Michael Mattias wants unattended operational software so he can automate
the download of orders from a customer's web site. Heretofore, he was
counting on traditional automated scripts to access a VAN to download
EDI documents. But now he'll have to access a web-site, enter a logon
ID and password, and do all other sorts of human-interface stuff in
order to access his customer's orders. He quite understandably wants to
automate this process for a lights-out operation.
Jewel Clark was kind enough to remind everyone of FORESIGHT's complete
B2B web solution, TradeSite/XML. TradeSite/XML is our Web-EC solution,
intended to reach those non-EDI automated trading partners by mapping
HTML forms to and from EDI or XML messages, with complete turnaround
support. To fill out our solution for automated trading partners, we
also provide support for Internet EDI: AS1 (S/MIME EDIINT), AS2 (HTTP)
and FTP. Internet EDI not only avoids outrageous VAN changes, but is
completely automatable in a lights-out operation.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mattias is being forced to take a step backwards.
He's perfectly capable of handling "grown-up" EDI and automated scripts
for file transfer. Doug Anderson has said VANs can solve this problem,
but he may have misunderstood Mattias' predicament. Unless the VAN can
"screen-scrape" the customer's web site and forward the file(s) to
Mattias, Mr. Anderson's solution may not work.
Speaking of screen-scraping, that's how outfits like WebMethods and
OnDisplay got started in the first place. Instead of using
interoperable X12 or EDIFACT messaging using VANs or EDIINT, web sites
are designed for human interaction. Their access is difficult to
automate, requiring expensive screen scraping software which pretends to
be a human navigating his way through password screens and forms. And
needless to say, web sites change frequently, requiring constant
vigilance so the screen-scraping software scripts can be updated.
But OnDisplay does have a free product called NetConnect, used to
automate HTTP file transfers; see
http://www.xmlconnect.net/xmlconnect/. If Mattias' hub could be talked
into using NetConnect, or one of the Internet EDI solutions, he could
avoid the agonies of screen-scraping.
William J. Kammerer
FORESIGHT Corp.
4950 Blazer Memorial Pkwy.
Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305
(614) 791-1600
Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/
"Commerce for a New World"
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