristotle Data Updates – Update Legislative File for all users.
AM.NET Job Server
The AM.NET Job Server runs programs or ‘jobs’ customized by Custom Data System, Inc. to facilitate updating data in the AM system using the Aristotle PTK and DMDS data. There are three jobs on the AM.NET Job Server related to the Aristotle data: (1) Address Correction; (2) District Update; and, (3) Legislator Update. Each job is explained below.
Address Correction job
The Address Correction job uses the Aristotle PTK data to update all the zip code fields with the full nine-digit zip and address fields with USPS standards which includes abbreviating text such as ‘street’ and ‘suite’ to bring them into compliance for individuals in Names file maintenance and firm’s in Firms file maintenance.
The Address Correction job is used in two scenarios: (1) to update records added or changed since the last time the job was run; and, (2) to update all addresses.
The job runs daily to update records added or changed since the last time the job ran.
The schedule for running the job to update all addresses is determined by system preferences. In System Preferences under Lobbying – Aristotle there are 2 preferences related to the full data update. Date of last full data address correction is the date the last time the job ran to update all addresses. Days between full data address correction is the frequency at which the job will run to update all addresses. Edit this preference to have the Address Correction job run more or less frequently on all addresses.
It is desired, prior to any large lobbying mailing that is district-specific, that the data is as accurate as possible. If you wish to run a full data address correction before the next instance is scheduled, in System Preferences edit the Date of last full data address correction preference so it is more than the number of days set in Days between full data address correction in the past. This will trigger the Address Correction job to run on all addresses within the next 24 hours.
If your association would like to specify a different frequency for the job to run for records added or changed, or a different time of day for the job to run, contact CDS.
When the Address Correction job has completed, an email notification will be sent to the email address specified in System Preferences in the Address correction notification email address preference.
Note: Changes made by the Address Correction job are done with the user initials of “^AR”.
Note: Although the PTK data and program are very sophisticated, and capable of finding the correct zip code for most addresses, it cannot overcome data entry errors. If records are found where the zip code has not been updated, look for the following possible data entry errors:
1. PO Box is in Street address line instead of PO Box address line.
Note: this routine looks at the PO Box address line to update Mail Zip.
2. The phrase “PO Box” is not in the standard recommended form (ie.. just “box” or “po”)
3. The data in Street address line is not a valid address; i.e., a building name, or internal staff note
Note: this routine looks at the Street address line to update Street Zip.
District Update job
The District Update job uses the Aristotle DMDS data, which lists the appropriate districts for each zip code, to update the House, Senate, and Congressional district codes on the Current sub-tab on the Names Data tab, based on the +4 zip codes that were updated by the Address Correction job.
The job runs daily.
If your association would like to specify a different frequency or change the time of day the job runs, contact CDS.
When the District Update job has completed, an email notification will be sent to the email address specified in System Preferences in the District Update notification email address preference.
Note: Changes made by the District Update job are done with the user initials of “^AR”.
Legislative Update job
The Legislative Update job uses the Aristotle DMDS data, which includes current name and address information for all state and federal legislators, to locate any changes that are need on the records in the AM system.
The job runs daily.
If your association would like to specify a different frequency or change the time of day the job runs, contact CDS.
When the Legislator Update job has completed, an email notification will be sent to the email address specified in System Preferences in the Legislator Update notification email address preference.
If there are updates found that need to be made in the AM system, the email will include a list of the needed changes. Note: this job does not update any records in the AM system, that is handled by the Update Legislative File routine.
The changes to be made can also be seen by running Report Update Legislative File
This report can be useful if there have been previous problems with the Update Legislative File routine updating legislator records in a seeming errant fashion. Note: that if there has been a previous problem of this nature, special attention should be paid to the warnings in the next section, about manually editing legislator records.
The report can also be run by following these steps:
1. Go into AM, to Lobbying – Routines – Aristotle Data Updates
2. Run Report Update Legislative File
AM Update Routine
Update Legislative File routine
This AM update routine will scan all records in the Legislator table, archive legislators who are no longer in office, add new legislators who have come into office, and make any necessary changes to the name and contact information for existing legislators.
The routine uses the Aristotle DMDS data file that is a table containing current name and address information for all legislators.
This routine should be run whenever there are legislator updates ready to be loaded. As noted above, the Legislator Update job will send an email notification to the email address specified in System Preferences in the Legislator Update notification email address preference when updates are ready to be loaded.
To run the AM legislator update routine:
1. Go into AM, to Lobbying – Routines – Aristotle Data Updates
2. Run Update Legislative File
Note: Changes made by the Update Legislative File routine are done with the user initials of “^AR”.
One complaint occasionally received about this procedure is that it has over-written legislator information that was manually entered by association staff. This is generally due to a lack of understanding about how the AM Legislator Update process works.
Each legislator in the AM Legislator table has an Aristotle-assigned ID number similar to, but completely independent of, the AM assigned ID number. Unlike the AM assigned ID number, the Aristotle-assigned ID number is maintained entirely by the AM Legislator Update process. This ID number is assigned by Aristotle, and is a lifelong ID number for each legislator. If a legislator loses an election, but later returns to office, he/she retains the same Aristotle ID number that was previously assigned. If a legislator dies, that Aristotle ID number is permanently retired and never used again for any other legislator. The Aristotle-assigned ID number is shown on the Names Legislator tab above the Contacts grid. Note: this ID is only shown if the record has one.
All AM Legislator Updates are based on the Aristotle-assigned ID number.
•If the update process finds a legislator in the AM Legislator table, but does not find that Aristotle-assigned ID number in the most recent Aristotle DMDS Update file, it assumes that legislator is no longer in office, and flags the AM legislator record as inactive.
•If the update process finds an Aristotle-assigned ID number in the Aristotle DMDS Update file for which there is no matching record in the AM Legislator table, it assumes that this person is a newly-elected legislator and adds a new record.
•If the update process finds matching Aristotle-assigned ID numbers in both an AM Legislator record and the Aristotle DMDS Update file, it assumes that this is a current legislator and updates the AM data from the DMDS data.
If an association is using the Aristotle DMDS data to maintain legislator data, then staff should allow the AM Legislator Update process to maintain all legislator information, with two exceptions:
•Key contacts can be added to a legislator’s record. These will be untouched by the update process.
•Data in fields other than those updated by Aristotle, In-Session and Out-of-Session mail preferences, can be maintained manually in existing records.
Problems generally occur when the association staff adds House, Senate, or Congressional legislator records manually, outside of the Legislator Update process, because these records have no Aristotle-assigned ID number.
The AM assigned ID number is irrelevant to the Legislator Update process, and it will ignore any records that have no Aristotle-assigned ID number. As far as the update process is concerned, these records simply do not exist. Manually adding/editing Legislator records (with the exception of the two above-listed exceptions) can result in the following situations:
Scenario 1: Jefferson Smith is a newly-elected Senator. New Aristotle DMDS data has not yet been received that includes this individual. The association staff manually adds a record to the Names Legislator tab for Senator Smith. New DMDS data subsequently arrives.
Result: The Legislator Update process finds Senator Smith in the DMDS data, but finds no record in the AM Legislator table with a matching Aristotle-assigned ID number. The process has no way of knowing that a record was manually added, so it adds a new record to the AM Legislator table, resulting in duplicate records for Senator Smith. Because the manually added record did not have an Aristotle-assigned ID number, the update process will do nothing with it, so both records will show as currently active legislators. Both of these records – or only one of them -- may appear on various reports and screens, depending on the particular procedure. It may appear that data has been lost or that the legislator has no key contacts.
Solution: Although the best solution is to wait until the Senator is added via the Aristotle DMDS data, it is sometimes necessary to manually add a record during the interim, in order to generate reports or mailings. When the new DMDS-generated record is eventually added via the update process, the existing manually-added record should immediately be merged into the new record, using the Delete and Merge Name routine.
Scenario 2: Same as Scenario 1, except that instead of adding a new record, the association staff used the existing record for the Senator who previously held this seat, and overwrote all of the information in that record with Senator Smith’s information. This is a big NO-NO under any circumstances, because the same AM ID number is then associated with two different individuals. This can cause havoc in historical records, and can be extremely difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to track down should CDS support be called in to rectify the situation.
Result: Basically the same as in Scenario 1, but with some added complications because the same individual now has two separate Aristotle-assigned ID numbers. (The record that was over-written still had the Aristotle ID number for the previous Senator.) The update process will find the over-written AM record, see that the Aristotle ID number does not exist in the new DMDS data, assume that the legislator has retired from office, and will change the status to inactive. It will then add a new record for Senator Smith, resulting in duplicate records, one active and one inactive. Again, the two records will appear erratically on reports and mailings, but in a somewhat different fashion than in Scenario 1.
Solution: There is no good solution for this scenario, because it should never have been allowed to occur in the first place. Ideally, the over-written record should be returned to its original state so that the correct Senator shows as having retired. This is probably not feasible, so the next best solution would be delete the record. Merging the two records is not recommended in this circumstance.
Warning: Under either Scenario 1 or Scenario 2, if it is decided to merge the two records, they must always be merged into the new Aristotle record. The AM system Merge process does not include the Aristotle ID field. Merging the new Aristotle record into the manually-added record will lose the Aristotle-assigned ID number. This will cause serious new problems when the next DMDS data is loaded.
Scenario 3: Association staff properly uses the Aristotle-added legislator record, but overwrites data in Aristotle- maintained fields on the Legislator tab.
Result: This will not create any problems remotely similar to either Scenarios 1 or 2, but the manually-entered data will be overwritten by the newest Aristotle data in those fields that Aristotle maintains.
Solution: This situation most commonly occurs at associations with a large lobbying staff, who feel they can maintain the data in a more timely fashion themselves, rather than relying on Aristotle. The best solution here is to ignore (deactivate user rights) Step 4 Update Legislative File as noted previously in this document. Full control of the legislator data is then turned over to the association, while zip code and district updates are still maintained through Aristotle.
Messages and Conditions
Assuming that you have in fact purchased the Aristotle subscription for the current year, If you see any of these messages contact CDS for assistance.
“Aristotle Data has expired. Please contact CDS to get more recent data files.”
“Routine not purchased”