Can EDI be easily implemented with PRogress?

[ProSky]

I am very familiar with xml parsing and creating xml documents with Progress, but I have been assigned to create an EDI interface and can't seem to find anything in Progress that would allow me to do this easily.

Any ideas would be GREAT!

Thanks,

ProSky

 

[tamhas]

Assuming by EDI that you mean X12, run, don't walk, to look at Stylus Studio ( http://www.stylusstudio.com/xml_product_index.html ) . You will find all the X12 to XML mappings you want.

Alternatively, check out a product like eVision from Tie Commerce ( http://www.tieglobal.com/docs/BDDocument.asp?Action=View&ID={5418932B-DE55-4F91-ACCA-5F760E6DEF15} ). This will handle all of the interactions with the partners and VANs and will map to and from simple flat files that you can use for interface to the application.

 

[ProSky]

Ok, those are programs that I can purchase to do the conversion for me...but I am wondering about doing it manually through progress. I don't think my company is interested in purchasing software....

Thanks,

ProSky

 

[FrancoisL]

There is no EDI tools in progress beyond the tools to export / import XML and flat text files.

You will need to generate flat files with specific formats depending on the partners.

 

[ProSky]

That is what I was afraid of.

Thanks!

 

[joey.jeremiah]

Ok, those are programs that I can purchase to do the conversion for me...but I am wondering about doing it manually through progress. I don't think my company is interested in purchasing software....

Thanks,

ProSky

Hello Guys,

I've never really understood that approach.

Especially us developers, we'd much rather reinvent the wheel instead of paying a few hundred bucks or a bit more. Even if it could take monthes and it won't be nearly as good as the product. We developers are cheap bustards. I'm only kidding

It's not just the "not invented here syndrome" even if it's extremely hard or impossible to write alot of the time developers wouldn't even be willing to hear about it if its a product no matter what the cost is.

Bottom line, we don't work for free and in most cases buying a product would be much cheaper, better and it could save developers alot of headaches.

YMMV

 

[tamhas]

Especially since the Enterprise version of Stylus Studio is only $599 if purchased this week. How much development can you do for $599?

 

[FrancoisL]

You should listen to Tamhas and Joey . We have our own in-house EDI import and export module and it took alot of time and effort just to create it but theyre werent any simple solution available 10 years ago . If i had to start from scratch i would tell my boss to buy the 600$ product and save thousands of dollars.

 

[tamhas]

Actually, the predecessor product to eVision was available 10 years ago, called spEDI*Tran and I implemented it extensively with one of my customers. As I recall, the product was a bit less expensive than some of the well-known other packages and it was suitable for deployment on either Unix or Windows ... might have run about $6000. But, developing maps and debugging them was an art form so just about every document they implemented they spent another $3000 of my time, sometimes more when people came up with new requirements for the interface file. I could have saved them a ton of money with a facility like Stylus Studio.