Multi-user Client/Server
The heart of ODEX Enterprise is the Server.



Workflow Management and Automation

In common with all members of the ODEX product family, ODEX Enterprise operates in a dark room environment. This means that manual intervention is not necessary under normal circumstances and there is therefore no requirement for IT staff to be on-site 24 hours a day. If any event occurs which does require manual intervention, ODEX Enterprise can be configured to trigger the sending of an alarm pager call to the appropriate person.

ODEX Enterprise analyses the properties of a file before deciding which Workflow to perform on it. A Workflow is a sequence of jobs that ODEX is configured to perform on a file upon receipt. ODEX Enterprise includes over 20 jobs that can be performed on a file including Schedule, Copy, E-mail, Construct and Run Application.

Once the appropriate Workflow has been selected, then the sequence of jobs in that Workflow is performed on the file. This concept of Workflows allows ODEX Enterprise to deliver an extremely flexible solution, for example to enable the dynamic routing of messages to different internal systems based on the type of file ODEX receives.

Should a problem be encountered during the processing of a file, ODEX can automatically switch to an Error Workflow, which in turn will automatically generate an e-mail to a system administrator or attempt to send the file using an alternative communications method.



ODEX offers further automation with the ability to respond to system events and perform actions against predefined time schedules. System events such as Call Ended, Connection Failed or Call Retry Limit Reached can all automatically trigger actions such as Send E-mail or Run Application.

For example, in a time-critical process, such as the sending of files to the Inland Revenue, ODEX would immediately detect if the ISDN line were to go down and alert the appropriate person to take action. For frequent, re-occurring actions, such as Call Network and Poll Monitored Directory, ODEX can be configured to run the events against a time Schedule, for example to call a trading partner every morning at 9am, or to poll a monitored directory every 5 minutes.

Communications

ODEX Enterprise offers several communications protocols, each of which can be used to transmit both EDI and non-EDI data. None of them is concerned with the content or validity of the data, but simply with the means to transport the data.

OFTP

OFTP is the protocol used by the major European motor manufacturers and their suppliers. It is currently being adopted by many other business sectors. OFTP provides a method of transferring files across X.25, X.25 over ISDN and over TCP/IP.

An OFTP communications session does not require any interaction from the user. The 2 machines involved control the session, taking turns to send data until the session is closed by mutual agreement.

AS2

AS2 is promoted in America as a way to avoid the traditional cost of VANs. In the UK it is mainly used by US-owned companies, such as ASDA, and their suppliers. AS2 is a draft specification for the secure exchange of business documents and business-to-business (B2B) transactions over the Internet using HTTP as its transport protocol.

AS2 provides an “envelope” for the data, allowing transactions to be sent and received securely and directly over the Internet instead of via the more traditional VAN. N.B. The Drummond Group is an American company which seeks to encourage AS2 solution suppliers to acquire their accreditation, at considerable cost.

Although Data Interchange, in common with other UK-based AS2 solution suppliers, has not sought such certification from the Drummond Group, we can assure users that ODEX Enterprise uses certified components in its AS2 solution.

Xe Mapping

ODEX Enterprise offers a powerful any-to-any mapper that allows for the translation of documents into the correct format for the target system, removing the issue of incompatible file formats between internal systems and trading partners.

Xe translates files by mapping fields from one file to another and can handle any format of file, including EDI, flat file, csv and SAP formats. The Xe Mapping component can also perform conditional mapping, arithmetic operations and hierarchy changes.

File encoding conversion

ODEX Enterprise can also convert files from one character format to another, using the Workflow Manager. Unlike ODEX on other platforms, ODEX Enterprise recognises the supported formats and will therefore carry out the requested conversion only if the file is in the expected format. Formats handled include ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode, Big Endian Unicode, UTF7 and UTF8.

Back Office Integration

ODEX Enterprise enables the complete integration of internal systems, allowing for the seamless exchange of business documents between multiple internal systems and external trading partners. In the event of incompatible message formats between internal systems and trading partners, XLATE Evolution (Xe) can be utilised to facilitate message translations and mappings.

ODEX Enterprise also offers specialised SAP integration, which delivers EDI capability to SAP systems. The integration offered by ODEX Enterprise enables EDI data to flow between SAP and trading partners, whilst also allowing SAP to monitor the status of outgoing files. ODEX can be configured to pass files to and receive files from DARWIN 3 (our complete order processing solution), thus avoiding the need to re-key data.

Accessibility

When receiving files from internal systems, ODEX relies on Windows notifications to tell it when a file has been copied to a monitored directory. If the directory is an NFS share (on a non-Windows system), or a Novell share, these notifications are not generated.

Therefore, if an NFS share or a Novell share is being used, an alternative to monitoring is offered in the form of ODEX Event Actions, which provide the ability to poll a directory at regular user-specified intervals.

Any directory can be monitored or polled, using one of these two methods, providing it is accessible from the ODEX Server and uses UNC (Universal Naming Convention) addressing. Likewise, when ODEX sends received files to specified directories, such directories may be in any location, providing they are accessible from the ODEX Server and use UNC addressing.

Traceability and Visibility

ODEX Enterprise provides high visibility of active and recent communication sessions and allows critical business files to be traced as they progress through the system. No file can ever get lost in the system and each file is always visible throughout its life, finally being archived after processing is complete. The progression of a file through a Workflow is constantly monitored and its status updated as each job within the Workflow is completed.

Should a problem occur within a workflow then e-mails and other system alerts can be triggered to actively alert system administrators. This also ensures that any operational issue can be traced back to the cause and resolved before business is impacted.

The resulting audit trail of all the actions that have been carried out by the workflow manager on a file can be viewed at any time. In addition, the file itself can be viewed retrospectively, as it existed at any stage in its passage through the Workflow. For example a file can be viewed in both its pre- and post-translation state, if necessary.

Clustering

Clustering allows two or more independent ODEX Enterprise servers to be connected together, making them appear to network clients as a single system. Such a system is then known as a cluster environment. Running ODEX Enterprise in a cluster environment means that the application will continue running even when one of the servers is out of action owing to planned or unplanned downtime.

Clustering is thus an ideal solution for disaster recovery and provides an extremely robust system. Clustering is available via MSCS (Microsoft® Cluster Server). The ODEX Enterprise servers in the cluster environment must be based on a Windows Server (NT® or 2003) operating system.

Scalability

ODEX Enterprise utilises a high-performance and fully scalable database, allowing it to handle the most demanding of high-volume scenarios.

EDI functionality

Although ODEX Enterprise, in common with all members of the ODEX product family, can handle any type of file, it has been designed with EDI in mind. This allows EDI files to be analysed, split or merged, forwarded and processed according to EDI addressing and/or message type. ODEX Enterprise recognises all major EDI standards, including EDIFACT, EDIFACT v4, ANSI X12, UNGTDI and VDA.

On-line Help

Every page and every dialog in ODEX Enterprise has a Help button, providing full context-sensitive on-line help. Generated using ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 6.5, the Help also provides full Index and Search facilities, navigation buttons and print function.

Security and backup

Besides integration with Windows NT security, ODEX Enterprise also offers its own security. This permits the setting up of a flexible user and user groups environment and the provision of password-protected access to ODEX Enterprise. The functionality available to each user is then based on the user privileges they have been allocated. For added data security, an automated database backup facility is provided.