Your messaging - your way!

If you can answer yes to one or more of the following, then the Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor can help you automate your messaging!

• Your messaging requirement does not fall within a "standard".
• You require real-time messaging.
• Your messaging requirements are unique per trading partner. 
• You require a cost effective messaging solution.
• You wish to reduce or even eliminate manual message processing.

The Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor is designed as an interface between your host database (this could be your part catalogue or fleet information database) and your Remote Trading Partners. It allows your Trading Partners to seamlessly query your host database and allows real-time responses for those enquiry types.

Originally designed for use for the A4A's (ATA) XML Specification for Order Administrations via the HTTP protocol. Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor has rapidly proved to be flexible enough to solve a wide range of real-time messaging problems.

The XML Processor offers a safe and standard method for your Trading Partners to quickly and easily ascertain the information they need without the problems and security aspects associated with allowing direct access into your databases.

With the Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor, you can customise your real-time messaging solutions to suit. You can add message types at any time - as, and when you require. Blue Flag Technologies can work with you to advise, design and create and maintain the required Scripts and Schemas to encapsulate your business rules. This coupled with a standard Support and Upgrade Contract, will ensure that your automated business to business messaging runs smoothly and ensures that knowledge management isn't your problem.

The Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor is essential for your real-time business to business Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). With the Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor, the sky really is the limit!

Technical Overview

The Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor accepts XML messages via a HTTP/1.1 (or HTTPS/1.1 under MS-IIS) interface. This interface is the same protocol that everyday web-browsers use. Once an XML message is received, the XML Processor applies a predetermined set of business rules to the incoming XML message. These business rules take the form of an XML Schema and a Script, both of which, you have complete ownership of. The business rules determine the type of response message that is returned. This whole process is performed in real-time with the response provided on the same connection as the request.

Business Rules

Your business rules are defined using an XML Schema and a Script. The XML Schema is used to check that the incoming message request is perfectly structured and contains the expected data. Good message requests are then processed by the Script, which will then build an appropriate response - according to your business practices and rules.

Blue Flag Technologies can help with the development of (or completely develop) these business rules for you. Your Support and Upgrade Contract, if current will ensure that maintenance of these business rules is trouble free.

Database Connection

The business rules scripts have access to Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). This means that your host systems database is available to query in whatever form you decide to allow access (this can be a copy of your live data, a read-only view, or even simply your live data). This means that no-matter what the database is, whether it's MS-SQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQLite or an ODBC compatible database, if Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects can connect to your database, so can the Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor. If desired, the XML Processor could also update or insert data, depending on your needs.

SPEC2000 Auditing

If you already have Blue Flag Technologies SPEC2000 application, then any messaging received and responded to, can be audited within the SPEC2000 application allowing for operators to examine any of the received messages, along with their responses in a data entry screen, ensuring that the operator does not need to understand XML and can focus on the data instead.

Logging

The Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor provides full logging facility, recording all traffic that it receives and the responses it returns. These logs are available to advanced users or administrators on the local machine, or to authorised personnel, via the Remote Status facility built right into the application.

Indirect Communication 

For systems/networks where direct communications to the XML Processor is not possible, an implementation of the Blue Flag Technologies HTTP Redirect Interface will be required. This interface allows the relevant HTTP traffic to be redirected from the client, for example, through a firewall to the machine that runs the XML Processor.  

Example Transaction

An XML Processor transaction might occur as follows:-

A remote trading partner is looking for part price information for a single part. The trader sends the following XML message:-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PartPriceRequest>
  <Customer>ACME01</Customer>
  <PartNumber>1234-5678</PartNumber>
</PartPriceRequest>

The Blue Flag Technologies XML Processor receives and validates the message against a previously agreed message schema and then uses a script that instructs it to look up the customer and part number in the host database.

Your implementation could check that the customer is allowed to lookup the information for the particular part or if the part is in stock and if not, offer a suitable alternative part.

You can use as many business processing rules as you need and they can be exactly tailored to your requirements. You can even use different messages or rules for different trading partners.

In this response, the requested part is found in the host database and the XML Processor returns the price, quantity on hand and the sales unit.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PartPriceResponse>
  <Part Number="1234-5678">
    <Price>3.96</Price>
    <OnHand>10</OnHand> 
    <SalesUnit>ea</SalesUnit> 
  </Part> 
</PartPriceResponse>

However, on another occasion, the requested part is out of stock, but the business rules are setup to offer an alternative part, in this case part "1234-5678-01" that is directly interchangeable with the requested part. This response is therefore returned to the trading partner, showing that there are zero on hand of the requested part, but offering a "AlternatePart" with interchangeability and unit price.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PartPriceResponse>
  <Part Number="1234-5678">
    <Price>3.96</Price>
    <OnHand>0</OnHand>
    <SalesUnit>ea</SalesUnit>
    <AlternatePart Replacing="1234-5678-01" Interchangeability="1" Price="4.76"/>
  </Part>
</PartPriceResponse>

This whole transaction is handled in real-time, so the client knows straight away the information they need, without having to wait.

Technical Specifications