In my next two blogs, I will be discussing a common challenge facing EXTOL users — the handling of proprietary flat file data received from trading partners. The flat file trend is becoming more popular and, more importantly, being forced on users by their trading partners. We’ve seen a trend where you are either forced to handle the data in the format it is presented or lose the business. Another side of the increase in processing flat file data is to accommodate smaller “Mom & Pop” shops without the means to present the data in a better format.
Let’s explore the different flavors of flat file data. Flat file data can fall into one of two format types: single format or multiple format. Single format files have a common record layout throughout the entire payload data. This means, for example, that every record in the payload has the same exact layout, all of the fields are identified in the same manner in every record and every record of data is treated the same way in the pending data transformation. Multiple format files contain more than a single record layout throughout the payload. This means you will see multiple record layouts needing to be identified and treated as different records in the pending transformation. Read more…
I started out expecting to write a blog on dashboards, but quickly found myself thinking in broader terms about user interfaces (UIs). Anyone that has spent just a brief amount of time in the software industry has been exposed to countless UIs. Stop and think about all of the applications and Web sites that you have experienced over your career. For me, it is easily more than 10,000. After 20-plus years, that’s a safe guess.
But, let’s step outside of “our software” and into the more esoteric realm of our day-to-day lives. We encounter many more UIs, as well. What about that microwave, coffee maker, your vehicle dashboard, credit card interface at the McBreakfast or even the security pad at the entrance to the office? They are all examples of UIs that we interact with every day.
So, let’s get it right out in the open: “The best user interface is no user interface at all.” There, I’ve said it. Now the heretical flaming can begin from the RIA pundits. I’ve heard it over and over through the years. However, it’s an interesting idea and doesn’t truly speak to an absolute magical way to control things (hint: that’s still an interface!) but to the notion of simplicity. Simplicity is the key to making a usable, understandable and productive interface. Read more…
The problem: Often, EDI data elements of the same type may occur multiple times. One common example is “Dates”. The number of Dates needed (or sent) is generally limited [only] to the number of Dates required by the business application of the party who “calls the shots”. If the customer expects to retain a trading partner’s business, they will make every attempt to comply with that trading partner’s requirements. The trading partner might send the supplier Dates such as “Scheduled Shipment Date”, “Expected Delivery Date”, “Cancel Date”, or a host of other possible dates. The same is true for Reference Numbers, Notes/Comments, Product Item Numbers, Addresses, and so on…they all represent EDI data that could be sent in abundance. The question is, “what is the most efficient way to configure the EDI system to accommodate these repeating (and sometimes redundant) pieces of data?” Read more…
A few months ago, my colleague Jason Honicker wrote an entry on the EXTOL Technology Blog explaining how database triggers can be used to expand the functionality of your database to do more than just store data. I wanted to further the discussion on databases and talk this time about stored procedures.
A stored procedure is a routine, or program, which resides as part of the database itself. It’s typically written in SQL, PL/SQL, Java or .NET, depending on the type of database being used. Stored procedures enable developers and system administrators to maintain only one piece of code, which may be used across multiple business applications. This takes some of the pressure for business application developers to have to develop the database function directly into the business application. Instead, they simply need to know the procedure name, the parameters it requires and what kind of data could be returned. Read more…
Currently, one of the projects I am working on is finalizing the Course Catalog for EXTOL University. EXTOL U is our premier training event that is held once a year. It gives our customers the opportunity to further educate themselves on how to get the most out of their company’s product investment in EXTOL.
Many of our customers have attended a Fundamental Training course and that is the best place to start to learn about our products. But we don’t have enough time to cover all of the feature and functions. Continuing education provides the opportunity for better understanding how best to apply product capabilities in given circumstances, which includes best practices for problem analysis, design and implementation. Read more…
(This is the second in a series of articles that attempt to expose some of the more common mistakes and misunderstandings people make when implementing a SOAP Web Service.)
XML is a quite flexible data format. It allows the user many options, such as Choices, Sequences, Complex Types, Type Extension. But the flexibility can very easily be overdone. While it may seem like a good idea to have your service be flexible, it also makes using the service that much harder to use because of all the different formats that need to be handled.
A good example of taking flexibility too far is the SalesForce.com Web Services interface. It takes the idea of Type Extension to the absolute extreme. For those not familiar with Type Extension, see this tutorial. Type Extension can be very useful when you have types that are mostly similar, with just a few extra attributes added onto the extended types. For example, a good usage could be a personnel data model. Read more…
It is often a common practice of organizations to develop new EDI trading partners and transaction sets from within the same environment where production EDI trading partners and transaction sets already exist.
While this is possible, it can often be disruptive and dangerous as the results of test and modifications could inadvertently result in problems with production data.
Employing multiple EDI environments will make it possible for a single EDI translator to have access to (and use) two or more “EDI configuration areas”; for example, to separate all production configurations and data from development (or production division 1 from production division 2). Read more…
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP), although an older technology, is still very popular and is used routinely by IT departments and businesses worldwide. Even so, many users of FTP do not fully understand the difference between two of its basic configuration options: Active mode and Passive mode. I, being one of those people until a few years ago when I took on an FTP related project, intend to explain the details behind them.
FTP uses two communication paths (also know as “channels”) in order to accomplish its goal of transferring files from one location to another. The first is the control channel which is used to send FTP commands back and forth from the client and server. This connection is commonly made to port 21 of the server. The other channel, known as the data channel, is used to transmit the raw data of the files being sent. The server port used for this channel depends largely on what communication mode is being used, Active or Passive. Read more…
In my last blog, I talked about UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) including where it’s been and where it might be going. In this article I’m going to take a different look at UDDI and consider the question, how useful is it to find what you’re looking for? One aspect of UDDI that has been overlooked by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), the Web Services standards body, is how to find services faster and more efficiently.
UDDI allows service providers to publish data about themselves and their Web Services, and supports simple searching for services. The standard UDDI search uses a single search criterion, such as business location, business name, service type by name, business category or business identifier. This limits the efficacy of UDDI for general service discovery. An example is searching by business category; the search might return the service you want, but you might need to filter the results to find it. Read more…
EXTOL, a leading developer of business integration software for mid-size companies, is looking for a project lead with prior experience in Eclipse RCP projects. We are currently re-designing our flagship product, EXTOL Business Integrator, and using a variety of Eclipse technologies for our foundation. Not merely an attempt to shoe-horn an old codebase into new APIs, this is a complete greenfield re-write from the ground up: Our development studio leverages RCP and GMF. Our domain objects and business process language are modeled in EMF. Our server runtime uses Equniox/OSGi and Swordfish. Our provisioning design leverages P2. This is a great opportunity for an experienced Eclipse developer and project manager to get in on the ground floor of a significant software development effort. Read more…