OP-021: Resolve an external user and its primary contact

GetExternalUser is invoked over the Security route on SAIF.Services.WCF.Services.Security.SecurityService; this page documents the process end to end, from route dispatch to the message the caller receives.

Field	Value
Operation ID	OP-021
Trigger	Caller invokes GetExternalUser over the Security route.
Entry operation	GetExternalUser
Owning component	SAIF.Services.WCF.Services.Security.SecurityService.GetExternalUser
Inputs	Request message parts listed below
Outputs	An ExternalUser projection with its primary user type and contact populated.
Failure behavior	Generic SOAP fault, per Faults and error pipeline

Request and response

Direction	Element	Type	Declared in	Notes
Request	userId	string	BCL (System)	External-user identifier to resolve. (Yes)
Response	ExternalUser	ExternalUser	External contracts assembly (SAIF.Services.WCF.Contracts / framework closure) **	An ExternalUser projection with its primary user type and contact populated.

Steps

1. LogRequestDetails logs the operation name and arguments (BR-WCF-032).
2. TryGetExternalUser queries ExternalUser by upper-cased user id; a miss returns null; the projection maps IsActive from IsAuthorizedUser and IsAccountLocked from its negation (BR-WCF-019a).
3. The primary user type (UserTypes.FirstOrDefault(x => x.IsPrimary)) sets IsInjuredWorker when its code is one of WORK, GUARD, POWA, and populates PrimaryUserType, defaulting the two description fields to "" (BR-WCF-020a).
4. ContactFactory.CreatePrimaryContact(user.Person) selects the first active primary address, email, fax (phone code F), and non-fax phone, builds the PersonName, and normalizes every null string to "" (BR-WCF-021a, BR-WCF-033).
5. Return.
6. On failure: an Oracle/NHibernate exception is logged by the installed error handler and surfaced as a generic SOAP fault with exception detail included.

Process flow

The following diagram visualizes this process's control flow.

flowchart TD
    A["Log request details"]
    B["Query ExternalUser by<br>upper-cased user id"]
    C["Determine primary user type<br>and injured worker status"]
    D["Build primary contact projection"]
    E["Return."]
    A --> B
    B --> C
    C --> D
    D --> E

Transaction and side effects

Aspect	Finding
Unit of work	OracleUnitOfWorkFactory (EXTUR)
Commit point	Not applicable — read only
Records written	ExternalUser, ExternalUserType, Person, Address, Phone (read only)
Downstream calls	None
Shared state touched	None
Repeat-call behavior	Idempotent read

Logging

Surface	Written content
HttpContext.Current.Response.AppendToLog (LogRequestDetails)	Writes IIS request-detail log lines when LOG_REQUEST_DETAILS is enabled
ErrorLogErrorHandler → LogService	Failure-path exception logging only, carrying method signature, calling user and exception detail; see Faults and error pipeline

Faults and error handling

Failure	Fault type the caller receives	Produced by	Source
Oracle/NHibernate exception	Generic SOAP fault	The ErrorLogErrorHandler installed by [LogErrorBehavior]	src/WCF/SAIF.Services.WCF.Host/Services/Security/Users/UserFactory.cs

Authorization

Requirement	Enforced by	Source	Applies to
None in code	IIS authentication on the deployment (see Activation and hosting)	src/WCF/SAIF.Services.WCF.Host/Services/Security/SecurityService.cs	This operation

Related documentation

• Index
• Overview
• Architecture
• Activation and hosting
• Operations
• Faults and error pipeline
• Authentication and authorization
• Dependencies
• Configuration
• Operations and processes
• Business rules
• Data model
• Operational runbook
• Tech debt

Note: Statements marked with * were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts. Statements marked with ** could not be confirmed; treat as unknown until verified.

Sources

• src/WCF/SAIF.Services.WCF.Host/Services/Security/SecurityService.cs
• src/WCF/SAIF.Services.WCF.Host/Services/Security/Users/UserFactory.cs