Components of the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT

iWay Software provides various e-Business Information Exchange (Ebix) files used in conjunction with the iWay integration solutions. In iWay Service Manager, the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT contains several Ebix files, one for each supported EDIFACT transaction set.

An Ebix file for EDIFACT is named EDIFACT_transaction_set.ebx, where transaction_set is the transaction set number. For example, the Ebix file for EDIFACT transaction set D01B is named EDIFACT_D01B.ebx.

For details on the supported EDIFACT transaction sets, see Ebix-Supported Transaction Sets.

An Ebix is a collection of metadata that defines the structure of data. The Ebix supplied with the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT defines the structure of supported EDIFACT messages.

Each Ebix includes:

• Pre-built data dictionaries. The structure of each EDIFACT document is described by two data dictionaries:
  • Header dictionary, which describes the enveloping structure of the document.
  • Document dictionary, which describes the segments and elements that compose each document.

  The dictionaries from the Ebix are used to transform the structure of a document per EDIFACT regulation.

• Pre-built XML schemas that define the structure and content of XML messages in detail.
• Pre-built EDIFACT to XML transformation templates, and XML to EDIFACT templates, for the supported EDIFACT transaction sets.
• Pre-built rule files for each message. The iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT uses these rule files to validate inbound and outbound documents.

A preparser is an iWay business component that converts incoming messages into processable documents.

Typically a preparser converts a non-XML document into XML format. The preparser for the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT converts an incoming EDIFACT formatted document to XML format.

The EDIFACT Batch Splitter (com.ibi.preparsers.XDEDIFACTBatchSplitter) is provided by iWay Software for the iWay Integration solution for UN/EDIFACT to split EDIFACT input files that contain multiple transactions or envelopes. This preparser should be used with the EDIFACTPreParser.

The EDIFACTPreParser (com.ibi.preparsers.XDEDIFACTPreParser) is provided by iWay Software for the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT to parse an EDIFACT input file.

A preemitter is a logical process that handles a document immediately before transmission.

Typically a preemitter is used to convert an XML document to non-XML format. The XML document is created from EDIFACT input data in inbound processing. The iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT uses a preemitter in outbound processing to convert the XML-formatted EDIFACT document to an EDIFACT formatted document.

The XML structure must be compliant with the schema supplied in the Ebix.

The preemitter for the iWay Integration Solution for UN/EDIFACT is called XDEDIFACTPreEmitter (com.ibi.preemit.XDEDIFACTPreEmitter).