This document is
provided as a source of information about many of the
common questions asked about Alliance EDI
Workbench4/00. You can use the links below to go to a
specific section, or use the Find button on your
browser to search for a topic or phrase.
How
is Alliance EDI Workbench/400 different than other
translators?
How
is Alliance EDI Workbench/400 different than other
translators?
Which
ANSI X12 standards are supported?
How
can EDI Workbench/400 reduce my EDI costs?
Can
I add my own segments and documents?
What
help is available in Alliance EDI Workbench/400?
Can
I translate multiple documents at the same time?
How
fast is EDI Workbench/400 translation?
What
programming languages are supported?
How
are translation errors handled?
How
do I use Alliance EDI Workbench/400 with our older RPG
programs?
What
versions of OS/400 are supported?
Can
we try EDI Workbench/400?
How
is EDI Workbench/400 licensed?
About
Patrick Townsend & Associates, Inc.
Most EDI
translators work on a stand-alone basis and process
one document at a time that you’ve put in a file.
When they have fully translated an EDI document they
put the results in an AS/400 data base file. They may
or may not tell you if there was a problem translating
the EDI document. They may or may not tell you which
EDI segment is in error.
Alliance
EDI Workbench/400 is different. You include the
translator directly into your programs by using the
translation service program. As a programmer you get
direct control of the translation process and
immediate results. The same program can translate an
EDI document to AS/400 data format, update a database,
create the results you want to send back to your
trading partner, and translate the results to EDI
format again. And multiple applications can perform
translations without contention or other bottlenecks. [top]
EDI
Workbench/400 is easy to set up and use. After
you’ve worked with your trading partner to decide
what documents and data you will exchange, you just
set up the document definition, compile the segment
structures (DDS source) you are going to use, and
start programming. The EDI Workbench/400 tutorial
provides a roadmap and samples to help you get
started. You can be translating documents quickly
without long sessions on the phone with your
translator vendor. [top]
Which
ANSI X12 standards are supported?
Alliance
EDI Workbench/400 provides document and segment
definitions for the 4010 and 4020 standards. These are
the only standards that are fully Year 2000 compliant.
Other standards will be added in the future. EDI
Workbench/400 is an open environment and you can add
any standard you want to the base set. [top]
How
can EDI Workbench/400 reduce my EDI costs?
Alliance
EDI Workbench/400 costs less to license and support.
Many AS/400 EDI translator products cost several
thousands dollars in acquisition cost and have very
high on-going support costs. The complexity of the
translators can lead to high service fees from the
software vendor as well as long development projects.
With Alliance EDI Workbench/400 you can get projects
done faster with less outside support. This all leads
to less on-going development costs. If you combine
Alliance EDI Workbench/400 with Alliance FTP Manager
you can also incur additional savings by eliminating
or reducing Value Added Network costs. [top]
Can I
add my own segments and documents?
Yes.
Alliance includes all of the 4010 and 4020 documents,
segments, and related DDS source, and you can add your
own definitions to the product. The base set of
definitions included in EDI Workbench/400 are
protected and cannot be modified, but you can easily
create your own set by copying a base set. You can
modify your own sets in any way you like. [top]
What
help is available in Alliance EDI Workbench/400?
EDI
Workbench/400 provides a tutorial that takes you
step-by-step through the process of translating an EDI
document to AS/400 format. The sample code referenced
in the tutorial is provided in the product library.
You can copy this sample code to your own library as a
starting point for creating your own programs. In
addition to the tutorial EDI Workbench/400 provides a
printed user guide, on-line help for each panel,
context-sensitive help for all commands, and help from
our support organization. [top]
Can I
translate multiple documents at the same time?
Yes! Your
applications can perform simultaneous translations
without lock or contention-wait conditions that are
common in batch-oriented and file-based translators.
In effect, EDI Workbench/400 becomes a part of your
RPG or Cobol program. You can safely run EDI
Workbench/400 interactively or in batch. [top]
How fast
is EDI Workbench/400 translation?
EDI
Workbench/400 is implemented as an ILE C/400 service
program and is optimized for speed. All translation
activity is performed in memory and minimal file I/O
is required to translate a document. [top]
What
programming languages are supported?
You can use
EDI Workbench/400 with any ILE AS/400 programming
language. For ILE languages such as ILE RPG, ILE
Cobol, and ILE C you can bind the translation service
program directly with your ILE program. For Java
applications you can use the AS/400 Java Toolbox to
interface with EDI Workbench/400 data queues. [top]
How are
translation errors handled?
When you
ask EDI Workbench/400 to translate a document segment
it will provide you with a return code indicating the
success or failure of the translation. Your program
can then take appropriate action. If a segment has an
error but is not important to your application, you
can choose to ignore the error. Or you can write error
information to your database and continue translating
other segments. You are in complete control of the
error handling. [top]
How do
I use Alliance EDI Workbench/400 with our older RPG
programs?
The older
OPM programs like RPG II, III, and IV cannot directly
use service programs. For these programs you create an
ILE application to perform the translation, and then
call if from the older OPM RPG application. [top]
What
versions of OS/400 are supported?
Alliance
EDI Workbench/400 runs on any Year 2000 compliant RISC
version of OS/400 that is supported by IBM. This
includes V5R1 and later versions. There are no
requirements for additional IBM or third-party
software licenses. There is no requirement for a
license for the IBM C compiler. [top]
Can
we try EDI Workbench/400?
Yes,
Alliance EDI Workbench/400 is available on a 30-day
trial basis without charge or obligation. You can
download it from our web site at: www.patownsend.com
or you can request a shipment with CD or tape media by
calling us at: (800) 357-1019. International customers
may call at: +1-360-357-8971 or contact an authorized
Townsend distributor in your country. [top]
Alliance EDI
Workbench/400 is licensed on a processor group basis
with unlimited user access. A discount is available if
you have multiple AS/400s. EDI Workbench/400 is
available on a 30 day trial basis. [top]
Patrick
Townsend & Associates, Inc. is a Washington state
corporation. The company specializes in communications
products and communications consulting services for
the Windows NT Server, IBM AS/400, and IBM mainframe
environments. Business partner companies include IBM,
Novell, Microsoft, Lotus, Infinite Technologies, and
others. Founded in 1984 the company has provided
services for Bank of America, Visa International,
Viking Freight, Roadway Regional Group, IBM
Corporation, Novell, Safeway, PMI Mortgage Insurance,
and many others. For more information and product
pricing, contact: Patrick Townsend & Associates,
Inc., 7700 Earling Street NE, Olympia, WA 98506.
Voice: (360) 357-8971. FAX: (360) 357-9047. E-Mail: info@patownsend.com.
