William,
For the most part I agree with your conclusion re the 997 going the way of
those other extinct creatures that failed to adapt for survival.
However, the 997 does give the originator much more information than just a
simply delivery receipt....as you know. When used to its fullest extent it
also reports on the syntactical compliance of the enclosed transactions and
whether the receiver has accepted or rejected them for further processing.
Thus, just the mere knowledge of receipt is insufficient for a full audit
trail in my opinion.
Now....what will one do when using XML for which there is no analog for the
997? So what if an XML doc doesn't comply with a DTD or Schema? What's the
"standard" mechanism for reporting such non-compliance back to the
originator? Where's the 824 equivalent, for example?
As you know, I'm still not convinced that XML....even with ebXML when it's
finally approved next month....is industrial strength, prime time ready. I
caution folks not to throw out the EDI baby bath water yet!
Rachel
Chris Johnson maintains that "In Europe the CONTRL message is seldom
implemented, and there is thus little accepted practice to draw on." So
Steve X Lee muses "Do you have any theory why Control or [Aperak]
messages are seldomly used in the EDIFACT world? I feel 997's are very
useful and timesaving in X12."
Okay - I'll put forth a theory: It's not so much an EDIFACT or European
hangup. But, rather the Europeans don't need receipt acknowledgements
because I've heard a rumor they use X.400 networks. I don't think we've
ever seen the X.400 critter here in the U.S. - instead Americans
predominantly use private VANs with no elegant feedback as to when or
whether documents were delivered. X.400, in conjunction with X.435
PEDI, on the other hand, has built-in acknowledgement (and
confidentiality and non-repudiation) which would render the interchange
receipt CONTRL superfluous.
We'd expect to see the same thing happen with ebXML, where these kinds
transport signals are part of the messaging services infrastructure. The
sender will no longer have to rely on a "document" like the 997 or
CONTRL for assurance that his message has been received by the partner.
William J. Kammerer
FORESIGHT Corp.
4950 Blazer Pkwy.
Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305
+1 614 791-1600
Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/
"accelerating time-to-trade"
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