REFRACT Export

RefractExport™ extends the REFRACT PLATFORM™ document-processing model to governed enterprise data exports.

It is designed for scenarios where business users need to export structured data from an ERP, CRM, or other source system for month-end, year-end, reconciliation, analysis, archival, or downstream processing.

Rather than requiring users to repeatedly run large exports manually, RefractExport is designed to support scheduled, asynchronous generation of lightweight CSV data packages while preserving the governance, audit, storage, and lifecycle model used throughout REFRACT.

When to Use RefractExport

Use the source system's standard export capabilities when they meet the business requirement. RefractExport is intended for scenarios that require additional processing around the export, such as:

• Scheduled month-end or year-end exports
• Large data exports that benefit from asynchronous processing
• Monthly, quarterly, or yearly partitioning
• Repeatable export definitions
• Multiple related export files
• CSV packaging
• Customer-owned storage
• Governed export records
• Audit and lifecycle visibility

RefractExport is not intended to replace normal ad-hoc Excel or CSV export functions already provided by the source system.

What RefractExport Is Designed to Do

How It Works

RefractExport follows the same asynchronous processing model used throughout REFRACT PLATFORM.

flowchart LR
    Src["Source System"] --> Disp["REFRACT Dispatcher"]
    Disp --> Proc["REFRACT Processor"]
    Proc --> Store["Customer Storage\n(SharePoint / Azure Blob)"]

flowchart LR
    P["Partition"] --> T["Transform to CSV"]
    T --> Pk["Package"]
    Pk --> M["Manifest"]
    M --> S["Seal"]

Export Intervals

RefractExport is designed to support common business-period partitioning such as:

• Single
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Yearly

For example, an annual export using a monthly interval could produce:

AR-Export-2027.zip
├── 2027-01.csv
├── 2027-02.csv
├── 2027-03.csv
├── ...
├── 2027-12.csv
└── manifest.json

Partitioning allows large exports to be processed as smaller independent datasets and provides a natural boundary for retry and troubleshooting.

CSV-First Export

CSV is the primary data format for RefractExport. CSV provides a lightweight, portable format suitable for:

• Microsoft Excel
• Power Query
• Data analysis tools
• Archive processes
• Downstream integrations
• Large datasets

RefractExport does not attempt to reproduce REFRACT PDF layouts as Excel workbooks. The goal is to produce governed structured data. Presentation and analytical transformation can remain with tools such as Excel and Power Query.

Export Manifest

Every export produces a manifest.json containing the machine-readable record of the export. The manifest can include:

• Export definition
• Source system
• Date range
• Interval
• Requested by
• Requested timestamp
• Generated timestamp
• Correlation ID
• Files generated
• Record counts
• File hashes
• Processing status
• Export definition/version

The manifest provides a deterministic record of what REFRACT produced.

Sealed Export Report

Every completed RefractExport process also produces a sealed REFRACT PDF Export Report. The PDF is generated from the export manifest and serves as the primary governed document for the export process.

A typical Export Report may contain:

Export Summary

• Export name
• Source system
• Date range
• Interval
• Requested by
• Generated timestamp
• Correlation ID
• Processing status

Export Results

• Total records
• Number of files
• Package name
• Export definition/version

File Summary

This keeps RefractExport aligned with the broader REFRACT PLATFORM lifecycle.

Related Files

Generated export files are associated with the sealed Export Report through the existing Related Files model.

For example:

Primary Document
└── AR-Export-2027.pdf

Related Files
├── AR-Export-2027.zip
├── 2027-01.csv
├── 2027-02.csv
├── ...
└── manifest.json

Users can therefore work with the export data while the REFRACT lifecycle remains centered on a governed document.

Customer-Owned Data

RefractExport follows the REFRACT PLATFORM customer-owned data architecture.

The source system determines which business data is authorized for export. REFRACT processes only the payloads explicitly provided to the export process. REFRACT does not require broad access to query arbitrary ERP or CRM data.

Generated CSV, ZIP, manifest, and PDF artifacts remain in the customer's configured storage environment.

Source-System Responsibility

This preserves a clear architectural boundary:

Relationship to REFRACT Workflow

RefractExport uses the same REFRACT PLATFORM orchestration principles as REFRACT Workflow™, but addresses a different business requirement.

REFRACT Workflow manages business interactions such as data collection, review, approval, and controlled source-system updates. RefractExport manages the asynchronous production of governed data-export artifacts.

A workflow may initiate or interact with an export process where appropriate, but RefractExport does not require REFRACT Workflow.

Design Principle

RefractExport follows a broader REFRACT PLATFORM principle:

For RefractExport, the sealed PDF provides the governed document lifecycle while CSV and ZIP files provide the business data required by users and downstream systems.

Availability

RefractExport is a roadmap capability. It is planned but not currently available, and no timeline for general availability has been committed.