Key Capabilities
- UK EDI standard support with bidirectional TRADACOMS/XML translation and automatic schema detection
- Transmission header management with configurable delimiters and encoding options
- Batch transaction support for multi-document interchange processing
Overview
When receiving TRADACOMS documents, TRADACOMS connectors validate interchange headers and convert the TRADACOMS document into XML. This is useful as a staging step, because XML is the primary format that uses to manipulate data in a flow. The TRADACOMS connector automatically reads the input file to determine the appropriate schema, then parses the document according to this schema. When generating TRADACOMS documents, TRADACOMS connectors convert XML into TRADACOMS document syntax and apply the appropriate interchange headers. This is useful as the final step for creating a TRADACOMS 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 TRADACOMS documents into XML, or XML data into TRADACOMS documents. |
| 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 ID (FROM Code) | Identifies the party sending the TRADACOMS document. When generating TRADACOMS from XML, this should be your code. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked. |
| Personal Code (UNTO Code) | Identifies the party receiving the TRADACOMS document. When converting TRADACOMS into XML, this should be your code. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked. |
Transmission Settings
Settings related to the transmission headers of TRADACOMS documents. When generating documents, these settings are applied as interchange headers in the resulting document. When parsing documents, the interchange settings are used to validate the incoming document.| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Syntax Identifier (STDS Identifier) | Identifies the syntax rules used in the TRADACOMS document. |
| Partner Name (FROM Name) | The name of the party sending the TRADACOMS document (optional). When generating TRADACOMS from XML, this should be your name. |
| Personal Name (UNTO Name) | The name of the party receiving the TRADACOMS document (optional). When converting TRADACOMS into XML, this should be your name. |
| Partner Reference (SNRF) | The Id used to reference the sender of the TRADACOMS document. |
| Personal Reference (RCRF) | The Id used to reference the recipient of the TRADACOMS document. |
| Application Reference (APRF) | The Id used to reference the TRADACOMS application for this document exchange. |
| Transmission Priority Code (PRCD) | The code representing the priority of the TRADACOMS transmission. |
Sample Files Tab
Advanced Tab
EDI Delimiters
Settings that specify which characters separate elements, segments, and so on.| 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. |
| Suffix | Appended to the Segment Terminator to distinguish segments. |
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. Only applicable when the Translation Type is TRADACOM to XML. |
| 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. Only applicable when the Translation Type is TRADACOM to XML. For example:<N101><Code>ST</Code><Value>Ship To</Value></N101> |
| Generate Description As | When translating TRADACOM into XML, descriptions of the TRADACOM segments and elements can be provided as context for the TRADACOM 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. |
| 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 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. |
Logging
Miscellaneous
EDI Partners Tab
Automation Tab
Automation Settings
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. |