Overview

The EDI data handler is a data-conversion module whose primary role is to convert business objects to and from EDI documents. An EDI document is a standardized format for conveying business information. The EDI data handler supports two message standards: X.12 and EDIFACT.

The EDI document is serialized data with the edi MIME type. The default top-level connector meta-object (MO_DataHandler_Default) supports the edi MIME type. Therefore, a connector that is configured to use the MO_DataHandler_Default data-handler meta-object can call the EDI data handler.
Attention

The EDI data handler is only capable of processing an EDI document containing a single group that contains only a single transaction type (the document may contain multiple transactions of the same type). Most EDI environments handle documents with multiple groups and transaction types. The IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapter for TPI contains splitting logic that enables it to process EDI documents with multiple groups and transaction types. No other adapters contain this splitting logic so although they can technically use the EDI data handler, only the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapter for TPI is able to handle situations where the EDI document contains multiple groups.

The data handler parses document data using document separators that it identifies in the EDI document. If the data handler cannot identify the separators from the document, it uses separator values specified by attributes in the child meta-object associated with the EDI data handler. For more information on the EDI child meta-object, see Configuring the EDI data handler child meta-object.

EDI data-handler components

The EDI data handler uses a name handler to extract the name of the business object from an EDI message. Figure 27 illustrates the EDI data handler components and their relationship to one another.

Figure 27. EDI data-handler components


The data handler invokes an instance of the name handler based on the value of the NameHandlerClass attribute in the EDI data handler child meta-object:

For information on how to create a custom name handler, see Customizing the EDI data handler.

Business object and EDI document processing

The EDI data handler performs the operations listed in Table 27.

Table 27. Data operations for the EDI data handler
Data-handler operation For more information
Receives a business object from the caller, converts the business object into an EDI document, and passes the EDI document to the caller. Converting business objects to EDI documents
Receives an EDI document from the caller, builds a business object, and returns the business object to the caller. Converting EDI documents to business objects

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