Updated 2/10/16
TMS Operator Confirmation
User Manual
This document is the property of Northern Natural Gas and all information contained within is CONFIDENTIAL and PROPRIETARY.
No part of this document may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of Northern.
Updated 2/10/16
Contents
Click the page number to the right of the paragraph heading to navigate to that section.
ICONS AND CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS MANUAL........................ 4
INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 5
THROUGHPUT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ....................................... 6
CONFIRMATION................................................................ 7
Confirmation Maintenance .............................................................. 7
GETTING STARTED .............................................................................. 8
SUBMIT A SINGLE CONFIRMATION ..................................................... 10
SUBMIT ALL CONFIRMATIONS ............................................................ 11
Change Confirmation Quantity.............................................. 12
Delete a Line Item .................................................................. 12
View Location Contract Totals by Cycle ............................... 13
PRE-CONFIRM QUANTITIES PRIOR TO THE SERVICE REQUESTER NOMINATING
........................................................................................................ 15
CONFIRMATION MAINTENANCE SCREEN FIELD HELP ............................ 17
CONFIRMATION MAINTENANCE SCREEN DROP-DOWN MENUS AND HOT KEYS
........................................................................................................ 18
File ........................................................................................... 19
Selection .................................................................................. 20
Selection Hot Keys ................................................................. 20
Tools ........................................................................................ 20
Tools Hot Keys ........................................................................ 21
CONFIRMATION SUMMARY ................................................................. 22
VIEW CONFIRMATION SUMMARY ........................................................ 22
CONFIRMATION SUMMARY SCREEN FIELD HELP .................................. 25
EDI Confirmation Response View Screen ....................................... 26
EDI CONFIRMATION RESPONSE VIEW SCREEN FIELD HELP.................. 27
Operator Choice ........................................................................... 28
PASSIVE CONFIRMATION OPTION ...................................................... 28
ACTIVE CONFIRMATION OPTION ........................................................ 28
AUTOMATIC CONFIRMATION OPTION (CONFIRMATION BY EXCEPTION) 28
This document is the property of Northern Natural Gas and all information contained within is CONFIDENTIAL and
PROPRIETARY. No part of this document may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of Northern.
TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Exit .............................................................................................. 29
TMS GENERIC SCREEN FUNCTIONS ...................................... 30
System Tool Bar Icons .................................................................. 30
Search Facility Option ................................................................... 31
SEARCH AND LOCATION SEARCH OPTIONS .......................................... 31
Name Begins With .................................................................. 33
Name Contains ........................................................................ 33
Loc ............................................................................................ 33
Svc Req K................................................................................. 34
RECEIPT/DELIVERY LOCATIONS VALID FOR CONTRACT ....................... 34
LOCATION DETAIL INFORMATION DISPLAY ......................................... 34
Sort .............................................................................................. 36
DATA SORTS ..................................................................................... 36
COLUMN SORTS ................................................................................ 37
Print ............................................................................................. 37
Preview ........................................................................................ 37
Export Reports ............................................................................. 37
Cancel .......................................................................................... 38
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Icons and Conventions
Used in this Manual
NOTE:
A note is used to draw your special attention.
GOOD IDEA:
A good idea is a strong recommendation.
REMEMBER:
A reminder.
Menu Names
Menu names display like this.
Field Names
Field names display in Italics.
SCREEN NAMES
SCREEN titles display like this.
DIALOG BOX NAMES
DIALOG BOX titles display like this.
Select Multiple Options
Select File|New from the main menu.
Drop-down box
Buttons
arrow
Click on arrow and selection list displays.
Buttons are displayed graphically.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Introduction
The Throughput Management System is used by Northern Natural Gas Company and has
been designed to save customers time by allowing them to conduct business via one
application.
All screens in the Throughput Management System have the same basic layout: the
Entry area where you enter data and the Grid area where you view data. The column
headings at the top of the Grid area reflect the field titles in the Entry area. (Figure 1)
Figure 1. Throughput Management System Screen Layout
Form Area
Column Headings
The Column Headings correspond to the fields in the Entry Area of the screen
Grid Area
The Grid Area displays the line items of data that have been input
Conf Req
Conf Pty
Beg Date
Cycle
Choose the
cycle
Loc
Location
Proprietary
Code
ID
Multiple points
under one Legal
Entity
Confirmation
Requester
Confirming Party
Enter gas day
OBA
Operator
Balancing
Agreement
TT
Beg Date
End Date
Loc Name
Transaction Type
Filter
All/Confirmed/
Unconfirmed/
Pre-confirmed
Beginning
Day
Ending Day
Location Name
Svc Req
Service
Requester
Conf Trk ID
Confirmation Track
Identification
K Flo
Contractual Flow
Indicator
Up / Dn ID
Upstream or
Downstream
Up K
Upstream
Contract
Svc Req ID
Service Requester
ID
Svc Req K
Service
Requester
Contract
Nom Qty
Sched Qty
Conf Qty
RR
Nominated
Quantity
Scheduled
Quantity
Confirmed
Quantity
Reduction
Reason
Source
Identifies where the
confirmation
quantity originated
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Throughput Management System
The Throughput Management System is used to perform the following tasks:

Enter and view operator nominations

Enter and view operator confirmations

View operator and shipper scheduled quantities
The steps for entering and viewing nominations and shipper-scheduled quantities are
covered in detail in the Nominations User Manual.
This Throughput Management System Operator Confirmation manual covers only the
menu options and screen functions shown below.




Confirmation (Page 7)
Exit (Page 29)
TMS Generic Screen Functions (Page 30)
Search Facility Screens (Page 31)
You access the Throughput Management System via the Throughput Management
System Main Menu (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Throughput Management System Main Menu
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Confirmation
The purpose of the confirmation process is to provide operators the ability to confirm
gas flows between interconnecting parties based on the nominations submitted by
service requesters for Northern Natural Gas. Following are the confirmation processes
documented in this manual.

Confirmation Maintenance (Page 7)

Confirmation Summary (Page 22)

Operator Choice (Page 28)

Automatic Confirmation Option (Page 28)
Confirmation Maintenance
The purpose of the Confirmation Maintenance screen (Figure 3) is to confirm gas flows
between interconnecting parties and request makeup nominations to and from the
pipeline. Specifically, the Confirmation Maintenance screen allows you to perform the
following functions: confirm a single nomination, confirm all nominations, pre-confirm
quantities prior to the service requester nominating, and nominate operator makeup
quantities. Before you can perform any of these individual functions; however, you must
first provide the system basic information to access the data that you want to
manipulate. The Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 explains the generic
preliminary steps that must be performed.
Figure 3. Confirmation Maintenance Screen
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Getting Started
Confirmation Maintenance operations differ slightly among all pipelines. Northern Natural
Gas displays the Loc number.
To perform each Confirmation Maintenance operation, you must first open the
Confirmation Maintenance screen and access the desired pipeline and location(s) or
contract. The process for accessing the pipelines and location(s) is exactly the same for
each Confirmation Maintenance function; thus, it will be explained here once and then
referenced at the beginning of each section, rather than repeating the same information
for each confirmation function.
1.
Select Confirmation|Confirmation Maintenance from the TMS Main Menu. The
Confirmation Maintenance screen opens (Figure 4). The Conf Pty field populates
based on your logon ID.
2.
Type the gas date for the transactions you want to confirm in the Beg Date field
using the mmddyyyy format.
3.
Click the down arrow in the Cycle field and select the appropriate cycle (Figure 4).
The system defaults to the current cycle you are in.
Figure 4. Cycles
NOTE:
4.
Only nominations effective for the specific cycle that you select will
display. To see nominations effective for that 24-hour period, select
Final AM cycle.
Click the Radio button in the desired field (Loc, ID or Conf Svc K) and enter the
Location Property, Legal Entity or contract number into the field provided.

Loc
Displays the
location(s).
nominations
to
be
confirmed
at
a

ID
Displays the nominations to be confirmed for a Legal
Entity.

Conf Svc K
Displays all locations with nominations for your contract.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Following are the data that will be retrieved based on your Location Proprietary Code or
contract specifications.
Selection
Result
Enter a specific contract
The application retrieves all locations
associated with it.
Enter a specific location
The application will only retrieve the
nomination line items for the selected
location.
Allow the field to default to the
All locations tied to your ID name for that
gas date will appear in the Grid area.
asterisk.
In other words, do not select a specific
Loc number or contract number from
the drop-down list.
5.
If you want to narrow your search to a specific confirmation status type, click the
down arrow to select a filter other than All, which is the default (Figure 5). A
description of the functions of each filter follows (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Filter Field

Filter
Filters the data to display only a specified type of information
as defined in the bullets below.

All
Displays all confirmation-type quantities for a specific gas
date and cycle (confirmed, pre-confirmed and unconfirmed).

Unconfirmed
Displays only those nominations that are unconfirmed for
that gas date and cycle.

Confirmed
Displays only confirmed nominations for that gas date and
cycle.

Pre-Confirmed
Displays only those confirmations that have been entered by
the operator for that gas date and cycle.
Now that you have specified the generic criteria up through filtering the data, you are
ready to perform detailed confirmation processes shown below:

Submit a Single Confirmation (Page 10)

Submit All Confirmations (Page 11)

Pre-confirm Quantities Prior to the Service Requester Nominating (Page 15)
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
NOTE:
See the Confirmation Maintenance Screen Field Help section on
Page 17 for detailed definitions of each of the fields and column headings
on the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
Submit a Single Confirmation
After retrieving confirmation data from the Confirmation Maintenance screen, you can
submit confirmations by line item. The instructions below explain how to accomplish
this.
1.
Open the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
NOTE: See the Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 for instructions on
opening the Confirmation Maintenance screen and selecting pipelines and
location(s). Then follow the instructions below for confirming a single
nomination.
2.
3.
Click
. If nominations exist, they will be displayed at the following levels:

Svc Req K

Up/Dn K

Up/Dn ID
Click once on the nomination line item that you want to confirm. The fields in the
Entry197 area of the screen populate with the related data (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Service Requester Line Selected
4.
Type the quantity you want to submit in the Qty field.
5.
Type the confirmation end date for that nomination line item in the End Date field.
6.
If necessary, click the down arrow in the optional RR / RR Name field and select
the appropriate reduction reason code. The reduction reason code displayed will be
the reduction code selected by the operator and not the scheduling reduction
reason code.
7.
Click
or press the Enter key. The confirmation updates successfully for the
nomination line item selected. You will immediately see the changed confirmation
quantity in the line item.
8.
Repeat this process to confirm line by line.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
NOTE: If you have passed the deadline for the cycle that you retrieved, the Confirm
button will be disabled and you must re-retrieve the confirmation data for
the next cycle (select appropriate cycle from the Cycle drop-down box) and
then confirm.
Submit All Confirmations
The instructions below explain how to simultaneously confirm all nominations (i.e., all
line items) that have not previously been confirmed or do not have a zero quantity and
are currently displayed in the Grid area of the screen.
1.
Open the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
NOTE: See the Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 for instructions on
opening the Confirmation Maintenance screen and selecting pipelines and
location(s). Then follow the instructions below for confirming all nominations.
2.
3.
Click
. If nominations exist, they will be displayed at the following levels:

Svc Req K

Up/Dn K

Up/Dn ID
Click
. The Confirm All Options dialog box appears (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Confirm All Options
4.
Click the radio button to the left of either Nominated Quantity or Scheduled
Quantity depending on how you want to confirm the nomination. Scheduled
Quantity is the amount of gas scheduled by the pipeline after balancing.
Nominated Quantity is the amount of gas requested by the shipper.
5.
Type the date through which you want the volume to be confirmed in the End Date
field.
6.
Click
. All unconfirmed nominations for the selected location and cycle
are confirmed. At this point, if desired, you can either change or delete the existing
confirmations, as long as the confirmation deadline for that cycle has not passed.
See Change Confirmation Quantity on Page 12 and Delete a Line Item on Page
12 for instructions.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
NOTE: If only a few changes are necessary, make those confirmation changes to the
single lines first, and then press the Submit All button to confirm the
remainder of the nomination line items. This action will not override the
manually confirmed nominations.
Change Confirmation Quantity
After retrieving confirmation data from the Confirmation Maintenance screen, you can
change a confirmed quantity for the following types: All, Confirmed, or Pre-confirmed.
1.
Open the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
NOTE: See the Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 for instructions on
opening the Confirmation Maintenance screen and selecting pipelines and
location(s). Then follow the instructions below for changing a line item.
2.
Click
. If nominations exist, they will be displayed at the following levels:

Svc Req K

Up/Dn K

Up/Dn ID
3.
Click once on the line item for which you want to change the confirmed quantities.
The Entry area of the screen populates with data related to the highlighted line
item. You will make data changes in these fields.
4.
Type the new quantity you want to confirm in the Qty field.
NOTE: If you have passed the deadline for the cycle that you are changing, the
Confirm button will be disabled and you must re-retrieve and confirm for
the next cycle.
5.
Type the confirmation end date for that nomination in the End Date field. For
Intraday confirmations, the end date will default to the same date as the begin date,
since Intradays are only one day.
6.
If necessary, click the down arrow in the optional RR / RR Name field and select the
appropriate reason code.
7.
Click
8.
Repeat this process to change confirmed quantities line by line.
9.
Click
or press the Enter key to save your changes.
to return to the Main Menu.
Delete a Line Item
After retrieving confirmation data from the Confirmation Maintenance screen, you can
delete a quantity for either of the following types: Confirmed, All, or Pre-confirmed.
1.
Open the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
NOTE: See the Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 for instructions on
opening the Confirmation Maintenance screen and selecting pipelines and
location(s). Then follow the instructions below for deleting a line item.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
2.
Click
. If nominations exist, they will be displayed at the following levels:
 Svc Req K
 Up/Dn K
 Up/Dn ID
3.
Highlight the desired line item for which you want to delete the confirmation. The
fields in the Entry area of the screen populate with the related data.
4.
Click
. The confirmed quantity will be deleted and will no longer display in the
confirmation column.
NOTE: You can only delete those confirmations that have not been processed for the
cycle selected.
5.
Repeat this process to delete line by line.
6.
Click
to return to the Main Menu.
View Location Contract Totals by Cycle
Following are instructions for viewing selected location contract totals by cycle on the
Confirmation Maintenance screen (All, Unconfirmed, Confirmed, and Pre-confirmed).
1.
Open the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
NOTE: See the Getting Started section beginning on Page 8 for instructions on
opening the Confirmation Maintenance screen and selecting pipelines and
location(s). Then follow the instructions below for viewing location contract
totals.
2.
Click
. If nominations exist, they will be displayed at the following levels:
 Svc Req K
 Up/Dn K
 Up/Dn ID
3.
Highlight the desired location line item for which you want to view totals. The fields
in the Entry area of the screen populate with the related data.
4.
Click
. The Location Total screen appears (Figure 8). It displays nomination,
confirmation, and scheduled totals for the location and confirmation filter you
selected.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Figure 8. Location Total - Screen
5.
Click the Svc Req K radio button to view totals by service requester contract for
nominations, confirmations, and scheduled quantities, or click the UP/DN K radio
button to view a sum of all line items at the upstream/downstream contract level
only.
6.
Click the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the Location Total screen
(Figure 8). You are returned to the Confirmation Maintenance screen where you
can perform other operations or view other location totals.
7.
Click
Menu.
to close the Confirmation Maintenance screen and return to the Main
NOTE: The Location Total-Confirmed Only and the Confirmation Maintenance
screens can be open simultaneously; thus allowing you to toggle back and
forth between them.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Pre-confirm Quantities Prior to the Service Requester Nominating
The Precnf icon
is used only when the service requester has not nominated
quantities and the operator wants to confirm the service requester’s nominated
quantities ahead of time.
You must know the service requester contract number and its upstream/downstream
contract information along with the service requester's ID code prior to entering your
confirmation.
If this information does not match up with the service requester’s nomination, the
quantities will not be scheduled. The instructions below explain how to enter a preconfirmed quantity.
1.
Select Confirmation|Confirmation Maintenance from the Main Menu. The
Confirmation Maintenance screen opens.
2.
The Conf Req / Conf Req Name field defaults to the pipeline: Northern Natural
Gas Company.
3.
Type the gas date for the transaction that you want to preconfirm in the Beg Date
field using the mmddyyyy format.
4.
Click
on the Confirmation Maintenance screen. The Pre-Confirmation
Maintenance screen opens (Figure 9). The Conf Req and Gas Date fields populate
with the data you selected on the Confirmation Maintenance screen.
Figure 9. Pre-Confirmation Maintenance Screen
NOTE: If you decide that you need to change the gas date of the pre-confirmation,
cancel the Pre-Confirmation screen and return to the Confirmation
Maintenance screen. Then enter the correct gas date on this screen and
click on the Precnf icon.
5.
Type the Location number in the Loc field (Figure 9). This location number must
match the service requester’s nomination in order for the gas to be scheduled.
6.
Click the down arrow in the Cycle field and select the cycle to which the preconfirmation applies (Figure 9).
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
7.
Type the service requester transport contract number in the Svc Req K field. This
number must match the service requester’s nomination in order for the gas to be
scheduled.
8.
Click the radio button to the left of Receipt or Delivery.
9.
Type the service requester’s upstream/downstream contract number in the
Up\Down K field depending on the role. This number must match the service
requester’s upstream/downstream contract number in order for the gas to be
scheduled. The ID field will populate based on the Svc Req K number entered.
10. Type the ID code in the ID Code field. Currently this is the DUNS number for the
upstream/downstream contract.
11. Type the confirmed quantity in the Confirmed Quantity field.
12. Type the end date of the pre-confirmation in the End Date field.
13. Click
if you do not want to accept the transaction, or
14. Click
to accept the transaction. You are returned to the Confirmation
Maintenance screen where the new line appears in the Grid area.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Confirmation Maintenance Screen Field Help
Field Name
Definition
The functions used to save your confirmation line item to the
database.
Simultaneously confirms all nominations (i.e., all line items)
that have not previously been confirmed or do not have a zero
quantity and are currently displayed in the Grid area of the
screen.
Allows the operator to nominate imbalance makeup gas on
their OBA. (NNG will confirm and schedule the makeup.)
Beg Date
The gas date associated with the start of the confirmation.
Conf Date Time
System-generated confirmation date time
transactions. Occurs at time of input or confirm.
Conf Pty
The confirming party’s name and DUNS number.
Qty (Conf)
The quantity confirmed by the operator.
Conf Req Name
The name of the pipeline: Northern Natural Gas.
Conf Trk ID
The system-generated tracking number assigned to each
confirmation EDI transaction line item. The EDI trading partner
may also generate this number.
Cycle
The confirmation cycle associated with the confirmation. It is
system-generated at the time of save. The valid cycles follow:







stamp
for
Timely
Evening
Non Grid AM
Intraday 1
Intraday 2
Intraday 3
Final AM
End Date
The end date associated with the confirmation end date
entered by the operator.
Filter
Filters the data to display only a specified type of information
as defined in the bullets below.
Beg Date

AllDisplays all confirmation-type quantities for a
specific gas date and cycle (confirmed, pre-confirmed,
and unconfirmed).

UnconfirmedDisplays only those nominations that
are in an unconfirmed status for that gas date and
cycle.

ConfirmedDisplays only confirmed nominations for
that gas date and cycle.

Pre-ConfirmedDisplays only those confirmations
that have been entered by the operator for that gas
date and cycle.
The start date of the confirmation.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Field Name
Definition
ID
Displays all locations operated by one Legal Entity
K Flow
Flow Indicator. Identifies the role (Receipt or Delivery) in
which the location has been nominated on by the service
requester.
Loc Name
Represents the name of the pipeline point for which the
operator is responsible. The location where the quantity will be
scheduled.
Loc
Location Proprietary Code assigned by the pipeline for a
specific location.
Nom Date Time
System-generated
nomination
date
time
transactions. Occurs at time of input or save.
Nom Qty
The quantity nominated by the service requester.
Oper Choice
Operator Choice. Displays the role the operator chose for the
location.
RR / RR Name
(Reduction
Reason)
A reduction reason code identifying the reason why the
nominated quantity has been reduced by the operator during
the confirmation process.
Sched Qty
The quantity scheduled by the pipeline after balancing,
allocation and confirmation.
Service Requester
(Name)
The party (service requester or the service requester’s
agent/designee) requesting the service.
Source
Identifies where the confirmation quantity originated from; for
example, EDI, Prev Schd.
Svc Rep
The Customer Service Representative assigned to the service
requester contract.
Svc Req
The DUNS Number for the service requester associated with
the service requester contract.
Svc Req K
Service Requester’s transportation contract number used to
nominate to the pipeline.
Up ID/Dn ID
The DUNS Number of the party supplying or receiving gas
quantities to or from the service requester.
Up K/Dn K
Alphanumeric contract identifier of the party who is supplying
or receiving the gas quantities to or from the service
requester.
stamp
for
Confirmation Maintenance Screen Drop-Down Menus and Hot Keys
The Confirmation Maintenance screen provides a menu bar from which you can select
options to aid you in navigating through the system. This menu bar is generic to all
screens throughout the system (Figure 10). See the System Tool Bar Icons section on
page 31 for a detailed description of each of the icons on the menu bar.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Figure 10. Confirmation Maintenance Screen Tool Bar
If you want to avoid using the mouse and drop-down menus, you can use hot keys
instead. To activate a hot key, you must hold down the Alt key and simultaneously
press the key designated for a specific function. For example, instead of clicking File and
then selecting Retrieve from the drop-down menu, press Alt+R. Note that the hot
keys are not case sensitive. In this document hot keys appear in parentheses next to
their related menu commands.
The menu options and hot keys are described below.
File
Click the File option in the menu bar to access the functions shown in Figure 11, or use
the hot keys.
Figure 11. File Option and Sub functions
File Hot Keys
Function
Hot
Keys
Notes
Retrieve
Alt+R
Retrieves pre-existing nomination data for the gas
date selected.
Precnf
Alt+N
Used only when the service requester has not
nominated her/his quantities and the operator wants
to confirm the service requester’s nominated
quantities ahead of time.
Insert
Makeup
Alt+M
Allows the operator to nominate imbalance makeup
gas on their OBA location. (Northern will confirm and
schedule the makeup.)
Confirm All
Alt+A
Simultaneously confirms all nominations (i.e., all line
items) that have not previously been confirmed or do
not have a zero quantity and are currently displayed
in the Grid area of the screen.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Selection
Click the Selection option in the menu bar to access the functions shown in Figure 12,
or use the hot keys.
Figure 12. Selection Option and Sub-functions
Selection Hot Keys
Function/
Corresponding Icon
Confirm
Hot
Keys
Notes
Alt+C
Confirms the selected nomination.
Alt+T
Location Total. Sums the location totals in POI
number order. Displays location number, location
name, service requestor contracts, and total
location quantity.
Tools
Click the Tools option in the menu bar to access the functions shown in Figure 13, or
use the hot keys.
Figure 13. Tools Option and Sub-functions
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Tools Hot Keys
Function
Hot
Keys
Notes
Print Detail
Alt+P
Prints the entire nomination detail for the
contract that you have open.
Print Preview
Alt+V
Displays the entire nomination detail for the
contract that you have open.
Print Screen Snapshot
Alt+H
Prints only the data that currently appears on
the active screen.
Export Table
Alt+B
Exports data on the active screen to a Tab
Delimited file. You can then customize the
data into your own file as needed.
Sort Table
Alt+Z
Sorts data according to selected criteria.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Confirmation Summary
The purpose of the Confirmation Summary screen is to provide operators a view of its
daily and monthly scheduled gas quantities at its locations. They can view these gas
quantities by location, DUNS Identification, or operational balancing agreement/delivery
point operator agreement.

Loc
Provides a summary for the location number specified
for the date range selected.

ID
Provides a summary of all locations assigned to a
particular ID or Legal Entity for a specified date range.

Conf Svc K
Provides a summary of any quantities scheduled for
the locations on a contract.
Figure 16. Confirmation Summary Screen
See the Confirmation Summary Screen Field Help section on Page 25 for detailed
definitions of each of the fields and column headings on the Confirmation Summary
screen.
The instructions below explain how to view Confirmation Summary.
View Confirmation Summary
1.
Select Confirmation|Confirmation
Confirmation Summary screen opens.
Summary
from
the
Main
Menu.
The
2.
The Conf Req / Conf Req Name field defaults to the pipeline: Northern Natural
Gas Company.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
3.
Click the radio button to the left of Loc, ID, or Conf Svc K to select one of them.
Depending on your selection, the related field drop-down menu will display below
the radio buttons.
4.
Click the down arrow and select the desired Loc, ID, or Conf Svc K number
(mandatory).

Loc
Displays only the specified location.

ID
Displays all locations that are operated by the specified ID.

Conf Svc K
Displays all locations on your contract.
5.
Confirmations are effective over a date range. Type the begin date of the desired
date range in the Beg Date field. Type the end date of the desired date range in the
End Date field.
6.
Click
. The Confirmation Summary screen displays the nominated, confirmed,
scheduled, makeup, and measured quantities with a variance and percentage
calculation of scheduled vs. measured (Figure 17). Actual measured quantities have
lag time. The variance calculation uses the estimated quantity if the actual quantity
is blank.
7.
Total quantities at the bottom of the screen for the Loc ID, or Conf Svc K number
selected are summed over the specified date range. For example, if you select by
contract, you will see the total quantities for all locations on the contract (Figure
17).
Figure 17. Confirmation Summary Screen
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
8.
Highlight a single location on the Confirmation Summary screen (Figure 18).
9.
Click
to access the daily quantity information for the date range that you
selected. A new Confirmation Summary screen overlays the one discussed in Step 8
above and displays the daily detail (Figure 18).
Figure 18. Confirmation Summary Screen—Detail
10. Click
. You are returned to the original Confirmation Summary screen where
you can select another Loc, ID, or Conf Svc K number to view.
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Confirmation Summary Screen Field Help
Field Name
Definition
Actual
Total physical flow at the location from measurement.
Conf Makeup
Total quantity confirmed by the pipeline at the location.
Qty (Conf)
Total quantity confirmed by the operator at the location.
Beg Date
The date the gas is scheduled to flow.
Nom Qty
Total quantity nominated by service requesters at the location.
Sched Qty
Total quantity scheduled by the pipeline at the location.
Estimated
Total estimated physical flow at the location from measurement
in Dth.
Loc / Loc Name
The location where the quantity will be scheduled.
Nom Makeup
Total quantity nominated for makeup at the location.
Pct
The percent variance calculated between current scheduled and
actual.
Sched Makeup
The total quantity scheduled as makeup by the pipeline at the
location.
Var
Calculated quantity difference between current scheduled and
measured or actual flows.
ID
Operator DUNS number.
Conf Svc K
Confirmation contract number.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
EDI Confirmation Response View Screen
The purpose of the EDI Confirmation Response View screen is to provide on-line
capability for viewing reduction reason messages, error/warning messages, and the
status of the EDI files sent via the Internet.
Three status codes are used.
WQ
The entire transaction was accepted.
EZ(W)
Errors and/or warnings occurred in the transaction.
EZ(E)
Transaction has been acknowledged. Errors and/or
warnings follow.
Following are instructions for using the EDI Confirmation Response View screen.
1.
Select EDI Confirmation Response on the Main Menu. The EDI Confirmation
Response View screen opens (Figure 19). The Conf Pty / Conf Pty Name field
defaults to Northern Natural Gas Company.
Figure 19. EDI Confirmation Response View Screen
2.
Click the down arrow in the Conf Req / Conf Req Name field and select a specific
confirmation requestor from the drop-down menu that appears or allow the field to
default to an asterisk to invoke all confirmation requestors.
3.
Click in the Submit Date field and type the desired date in mmddyyyy format. The
Submit Date field defaults to the current calendar day.
4.
Click
5.
Click on the confirmation response line for which you want to view the warning or
error messages. Messages display in the area positioned below the Grid area. The
information available on this screen is systematically sent back to the service
requester or agent in an EDI transmission.
. The menu lists the status of confirmations submitted via EDI.
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6.
Right-click anywhere in the path area of the screen to invoke the
button.
7.
Left-click on
. The Sort Criteria View screen appears. You can sort on
multiple variables. For a detailed explanation of the sort option see Sort on Page
366.
8.
Click
to close the EDI Confirmation Response View screen and return to
the Main Menu.
EDI Confirmation Response View Screen Field Help
Field Name
Definition
Beg/End Date
The nomination beginning and ending date range.
Conf Rsp Status
Transaction status codes.
Txn Stat
WQ
The entire transaction was accepted.
EZ(W)
Errors and/or warnings occurred in the transaction.
EZ(E)
Transaction has been acknowledged. Errors and/or
warnings follow. All quantities confirmed as
requested.
Loc
Represents the proprietary receipt and/or delivery location.
Submit Date
The date and time the EDI confirmations were submitted.
Conf Req Name
The name of the operator or agent submitting the EDI
confirmations.
Conf Req
The DUNS Number of the operator or agent submitting the
EDI confirmations.
Conf Pty / Conf Pty
Name
The pipeline providing the service. For EDI transactions, this is
the pipeline DUNS number.
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Operator Choice
The Operator Choice allows you or your agent/designee to take an active or passive
role at a location level in the confirmation process. The confirmation options are
Passive, Active, or Exception. Each option is described in more detail below. The
Operator choice default is “Passive” for all locations. If you choose to change the
confirmation option at a location, you can do so on Northern’s website under
Support->Agreements/Forms->Contracts/Nominations/Scheduling Forms->Request for
Operator Choice form. You may terminate or change the option on a monthly basis by
providing written notice to your Customer Service Representative two business days
prior to the beginning of a month.
Passive Confirmation Option
A Passive operator will be required to actively confirm nominations for all locations
during the Timely confirmation cycle. If a confirmation is not received for the current
Gas Day’s Timely Cycle, the Timely Cycle scheduled quantity from the previous Gas Day
will be used. The operator is not required to confirm during the Evening or Intraday
Cycles. TMS will copy the previous cycle’s scheduled quantity to each subsequent cycle.
If you are confirming for a range of days at a passive location, the confirmation quantity
used will be the Timely quantity for each day within that range. Then TMS will copy the
Timely quantity to all subsequent cycles for those dates.
The operator will also have the option of overriding the passive confirmation by manually
inputting a different quantity. If the operator manually overrides a confirmation, that
override will remain in effect for all subsequent cycles for the specific Gas Day.
Active Confirmation Option
An Active operator is required to actively confirm nominations for all locations during all
cycles (Timely, Evening and all Intraday cycles). For Timely nominations, if no
confirmation is received, the previous day’s Timely scheduled quantity is used. For
Evening and Intraday nominations, if no confirmation is received, the confirmed quantity
defaults to the previous cycle’s scheduled quantity.
If you are confirming for a range of days at an active location, the confirmation quantity
used will be the Timely confirmation for each day within that range.
NOTE: For confirmations spanning multiple days, use the Timely cycle quantity for
each of those days. If the operator is designated as an active operator at a
location, he must still come in and confirm each cycle. An Evening or
Intraday confirmation pertains only to that Gas day’s nominations and does
not copy over to the next Gas Day.
Automatic Confirmation Option (Confirmation by Exception)
The TMS Automatic Confirmation feature automatically confirms ALL NOMINATIONS for
the operator or the agent at the specified location. All confirmed quantities will equal
nominated quantities for all cycles. The operator can manually override the automatic
confirmation quantity for any cycle. Operators will be able to change any confirmation
that is automatically confirmed by Northern during any cycle. Therefore, the operator
should pay close attention to the end dates selected when manually overriding
automatic confirmation locations.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
NOTE: For questions regarding entering a nomination, nomination maintenance or
final scheduled quantities, please refer to the TMS Nomination and
Scheduling Manual located on Northern’s website under Support->User
Manuals.
Exit
Select Exit|Exit Application on the Main Menu to exit TMS (Figure 20).
Figure 20. Exit Main Menu
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
TMS Generic Screen Functions
Following are detailed descriptions of the basic screen functions that are generic to the
TMS program. The other sections of this manual reference these functions.

System Tool Bar Icons (300)

Search Facility Option (311)

Sort (366)

Print (377)

Preview (377)

Export (377)
Each of the above-mentioned functions is explained in detail below.
System Tool Bar Icons
The following tool bar icons are used generically throughout the TMS program.
Icon
Hot Key
Notes
Alt+O
Opens the Open/Copy Nomination screen where you can
enter and select the company, contract number, and gas
date you want to retrieve. The Open/Copy Nomination
screen also provides a copy function that allows you to copy
the entire nomination from one gas date to a new gas date
range.
Alt+S
Saves all current updates to the database if all validation
criteria are met. If an error message appears, changes will
not be saved. All error messages must be adjusted and
corrected before the nomination can be saved.
Alt+R
Retrieves pre-existing data for the gas date selected. Reretrieves the contract you already have open.
Alt+D
Deletes selected information at a line item level. Only paths
that have not been scheduled can be deleted.
Alt+T
Path rate information can be viewed for the nomination
path detail line that you have highlighted in the Grid area.
This rate is based on the information available at the time
of nomination and is subject to change.
Alt+E
Receipt Total. Sums all applied receipt location totals in
location number order for the gas date of the path
highlighted in the Grid area. Displays location number,
location name, Up/Dn K, TT and total quantity.
Alt+L
Delivery Total. Sums all applied delivery location totals in
POI number order. Displays location number, location
name, Up/Dn K, TT and total quantity.
Alt+Z
Sorts all applied data fields available in the Selection View
screen (ascending or descending order) based on the
selection criteria the user selects.
Alt+P
Prints the entire nomination detail for the contract that you
have open regardless if all paths have been saved.
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Alt+V
Previews the entire nomination detail for the contract that
you have open. You can also print from the preview screen
and select the print orientation, then close the screen to
return to the nomination maintenance.
Alt+B
Exports data on the screen that you have open to a Tab
delimited file. You can then customize the data into your
own file as needed.
None
Identifies the type of transaction that you are going to
enter in the data fields. For transportation contracts, the
system defaults to a path transaction that requires both
receipt and delivery information to be entered in the data
field.
None
Identifies only the receipt side of the data fields. Use this
for receipt makeup only transactions on a contract, such as
pooling, storage, makeup, or Park N Ride. When you select
the Rcpt Icon, the system removes the delivery input data
fields and defaults the Transaction Type to code 04
which is imbalance payback to the pipe.
None
Identifies only the delivery side of the data fields. Use this
for delivery makeup only transactions on a contract, such
as pooling, storage, makeup, or PDD. When you select the
Del icon, the system removes the receipt input data fields
and defaults the Transaction Type to code 03 which is
imbalance payback from the pipe.
Alt+X
Closes the Nomination Maintenance screen and returns you
to the main menu.
Search Facility Option
Five basic search options are available to you in the TMS system:

Search

Location Search

Location Detail Information

Receipt Locations Valid for Contract

Delivery Locations Valid for Contract
The type of search you can perform depends upon the field from which you invoke the
search option. For example the Svc Req K field invokes the Search option. The *Loc
field invokes the Location Search, Location Detail Information, and Receipt
Locations Valid for Contract options.
NOTE: Once you have performed a search and have retrieved a list of data, you can
sort that data in various ways. See the Sort section beginning on Page 366
for detailed instructions.
Search and Location Search Options
The Search and Location Search menu options work similarly; thus, both operations
are explained in this section.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
1.
Right-click in either a location type field
or a contract type field
,
on the screen you are currently viewing. The
related search drop-down menu appears (Figure 22 andFigure 23).
Figure 22. Location Search Drop-Down Menus
Figure 23. Search Drop-Down Menu
NOTE: On some screens, you can either right-click in the field or click a location
type
, or a contract type
search engine.
2.
,
button to invoke the
Select Location Search or Search from the respective drop-down menu (Figure 22
and Figure 23). The related Search screen appears (Figures 24 and 25).
Figure 24. Location Search Screen
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Figure 25. Contract Search Screen
3.
Click the radio button to the left of the desired search method so that it turns black.
Follow the individualized instructions below for each of the search scenarios.
Name Begins With
Name Begins With searches on location or company name.
a.
Type the first letter or the first few letters that you know of the company or
location name in the Name Begins With field.
b.
Click
. The Grid area populates with all locations or contracts available to
your logon ID beginning with the letter(s) you typed.
Single-click on the contract in the scroll list that you want to retrieve. You are
returned to the screen from where you initiated the search. The fields are now
populated with related data.
You are now ready to perform operations on the contract you invoked.
c.
d.
Name Contains
Name Contains searches on location or company name.
a.
Type any portion of the location or contract name that you know in the Name
Contains field.
b.
Click
. The Grid area populates with all locations or contracts available to
your logon ID that contains the letter(s) you typed.
Single-click on the location or contract in the scroll list that you want to
retrieve. You are returned to the screen from where you initiated the search.
The fields are now populated with related data.
You are now ready to perform operations on the contract you invoked.
c.
d.
Loc
Loc searches on location numbers.
a.
Type a range of Location numbers (
to perform a search in the Loc field.
) on which you want
b.
Click
. The Grid area populates with all contracts available to your logon ID
within the range of location numbers you typed.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
c.
d.
Single-click on the location in the scroll list that you want to retrieve. You are
returned to the screen from where you initiated the search. The fields are now
populated with related data.
You are now ready to perform operations on the contract you invoked.
Svc Req K
Svc Req K searches on contract number.
a.
Type a range of contract numbers (
perform a search in the Svc Req K field.
b.
Click
. The display area populates with all contracts available to your logon
ID within the range of contract numbers you typed.
Single-click on the contract in the scroll list that you want to retrieve. You are
returned to the screen from where you initiated the search. The fields are now
populated with related data.
You are now ready to perform operations on the contract you invoked.
c.
d.
) on which you want to
Receipt/Delivery Locations Valid for Contract
The Receipt|Delivery Locations Valid for Contract search screens (Figure 26) can
only be invoked from the Nomination Maintenance screen. It displays only those
locations that are valid for the contract you have invoked. The instructions below explain
how to use the Receipt|Delivery Locations Valid for Contract search screens.
Figure 26. Receipt and Delivery Locations Valid for a Contract
1.
2.
On the Nomination Maintenance screen right-click in either the Location field or
the Loc field (depending upon your pipeline view) and select Receipt or
Delivery Locations Valid for Contract from the drop-down menu that appears.
The Receipt|Delivery Locations Valid For Contract screen appears and displays all
valid locations for your contract (Figure 26).
Click on the desired location in the Grid area of the screen. The screen from
which you initiated the search will populate with the selected point.
Location Detail Information Display
The Location Detail Information Display search screen can only be invoked from the
Nomination Maintenance screen. It displays specific information related to the point that
you entered in either the Location field or the Loc field (depending upon your pipeline
view).
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
1.
2.
3.
Enter a location number in either the Location field or the Loc field (depending
upon your pipeline view).
Right-click in either the Location field or the Loc field.
Select Location Detail Information from the drop-down menu that appears.
The Location Detail Information Display screen appears. It displays information
related to the location you selected (Figure 27).
Figure 27.
4.
If you want to view the details of another location, type the desired location
number in the Location field and click
5.
Click
.
to close the Location Detail Information Display screen.
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Sort
Sorts are performed in basically the same manner on all screens. The various sort
options are explained below.
Data Sorts
1.
Click anywhere in the path area of the screen.
2.
Click
, press the Alt+Z keys or Select Tools|Sort Table from the menu bar at
the top of the screen. The Sort Criteria View screen appears (Figure 28).
NOTE: You can also invoke the sort option by right-clicking in the Grid area of the
screen. When the Sort button appears left-click on it and the Sort Criteria
View screen will display.
Figure 28. Sort Criteria View
4.
Click on a field name in the Available area of the screen on which you want to sort.
A check mark appears to the left of it. Select other field names if desired.
5.
Click
6.
Click either
sort.
7.
If you change your mind and do not want to sort on one of the variables you have
selected, click on the variable you no longer want in the Selected area. A check
mark will appear beside it.
8.
Click
9.
Click
to transfer the field name(s) to the Selected area of the screen.
or
depending on the direction that you want to
to return the variable to the Available area.
.
10. You are returned to the screen from where you initiated the sort. The fields are
sorted as you had directed.
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
Column Sorts
You can perform a sort on a specific data column.
1.
Use your left mouse button to click on a column header. For example,
sort option on these columns is a toggle.
2.
Click once and the system toggles to sort in the descending direction
3.
Click again and it sorts in ascending direction
. The
.
.
Print
Click
, or select Tools|Print Detail from the menu bar to print the screen (Alt+P).
Preview
Click
or select Tools|Print Preview to preview the data on the screen (Alt+V).
The screen will populate and you may print from the preview or close the preview
option.
Export Reports
Following are instructions for exporting a report to a file.
1.
Open the Scheduled Quantities report.
2.
Click
. The Export dialog box appears (Figure 29).
Figure 29. Export Dialog Box
3.
Click
in the Format field and select the version of Excel that you are running
(Figure 29).
4.
Click
in the Destination field and select the desired location where you want to
store the file (Figure 29).
5.
Click
. The Choose Export File dialog box appears (Figure 30).
Figure 30. Choose Export File Dialog Box
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TMS Operator Confirmation User Manual
6.
Click
in the Folder field and scroll to the directory where you want to store the
file (Figure 30).
7.
Click
. The file is saved into the directory you specified.
Cancel
Click
to exit a screen (Alt+X). You will return to the TMS Main Menu screen.
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