EDI Ports
EDI ports facilitate the transfer of data between Dynamics 365 Business Central and external trading partners via EDI. Each EDI port represents a different type of data transfer activity. For example, the transmission of sales shipment data and sales invoicing data would be handled in two separate EDI ports. In addition, because different trading partners may have different EDI requirements, it is common for multiple EDI ports that represent the same activity to be defined for each trading partner. For example, if we have 10 separate EDI trading partners, it may be necessary to identify 10 unique EDI ports for sales shipments.
As has been stated earlier in this document, the Aptean EDI solution was developed to be used in conjunction with a value-added network. To that end, a number of EDI port templates that meet data transfer criteria have been developed and are included as part of Aptean EDI. These records can be quickly imported into Business Central. Because multiple copies of the same basic EDI port are oftentimes required for different trading partners, these templates can be used to generate new EDI port records, which may then be edited as necessary.
Each EDI port is defined on its own card. You can view a list of existing EDI ports, and create new ones, from the Electronic Data Interchange Setup menu by clicking EDI Ports. A list of EDI ports is displayed. You can open an existing record to view additional information about it.
General FastTab
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Code | Enter a code (20 characters) to identify the EDI port. This should contain only alpha-numeric characters. |
| Description | Enter a description (50 characters) to more uniquely identify the EDI port. |
| Inactive | Turn on this toggle to stop all activity to this EDI port. Inbound documents will not be retrieved from the incoming folder/FTP site. Although outbound documents will still be created from posting activities in Business Central, they will not be processed and transmitted to the outbound folder/FTP site until the EDI port is no longer inactive. You cannot flag the EDI document field in the Posted Sales Invoice page either as enable or disable, when the EDI port is marked inactive in the EDI Ports page. You can only flag when the EDI port is marked active. |
| Direction | Indicates whether the EDI port transmits data for inbound or outbound documents. It is not recommended that this value be changed. |
| Delay Processing by Hours | Specify the time delay to be set before the EDI Port can start processing. |
You can now predefine the default values of a document in the EDI Port to fill the empty fields. For more information, see Default Values Support.
You can now assign default values from document and line levels for an Outbound document. For more information, see Default values by Document/Line.
Format FastTab
Each EDI port is associated with an XML port that contains the parameters of the data transmission activity. This association is defined in the XML Port No. field on the Format FastTab. The other fields allow one to set different values that will impact the manner in which transmitted data will be interpreted and processed by the port. While it is possible to create custom EDI ports, and manually set the values in these fields, that level of development falls beyond the scope of this documentation. Please contact your Business Central partner for assistance. The EDI ports that are provided with the Aptean EDI solution are properly configured, and it is recommended that you use the templates when creating new records to ensure that these settings are accurate. Whenever EDI related transactions take place, import and export are the two processes that take place. Hence, the ApteanEDI XML Ports are made to work against/for Flat files.
- If the File Type field value is Text, conversion takes place from flat file to XML or vice-versa based on the direction of XMLPort. XSD (Schema file) is required for the conversion, whose path can be specified in the XSD field in case of BC14 or earlier versions, or XSD is stored in the database with the help of a ApteanEDI RapidStart package in case of BC16 or higher versions.
- If the Quantity Rounding Precision field is left blank, then the value from the EDI Setup page will be considered.
Process FastTab
On the Process FastTab, fill in the fields as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto Release/Post Inbound | Turn on this toggle to instruct the EDI port to automatically set the status of Business Central documents (such as sales orders) that are created via inbound EDI transactions to Released. Please note that this functionality only has bearing if the XML port that is linked to the EDI port has been written to utilize it. For example, if the related XML port processes change order acknowledgements and is therefore not creating new documents, this feature would not be applicable. |
| Auto Release EDI | Turn on this toggle to instruct the EDI port to automatically release sales orders for EDI processing. An EDI release is not the same thing as the release of the Business Central document. Releasing a sales order for EDI allows the program to automatically transmit outbound documents (such as order acknowledgements) from it via EDI. It is recommended that this field be checked; if left unchecked, the transmission of EDI activity from the relevant sales orders will be dependent on manual instruction by a user. Please note that this functionality only has bearing if the XML port that is linked to the EDI port has been written to utilize it. For example, if the related XML port processes purchase orders and is therefore not related to sale activities, this feature would not be applicable. If you define any value for CarrierTransMethod code in the EDI Port page and open an Outbound document in all EDI Messages page, it will show the values which you have defined. If no values are defined for CarrierTransMethod, then it will show as M by default. This change is made to the below Outbound documents given with their corresponding ports. 810: Posted sales invoice 856: Posted sales shipment |
| Disable Automatic | Select an option to define whether inbound messages are processed automatically. The available options are:
|
| Whse. Ship/BOL/Cons | Turn on this toggle to instruct the EDI port to consolidate multiple shipment notifications. This functionality requires the presence of either Aptean Pack and Ship offering or an alternative shipping solution, as the consolidation process is based on field values from these add-on products. Please note that this functionality only has bearing if the XML port that is linked to the EDI port has been written to utilize it. For example, if the related XML port processes sales invoices and is therefore not related to shipment activities, this feature would not be applicable. |
| Exclude EDI Message Lines | Turn on this toggle to hide the EDI Message Lines. |
Notification FastTab
On the Notification FastTab, fill in the fields as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Notify on Process | Place a check mark in this field to instruct the program to send an e-mail notification of each successful EDI message processing to the addresses in the Notify E-Mail Address(es) field. Please note that, in an environment that sees a high volume of EDI transactions, most of which will be successful, placing a check mark in this field may result in an equally high number of notifications to the designated recipients. |
| Notify on Failure | Place a check mark in this field to instruct the program to send an e-mail notification of each failed EDI message processing to the addresses in the Notify E-Mail Address(es) field. |
| Notify E-Mail Address(es) | Enter the address of every e-mail account to which EDI notifications will be delivered. Multiple email addresses can be entered and separated with a semicolon. |
The user can ensure that these settings are configured correctly by clicking the Home tab and, in the New group, selecting Test E-mail Notification. If EDI notifications have been set up correctly, a test e-mail will be delivered to the recipients that have been identified in the Notify E-Mail Address(es) field. If incorrect setup exists, the program will display an error message describing the issue.
Please note that any notifications which are sent to the recipients that have been designated on this FastTab will be in addition to any specified e-mail addresses on the Notification FastTab of the EDI Setup window. For example, we specify 2 e-mail accounts to be notified of any failures on the EDI Setup window, then enter another e-mail account to be notified of failure for a specific EDI port. In this scenario, a failure on the part of that EDI port would result in a notification being sent to all 3 addresses.
Connection FastTab
On the Connection FastTab, fill in the fields as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Use Default Connection | Turn on this toggle to instruct the EDI port to process data through the default locations that have been specified on the Default FastTab of the EDI Setup window. If this field is left unchecked, specific connection information for the EDI port must be entered in the following fields. |
| Connection Type | Indicate the source from which the EDI port’s transactions are obtained. If Aptean EDI is being processed through the SPS fulfillment platform, you will most likely want to select the Web Service option. Other options such as file folder locations or FTP/SFTP sites are primarily legacy options that represent older methods of data transfer and are available till the BC16 on-premise version. |
| Address | Enter or use the AssistEdit button to browse to the location in which related EDI transactions will be stored. The type of address that is entered in this field depends on the selection in the Connection Type field. |
| Port | Enter the port number that is used to process activities. It is not necessary to specify a port if the Web service is being utilized. |
| Username | If EDI transactions will be processed through an FTP or SFTP site, you must enter the username that will permit access to the specified address. This information is not required if the Web service is being utilized. |
| Password | If EDI transactions will be processed through an FTP or SFTP site, you must enter the password that will permit access to the specified address. This information is not required if the Web service is being utilized. |
| Web Service API Key | Enter the API Key for SPS Web Service. |
| SPS Web Service URL | Enter the URL for SPS Web Service. |
| Storage Connection | Specify the Azure blob storage container for the inbound messages. |
| Storage Connection Archive | Specify the Azure blob storage container for the inbound archived messages. Inbound messages are automatically archived when the document is transferred from Azure blob storage to Business Central. |
Copying EDI Ports
When dealing with multiple trading partners, it is likely that an organization will have multiple EDI ports that share many of the same characteristics. For example, we may have 10 trading partners to which we send sales shipments. Because there is nothing fundamentally different about shipping to one partner versus another, most of the sales shipment data that is transmitted via EDI will be the same, regardless of which trading partner is the recipient. However, some differences in requested data will inevitably exist from partner to partner, necessitating the creation of separate EDI ports to address these variances. To that end, a function exists that lets users copy information from any existing EDI port to a newly-created one.
Follow these steps to copy an EDI port:
- Open EDI Ports to view a list of existing EDI port records.
- Select the EDI port you wish to copy.
- On the action bar, click Actions > Copy EDI Port. The Copy EDI Port page opens.
- In the To EDI Port field, assign a code to the new port.
- Click OK.
A new EDI port record is created with the code that was specified in the To EDI Port field, and almost all information from the selected port has been copied to it. The one piece of data that is not copied to the new EDI port is the selected port’s description. This is due to the fact that new EDI port will serve a separate purpose, and undoubtedly needs its own unique description. Following the copy process, the new EDI port record can be opened, a description can be assigned, and any other necessary changes can be entered.