ECS/EDI Processor - Outbound Application Integration

The ECS/EDI Processor can be integrated to any AS/400 Business Application with the use of EDI Mapping programs. The creation of EDI Messages containing data derived from AS/400 Business Applications requires the development of Generators, to map the data from the business application database to the ECS/EDI Transaction and control files (IEXC & IEYT). 

The development of EDI Mapping programs is a technical task. Before commencing development please ensure that you have the necessary AS/400 authority to create the required objects and that you are technically able. Developing EDI Mapping definitions requires a good understanding of the AS/400, DB/400, PDM, RPG, Query, some knowledge of EDI and the Business Application you are extracting data from.

For an Overview of the ECS/EDI Processor, click here

Business Application EDI Integration 

The point of application integration with the ECS/EDI Processor is with two DB/400 physical files: 

• IEXC  - ECS/EDI Transaction Control

• IEYT  - ECS/EDI Transaction Detail file

User defined mapping programs, shown in the following diagram in yellow, are required to integrate the ECS/EDI Processor Transaction and Control Files with your Business Application System: 

The ECS/EDI Processor will perform the following processing  for Outbound transactions once the application data has been mapped to the Transaction file: 

• Read through the ECS/EDI Control file selecting transactions ready for Generating EDI Messages. 

• Retrieve the related EDI Trading Partner Event definition.

• Retrieve the related EDI Syntax Set definition. 

• Create the EDI Message(s) based on the records mapped to the EDI Transaction file. 

• Translate data values according to the predefined Element Translations configured for the EDI Trading Partner Event.

• Perform any character replacements defined for the Syntax Set.

• Validate the EDI Message(s) against the EDI Standard and Syntax Set. Proactive Email Error Reporting to the Event Administrator.

• Insert the EDI Message Envelope Segments

• Pack the validated Message(s) into an Interchange and insert the optional Functional Group Envelope Segments and mandatory  Interchange Envelope Segments.

•  Move the Outbound EDI Interchange to the Output Folder defined within the EDI Trading Partner Event ready for transmission to the Trading Partner.

The ECS/EDI Processor expects the Transaction and Control records to have been created by an external user developed Generation program. The Generation program is closely linked to the Business Application and should be designed/developed according to the Business Application & EDI Message Agreement requirements.

The Generator

The EDI Generation program is an Outbound  mapping program that is responsible for extracting the required details from the Business Application to create the ECS/EDI Transaction and Control records. A Generator is executed once for every EDI Message (transaction) required. The Generator is called by the Selector.

The Generator should be designed and developed to perform the following

• Use Unique Business Application Transaction reference, passed to the Generator by the Selector,  to retrieve required data from the Business Application, such as an Order number or Invoice number.

• Map the required data contents from the Business Application database to the ECS/EDI Transaction detail file (IEYT).  

• Write an ECS/EDI Control record to indicate the data has been mapped.

• Update the Business Application system to indicate that the data has been mapped.

The Selector 

The Selector is responsible for reading through the Business Application Header file, selecting unprocessed records for which Outbound EDI Messages should be created for. 

A Selector is normally linked to a business transaction (such as Purchase Orders). A Selector is responsible for executing the relevant Generation Programs passing to it the Unique Transaction Id as a Parameter.

A Selector can be designed to execute multiple Generators, if for example, multiple EDI Message formats must be supported for the same business transaction.

The Generation program must be designed to write one record to the ECS/EDI Transaction file for each data element that is required to be populated on the Outbound EDI Message. The Element Id and Segment Tag Id must also be written to the Transaction record to define the structure of the EDI Message.

The following defines the mapping requirements for Outbound EDI Messages 

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Map one record for every data element value.

Required: M=Mandatory, O=Optional

File: IEXC, ECS/EDI Control file - Map one record for every EDI Message required.

Required: M=Mandatory, O=Optional

The following Example represents a section of a sample EDIFACT, ORDERS message, Version D96A: 

BGM+220+121704+9'
DTM+137:20001231:102'
NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

The EDI Trading Partner Agreement is required during the design & analysis phase to map the data to the EDI Elements, the following is a sample extract of a message agreement for the three segments listed above, the data elements in use are highlighted in Blue:  

The example EDI Message section represents 3 Segments with a total 11 elements containing data. An example of the ECS/EDI Transaction and Control records required to create the Segments displayed would look like: 

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 1   BGM+220+121704+9'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 2   BGM+220+121704+9'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 3   BGM+220+121704+9'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 4   DTM+137:20021025:102'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 5  DTM+137:20001231:102'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 6   DTM+137:20021025:102'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 7  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 8  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 9  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 9  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 10  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEYT, ECS/EDI Transaction detail file - Record 11  NAD+BY+ECS Limited+++ECS House:PO Box 534+Horsham++RH13 9WJ'

File: IEXC, ECS/EDI Control file - Map one record for every EDI Message required.

Note: If you want to know how you should be populating the EDI Transaction file (IEYT) and you have a sample copy of the EDI Interchange you are need to generate then it is possible to configure an Inbound EDI Trading Partner Event, process the Inbound Interchange using the EDI Processor. The EDI Transaction record definitions (IEYT) are identical for Inbound and Outbound transactions, so the resulting contents of the EDI Transaction file (IEYT) will be identical to what your EDI Generator should be creating. 

Support for Elements with Blank Values

The ECS/EDI Processor will ignore records with a blank Value (IEYT.YTVAL=*BLANK).  If you have a requirement to write an EDI Element with a Blank value then the special value &BLANK can be used in IEYT.YTVAL. The &BLANK will be automatically replaced with a blank space by the EDI Processor.

ECS/EDI Processor Sample Application

ECS/integrated email is supplied with a sample EDI integration environment with programs and documented source code demonstrating how Generation and Selection programs are built,  these can be used as templates and adapted to suit your EDI and Business Application requirements .

  Click here for more information on using the EDI Sample Application and Mapping Programs.

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