EXTOL Business Integration Blog

EXTOL Business Integrator (EBI)

Question: Is there a way to pull a value from my Ruleset to use inside of my Business Process?

Answer: Yes, by using the “Context Point – Get Value” Task inside of your Business Process. You can pull a GlobalRoot Variable populated inside of the Middle Tree of your Ruleset by passing the “Target Context Storage Node” of your “Execute Transformation – Single Output” Task into the “Context Storage Node” of the “Context Point – Get Value” Task and passing it a Constant of the exact GlobalRoot Variable name (ex: glb.var.Value01) into the “Variable Name”. The resulting “Variable Value” is perfect for getting a String value to use inside of a “Send Email” task or in an Adapter.

EXTOL EDI Integrator for i (EEI)

Question: Is there a way to subtract 10 days from transmitted date and enter the new value into application file field?

Answer: Yes, map the EDI element containing the date to the Application file field and attach the code table ADDDAYS.

From the message class field map details screen, in the Code translation direction enter ” I ” for inbound, in the Code table reference enter ADDDAYS and in the Qual type/data enter C / ZMDZMD10-.

This will take the incoming date in ZMD format, subtract 10 days from it, and convert it back to the same date format minus the 10 days and populate the field with the value.

EXTOL Business Integrator (EBI)

Question: How can I combine multiple EDI Messages into the same Interchange?

Answer: EBI has this capability through the use of the Enveloping Limits found under the “Target” tab of the EDI Endpoints. The Enveloping Limits are a place for the user to define how many Messages they want to be placed inside of each Interchange. Different Limits could be defined inside of the EBI Workbench under the “Enveloping Limits” option. By default, EBI provides the “Default – No Max – Limits” Enveloping Limit that allows for any number of Messages inside of an Interchange. This particular Limit will be the one to use in this scenario.

In order to apply this setting to your outbound process, you must click the “Browse” button next to the “Enveloping Limits” option inside of the EDI Endpoint you wish to use. Select “EXTOL – Default – No Max Limits” from the list. After saving the Endpoint and running your Outbound EDI Process, all messages that are going through this same EDI Endpoint to be enveloped will now be combined into a single Interchange and passed to the Connection Business Process. What you do with it from there is up to you!

EXTOL EDI Integrator for i (EEI)

Question: How can I automatically print a document after it is unwrapped?

Answer: You can setup a Trading partner message class exit point to print a document after it has unwrapped.  Mapping, Trading partner, Message class exits. Do a create, enter a Sequence number, Trading partner, Group code, Message ID, Message class and Msg event of CU (Crt msg log – unwrap). After you hit enter, you will then be on the “Change TPMC exit point” screen. Enter the following:

Status: E    Operation: P    On return:

Return     Function      In process
value        status            status

Pass -

Fail -

Error – Action: E

Program -   Parm type: 1   Program: PRINTSED     Library: *LIBL

Note: This exit point will execute for every message (ST- SE)

Business visibility has become one of the pillars of modern business management.  After all, in order to manage something, you first need to measure it.  An entire industry has emerged around business intelligence and analytics solutions that aim to make business information more accessible and “actionable”.

Business visibility is important at many organization and decision levels, and can take multiple forms.  Most companies are awash in data that can be used for management and decision-making.  Business integration middleware like the EXTOL Business Integrator makes it easier than ever to consolidate internal and external data (from databases, files, spreadsheets, EDI transactions, web services, and other sources) and automate data extraction, transformation,  enrichment, validation, synchronization, and syndication to internal and external destinations, in forms appropriate for either human or automated consumption.  Scheduling or triggering such data integration activities based on events can help make business decisions more timely and accurate. Read more…

Now that we are well past the hype of Web Services, what can they do for your company?  Before we answer this question, let’s clarify what Web Services really are.

One traditional definition states that they are any service available over the Internet using a standardized XML messaging system and not tied to any operating system or programming language.  In the early days this was true, but the definition has evolved over the past decade.  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) defines Web Services as a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.  Gartner defines them as “a software component that can be accessed by another application (client, server, another Web service) through the use of generally available, ubiquitous protocols and transports (HTTP).” Read more…

The recent smash hit, Web Services, has played from coast to coast on the business “Hypo-Tronic Gizmo” for several years now.  One might even suggest that if DJ-Bob had a weekly Top 10 countdown featuring the most prolific debuts in business-hype history, Web Services would be at or near the top (clouds are also floating fairly high these days).  This Hypo-Tronic Gizmo (or HG device) is extremely unique because it plays only what the listener wishes to hear.  For top-level executives the device delivers a simple, “Cha-Ching”.  For mid-level managers it renders a more subtle, “Here we go again”, reprise.  But, for those in the trenches – the technical implementers and end users – it screams, “Fire in the hole!”  Yet, surprisingly, to those who have lived through the budget-blowing and non-committing trends of the past, Web Services has actually delivered a Certified Platinum hit that many advocates had hoped it would achieve. Read more…