System, method and computer program product for EDI-to-EDI translations

• US 9,002,870 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2007
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sybase Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Sybase Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Leibowitz, Eric, Nilson, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoang, Son T
• Application Number:
  US11/802,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20080294645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,877 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

For the purpose of mapping an inbound Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transaction to one or more outputs there are operations comprising receiving an inbound EDI transaction, and translating the inbound EDI transaction to any combination of EDI outbound transactions and non-EDI outbound transactions. Such translation is performed according to a map file, which is generated as follows. The inbound and any outbound EDI transactions are defined, and templates of the inbound and outbound EDI transactions are also defined. Then, mappings between the template of the inbound EDI transaction and the templates of the outbound EDI transactions are defined. A mapping between the inbound EDI transaction and application data may also be defined, where the application data may include a text file, a XML file, and/or a table of a database. Rules relating to or governing the mapping of the inbound EDI transaction to outputs may also be created. These definitions, mappings and rules are stored in the map file.

Claims

1. A method of mapping an inbound electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction to one or more outputs, comprising:

receiving the inbound EDI transaction;

automatically selecting a map file upon receipt of the inbound EDI transaction, the map file selected based on pre-defined matching criteria between the inbound EDI transaction and the map file; and

translating the inbound EDI transaction to any an output combination of at least one EDI outbound transactions and at least one user-defined outbound transaction, wherein

the at least one user-defined outbound transaction being generated upon completion of the translating, includes a user-defined transaction having standard EDI header and trailer envelope segments but does not qualify as a standard EDI transaction

the translating is performed according to the map file, the map file including one or more executable instructions to perform pre-defined actions using respective applications during the translating.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining the inbound EDI transaction;

defining any outbound EDI transactions;

defining a template of the inbound EDI transaction;

defining templates of the outbound EDI transactions; and

defining a mapping between the template of the inbound EDI transaction and the templates of the outbound EDI transactions,

wherein the transaction templates and mapping definitions are stored in the map file.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

defining a mapping between the inbound EDI transaction and application data, wherein the application data is a subset of the at least one user-defined outbound transaction.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the application data comprises at least one of a text file, an extensible markup language (XML) file, and a table of a database.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

creating rules relating to or governing the mapping of the inbound EDI transaction to the output combination.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one user-defined transactions includes non-standard EDI segments.

7. A computer-based system for mapping an inbound electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction to one or more outputs, comprising:

one or more computer-based processors;

a first module configured to receive the inbound EDI transaction;

a second module configured to automatically select a map file upon receipt of the inbound EDI transaction, the map file selected based on pre-defined matching criteria between the inbound EDI transaction and the map file; and

a third module configured to translate according to the map file the inbound EDI transaction to an output combination of at least one EDI outbound transactions and at least one user-defined outbound transaction, wherein

the user-defined outbound transaction being generated upon completion of the translating, include a user-defined transaction having standard EDI header and trailer envelope segments but does not qualify as a standard EDI transaction, and

the map file including one or more executable instructions to perform pre-defined actions using respective applications during the translating,

the first module, the second module, and the third module are executed by the one or more computer-based processors of the system.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a fourth module configured to define the inbound EDI transaction;

a fifth module configured to define any outbound EDI transactions;

a sixth module configured to define a template of the inbound EDI transaction;

a seventh module configured to define templates of the outbound EDI transactions; and

an eighth module configured to define a mapping between the template of the inbound EDI transaction and the templates of the outbound EDI transactions,

wherein the transaction templates and mapping definitions are stored in the map file.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a ninth module configured to define a mapping between the inbound EDI transaction and application data, wherein the application data is a subset of the at least one user-defined outbound transaction.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the application data comprises at least one of a text file, an extensible markup language (XML) file, and a table of a database.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

tenth module configured to create rules relating to or governing the mapping of the inbound EDI transaction to the output combination.

12. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving the inbound EDI transaction;

automatically selecting a map file upon receipt of the inbound EDI transaction, the map file selected based on pre-defined matching criteria between the inbound EDI transaction and the map file; and

translating the inbound EDI transaction to an output combination of at least one EDI outbound transactions and at least one user-defined outbound transaction, wherein

the at least one user-defined outbound transaction being generated upon completion of the translating, includes a user-defined transaction having standard EDI header and trailer envelope segments but does not qualify as a standard EDI transaction

the translating is performed according to the map file, the map file including one or more executable instructions to perform pre-defined actions using respective applications during the translating.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, the operations further comprising:

defining the inbound EDI transaction;

defining any outbound EDI transactions;

defining a template of the inbound EDI transaction;

defining templates of the outbound EDI transactions; and

defining a mapping between the template of the inbound EDI transaction and the templates of the outbound EDI transactions,

wherein the transaction templates and mapping definitions are stored in the map file.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, the operations further comprising:

defining a mapping between the inbound EDI transaction and application data, wherein the application data is a subset of the at least one user-defined outbound transaction.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein the application data comprises at least one of a text file, an extensible markup language (XML) file, and a table of a database.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 14, the operations further comprising:

creating rules relating to or governing the mapping of the inbound EDI transaction to the output combination.