SPIKE | COE | Send the 1880 to VBMS and LGY

[jason-gcio]

Value Statement

As a Veteran I want to create and store a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility PDF So that the system of record has this document on file for later use.

Background

At some point we need to fill out the PDF template with the form data from va.gov. This ticket is for that.

Considerations:

• In the PDF there is a note that says additional information may be added with additional pages. If this is the case, we may have to loop through an array and add to the end of the form.
• When we upload to VBMS we use VA file number and we might not have that (other services that use BGS, we can use their lookup)
• Consider CMP as an alternative?

Tasks

• [ ] Create a pdf for this form (source) (another ticket)
• [ ] Send to LGY (confirm with Kelli)
• [ ] and send to VBMS (a known endpoint)

Acceptance Criteria

• [ ] A PDF for this form has been generated
• [ ] A PDF for this form has been sent to LGY
• [ ] A PDF for this form has been stored in VBMS in the Veteran's e-folder
• [ ] When stored, the PDF is uniquely identifiable so that it can be easily separated from other documents stored in the folder.
• [ ] A PR has been submitted for review

[saderagsdale]

@scottymeyers @kylesoskin added refinement labels and updated AC. Please review and let me know what you think.

[scottymeyers]

Looks good.

[data-doge]

For now, these are notes to myself, but please feel free to weigh in.

Generating a PDF form

• A SavedClaim::CoeClaim is created when the front-end POSTs form data to /vo/coe/submit_coe_claim.
• SavedClaim::CoeClaim's base class is SavedClaim, which contains a to_pdf method. This method uses PdfFill::Filler#fill_form and PdfFill::Forms::Va261880 to fill a template PDF and save it to a tmps/pdfs directory.
• So, generating a PDF just requires us to call .to_pdf on our SavedClaim::CoeClaim, somewhere in V0::CoeController::submit_coe_claim.
• The "attachments" referenced in this ticket are additional pages appended to the PDF when there is overflow on the form. Towards the tail end of the last contract, the team was working on automatically creating these overflow pages. That work may already be done, or close to it. (From conversation with Jerek).

Questions

- How are we going to append attachments? Where are these attachments? Are there any existing methods for appending attachments?

Sending form to LGY

• On submit, we are already sending the form to LGY.
• I need to speak with Kelli to verify whether LGY is, in fact, able to see the forms we send to them.

Questions

- What is LGY and what is the result of sending this form to LGY?

Sending form to VBMS

• As an initial note, it is worth double-checking whether it's necessary for us to send these forms to VBMS. It may be sufficient to send the form to LGY, or for us to send it to LGY who would then send it to VBMS. (From conversation with Jerek). It's worth speaking to Kelli about this.
• ClaimsApi::VBMSUploader is used to upload forms to VBMS, in SavedClaim::DependencyClaim, and SavedClaim::VeteranReadinessEmploymentClaim (ClaimsApi::VBMSUploader#upload contains some code specific to SavedClaim::VeteranReadinessEmploymentClaim, that should be generalized.

  When we upload to VBMS we use VA file number and we might not have that (other services that use BGS, we can use their lookup)

• In the two provided examples, if a file_number is not present under veteranInformation, file_number is defaulted to the user's SSN. Some history on that here: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/pull/6419 ("This PR also prioritizes VAFileNumber as the id to send to VBMS when submitting to eFolder. We were using SSN which would have worked the majority of the time but in those few instances that va file number is diff from SSN VBMS would have looked up a vet by file number with ssn and it would have failed."). See also https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-api/pull/7491.
• For what it's worth, SSN is used throughout vets-api as an identifier, or as a default value for other identifiers. (From conversation with Jerek).

Questions

• Is it okay to rely on ssn instead of file_number? Need to speak with Matt Self about this.
• What is a file_number, and how does it relate to ssn? For instance, is file_number a stand-in for those who do not have an ssn? When a user has a file_number, is it identical to their ssn?

Considering CMP as an alternative

• If it turns out this is necessary, perhaps we can draw inspiration from SavedClaim::VeteranReadinessEmploymentClaim#send_to_vre, which calls a send_to_central_mail! method if an upload to VBMS fails. However, it's not immediately clear to me how, or whether, this method makes the PDF accessible to the user.
• Central Mail is used elsewhere as a "last resort." Specifically, if an electronic submission permanently fails, we will send a PDF of the form to the vet, so that they can file it themselves. This can be used as a fallback here, but only as a last resort. (From conversation with Jerek.)

Ensuring that PDF is uniquely identifiable

• ClaimsApiVBMSUploader#fetch_upload_token suggests that filename will always be unique to any other file, as it contains a uuid. Additionally, the filename will contain the form_id of the form, if the form_path from PdfFill::Filler#fill_form.

[saderagsdale]

Hey Eugene! @data-doge thank you for adding questions here. Let me see if I can offer any help. See below:

• How are we going to append attachments? Where are these attachments? Are there any existing methods for appending attachments? I believe the place these are appended is in the Veteran's e-folder in VBMS, to be stored under a unique naming convention so it can be easily surfaced on the frontend later.
• What is LGY and what is the result of sending this form to LGY? LGY (Loan Guaranty) is the backend service responsible for the underlying business logic. Scott had been in close contact with their devs to conduct testing with them in the last two sprints. I can connect you with their team to ask questions if needed.
• Is it okay to rely on ssn instead of file_number? Previously our PO, Matt Self, stated that the VA wants to step away from relying on SSN, so he can probably clarify this business requirement. I'll ask him.

[saderagsdale]

Update on this question @data-doge: Is it okay to rely on ssn instead of file_number?

• Matt can introduce us to an SME to clarify this. That person's name is John Rhaghi. Let me know when you're ready to tee up that conversation.

[saderagsdale]

Re-adding the needs-grooming label until we get clarification on the ssn/file number requirement.

[data-doge]

Thanks @saderagsdale! I'm ready to have that conversation with John whenever he is.

[saderagsdale]

@data-doge Cool beans. Waiting for an intro from Matt. He's on PTO.

[saderagsdale]

Reminded Matt to introduce us today. Should be completed shortly.

[saderagsdale]

@data-doge Answer from John: Best case is to use ICN instead of File_Number or SSN as an identifier.

[saderagsdale]

@John Rahaghi

[saderagsdale]

@data-doge to confirm if overflow attachment work is already done.

[Midge-dev]

@saderagsdale Hello! Confirming whether or not this work was implemented?

[saderagsdale]

@Midge-dev Howdy. It was not completed. (Also worth noting that most of the code was written by another team before us). Let me know if you have other questions.