Trading Networks 10.3 | Administering and Monitoring B2B Transactions | webMethods Module for EDI | Using Module for EDI Decoupled from Trading Networks | Creating Flat File Schemas for EDI Documents | Creating a Flat File Schema from a SEF File
 
Creating a Flat File Schema from a SEF File
Module for EDI provides the wm.b2b.edi:SEFParse service to create flat file schemas from a SEF file. This service extracts information about the EDI document's structure, separators, and segments from the SEF file and transfers the information to a flat file schema.
If you want to have the wm.b2b.edi:SEFParse service automatically assign format services to fields in the flat file template, configure the EDI format services that you want to associate with the different data types before you create a flat file schema. For instructions, see Associating the EDI Format Services with EDI Data Types.
For a description of this service, see webMethods Module for EDI Built-In Services Reference .
Note:
If you are using Module for EDI in conjunction with Trading Networks, you do not need to use the wm.b2b.edi:SEFParse service to create the flat file schema. The flat file schemas are created automatically for you when you use the procedure described in Defining TN EDI Document Types.
To create a flat file schema from a SEF file, you must perform these high-level steps:
Step
Description
1
Determine where the SEF file you want to use is located, either on your local file system or on the Web.
Many SEF files are provided with Module for EDI. When you install Module for EDI, the installer stores each SEF file as:
WmEDI/pub/SEFs/standard/version.sef
where
standard represents the EDI standard (for example, X12) and version represents the EDI standard version (for example, 4010).
For example:
WmEDI/pub/SEFs/X12/4010.sef
2
Create the flat file dictionary for the EDI standard and version that you are using.
3
Invoke the wm.b2b.edi:SEFParse service from Designer. The inputs to the service include the location of the SEF file you want to use, the EDI transaction set (or TRADACOMS File) name, and the package name and namespace name in which you want the service to create the schema.
The targetSchema input parameter specifies the name you want to give the flat file schema being created.
*For all supported EDI standards except TRADACOMS, use the following naming convention for targetSchema if you plan to use Trading Networks:
EDIFFSchema.standard.Vversion:Tname
where:
standard represents the EDI standard (for example, X12), version represents the EDI standard version (for example, 4010), and name represents the EDI transaction (for example, 850).
For example: EDIFFSchema.X12.V4010:T850
*For the TRADACOMS EDI standard, the wm.b2b.edi:SEFParse service creates a temporary flat file schema. Use the following naming convention for targetSchema:
EDIFFSchema.TRADACOMS.Vversion:Tname:TEMP_SCHEMA
where:
version represents the version of the TRADACOMS File document type (for example, v2) and name represents the name of the TRADACOMS File document type (for example, ORDHDR)
This temporary flat file schema contains all the messages contained in the TRADACOMS file. You should then execute the wm.b2b.edi.tradacoms.ui:modifyTradacomsSchema service to split the flat file schema into one flat file schema per MHD segment in the TRADACOMS file.
This temporary flat file schema will be deleted upon successful execution of the wm.b2b.edi.tradacoms.ui:modifyTradacomsSchema service.
4
For descriptions of all the input parameters of these services, see webMethods Module for EDI Built-In Services Reference .
5
From Designer, make changes to the flat file schema to meet your site's needs. For example, you might want to change some of the format services that are associated with fields or if you do not want a format service executed for a field, remove the format service for that field.