Cascading definition and support of EDI rules
First Claim
1. A computer program product to validate a plurality of electronic data interchange (EDI) documents, where each EDI document is associated with at least one of a plurality of entities, comprising:
- a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;
computer usable program code configured to implement creation of an inventory of all rules, the inventory including a common set of rules for the plurality of entities;
computer usable program code configured to facilitate dynamic adjustment of the inventory of all rules based upon entity specific rules where the entity specific rules are derived from a plurality of companion guides, each companion guide associated with one of the plurality of entities;
computer usable program code configured to facilitate determination of a profile for each of the plurality of entities where each profile indicates that entity'"'"'s companion guide rules and provides pointers to select rules in the inventory of all rules that are associated with the current rule set of that entity;
computer usable program code configured to store the profile for each companion guide in a storage;
computer usable program code configured to check received EDI documents for validation, each checked EDI document associated with a corresponding entity, comprising;
computer usable program code configured implement a runtime checker to check the storage for a current rule set based upon the profile for the corresponding entity, where the current rule set comprises rules from the inventory of rules required by the companion guide associated with the corresponding entity;
computer usable program code configured to compare the received EDI document with the associated current rule set retrieved from storage;
computer usable program code configured to forward the received EDI document to an associated destination entity if the received EDI document matches the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is validated; and
computer usable program code configured to return the received EDI document to the sender if the received EDI document does not match the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is invalidated; and
computer usable program code configured to receive documents, each document associated with one of the plurality of entities, wherein the computer usable program code configured to check received EDI documents is utilized for validation of each received document.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electronic data interchange (EDI) documents are validated by creating an inventory of all rules, dynamically adjusting the inventory based upon entity specific rules derived from a plurality of companion guides, determining a profile containing pointers to select rules in the inventory for each companion guide and storing the profile for each companion guide in a storage. A runtime checker can then be used to check a received EDI document with a corresponding rule set, forward the EDI document if the EDI document matches its current rule set and return the EDI document if the EDI document does not match its current rule set. EDI rules may be enforced, for example, by determining entity-specific rules from corresponding companion guides, by expressing each rule in a neutral and machine readable format, by classifying the rules and/or by creating an inventory of rules and pointers to entity-specific rules.
37 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer program product to validate a plurality of electronic data interchange (EDI) documents, where each EDI document is associated with at least one of a plurality of entities, comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising; computer usable program code configured to implement creation of an inventory of all rules, the inventory including a common set of rules for the plurality of entities; computer usable program code configured to facilitate dynamic adjustment of the inventory of all rules based upon entity specific rules where the entity specific rules are derived from a plurality of companion guides, each companion guide associated with one of the plurality of entities; computer usable program code configured to facilitate determination of a profile for each of the plurality of entities where each profile indicates that entity'"'"'s companion guide rules and provides pointers to select rules in the inventory of all rules that are associated with the current rule set of that entity; computer usable program code configured to store the profile for each companion guide in a storage; computer usable program code configured to check received EDI documents for validation, each checked EDI document associated with a corresponding entity, comprising; computer usable program code configured implement a runtime checker to check the storage for a current rule set based upon the profile for the corresponding entity, where the current rule set comprises rules from the inventory of rules required by the companion guide associated with the corresponding entity; computer usable program code configured to compare the received EDI document with the associated current rule set retrieved from storage; computer usable program code configured to forward the received EDI document to an associated destination entity if the received EDI document matches the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is validated; and computer usable program code configured to return the received EDI document to the sender if the received EDI document does not match the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is invalidated; and computer usable program code configured to receive documents, each document associated with one of the plurality of entities, wherein the computer usable program code configured to check received EDI documents is utilized for validation of each received document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system to validate a plurality of electronic data interchange (EDI) documents, where each EDI document is associated with at least one of a plurality of entities, comprising:
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a computer system having a processor, a memory, a storage device, a network interface and a bus for exchanging information therebetween, the memory storing computer usable program code executed by the processor to; implement creation of an inventory of all rules, the inventory including a common set of rules for the plurality of entities; facilitate dynamic adjustment of the inventory of all rules based upon entity specific rules where the entity specific rules are derived from a plurality of companion guides, each companion guide associated with one of the plurality of entities; facilitate determination of a profile for each of the plurality of entities where each profile indicates that entity'"'"'s companion guide rules and provides pointers to select rules in the inventory of all rules that are associated with the current rule set of that entity, wherein each is stored by the storage device; check received EDI documents for validation, each checked EDI document associated with a corresponding entity, comprising; implement a runtime checker to check the storage device for a current rule set based upon the profile for the corresponding entity, where the current rule set comprises rules from the inventory of rules required by the companion guide associated with the corresponding entity; compare the received EDI document with the associated current rule set retrieved from storage; forward the received EDI document to an associated destination entity if the received EDI document matches the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is validated; and return the received EDI document to the sender if the received EDI document does not match the associated current rule set, wherein the received EDI document is invalidated; and receive documents, each document associated with one of the plurality of entities, wherein the computer usable program code configured to check received EDI documents is utilized for validation of each received document. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification