5.3. Channel Items

A channel configuration requires to provide information in the different tabs. As a minimum, you need to define a gateway IN and a gateway OUT. Message tabs must be filled depending whether you want to manipulate the content of the message.

Tabs are presented in a logical order starting with the gateway for the incoming message, going to message transformation, gateway for the outgoing message, email notifications, routing rules, and finally testing.

Figure 5.3. Channel configuration tabs in Edit Channel screen

The common commands ( Back, Duplicate channel, Delete channel and Activate channel ) are described in the Reference Manual, see Channels.

The tabs function is described here while their usage is detailed in the Reference Manual.

General

In the General tab, you can enter a name for your channel. This name will be available for further reference, management and search. Additionally you can add a description to remind you this channel usage. Some general information is also displayed such as the channel Id, the last update and deployed date and time...

The information is detailled in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > General

Gateway In

The gateway In specifies the way incoming messages are input in the channel and how Babelway communicates with external system A. The communication protocol used with system A may be different from the communication protocol used with system B.

You can select your communication protocol amongst the following ones:

AS2: to use AS2 communication standard widespread in retail to secure communication over the Internet.
Ftp client: to set-up an FTP client accessing an external FTP server.
Ftp server: to configure FTP server receiving incoming messages.
Email: to set-up a new email address (on Babelway server) to receive incoming messages.
Fetch Mail: to retrieve messages from an external POP3 mailbox.
Web gateway: to set-up a website access to upload incoming messages.
Internal gateway: to set-up an exchange with another Babelway channel.

Once your input gateway is selected, you should fill in the template with the technical parameters required to establish the connection between your account and the external system.

If certificates are an element of the communication protocol (such as AS/2), you have to incorporate the external system certificate as a technical parameter and provide the corresponding Babelway certificate to the external system.

The different gateway protocols and their respective parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Gateway In

Each Babelway account environment has its own set of gateway addresses or locators. External systems are therefore connected to individual Babelway account, not to Babelway in general.

Message In

Once you have defined the communication protocol used to receive messages issued by external system A, you should specify the incoming message format. Most common formats may be configured either directly in the interface or using a sample file.

You can select amongst the following predefined file formats:

XML: to define a new message in XML format (from XML or XSD file).
EDIFACT: to define a new message in EDIFACT format.
TRADACOM: to define a new message in TRADACOM format.
X12: to define a new message in X12 format.
ODETTE: to define a new message in ODETTE format.
CSV: to define a character-delimited flat file with constant record definition (data is in columns).
MS Excel: to define a new message in MS Excel ('97 to '03).
Multi Record Flat file: to define a new delimited or fixed length multi record message.

After message specification or sample file upload, the system will automatically provide an XML version, as well as a visual representation in a hierarchical tree structure.

For custom flat-file formats (such as fixed length or multi-records), you can also upload a specific configuration file built using ***ServingXML library.

Advanced users can create a new message format (not supported by Babelway) by uploading programmatic code that provides support to proprietary messages formats, such as specific binary ERP format (for example idoc of SAP). This is done via the catalogue item 'Generic Message'

The different message formats and their respective parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Message In

Transformation

In the processing stream of a channel, the step following an incoming message is its transformation to generate the corresponding outgoing message. Nevertheless, during channel configuration process, you must configure Message Out format first before having access to the Transformation tab. Indeed you cannot define a transformation if the output message format is unknown.

There are several ways to define the transformation rules between incoming and outgoing messages defined previously:

You can use the graphical and drag & drop interface tool to easily and quickly create simple transformation rules. You create cross references between message in and message out fields by dragging and dropping message fields from left (message in) to right (message out).
If you need more complex transformations, you have access to standard functions such as concatenation, date formatting, arithmetic operations, lookup table, etc. Using ***XPath syntax, you can also define new standard operations.
If you are an expert user, you may prefer not to use the graphical drag & drop interface and work directly in the underlying ***XSLT structure, which is less user-friendly but may prove to be faster for an XSLT developer.

The transformation rules and methods are detailled in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Transformation

Message Out

Once you have defined the incoming message issued by external system A format, you should specify the outgoing message format to be sent to external system B.

As for incoming messages, most common formats may be configured either directly in the interface or using a sample file. The predefined file formats are the same as those described in Message In above.

The different message formats and their respective parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Message Out

Gateway Out

As for gateway in, gateway out specifies the way outgoing messages are sent by the channel and how Babelway platform communicates with external system B. The communication protocol used with system B may be different from the communication protocol used with system A.

You can select your communication protocol amongst the following ones:

AS2: this a communication standard largely used in retail to secure communication over the Internet.
Ftp client: to set-up an FTP client accessing an external FTP server.
Ftp server: to configure FTP server to place outgoing messages.
Email: to set-up a new email address to send outgoing messages.
Web gateway: to set-up a website access to download outgoing messages.
SOAP gateway: to set-up a SOAP gateway (SOAP client) to send outgoing messages to a SOAP server.
Babelway Internal gateway: to set-up an exchange with another Babelway channel.

Once your output communication protocol is selected, you should fill in the template with the technical parameters required to establish the connection between Babelway platform and external system.

The different gateway protocols and their respective parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Gateway Out

Email Notifications

For each individual channel, you may configure automatic notifications that send emails to specified addresses upon arrival of new messages. Notified users can be different if the message has been successfully processed or if an error has been generated.

The notification parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Email Notifications

Routing

In some cases, messages originate from a common source but must go to various external systems. If such a situation occurs, the Routing tab will be available and you will need to configure the routing rules.

The routing rules parameters are detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Routing

Testing

You must build test cases for your channels. These test cases will enable you to check the result of message formats and transformation processing prior to deploying the channel into the production environment.

The test cases configuration is detailed in the Reference Manual:

Channels > Edit Channel > Testing

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