Getting Started with Business Connect XML

Consider the following when setting up an XML document trading relationship with your trading partners:

• What are my trading partner's e-commerce capabilities?

• What documents and transactions do I want to exchange with my trading partners?

• Do my trading partners conduct business through an online portal, such as the Ariba Supplier Network?

• What manual processes will this new relationship automate?

• Who will manage the trading partner relationships going forward?

Your answers to these questions dictate how and when you implement each trading relationship.

What Do I Need From My Trading Partners?

Before exchanging XML documents with your trading partners, obtain the following items for each transaction you plan to trade:

• Document type definition (DTD) files – For each transaction type, the DTD is required to complete the transaction map using the Business Connect XML mapping utility.

• Document specifications – Defines required elements, what data is contained in each element, and element descriptions.

• Sample XML documents – Use sample XML documents to determine which fields from the DTD the trading partner uses and to test transactions after creating the transaction map.

Meet with your trading partners to discuss the best way to map their transaction data in and out of Eclipse and work with them to determine the following:

• Transactions to trade.

• Definitions of all data fields in the XML documents.

• The intended purpose or use of each field in the XML document.

• Post URL for each document.

• Workflow procedures that both parties use when processing transactions.

How Do I Get Started?

After you determine which transactions you are going to trade using XML and have obtained the necessary documents from your trading partner, complete the following tasks to get started using the Business Connect XML application.

1. Learn how XML documents flow from your trading partner through the Eclipse system.

   • How XML documents flow through the system.

   • Example XML data flow .

   • Example XML data flow with marketplace diagram.

2. Set system, customer, and vendor parameters in Eclipse.

3. Learn about XML database schemas and how they form transactions.

4. Use the Business Connect XML mapping utility to create transaction maps for each transaction you complete with your trading partners.

   • Learn about the Business Connect XML mapping utility and its symbols.

   • Add trading partners to the mapping utility.

   • Learn about transaction maps.

   • Create an XML transaction map for each transaction.

   • Define XML mapping selection criteria.

   • Modify incoming and outgoing data, if necessary.

5. Send and receive transactions from your customers and vendors.

Click here for a printable version of the Getting Started with Business Connect XML guide.

See Also:

Eclipse Business Connect XML Overview