webMethods RosettaNet Module is an implementation of the RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF), versions 1.1 and 2.0. webMethods RosettaNet Module enables you to implement open and common e-business Partner Interface Processes (PIPs) and exchange RosettaNet documents with your partners. Business partners use RosettaNet PIPs to execute business-to-business transactions and processes.

PIPs are organized into one of seven categories according to their high-level business area, such as, product information, order management, or inventory management. Sub-categories further define the business segments and process category. Each of these processes define the specific flow of the process model and structure of the business document.

The webMethods RosettaNet Module runs on the webMethods Integration Server platform and integrates with other products in the webMethods product suite, leveraging process modeling and management capabilities, and XML business document recognition capabilities. For RosettaNet Module to exchange messages with your partners, you must configure objects in some of these integrated webMethods components, as explained below.

RosettaNet Module integrated with the webMethods Trading Networks enables you to define your trading partners and handle tasks related to identifying partners and the documents they send. This component uses TN XML document types to identify specific documents and Trading Partner Agreements (TPAs) for defining specific processing related to a unique sender and receiver combination of a specific document type.

In RosettaNet Module, every PIP is associated with two Trading Partner Agreements (TPAs), one for the initiator (sender) in a conversation and one for the fulfiller (receiver). A TPA is a set of parameters that govern how business documents are exchanged between two trading partners. For example, a TPA contains parameters that control signing, encoding, and validation of RosettaNet PIP documents. For more information about using TPAs in RosettaNet Module, see Customizing Trading Partner Agreements. For detailed information about TPAs, see webMethods Trading Networks Administrator’s Guide.

You can implement a PIP by importing the necessary PIP archives, if available, or by importing the RosettaNet standard provided PIP specification zip file using webMethods RosettaNet PIP Tools, and then customizing one of the eight model templates as described in Customizing Process Model Template

You can use Software AG Designer for modifying process model templates and creating custom services specific to your business needs. When you customize a process model template in Designer, you can assign custom-created services to individual steps in the template and assign TN XML document types to receive steps. Receive steps are steps that “wait” for a specific incoming business document during a conversation (also called a process) so that RosettaNet Module can recognize the document type and ensure that documents are exchanged and processing proceeds according to an expected and predictable process flow. For information about customizing process model templates, see Customizing Process Model Template. For more information about process models and Software AG Designer, see Software AG Designer Online Help.

webMethods Process Engine is a component of Integration Server that manages the execution of RosettaNet conversations. Process Engine is the process model enforcer, essentially ensuring that conversations are executed as defined by the process model, executing process logic, logging process data, and controlling process order execution. During run time, Process Engine uses the ConversationID associated with a business process to determine whether the process is active and currently running. For more information about Process Engine, see RosettaNet Module Run-Time Architecture and Components. For more information about ConversationIDs, see How Monitor Tracks Conversations and the ConversationID. For detailed information about Process Engine, see Administering webMethods Process Engine.

RosettaNet Module consists of a set of design-time and run-time components, discussed in this chapter. For information about design-time components, see RosettaNet Module Design-Time Architecture and Components. For information about run-time components, see RosettaNet Module Run-Time Architecture and Components.