AS2 connector
BCS
certified AS2 solution. We're running d3 on AIX; all in house
programming so we don't need a translator but need the communications
piece. I don't want to run it on the AIX; we have a Linux webserver
as well as a Windows server 2003 available. Any ideas? TIA, Nancy
Ross Ferris
Nancy,
If you have the skill set available, check out http://www.edidev.com/
which would enable you to use the W2K3 server as the AS2 gateway.
We have also used IP*Works software in the past, http://www.nsoftware.com/ipworks/edi/,
and if you only need this for a single trading partner, then they also
have a FREE version at http://www.freeas2.com/
Hope this helps .... and like TG, we also do consulting :-)
BCS
something with a Drummond certification for so FREDI is out. We have
more than 1 trading partner wanting to make the switch from ftp so I
can't go the free route but the nsoftware product is quite affordable
so I think I'll start with the free version as a trial and go from
there. I'm also looking into the AS2 Complete from 1EDI Source but
they ain't cheap!
Cheers,
Nancy
Tony Gravagno
the freeware is Drummond certified.
http://www.nsoftware.com/ipworks/edi/
I believe they have a .NET library, and connecting some dots here,
that means you should be able to do the following elegantly:
D3AIX <mv.NET> <IP*Works> TradingPartners
You don't need mv.NET but that would provide a clean transport between
D3 and IP*Works.
You may also wish to contact SysMark about their EDI interface. They
do translation too but you may be able to make use of just their
transport, perhaps even direct from D3 rather than through a middle
tier:
http://www.sysmarkinfo.com/ecediwizard.asp
Soapbox comment for Nancy and anyone else dealing with EDI and upper
management:
As far as cost, you're doing business with people who mandate specific
certification. EDI is expensive, always has been. Your company
management needs to understand and harmonize these concepts: Your
clients bring you revenue, you must incur higher expenses to do
business with those clients, they need to evaluate if those expenses
are reasonable for the revenue generated. If they don't understand
the costs they can't make those decisions, and they will press you to
somehow control the costs. I think it will help your position if you
present solutions as "they're all expensive, just pick one of the
presented options, because this is what you want" rather than "I'll
try to find the least expensive one possible and it's probably my
fault if we cross some undefined threshold".
Of course we should all try to control costs but consider this
analogy: If you go to buy a new car you expect to spend thousands of
dollars. You can't fault the dealership for not being able to find
something in the hundreds range because it's an unreasonable
expectation. When you set your expectations into the reasonable
range, you will get proposals and you will find solutions. IT people
need to educate their management to understand that IT, especially
EDI, costs money, and management needs to have reasonable expectations
of how much IT solutions are going to cost to maintain their business,
or both they and the people who work for them will have frequent
conflicts.
Good luck!
Tony Gravagno
Nebula Research and Development
TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com
Nebula R&D sells mv.NET and other Pick/MultiValue products
worldwide, and provides related development services
remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com/blog
Visit PickWiki.com! Contribute!
http://Twitter.com/TonyGravagno
Ross Ferris
There isn't any need for mv.NET that I can see --> IP*Works
integration is as easy as writing a file to a directory to send, and
reading a directory for receive (we would typically have a phantom
doing data pickups).
From original email I'm guessing they already simply read/write to
directories, so rather than ADDING code, they would actually have to
REMOVE code (executing the FTP scripts), which should make the
changeover a snack!
You would simply load samba on the AIX machine (or NFS if you prefer),
and share a directory that can then be configured with their
connector.
However, you were right in pointing out that beyond the single partner
"free" version, there are "for fee" versions, which like the free
version ARE Drummond Certified (IIRC this is the same gateway/
connector that Oracle use, so you would be in good company)
Tony Gravagno
never encourage the use. However, while I don't have the time to look
into it, I would wonder why a company would provide an API and
bindings into their own product if indeed they do read from the file
system and such interfaces aren't necessary. I suspect there is a lot
that both of us don't know about this software.
<grin mode=on>This is the raison d'être of "the other side" of my
business, Nebula _Research_ and Development. Unfortunately people
seem to expect the research to be free so that they can get estimates
for development. ;) If someone wants to pay for the research I'll do
a thorough job, if not, well as the saying goes, blank stares and
wrong answers are almost always free. :) </>
T
BCS
Connector. It's reasonably priced and Drummond certified as
required. As Ross pointed out, we are already creating and managing
our transaction sets (moving them from machine to machine,
translating, deleting, etc), so we're basically just replacing our
scripts that executed the ftp with the new software which makes the
changeover a snap!
<Nancy's grin mode on...> Tony, I assume you were being a bit
facetious but you gotta admit it's interesting that you felt it
necessary to make your closing comments when it was entirely up to you
to respond to my post in the first place. I wasn't asking or
expecting anyone to do any research or spend any time other than
replying with an opinion or suggestion with if they desired. If I'm
not mistaken, this forum is for sharing ideas and experiences. I do
my research and due diligence but knowing Ross had used the product
successfully in the past was of additional value to me since I was
wondering if it was too good to be true (it's 1/5 the price of the
other options.) Of course, this might bite me in the end if Ross is
following your "blank stares and wrong answers are almost always free"
philosophy. Guess I saved my money and still am taking my chance:)
Cheers, N
Tony Gravagno
I assure you that nothing was intended by my first note. I think I
can summarize my thoughts as: Try not to let management tell you how
much something costs. Tell them what options cost to do the job they
want, and let them decide which option to take. If you can get it
done for low-cost or free, excellent. Unfortunately some management
types expect things to be low-cost or free and they send their people
on fool's errands to make the world live up to their expectations. We
see a lot of VARs jumping to live up to unrealistic client
expectations like this too - so my comments were definitely broadly
directed. EDI simply ain't cheap, and your initial comments gave me
the impression that management was going to drive you and their EDI
decisions based heavily on cost. For this particular business need,
that's not good for anyone. If that's not to case, uh... never
mind... :)
As to my second note - that was just a little open solicitation (with
a grin, a smile, and a wink fer gosh sakes) - definitely no intent to
make it sound like you were actively asking for something out of the
way. I never disguise serious comments with grins, though I know many
do this just to pretend they're softening outright insults. I think
that's bad form.
So, uh, sorry bout that, uhh, buddette! :)
T
Ross Ferris
No need to pinch yourself! I think you will find the /n product is
very easy to use/configure, and simple to integrate, ESPECIALLY with
what you had previously said about having the plumbing in place, and
just needing a new pipeline :-)
The fact that it is soooo (relatively) cheap is just an added bonus.
Like I said, this is is used by companies like Oracle, so I think you
are in good company!
Keep us in mind if you ever need to add a front end or BI capabilities
to your application - and we rarely give blank stares (unless I'm
reading a TG post), and we ran out of wrong answers years ago
Cheers,
Ross Ferris
Stamina Software
Visage > Better by Design!