Web Service - Sterling Integrator POC

In French (not in English) Youtube video presentation


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms0VltPCbgA

Gentran Server vs. Gentran Integration Suite (GIS)

An interesting take on (Sterling Commerce’s, now IBM’s) Gentran Server vs. Gentran Integration Suite from a posting to the public “EDI Professionals” group by “Jeff” on LinkedIn.

“Gentran Server and Gentran Integration Suite are radically different animals. Gentran Server does simple translation and storage of data, that’s it. If you understand mapping and basic coding: “IF” statements, functions and such, the learning curve is pretty quick. Trading partner setup is in a basic tree format with copy function to set up new vendors from existing. If you copy the ISA level, all GS and ST come across with it. pretty slick.

“GIS is another story. The learning curve is steep. It does the same functions as Gentran Server but not as cleanly. It can accomplish almost anything you want it to using business processes linking file system adapters FTPs, maps, custom Java programs and other functions together any way you need them. It is very object based with each envelope business process etc being it’s own little component that you link to others. This makes the Trading partner setup very cumbersome since you cannot see what each is linked to unless you open each component. Unless you are careful about your naming conventions your searches may not bring up all the components you are looking for in one search and or may present them in an illogical order. The system shows the names alphabetically or numerical order rather than ISA, GS , ST order. This also goes for BPs, adapters etc.

“In describing the system I tell people that sometimes searching for data is like finding one particular string in the middle of a giant yarn ball. Other users have laughed saying that is pretty accurate. All data search correlations (PO number, invoice number) are set up custom in the maps, they are not canned. If you don’t set it up, you can’t search on it. On the other hand Gentran Server does not have this capability. A well set up series of correlations makes the system quite efficient. The EDI correlations: IDs and control numbers are factory set though.

“However once you understand it, it can do anything. From basic EDI processing, running accounting programs, reports, etc. If you are familiar with robotics and can control them with Java you can have the system wash your car if you want. Just link the control program into your BP and your good to go.

“One big difference between Gentran Server and GIS is that GIS has built in AS2. Server needs an external package.”

difference between sterling integrator and gentran Integration suite

Security

    Identity management, including authorization and authentication
    Perimeter security at DMZ traversal
    Role-based data access and system operation
    Secured mailboxing repository
    Data transport security (SSL, SFTP/SSH) and data encryption (S/MIME and PGP) support
    Non-repudiation using the AS2 or AS3 protocol
    Digital signature support
    Message- and transport-level security based on WS-Security 1.0 compliance, including WS-I Basic Profile 1.1 and Basic Security Profile 1.0

Communication
    B2B communication protocols: Web services (SOAP), S/FTP/S client and server, HTTP and HTTP/S, SMTP, AS1, AS2, AS3 and RosettaNet, WebDAV, Zengin TCP/IP, IBM® Sterling Connect:Direct®
    Policy-based file transfer
    Multi-gigabyte file handling
    IPv6 compatible

Business process management

    Graphical process modeling tool
    Business process execution engine
    Process abstraction (layered modeling and component reuse)

Integration and transformation

    Multi-purpose data transformation engine
        Traditional EDI: X12, EDIFACT, CII, TRADACOMS, and Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA)
        XML standards: OAGi, CIDX, PIDX, and RosettaNet
        Internet standards for B2B data exchange: RosettaNet RNIF, ebXML, 1SYNC, and EBICS
        XSLT service to transform XML documents
    Supports WTX translations
    Graphic data mapping tool
    Virtually unlimited file size (up to 50 gigabytes)
    Validation of inbound and outbound data based on HIPAA rules defined for Level 1 – Level 6
    Intelligent (content-based) routing
    Interoperable with .Net 1.1/2.0, Axis 1.x/2.0, Xfire 1.2.6 and Java EES

Community management

    Manage and grow trading partner communities
    Centralized visibility into trading partner communities
    Reduce error rates
    Digital certificates deployment
    Customizable partner configuration
    Intelligent onboarding with partner self-provisioning

Application extension and customization

    Web services: Support for SOAP, WDSL
    Integrated Development Environment (IDE): Tool to speed custom app/dev work
    Software Development Kit (SDK): Toolkit to create your own adapters to systems

Back-end connectivity adapters

    Enterprise applications
        SAP (BAPI, IDOC, and Netweaver), Oracle, PeopleSoft, Vantive, IBM® Sterling Connect:Direct®, IBM® Sterling Connect:Enterprise®
    EAI messaging platforms
        IBM WebSphere MQ, Oracle AQ, BEA Tuxedo, TIBCO Rendezvous, Microsoft MSMQ, JMS Queue and Topic
    Technology
        JDBC, CORBA, LDAP, command line, file system, EJB, RMI, SNMP trap, JCA, IM (Instant Messaging)

Mobility

IBM® Sterling B2B Integrator Mobile provides monitoring and management of Sterling Integrator processes and status from a mobile digital device, including system status, database growth, and average business process wait time.

    Monitoring with alerts for Sterling Integrator resources including system status, database growth and average business wait time
    Run or restart any failed or halted business process
    Initiate key functions such as manage lock resolution for users and resources, initiate thread/ heap dumps and turn logging on and off

XML faqs and answers for EDI

Question 1: What is XML ?

Answer : XML stands for Extensible Markup language which means you can extend XML based upon your needs. You can define custom tags like <books>, <orders> etc in XML easily as opposed to other mark-up language like HTML where you need to work with predefined tags e.g. <p> and you can not use user defined tag. Though structure of XML can be standardize by making use of DTD and XML Schema. XML is mostly used to transfer data from one system to another e.g. between client and server in enterprise applications.

Question 2: Difference between DTD and XML Schema?

Answer : There are couple of differences between DTD and XML Schema e.g. DTD is not written using XML while XML schema are xml documents in itself, which means existing XML tools like XML parsers can be used to work with XML schema. Also XML schema is designed after DTD and it offer more types to map different types of data in XML documents. On the other hand DTD stands for Document Type definition and was a legacy way to define structure of XML documents.

Question 3: What is XPath ?

Answer : XPath is an XML technology which is used to retrieve element from XML documents. Since XML documents are structured, XPath expression can be used to locate and retrieve elements, attributes or value from XML files. XPath is similar to SQL in terms of retrieving data from XML but it has it's own syntax and rules. See here to know more about How to use XPath to retrieve data from XML documents.

Question 4: What is XSLT?

Answer : XSLT is another popular XML technology to transform one XML file to other XML, HTML or any other format. XSLT is like a language which specifies its own syntax, functions and operator to transform XML documents. Usually transformation is done by XSLT Engine which reads instruction written using XSLT syntax in XML style sheets or XSL files. XSLT also makes extensive use of recursion to perform transformation. One of the popular example of using XSLT is for displaying data present in XML files as HTML pages. XSLT is also very handy to transforming one XML file into another XML document.

Question 5: What is element and attribute in XML?

Answer : This can be best explained by an example. let's see a simple XML snippet

<Orders>
  <Order id="123">
     <Symbol> 6758.T</Symbol>
     <Price> 2300</Price>
  <Order>
<Orders>

In this sample XML id is an attribute of <Order> element. Here <Symbol>, <Price> and <Orders> are also other elements but they don't have any attribute.

Question 6: What is meaning of well formed XML ?

Answer : Another interesting XML interview question which most appeared in telephonic interviews. A well formed XML means an XML document which is syntactically correct e.g. it has a root element, all open tags are closed properly, attributes are in quotes etc.  If an XML is not well formed, it may not be processed and parsed correctly by various XML parsers.

Question 7: What is XML namespace? Why it's important?

Answer : XML namespace are similar to package in Java and used to provide a way to avoid conflict between two xml tags of same name but different sources. XML namespace is defined using xmlns attribute at top of the XML document and has following syntax  xmlns:prefix="URI". later that prefix is used along with actual tag in XML documents. Here is an example of using XML namespace :

8. What is XML/EDI?

This is the present attempt to combine the best features of traditional EDI (which has a broad industry support) with the improvements in technology offered by XML. It is EDI with XML, or XML with EDI - depending on the perspective.

In an XML/EDI message the EDI information is explicitly labelled using tag names. Reference may be made via Internet to a Document Type Definition (DTD) - which contains structure declaration and relevant sets of code values.

Web browsers are expected to support XML, therefore XML/EDI messages. Like EDI messages, XML/EDI messages could be transmitted in any way: e-mail, VAN, Internet etc.

9. What is XSL?

This is the Extensible Style Sheets Language developed by W3C primarily to control the way information is presented on screen. XSL is used to display the information structured in XML; presentation aspects are dissociated from data structure (unlike HTML which tries to perform both functions). XSL involves the creation of Graphical User Interface (GUI) form objects out of an XML document.

XSL also provides some key document-handling facilities beyond styling. For instance, transformations, re-arrangement of elements, extract of a table of contents from a document.

10. How does XML/EDI relate to forms?

It is expected that for SMEs, web-based forms will be an important mechanism to create and read XML/EDI messages. These forms may be linked to local database systems.

11. Does XML/EDI replace EDIFACT?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, in the long term XML/EDI may replace EDIFACT, at least for some category of partners such as SMEs. However, XML/EDI builds on the EDIFACT foundations in terms of semantic contents (message types, segments and data elements) and related UN code lists. In that sense, it opens new opportunities for EDIFACT. For more information on EDIFACT see <www.unece.org/trade/untdid>.

Best practices in designing Architecture/solution for EDI implementation in Organization

Best practices in designing Architecture/solution for EDI implementation in Organization:

Following the best practices in implementation of EDI in an organization will improve business processes, reduce operational costs and minimize the risk to business continuity. A successful EDI Implementation provides visibility into core business operations that enables the optimization of business processes with increased business performance and strong return on investment.

While designing Architecture for EDI implementation in Organization we should consider the following best practices. The below mentioned are some of the best practices and these need to be implemented according to the feasibility and according to the two important constraints such as Time and Cost

1.       EDI Integration services

• Application back end systems and the data standards need to be studied and the EDI services need to be planned accordingly.
• How the inter-applications communication working?  Should access the inter-applications communication requirements. How do EDI application/Tools interact effectively with applications?
• Should perform assessment and provide diagnostics approach solution. Also consider future IT/Business environment impacts.  For this we should note down the constraints of the tools/software we are considering for EDI Implementation. Constraints are to be evaluated and discussed with the business and application teams to come up with an applicable solution.
• Should have the transaction flow statistics from business and application support personals and use this data in evaluating and planning of the EDI applications and servers that are needed for the current and future use. Should perform assessment and provide diagnostic approach in having different EDI application and servers

2.       EDI Implementation services

• Standardizing the application documents. That is organization EDI implementation standards are to be considered while designing the architecture.
• Should consider the application access services, different communication protocols that need to be used. Does the organization require any special network facilities or any value added network services?
• How the data storage should be done? Is the data stored in database or file system?  The Implementation services need to be designed accordingly.
• Should plan, evaluate and select different services and implementation facilities that are provided by the EDI tool.

3.       EDI Application Management services

While designing the EDI implementation for the organization the below few management services need to be considered

• Data Archiving and retrieval: Should evaluate the existing process of data archiving and retrieval methodologies. Should redesign if necessary according to the EDI tool. Should check whether to use database in conjunction of file system or only file system or only database and compare all possibilities if the existing data archiving and retrieval system has shortages.
• Security and Application Disaster Recovery : First check the organization Disaster Recovery Plan and design accordingly.
• Check whether DMZ zone and load balancer should be used. Estimate and evaluate the software and systems that need to be used for security, load balancer and for application recovery. The architecture and EDI solution depends on this
• Application and Data failure support: The maintenance and support cost should be estimated while designing the EDI architecture and solution for any organization. The application maintenance and support should be well thought and should be easy for debugging and fixing of the issues are failures. Need to have a centralized, easy access and readable data for business as well as IT users for debugging and recovering the application and data when there is a failure
• Interface & Batch Job Failure Support: Most of the applications send / receive data files as batch. EDI applications should support these batch jobs and should have interfaces to easily recover and start the data processing from the time of the failure.
• Regulatory Updates: Should support all industry and government regulatory updates and EDI versions. Should check how feasible and easy for updating the EDI standards, schemas and DDF etc.

4.       EDI Application Hosting Services

• We should check how the application hosting services like Installation, Administration, Application testing, System administration services, storage management services are supported by the EDI tool/application. Generally most of the EDI Tools do have all these services but need to plan evaluate and select them very systematically and judge so as to have a cost effective EDI system.

5.       EDI Business activity monitoring Services:

• Not all the EDI tools/applications have the business activity monitoring facilities. If exists these facility services / application need to plan, evaluate and implement with the help of the business and back end system users. If there are no inbuilt mechanism for business activity monitoring then the application services, business processes, error handling etc need to be designed so as to accomplish the task. This needs to be planned according to the business need, feasibility, time and cost.

File Transmission Protocol : AS2 basics

Applicability Standard 2 Defined:

AS2 (Applicability Standard 2) is an EDI specification intended to ensure the proper level of security for data transmitted over the Internet. Although it was developed specifically for EDI, it can be applied to virtually any type of file, including XML.

Benefits of AS2:

The internet is one of the more common methods of exchanging EDI and other data because it is easy and relatively inexpensive. But the Internet can also present some challenges for security. AS2 is intended to address these challenges by providing a common set of conventions for security, verification, message integrity and privacy.
Due to the security standards, many organizations require that their partners utilize AS2 for all EDI or other B2B communications. AS2 also addresses many of the requirements of HIPAA for those working in healthcare.

A second benefit of AS2 is that it allows for immediate transmission of files, directly between trading partners. That is, it eliminates the need for a VAN (Value Added Network) to handle the exchange of data. Any organization with constant access to the Internet is capable of handling AS2 communications.

How AS2 Works:
AS2 addresses security for data transmitted via the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) transport protocol (or its more secure version, HTTPS) over the Internet or over any TCP/IP network. It does this through the use of encryption and digital signatures, using a format called S/MIME (Secure Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extension), and the use of receipts called MDNs (Message Disposition Notifications).
MDNs contain information about the delivery status of the message. In this way, MDNs allow for a particular benefit called "no repudiation," which means the recipient of a message cannot deny having received it.
AS2 vs. AS1 and AS3
AS1, AS2 and AS3 are all standards from EDIINT (EDI over the Internet) for the secure transfer of data over the Internet. All include the same conventions for encryption and digital signatures. Where they differ is in the communications protocol they each address. While AS2 is specific to HTTP (or HTTPs), AS1 refers to data transmitted via email, using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). AS3 applies to files exchanged via FTP (including sFTP or FTPs).
Communicating Via AS2:
Although exchanging data via AS2 is typically handled automatically by AS2 software, it is important to understand the process and what you need to get going. Here are the key elements:

• Secure Certificates and Keys - AS2 utilizes a very common method called public-key cryptography for securing AS2 messages. Certificates are created that contain keys for encrypting and decrypting your data. One key, called the "Private" key, is used for both decryption and signing messages and should always be protected. A "Public" key, which is used for encryption and verifying the sender's signature, is intended to be shared with your trading partners so they can "encode" messages for you.
• AS2 ID - essentially the name that identifies you as the source of your messages, an AS2 ID is for verification through the use of digital signatures.
•  AS2 URL - to send and receive information over the Internet, you need a unique AS2 web address. This is typically set up as as2.yourdomain.com.

Sterling Integrator Map Editor translation Process

These steps list the sequence of how the translator executes rules while processing the Input side of a map.

1. Load the Input definition.
2. Read a block of data from the Input file.
3. If the record is the first record of a group, run On_Begin rule, if present.
4. Load each field within the first/next record within the current group and then execute field level rules (for each field) in the following sequence:
1. Execute standard rules
2. Execute extended rules
5. At the end of the group, execute the On_End rule, if present.
6. Repeat steps 2 - 5 for each group in the Input file.

 These steps list the sequence of how the translator executes rules while processing the Output side of a map.

1. Verify whether or not data exists for the first/next record.
2. If the record is the first record of a group, run On_Begin rule, if present.
3. Load each field (via simple links) within the first/next record within the current group and then execute field level rules (for each field) in the following sequence:
1. Execute standard rules
2. Execute extended rules
4. Format data according to specified field properties on the Field Properties dialog box.  This refers to field length and field format settings (string, date/time, numeric).
5. Write the record to the Output file.
6. At the end of the group, execute On_End rule, if present.
7. Repeat steps 1 - 6 for each record in the Output file.
8. Create or update the document entry in the database