Message Exchange Patterns. A Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) defines how messages are exchanged between two trading partners. Module for AS4 supports the following ebMS MEPs for both the sender and the receiver:

One-way/Push: Used to send a user message to a trading partner.

One-way/Pull: Used to send a pull signal to a trading partner to receive a user message.

Two-Way/Sync: Used to send a user message to a trading partner and receive a reply from the same partner.

Two-Way/Push-Pull: Used to push a user message to a trading partner followed by a pull signal to receive a reply user message.

Two-Way/Push-Push: Used to send a user message to a trading partner and receive a reply user message from the same partner asynchronously.

Message Packaging. The module supports creation of signal and user messages, attachments, and message properties.

Message Partition Channels (MPC). The module supports multiple MPCs for selective pulling by a partner Messaging Service Handler (MSH).

Message Persistence. The module saves all incoming and outgoing messages in the Trading Networks database.

Reliable Messaging. The module supports:

Reception Awareness. When an initiating MSH does not get a receipt confirming the user message has been received, the MSH can notify the producer.

Message Retry. When an initiating MSH does not get a receipt confirming the user message has been received, the MSH can resend the user message.

Duplicate Detection. A responding MSH can detect and eliminate duplicate user messages.

Security. Module for AS4 uses the Web Services Security 1.1 (WSS 1.1) security specification and provides the following security features:

Signs and encrypts messages. The module uses the Web Services Security X.509 Certificate Token Profile to sign and encrypt messages. When signing and encrypting messages, you can choose to sign and encrypt either the entire message or parts of the message. When both signature and encryption are required, the message is signed prior to being encrypted.

Authenticates Security UsernameTokens and supports password hashing. The module uses the Web Services Security UsernameToken Profile to authenticate Security UsernameTokens.

Authorizes a message at the P-Mode level. The module supports authorization to access resources such as Message Partition Channels (MPC), which pull signals access to pull messages.

Supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The module supports transport level security for transmitting user messages.

Customizable Processing Mode (P-Mode) Parameters. P-Mode parameters are required for interoperability between two trading partners. The parameters define how a message should be processed. P-Modes in Module for AS4 are represented as trading partner agreements (TPA).

Agreement Update. The module supports agreement update standard that conforms to the ebCore Agreement Update specification. This feature enables in governing updates to certificates.

Payload Compression. The module is capable of providing configurable compression and decompression of application payloads.

Splitting and Joining ebMS Messages. When a large SOAP-rooted, MIME Multipart/Related message is to be sent, you can configure Module for AS4 to split the message into smaller SOAP fragments. Once all the fragments reach the receiving MSH, they are reassembled and stored in the Trading Networks database.

Multi-hop Messaging. The module is capable of transmitting messages across intermediaries, which route and forward messages while maintaining reliability and security. Multi-hop messaging allows the sending MSH to disregard lower-level transport parameters because it is not concerned with the final message destination.

Error Handling. The module reports errors encountered during message processing, as specified in the AS4 ebHandler conformance profile.

Large Payload Handling. During message processing, the module can optimize processing of messages by storing large payloads on the hard disk drive rather than keeping them in memory.

Error message bundling. The module supports the bundling and processing of multiple error messages into a single message.

Payload extraction. The module supports the extraction of the payload from a user message as a separate transaction.