How to Identify the B2B Document Type and Definition

Developing and Implementing Outbound B2B Integration Flows 17-3 Examples of B2B document protocols are Open Applications Group Integration Specification OAGIS, Electronic Data Interchange EDI X12, Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport EDIFACT, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA, EANCOM, RosettaNet, Universal Business Language UBL, Health Level 7 HL7, and 1SYNC. Consider the following questions when choosing a B2B document protocol to integrate with your trading partners: ■ Does the document protocol have the list of documents to support your integration needs? ■ Does the document protocol have adequate support for your industry? ■ Is the document protocol supported by your key trading partners? ■ Is the document protocol popular in your geography? ■ Is the document protocol based on open standards such as XML and XML Schema? ■ Is the protocol support by your vendor, for example, Oracle? Along with the B2B document protocol, the version of the B2B document must also be determined. Similar considerations as listed previously can be used to determine the B2B document protocol version.

17.2.2 How to Identify the B2B Document Type and Definition

Once you have selected the B2B document protocol, the next task is to identify the B2B document that meets the specific B2B integration need. Each document protocol supports a list of B2B documents or document types. Refer to the protocol documentation and document usage guidelines to identify the specific document that is best-suited to support your specific business flow. Document usage can vary by industry and geography. For example, assume that you need to implement a B2B flow to send purchase orders electronically to your supplier as part of your procurement business flow. Assume that the EDI X12 is chosen as the B2B document protocol based on your integration needs. The EDI X12 document protocol recommends that the 850 Order document be used for this integration requirement. After the B2B protocol, document, and version are identified, you must obtain official versions of the following artifacts related to the document: ■ Documentation and usage guidelines, which describe the B2B document in detail, including individual elements. ■ Sample XML instances, which illustrate the usage of the B2B document. ■ XML Schema definition of the B2B document. For XML-based B2B document protocols, internet resources pertaining to the standard can be used as the source for downloads of the official user documentation, XML schemas, and sample document instances. For example, the OAGIS website www.oagi.org provides all of this information for every major release of the OAG document standards. You can also obtain the official artifacts listed previously as a part of the B2B Document Editor software, which is part of Oracle Fusion Middleware. For more information about creating guideline files, see Creating Guideline Files in Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Oracle B2B. 17-4 Developers Guide for Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Pack For non-XML protocols such as EDI and flat-file, Oracle B2B provides translation capabilities to convert the documents from non-XML formats to XML. However, this XML is an intermediate XML definition of the B2B document, which still needs to be transformed to the AIA EBM. You can export the B2B document in Oracle B2B Integration format using the B2B Document Editor to obtain the XML schema representation of this intermediate XML for use with the AIA B2B Connector Service B2BCS. Supporting Document Variations As an integration best practice, we recommend that the standard B2B document definition be used as-is for B2B integration. Frequently, however, the B2B document definition must be modified to accommodate additional elements to meet custom integration requirements. If such variations to the published standard are required, then the B2B document guideline and schemas obtained in the previous step must be modified to include these additional details.

17.2.3 How to Define the Document in Oracle B2B