MiniCheck ID Technical Report Version 2.0
MiniCheck ID
Capstone Project Team #2 Spring 2008
Instructor
Dr. Kwok-Bun-Yue
Mentor
Mr. Bruce Brenner
Team Members
Swethana Nagula
Nagaraju Voodigi
Venkateshwar Rao Surabhi
Nikhil Reddy Bhomi
Final Report Version:
2.0
Acknowledgement
We take the opportunity to thank our instructor Dr. Kwok-Bun-Yue and our mentor Mr. Bruce Brenner for the continuous support, guidance and motivation they have provided us throughout the capstone to make this project successful. We would like to thank Kiet Tran, previous semester capstone team member for providing us with all the required information and helping us to solve critical issues. Also thanks to Tim Rollins (VERIS), RDM, EPSON Technical team, Ali Lebaschi(E-Seek Incorporation), CheckNique and MiniCheck OCR technical support.
As a Team, we enjoyed working with this capstone project which was a great learning experience. It gave us immense satisfaction facing and solving challenging tasks. We would also like to thank all the people who helped us in this project and whom we might not have mentioned here.
ABSTRACT
MiniCheck-OCR developed a software product called MiniCheck MGR to scan, validate and process checks and barcodes. It is developed with the aim of minimizing the fraud due to fake ID’s such as driver’s license and state ID. This software provides features for ID validation thereby empowering the sales representative. There are three types of cards, cards with Magnetic stripes, Barcode and MagnePrint cards. When a card is swiped, the raw data encoded on these cards is parsed and converted into meaningful information and displayed on the user interface to verify if the information displayed on the card is same as on the screen.
Our Project is an extension of the work done by the previous team in last semester. They developed the user interface to make it user friendly for the end users. The application they developed worked with MiniSwipe, Card Scan, MICR, Excella STX and MagnePrint scanners. MiniSwipe, MICR and Excella STX scanners read Magnetic stripe, Card Scan and Excella STX scanners read Barcode and MagnePrint scanner reads Magneprint.
We enhanced the existing standalone application by adding various features to configure various equipments used. We have integrated various SDK’s for supporting other new scanners like RDM EC7000i, EPSON TM-H6000II, E-Seek M-250, Checknique and TWAIN Compliant Scanners. We also have implemented and integrated Social Security search, Address Verification and OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) reports using third-party service provider, VERIS. We have provided other additional features like importing images stored locally for parsing, option to view raw data, adding login credentials for the entire MiniCheck ID application, and storing the transactions in the database with phone number, state, city and zip-code for later use.
Table of Contents Page
1. Introduction 1
2. Design and Implementation 2
2.1 System Architecture 2
2.2 Flow Diagram 3
2.3 Main Functions 4
2.4 Technologies used 4
2.5 Implementation Issues 5
3. Features Implemented 5
4. Testing 7
5. Final Deliverables 7
6. Conclusion 8
7. References 8
Appendix A 9
A.1 Team Roles 9
A.2 Project Timeline 9
A.3 Major tasks and contributions 10
Appendix B 11
B.1 Images of all equipments supported by MiniCheck ID 11
B.2 Screenshots 12
Appendix C 28
C. 1 Important terms related to the application 28
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MiniCheck ID Technical Report Version 2.0
1. Introduction
MiniCheck-OCR developed a software product called MiniCheck MGR to scan, validate and process checks and barcodes. MiniCheck MGR could work with only selected scanners.
In Fall 2007, Capstone Project Team #3 enhanced the existing standalone product called MiniCheck ID by integrating new scanners like MiniSwipe, Card Scan, MICR, Excella STX and MagnePrint. For the barcode parsing, this standalone application used third party software, Atalasoft Imaging Kit to convert the image of the card scanned to raw data and this raw data was later parsed to provide meaningful data.
We worked on this standalone application to improve it and make it more powerful than before in terms of functionality and user interface. We updated the user interface as per the needs of the functionality. We integrated the SDK’s of RDM EC7000i, EPSON TM-H6000II, CheckNique and add compatibility for TWAIN scanners (e.g. NEAT RECEIPT scanner, CheckNique) to make them work with the existing standalone application and validate the ID’s at the point of sale. We integrated E-Seek scanner into MiniCheck ID to read 2D barcode and MSR data and display the information. We worked with VERIS, the third party service provider to verify SSN details, address details and OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) reports. We have provided other additional features to the standalone application like parsing 2D barcode images, storing on the hard disk, choose to view raw data, provide login credentials for the entire MiniCheck ID application, store the transaction information in the database for later retrieval.
2. Design and Implementation
2.1 System Architecture
MiniCheck ID is a windows application. It is installed on the client’s machine and the database also resides on the same location. The application provides utilities to parse the raw data fetched from various scanners, SSN and Address verification using third party service provider, import images from user’s location and process, login credentials to the user and administrator. The diagram in figure 1 gives a picture of the application.
Figure 1: Architecture diagram
2.2 Flow Diagram
The application consists of four menu items namely System, Search, Advanced and Help. System menu item allows the user to select the type of parsing and to navigate to the configuration screen. Search menu item allows the user to query the database based on various parameters. The Advanced menu item provides the user to select one of the four functionalities, third party SSN and address verification, parse the 2D barcode image on the local hard disk, connect to the twain compatible devices and fetch the image and finally the utility to manage users if he is an administrator.
Figure 2: Flow diagram
2.3 Main functions
This section gives a brief idea of all the functions being implemented in this application.
· Integrate new scanners into the MiniCheck ID to read the data from the card, parse the data and display the meaningful information on the user’s screen.
· Work with VERIS, third party service provider to verify customer’s further details such as Social Security Verification, Address Verification and OFAC reports.
· Function to provide an option to Import 2D barcode image from any location on user’s machine, parse the data and display meaningful information on the user’s screen.
· Integrate TWAIN API’s into the MiniCheck to make all the TWAIN compliant scanners work with this application.
· To improve the security of the application, login credentials are provided which avoids unauthorized access to the application.
All the functions are implemented to improve the usability of the application.
2.4 Technologies Used
The application was developed in C# and .NET framework. We have used MS-Access database to store the transaction information of the customer.
2.5 Implementation Issues
While we were trying to fetch the card image from the Epson image scanner, we initially had problem communicating with the card image scanner. Later by contacting the Epson technical support, we figured it out to be a hardware failure and the scanner was replaced.
The E-seek M250 scanner is a serial Device. We had problem fetching data from the COM port. The data from the COM port was received slowly when compared to the program execution, due to which we could extract only some part of information from the COM port. We figured out the problem and kept the application to sleep for some time during which the data from the COM port was successfully extracted.
3. Features Implemented
The application we developed is an enhancement to the MiniCheck ID developed by previous team. This application can verify MSR data, 1D and 2D barcodes and magneprint cards. When a magnetic card is swiped, the application extracts the encoded information from the magnetic stripe, parses the data and saves it to the database. The encoded information is converted into useful information using the standards defined by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). When a 1D or 2D barcode card is scanned, the raw data is read using Atalasoft SDK. This raw-data is then converted into useful information using the AAMVA standards.
We integrated the API’s of RDM EC7000i into the MiniCheck ID to read the MSR data, parse the raw data and display the meaningful information when a card is swiped. E-Seek M-250 is a serial device. It has the ability to read 2D barcode and MSR data. We retrieved the information from the card, parsed the information and displayed on user’s screen. We worked on EPSON TM-H6000II to scan the ID card and Check and store onto the local hard disk. We also have integrated TWAIN API’s into the existing application to capture the image of an ID or check from any TWAIN compliant scanner. NEAT RECIEPTS is one of the TWAIN compliant scanners that we used to test the TWAIN utility in the application.
We implemented and integrated social security search, address verification and OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) reports into MiniCheck ID using third party service provider, VERIS. We provided an option to “VERIFY IDENTITY” in the User Interface. When VERIFY IDENTITY is clicked, a form pops up to enter Username and password of the user provided by VERIS, SSN or the address to be verified of the customer and the request is sent to the VERIS server. The response from VERIS server is displayed back to the user.
There are other features implemented in addition to the integration of these above scanners. The first important feature is to import images of barcode from any location on user’s machine, read the data on the barcode using Atalasoft Imaging toolkit, parse it and display on the user’s screen. The other important feature is Username and password for the entire MiniCheck ID application. We provided username and password to enter into the MiniCheck application. This prevents any unauthorized person from accessing MiniCheck ID. To improve the accessibility of the application at later use, we provided an ability to store all the transaction information in the database. The transaction details included are Name, ID, date of the transaction, phone number and also other details of the customer. To access the stored information from the database, search is also implemented. We also provided an option to view the “RAW DATA” in the configuration window.
4. Testing
Every module developed was rigorously tested to ensure that the module provides the accurate results. After all modules were integrated into the existing standalone application, every team member tested the entire application to make sure it meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. We tested the application by connecting more than one scanner. We also tested the application with other state ID’s to ensure all the functionalities of the application.
5. Final Deliverables
The final deliverable is an installer (.EXE) which will install the MiniCheck ID along with all the necessary dependencies and the necessary software development toolkit. We also created an API of the application, so that any user using our application can customize the DLL as per their needs.
6. Conclusion
The application we enhanced is a windows application. All the objectives and requirements of the project have been met. It provides all the necessary features and functionalities for future development.
This was a very good learning experience. We learned new technologies, team co-ordination and how to maintain a good team spirit.
7. References
[1] CheckNique - http://www.bankersx.com/checknique/SpecSheet.pdf
[2] Twain compliant scanners - http://twain.org/docs/TWAIN19.pdf
[3] E-Seek - http://www.e-seek.com/product_m250.asp
[4] Kiet Tran, Meera Sutaria and Abdul Rafay – Previous capstone team
http://dcm.uhcl.edu/cap683807fagp3/
[5] Epson - http://pos.epson.com/products/TM-H6000II.htm
Appendix A
A.1 Team Roles
Nagaraju Voodigi
Team Lead, Programmer & Webmaster
Venkateshwar Rao Surabhi
Programmer & Technical writer
Swethana Nagula
Programmer & Technical writer
Nikhil Bhomi
Programmer & Webmaster
A.2 Project Timeline
A.3 Major tasks and contribution
NameTasks / Swethana Nagula / Nagaraju Voodigi / Venkateshwar Rao Surabhi / Nikhil Bhomi
Requirements and specifications / 25% / 30% / 25% / 20%
Research work / 20% / 35% / 25% / 20%
Website Development and Management / 20% / 30% / 20% / 30%
Understanding previous team’s work / 25% / 25% / 25% / 25%
Project Documentation / 25% / 25% / 25% / 25%
UI Development / 25% / 30% / 25% / 20%
Coding and Integration of Various SDKs / 20% / 35% / 25% / 20%
Communication with Mentor and Instructor / 25% / 35% / 20% / 20%
Creating API & Installer / 25% / 35% / 20% / 20%
Appendix B
B.1 Images of all equipments supported by MiniCheck ID
RDM EC7000i / E-Seek M-250Epson TM-H6000II / CheckNique
Magtek Excella STX / MICR Image
CardScan / CardScan 800C
Magtek Card Swipe (white) / Magtek Card Swipe (black)
B.2 Screenshots
Login Screen:
Once the login is verified, the main application screen is displayed:
Configuration Screen:
Configuration Screen when others scanners are selected:
The types of parsing done with the selected scanners;
Search Screen:
3rd party verification screen for Social Security Search:
Conformation window to check if the user wants to continue with the identity verification:
Social Security Response from the 3rd party verification provider.
3rd party verification for Address Validation:
Address verification Response:
Import Image Screen:
Output screen after the image stored on the hard disk is parsed.:
Add user Screen:
Delete user Screen:
Twain Utility Screen:
Help Screen:
About Screen:
Appendix C
C.1 Important terms related to the application
Magnetic Stripe: A magnetic strip card is a plastic/PVC card that stores data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. Magnetic stripe cards are commonly used in credit cards, identity cards, and transportation tickets. The magnetic stripe is read by physical contact and swiping past a card reader.