iWay Trading Partner Manager
By Inessa Gerber
iWay Trading Partner Manager (TPM) provides a centralized repository for managing trading partner information. TPM presents an intuitive web console interface for users to manage trading partner-related information. Trading partner information includes personal information such as partner contact, message-specific information such as message formats exchanged, and system-specific information that enables the dynamic routing of the partner transaction to a configured system.
The centralized trading partner repository enables the user to store and update partner information without interfering with an underlying business process. Trading partner information is accessible at any point of the iWay Service Manager (iSM) channel processing the transaction.
The partner-related information is accessed via a set of TPM functions following the standards of iWay Functional Language (iFL). The dynamic lookup for partner information allows partner-specific processing of messages by a non-partner specific configuration. TPM function calls enable a business channel receiving multiple documents from various partners to dynamically determine the inbound and outbound partners, based on the message information, and route the message to a proper system.
TPM Console
The Trading Partner Manager Web Console, hosted by iSM and accessible in a browser, provides a unified interface for managing partner information. It is organized into subcategories for components that are related together. The Partner view enables the partner creation with all the related information, (Screen 1).
Screen 1
Partner information, as well as other TPM components is extensible with a customized metadata. This enables the user to add information specific to a business partner, system, message or other components. This function is performed by adding a metadata field to the object’s information. Screen 2 illustrates mapping of the Receiver ID from the incoming EDI message to a partner configuration by adding a metadata field to a partner object. The mapping of the receiver’s ID to the named partner enables the processing channel to retrieve partner information based on the incoming transaction and route the message to a defined partner system. A business channel processing transactions from different partners uses the TPM function call to retrieve specific partner information based on the Receiver ID at run time.
Screen 2
Business partners exchange multiple message types and formats on different systems. A specific message coming from Partner A has to be routed to a configured system for Partner B. Management of partner systems in TPM rather than in business process allows for dynamic determination of system routing and enables the partner information to be updated without interference into a business process. Systems are defined in TPM under the Systems view and linked to trading partners. Each system can process multiple message formats as inbound/outbound messages.
The Partner System Message configuration is available in a unified view in the partner system configuration. Screen 3 illustrates a trading partner configured with three systems; system K346 can process an inbound EDI document and generate an acknowledgement. As the business channel receives transaction for processing, it calls a TPM function to retrieve partner information based on the Receiver ID, then retrieves the proper partner system based on the message type received. This dynamic routing within the iSM business process enables a single channel to process transactions for multiple partners and route them to a configured system simply by utilizing runtime TPM function calls.
Screen 3
Trading Partner Systems are mapped to an iSM component such as a listener, adapter or channel. At runtime, the business process retrieves the name of the adapter target or a channel where the message should be routed based on Partner System configuration. Each system can be extended with additional metadata. As shown in Screen 4, a system routes messages to a configured channel OUT_CON and contains metadata for AS2 protocol. Based on the retrieved information from TPM, the AS2 service in the process packages the document according to configured partner standards and sends it to a trading partner on a configured channel.
Screen 4
TPM Run Time
Trading partner information is accessible at runtime from a business process at any point via a set of TPM functions. TPM functions follow the standards of iWay Functional Language (iFL) and are used with an extensive array of other iWay supported functions. The process flow depicted on Screen 5 utilizes TPM calls to dynamically route the message. The top object illustrates the call to retrieve Partner ID based on the Receiver ID obtained from the incoming document as well as setting the country for the transaction based on the Receiver ID. Based on a single value from the incoming transaction, it is able to retrieve any information for the partner who is represented by the Receiver ID in the incoming transaction. The process also illustrates dynamic routing utilizing TPA function to retrieve Partner System identifying a channel where the message should be routed to based on Partner ID.
Screen 5
