EANCOM Connector - CData Arc Documentation

EANCOM connectors support generating EANCOM documents (also known as GS1 documents) from XML or converting EANCOM documents into XML.

Key Capabilities

Full bidirectional translation between EANCOM and XML formats
Comprehensive interchange header validation and generation
Support for multiple EANCOM versions with automatic schema detection
Interchange and functional acknowledgment support

Overview

When receiving EANCOM documents, EANCOM connectors validate interchange headers and convert the EANCOM document into XML. This is useful as a staging step, because XML is the primary format that Arc uses to manipulate data within a flow. The EANCOM connector automatically reads the input file to determine the appropriate schema, then parses the document according to this schema. When generating EANCOM documents, EANCOM connectors convert XML into EANCOM document syntax and apply the appropriate interchange headers. This is useful as the final step for creating an EANCOM document, after the XML data has been fetched and transformed elsewhere in the flow.

Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Translation Configuration

Settings related to the core operation of the connector.

Setting	Description
Connector Id	The static, unique identifier for the connector.
Connector Type	Displays the connector name and a description of what it does.
Connector Description	An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
Translation Type	Whether the connector should convert EANCOM documents into XML, or generate EANCOM documents from XML.
Dynamically process partners	When enabled, the connector automatically identifies and tracks trading partner relationships from EDI transactions. When disabled, you must manually define the partner relationship. See EDI Partners Tab for more information.

EDI Partner

Setting	Description
Partner Identifier (UNB2.1)	The unique Id identifying the sending party in the EANCOM communication. When you are generating an EANCOM document, this should be your identifier. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked.
Recipient Identifier (UNB3.1)	The unique Id identifying the receiving party in the EANCOM communication. When you are generating an EANCOM document, this should be your trading partner’s identifier. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked.

Interchange Settings

Settings related to the EANCOM interchange headers. When converting EANCOM documents into XML, the document headers are validated against these settings; when generating EANCOM documents from XML, these settings are used to generate document headers.

Setting	Description
Syntax Identifier (UNB1.1)	Identifies the character set used in the EANCOM document.
Syntax Version (UNB1.2)	In combination with the Syntax Identifier, determines the syntax to be used in the EANCOM document. Based on your selection here, other interchange setting options appear or disappear on the Advanced tab.
Partner Code Qualifier (UNB2.2)	The qualifier for the Sender Identifier, which provides context to the value (for example, an EAN location number).
Personal Code Qualifier (UNB3.2)	The qualifier for the Recipient Identifier, which provides context to the value (for example, an EAN location number).
Test Indicator (UNB11)	Whether the interchange is in test mode or production mode. If you check this, interchange headers are not validated when documents are received.
Functional Group	Check this to automatically add the sender and recipient identifiers to the Functional Group Settings on the Advanced tab.

Acknowledgments

Settings related to generating and requesting acknowledgments.

Setting	Description
Technical acknowledgment (CONTRL)	Whether a technical CONTRL ACK should be returned (when receiving) and requested (when sending). A technical acknowledgment serves as a receipt of the interchange.
Functional acknowledgment (CONTRL)	Whether a functional CONTRL ACK should be returned (when receiving) and requested (when sending). A functional acknowledgment serves as an indication of acceptance or rejection of the received interchange.

Sample Files Tab

Advanced Tab

EDI Delimiters

Settings that specify which characters separate elements, segments, etc.

Setting	Description
Data Element Separator	The character that separates individual data elements in the document.
Component Element Separator	The character that separates elements within a composite data structure in the document.
Segment Terminator	The character that indicates the end of a segment in the document.
Release Char	The character that releases (escapes) the next character, overriding its usual meaning. This allows reserved characters to appear as data within documents, as long as they are preceded by the Release Char.
Repetition Char	The character that indicates repetition of element values.
Suffix	Appended to the Segment Terminator to distinguish segments.

Interchange Settings

Additional settings related to the EANCOM interchange headers. These options appear or disappear based on the Syntax Version specified on the Settings tab.

Setting	Description
Service Code List Directory Version Number (UNB1.3)	Further specifies the syntax to be used in the EANCOM document. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Character Encoding (UNB1.4)	Specifies the character encoding (such as ASCII or UTF-8). Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Address for Reverse Routing (UNB2.3)	The optional address in the sender’s system to which responding interchanges should be sent. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax versions prior to version 4.
Partner Internal ID (UNB2.3)	An additional sender identifier to facilitate internal routing of response interchanges. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Partner Internal Sub-Identification (UNB2.4)	Further identifies the sender when sub-level identification is required. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Routing Address (UNB3.3)	The optional address in the recipient’s system to which interchanges should be routed. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax versions prior to version 4.
Personal Internal ID (UNB3.3)	An additional recipient identifier to facilitate internal routing of received interchanges. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Personal Internal Sub-Identification (UNB3.4)	Further identifies the recipient when sub-level identification is required. Only applicable for EANCOM syntax version 4.
Partner Password (UNB6.1)	Reference or password to gain access to the recipient’s system.
Partner Password Qualifier (UNB6.2)	The qualifier that provides context to the Partner Password, if applicable.
Application Reference ID (UNB7)	Identifies the application group to which the messages in the interchange relate.
Processing Priority Code (UNB8)	Code for requesting processing priority for the interchange.
Communication Agreement (UNB10)	Defines the type of communication agreement controlling the interchange.

Functional Group Settings

Settings related to the functional group headers of EANCOM documents. These optional identifiers can help group similar interchanges together, or facilitate sub-addressing within an organization.

Setting	Description
Application Partner Identifier (UNG2.1)	Identifies the application sending the document (such as a division, branch, or computer system).
Application Personal Identifier (UNG2.1)	Identifies the application for which the document is intended.

Advanced Settings

Settings not included in the previous categories.

Setting	Description
Batch Transactions	An interchange can contain multiple transactions. When this is not checked, the connector creates a separate output file for each transaction in the interchange. When checked, the connector groups all transactions into a single output file.
Encoding	Specifies the character encoding (such as ASCII or UTF-8).
Expand Qualifier Values	When checked, XML elements containing an EDI qualifier include child elements containing the qualifier code and value. For example: `<N101><Code>ST</Code><Value>Ship To</Value></N101>`.
Functional Acks	By default, all functional acknowledgments (997, 999) are routed to the connector selected in the flow diagram, and XML translations are not received in the Transactions tab. Check this to have the translated acknowledgment also be included in the Transactions tab. This allows functional acknowledgments to be integrated into a destination source in addition to new EDI documents.
Generate Description As	When translating EANCOM into XML, descriptions of the EANCOM segments and elements can be provided as context for the EANCOM data. Use this dropdown to choose whether to add this context as an XML comment or as XML attributes.
Local File Scheme	A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros.
Nest Loops	When checked, the connector detects EDI structures that have hierarchical relationships embedded in the EDI data, and generates XML with these hierarchical relationships represented as parent-child relationships. See Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS Loops for more information.
Processing Delay	The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting.
Strict Schema Validation	Whether the connector should Ignore, Warn, or Fail when the following are detected: repeat counts above the allowed number, missing required elements or segments, invalid qualifier and code values, disallowed element lengths, and invalid element values. Choosing Disable turns off the schema validation checks.
Track UNB2.1	Whether to add UNB2.1 values as tracked headers to processed messages.
Track UNB3.1	Whether to add UNB3.1 values as tracked headers to processed messages.
Track Transaction Types	Whether to add transaction types as tracked headers to processed messages.
Validate Identifiers	Check this to ensure that the identifiers in the translated document match the identifiers in the connector’s configuration.
Duplicate File Action	How the connector should behave when it receives a message with a control number that the connector has seen before (a duplicate). When set to `Ignore`, the connector silently skips the duplicate and continues processing. When set to `Warn`, the connector processes the file but returns a warning. When set to `Fail`, the connector does not accept the file and returns an error.
Upload Schema	Use this to upload a schema and install it in the connector’s Schema folder. If a schema already exists, you are asked if you want to overwrite it.
Reset State	EDI connectors keep track of control numbers that have been used and increment that number to ensure that future runs do not duplicate data. Use this button to reset the counter to its initial state without changing any of the configured settings.

Message

Message settings determine how the connector searches for messages and manages them after processing.

Note: The settings below are deprecated and hidden by default. They appear only on connectors where they were previously enabled or configured to a non-default value. To retain copies of successfully processed files, right-click the connector in the flow, choose Show Success Path, and connect the success path to a File connector.

Setting	Description
Save to Sent Folder (Deprecated)	Copies files processed by the connector to the Sent folder. Disabled by default. Files saved to the Sent folder are not covered by Encryption at Rest.
Sent Folder Scheme (Deprecated)	Groups files in the Sent folder by the selected time interval. Only relevant when Save to Sent Folder is enabled.

Logging

Settings that govern the creation and storage of logs.

Setting	Description
Log Level	The verbosity of logs generated by the connector. When you request support, set this to Debug.
Log Subfolder Scheme	Instructs the connector to group files in the Logs folder according to the selected interval. The Weekly option (which is the default) instructs the connector to create a new subfolder each week and store all logs for the week in that folder. Leaving this setting blank tells the connector to save all logs directly in the Logs folder. For connectors that process many transactions, using subfolders helps keep logs organized and improves performance.
Log Messages	Check this to have the log entry for a processed file include a copy of the file itself. If you disable this, you might not be able to download a copy of the file from the Transactions tab.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous settings are for specific use cases.

Setting	Description
Other Settings	Enables you to configure hidden connector settings in a semicolon-separated list (for example, `setting1=value1;setting2=value2`). Normal connector use cases and functionality should not require the use of these settings.

EDI Partners Tab

Automation Tab

Automation

Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.

Setting	Description
Send	A toggle that instructs the connector to automatically send files when they are ready.
Resend Interval	The interval the connector waits before resending a file that received a negative ACK. For example, if a trading partner receives the file but something is wrong with it and they send back a negative ACK, this setting specifies how long to wait before sending the file again.
Max Attempts (async)	The maximum number of times the connector processes the input file when a functional ACK is requested. Success is based on the return of a functional ACK within the Resend Interval. If a successful functional ACK is not returned, the connector resends the file until Max Attempts is reached. If this is set to 0, the connector resends the file indefinitely.

Performance

Settings related to the allocation of resources to the connector.

Setting	Description
Max Workers	The maximum number of worker threads consumed from the threadpool to process files on this connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Performance Settings portion of the Advanced Settings page.
Max Files	The maximum number of files sent by each thread assigned to the connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Performance Settings portion of the Advanced Settings page.

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

XML to EANCOM

When generating EANCOM files, select XML to EANCOM as the Translation Type. The application reads the header information for the interchange, functional group, and message sections from the settings configured on the Settings tab. These settings include the sender identifier and code qualifier, receiver identifier and code qualifier, and so on. Once you have configured the connector with the settings from your trading partner agreement, click the Transactions tab and select More > Create Test Files. The application creates a set of test XML files that provide example data of what the XML should look like for the connector to generate an EANCOM document. You can also select the documents and click Send to see the generated EANCOM documents.

EANCOM to XML

When generating XML, select EANCOM to XML as the Translation Type. The application only processes EANCOM files when this option is selected. You need to configure the settings for the trading partner agreement on this page for the application to validate the information in EANCOM documents during processing. XML files are generated into the Output folder for this connector. Click the Transactions tab and select More > Create Test Files to create test EANCOM files for several EANCOM documents. You can select these documents and click Send to see the generated XML.

Use With the XML Map Connector

Upload Test File

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments are routed to the connector specified by the grey dotted line in the flow diagram, as shown in the following image:

The specified connector generates acknowledgments using the transaction data received by the current connector. The specified connector adds interchange headers and passes the acknowledgment along in the flow like any other message. Thus this should typically be set to a pre-configured EANCOM connector that generates outbound documents for the intended recipient. Acknowledgments can be automatically generated and processed by the application. There are two commonly requested types of acknowledgments used in EANCOM communications, interchange and functional. Both of the acknowledgments types are classified as EANCOM CONTRL messages.

When EDI messages that require an acknowledgement have not received that acknowledgement, a Pending-Timeout header is added to the message. The message has a Pending status while it waits for its ACK. If it does not receive the ACK within the allotted time, the Pending-Timeout header is populated with the date and time when the message status changed to Error. When the ACK is received and the message is updated to Success, a new header is added with an empty string value.

Interchange Acknowledgments

This is an indication that an interchange has taken place between the two parties (though not necessarily that any individual message has been exchanged). They are automatically generated in response to a request in the interchange.

Functional Acknowledgments

Functional acknowledgments are an indication that an individual message such as an Invoice or PO has been accepted. These are generated in response to a bidirectional agreement by both parties.

Message Originator

Requesting Acknowledgements

EANCOM connectors in XML-to-EDI mode can be configured so that both interchange and functional acknowledgments can be requested for a message. Select the Technical acknowledgment (CONTRL) and Functional acknowledgment (CONTRL) checkboxes on the Settings tab to direct the connector to maintain a Pending ACK status for the transmission until the appropriate acknowledgments have been returned and processed.

The illustration above shows a complete message exchange from the standpoint of the message originator. An EANCOM connector in XML-to-EDI mode generates the document to be exchanged (1) and holds it in a Pending ACK state. The trading partner processes the transmission in their business logic and creates acknowledgments in accordance with the configured exchange parameters and the bidirectional agreement between parties (2). When the acknowledgments are returned, they are parsed with and an EANCOM connector in EDI-to-XML mode and routed to the original EANCOM connector (XML-to-EDI) to resolve the status of the transfer (3).

Processing Acknowledgements

When interchange and functional EANCOM acknowledgments are received at an EANCOM connector in EDI-to-XML mode, the connector can be configured to automatically route any detected acknowledgments to the EANCOM connector that first generated the transmission. In the flow diagram, drag the grey circle from the receiving (EDI-to-XML) EANCOM connector onto the originating (XML-to-EDI) EANCOM connector. The configured (XML-to-EDI) EANCOM connector pairs the acknowledgments to the original message and resolves the matching message.

Message Recipient

Generating Acknowledgements

When an EANCOM connector in EDI-to-XML mode processes received messages from the originator and generates XML, tell the connector to automatically generate CONTRL acknowledgments by selecting the Acknowledgment check boxes in the Settings tab. Route these acknowledgments to an EANCOM connector in XML-to-EDI mode to generate the EANCOM acknowledgement. In the flow diagram, drag the grey circle onto the (XML-to-EDI) EANCOM connector that generates EANCOM documents for this partner.

As shown in the diagram above, when a partner sends a message where an acknowledgment is expected (1), the (EDI-to-XML) EANCOM connector configured for that partner automatically generates an acknowledgment (2) as an XML file containing the transactional information relevant for that file. This XML acknowledgment must be routed back to an (XML-to-EDI) EANCOM connector (3) so that all of the EDI party agreement settings are used when generating the EANCOM file that is sent back to your trading partner.

Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS Loops

In EDI documents, most hierarchical relationships are represented by the order of EDI segments. Some EDI structures, like CPS Loops (which are found in DESADV documents), do not follow this convention and instead have the hierarchical relationships embedded in the EDI element data itself. This can make it difficult to preserve these hierarchical relationships when converting the EDI data to XML. The EANCOM connector supports preserving hierarchical relationships in CPS segments via the Nest Loops setting on the Advanced tab. When enabled, the connector parses the elements in the CPS segments to determine which segments “belong to” other segments in a hierarchical relationship. These hierarchical relationships are reflected in the output XML as parent-child relationships: in other words, this setting converts hierarchy implied by the EDI content into hierarchy represented by the XML structure. This section briefly explains both how hierarchy is encoded in CPS data, and how this hierarchy is converted into XML when Nest Loops is enabled.

CPS Hierarchy

All CPS segments have two values that help establish hierarchy:

an Id value, which identifies the current CPS segment (this value is stored in CPS01, or the first element in a CPS segment)
a parent-Id value, which identifies the current CPS segment’s hierarchical parent (this value is stored in CPS02, or the second element in a CPS segment)

For example, a CPS segment has an Id value of ‘2’. If the next CPS segment should “belong to” this prior segment in a hierarchical relationship, the next CPS segment’s parent-Id should also be ‘2’. If a CPS segment’s parent-ID is ‘0’, the segment does not have a parent (it is at the top level of the hierarchy).

Converting CPS Hierarchy to XML

When Nest Loops is enabled, the EANCOM connector handles the conversion of CPS hierarchy to XML hierarchy automatically. The connector parses the Id and parent-Id values from CPS segments and ensures that the resulting XML elements are appropriately nested (indented) inside the elements representing their parents. In other words, if segmentA has a parent-Id value that is equal to segmentB, the resulting XML has segmentA as a child of segmentB. In this way, the hierarchical relationships are preserved in the XML structure when the EDI data is translated.

​Key Capabilities

​Overview

​Connector Configuration

​Settings Tab

​Translation Configuration

​EDI Partner

​Interchange Settings

​Acknowledgments

​Sample Files Tab

​Advanced Tab

​EDI Delimiters

​Interchange Settings

​Functional Group Settings

​Advanced Settings

​Message

​Logging

​Miscellaneous

​EDI Partners Tab

​Automation Tab

​Automation

​Performance

​Alerts Tab

​SLAs Tab

​XML to EANCOM

​EANCOM to XML

​Use With the XML Map Connector

​Upload Test File

​Acknowledgements

​Interchange Acknowledgments

​Functional Acknowledgments

​Message Originator

​Requesting Acknowledgements

​Processing Acknowledgements

​Message Recipient

​Generating Acknowledgements

​Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS Loops

​CPS Hierarchy

​Converting CPS Hierarchy to XML

​Macros

​Examples

Key Capabilities

Overview

Connector Configuration

Settings Tab

Translation Configuration

EDI Partner

Interchange Settings

Acknowledgments

Sample Files Tab

Advanced Tab

EDI Delimiters

Interchange Settings

Functional Group Settings

Advanced Settings

Message

Logging

Miscellaneous

EDI Partners Tab

Automation Tab

Automation

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

XML to EANCOM

EANCOM to XML

Use With the XML Map Connector

Upload Test File

Acknowledgements

Interchange Acknowledgments

Functional Acknowledgments

Message Originator

Requesting Acknowledgements

Processing Acknowledgements

Message Recipient

Generating Acknowledgements

Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS Loops

CPS Hierarchy

Converting CPS Hierarchy to XML

Macros

Examples