Default XML

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Default XML

Besides the possibility to convert any EDI message into any other format via self-created conversion rules, all EDI messages can be saved as XML file or loaded from XML files without any additional effort. For each message type there is a corresponding default XML format, also for self-created FlatFile formats and even for XML message types. When exporting an EDI message from !MC5 it is sufficient to activate the corresponding option and the message will automatically be saved in the default XML format of the respective message type. When importing an EDI message, you do not even have to activate an extra option for this: !MC5 automatically detects whether a file is data in the "original" message format or in the corresponding default XML format and reads it accordingly. All subsequent processing is exactly the same, no matter what format the original file had.

 

The advantage of such a conversion to a standard XML format is that it can be set up with just one click. XML is a common format and can be read and written by many other programs. However, in this case the format is predefined by !MC5. This means that adaptations in the in-house system are necessary to read this format and to assign the data internally accordingly. In a regular conversion, the in-house system specifies the format and the mapping of the data is done in !MC5.

 

Default XML

For the conversion of any EDI message format to the respective default XML format nothing extra has to be created.

But the default XML format for each EDI message type is fixed by !MC5.

The target application must be able to read and/or write XML data.

The actual mapping to/from the internal data structures is done in the in-house system. The effort required for this depends on the respective system.

"The in-house system is adapted to !MC5".

 

Regular conversion rule

Conversions can be created from/to any format specified by the in-house system, as long as it is a machine-readable text format. A typical example is CSV files, but externally specified XML formats are also no problem.

First, a definition for the message type of the target/source format must be created in !MC5.

Then a conversion rule for the mapping from the EDI message to the in-house format or vice versa can be created in !MC5.

The amount of effort required to read, write and process the data into and out of the in-house system depends entirely on the system in question. Ideally, the system should be able to read, write and process its own format without much effort.

"!MC5 adapts to the in-house system"

 

A major difference between a regular conversion and converting to the default XML format is that with the regular conversion, it is also possible to adapt the content - at least to a certain extent. When converting to the default XML format this is not possible. But in !MC5 both variants can be easily combined. For example, when exporting, a regular conversion can first be applied to the received EDI data and the result of this conversion can then be saved in the corresponding default XML format.

 

For more information about the default XML formats for message types, please refer to the EDI Convert Manager manual.