The Selerix Data Transmittal is the primary carrier for data transmissions between you and BenSelect.  It may contain the sum of all applicant data in an enrollment group for the purpose of performing a census upload, or it may contain applicant and related data needed to launch a BenSelect enrollment for a single family.  It may also contain the portfolio data that comprises all aspects of the enrollment group's case setup, from product offerings to eligibility and enrollment rules.  The only time a data transmittal may not be required is when SAML is used to launch a BenSelect enrollment on a case with preloaded applicant data and even then it may be used in subsequent steps.  It is therefore a critical part of any remote interaction with BenSelect.

The data transmittal is an integral part of the Selerix Data Model and can be created in object form using the Selerix .NET Library.  When it is being transmitted to and from BenSelect, the object is serialized to XML either manually or by using the SerializeToString method of the SerializationHelper class.

 

In this section

The Selerix data transmittal XML can be created in any development environment that can build XML.  Since developers are already familiar with the techniques to build XML structures, this section focuses on two principle areas:

• Populating a transmittal object and serializing it to XML with the Selerix .NET library.
• Using BenSelect reporting as a data dictionary to create a customized transmittal sample when the development environment does not have access to .NET technologies.

The Selerix .NET Library helpers act as a living document to the data elements of a transmittal XML.  Use the .NET library to ensure your XML is well-formed and compliant with BenSelect requirements. 

Although the documentation examples use an enrollment integration as an example, the basic process of creating a transmittal XML is the same wherever the transmittal is used.

 

Applicants vs employees

The Selerix Data Model used by BenSelect divides enrollees into one of two types: Employees and Dependents.  This nomenclature is consistent throughout the enrollment system with the single exception of data transmittals, where each enrollee is referred to as an Applicant.  Here, the applicant contains a Relationship property to distinguish between employees and their dependent family members.  This is an important fact to keep in mind when working with BenSelect.