EANCOM Connector

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

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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

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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 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.

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Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

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Settings Tab

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Translation Configuration

Settings related to the core operation of the connector.

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EDI Partner

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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.

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Acknowledgments

Settings related to generating and requesting acknowledgments.

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Sample Files Tab

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Advanced Tab

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EDI Delimiters

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

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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.

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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.

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Advanced Settings

Settings not included in the previous categories.

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Logging

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Miscellaneous

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EDI Partners Tab

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Automation Tab

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Automation

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

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Performance

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Alerts Tab

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SLAs Tab

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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.

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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.

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Use With the XML Map Connector

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Upload Test File

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Message Originator

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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).

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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.

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Message Recipient

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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Macros

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Examples