The standard outbound process converts an XML document to an EDI-formatted document.
The input document that is sent to the channel may not be in XML format. It can be any input document that first will be processed by the channel and transformed to an EDI document.
In a basic message flow, outbound processing consists of the following components and steps. For an illustration of the components available in the construction of a message flow, see Using a Channel to Construct a Message Flow. You will define the components in the configuration instructions in Sample Configuration for Outbound Processing: XML to EDI.
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Route/Process Flow
Rules processing runs against the XML-formatted EDI document to validate its structure and content. The published EDI standards and user implementation guides define element types (for example, numeric, alpha, or date) and describe business rules to apply for validation.
The XMLToX12TransformationAgent obtains the message type and version from the XML-formatted EDI document. The appropriate transformation template is applied from the Ebix. The transformation converts the XML-formatted EDI document to EDI X12 format.
The XDX12ValidationReportAgent creates a report (an XML document) containing the XML-formatted EDI document and resulting EDI X12 formatted data, as well as the validation status.
If the EDI X12 document did not contain any errors during the rules processing stage, it is emitted and continues to its next destination. The validation report is always emitted. In the sample process flow that is described later in this chapter, good validation reports are written with a file name prefix of validation. All other validation reports are written with a file name prefix of error. Information in the error validation reports can be routed accordingly for repair and reprocessing.
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