Working with Trading Partners

A trading partner is an organization that conducts e-business with other organizations.

Introduction to trading partners
A trading partner is an organization that conducts e-business with other organizations. Sterling B2B Integrator must have certain information about trading partners to automate the secure exchange of business documents with them. Sterling B2B Integrator stores this information in a trading partner profile, which is known as a trading profile.
Before You Create Trading Partner Profiles
Before you create trading partner profiles, determine whether you and your trading partner are using digital certificates for secure data transport, decide whether you are using a basic profile or an advanced profile, collect the proper information, and ensure that the necessary servers and adapters are installed and configured.
Basic Trading Partner Profile
The basic trading partner profile option provides contact information about your trading partner and sets up communication properties to exchange documents with your trading partners.
Advanced Trading Partner Profile
Sterling B2B Integrator offers an advanced trading profile set-up option that includes separate records for identity, transport, document exchange, delivery channel, packaging, and profile.
Import and Export Trading Partner Data
Export trading partner data to create a file in one system that you can import in another system to create the same records in both systems. You can use this method for multiple Sterling B2B Integrator systems or for multiple IBM® Global High Availability Mailbox systems (V5.2.6.2 or later)
Contracts
A contract is an agreement between trading partners. It details how they conduct business transactions.
Code Lists
Sterling B2B Integrator uses code pairs in code lists to identify items in transactions between two or more trading partners.
Introduction to B2B Services
The B2B services simplify sophisticated decisions, run business subprocesses, and send documents to trading partners through the appropriate transport protocol.
B2B Lookup Service
The B2B Lookup service is used by other services and business processes to retrieve trading partner contract records and profile information.
B2B Send Service
The B2B Send service sends messages to a consumption (receiving) trading partner by using trading profile information in the contract.
B2B Respond Service
After you create and run a business process that includes the B2B Respond service, the business process responds to a message received from the trading partner by sending a message.
B2B Request-Response Service
The B2B Request-Response service uses the production (sending) profile of a contract to send a request to, and to retrieve a response from, the production trading partner.
Implementing Business Process Specification Schemas (BPSS)
The BPSS contains the specification of business activities within a business process, which enables Sterling B2B Integrator to assemble the activities according to business agreements among trading partners.
Check in a BPSS
There are two ways to check in a BPSS.
Import and Export a BPSS
You can import or export a BPSS from under the Deployment menu.
Check in a CPA
After checking in a BPSS, you can check in a CPA. The process to check in a CPA is similar to the process to check in a BPSS.
Create a BPSS Extension
You can create a BPSS extension to assign one or more business processes to the requesting or responding activities in the schemas.
About ebXML
When you implement ebXML, consider that ebXML fails to retrieve dsig key cert from CPA because the XPath in the BPML is wrong and fails to test Ping/Pong.
ebXML CPA Lookup
ebXML CPA Lookup does not output a unique service name, you must edit the ebCPALookup.xslt business process.
Create a Basic Trading Partner Profile using AFT
You can create a Basic Trading Partner Profile by using Advanced File Transfer.
Create a Basic Trading Partner Profile using FTP
You can create a basic trading partner profile by using FTP.
Create a Basic Trading Partner Profile using HTTP
You can create a Basic Trading Partner Profile by using HTTP.
Create a Basic Trading Partner Profile using SMTP
You can create a basic trading partner profile by using SMTP.
Create an Advanced Trading Partner Profile
You can set up an advance profile for a trading partner.
Create an Identity Record
You can create an identity record from the Administration menu.
Create a Document Exchange Record
You can create a document exchange record from the Administration menu.
Create a Transport Record
You can create a transport record from under the Administration menu.
Create a Delivery Channel Record
You can create a delivery channel record from the Administration Menu.
Create a Packaging Record
You can create a packaging record from under the Administration menu.
Create a Trading Partner Profile Record
You can create a trading partner profile record from under the Administration menu.
Update a Basic or Advanced Trading Partner Record
You can update a basic or advanced profile trading partner record from the Administration menu.
Disable a Trading Partner Record
You can disable a trading partner record from the Administration menu.
Delete a Trading Partner Record
You can delete a trading partner record from the Administration menu.
Create a Trading Partner Contract
You can create a trading partner contract from under the Administration menu.
Update a Trading Partner Contract
You can update a trading partner contract from the Administration menu.
Delete a Trading Partner Contract
You can delete a trading partner contract from under the Administration menu.
Create a Code List
You can create a code list from under the Administration menu.
Update a Code List
Each time that you edit a code list or its code pairs, you create another version of the code list or code pair.
Change the Default Version of a Code List
You can change the default version of a code pair of a code list from the Administration menu.
Search for a Code List
You can search for a code list from under the Administration menu.
Enable a Code List
You must enable a code list to use it in a map.
Copy a Code List
You can copy a code list from the Administration menu.
Create a Version of a Code List
When you update a code list or its code pairs, you create another version of the code list or code pair.
Delete a Code List
You can delete a code list or a code pair from under the Administration menu.
Delete Versions of a Code List
You can delete an individual code list version or all versions of a code list.
Configure the Basic Customer Import File System Adapter
You can configure the Basic Customer Import file system adapter from the Deployment menu.
Import Trading Partner Data as a File Containing Envelopes and/or Control Numbers
You can import a file that contains envelopes or control numbers from under the Deployment menu.
Import Trading Partner Data Through the Basic Import Utility
You can import a file that contains document envelopes or control numbers from the command line.
Import Trading Partner Data as a CSV File
You can import a CSV file from the command line.
Export Trading Partner Data Using the Command Line
You can export a file from the command line.
Import Service GPM or the Workflow Context
The Import service exercises the same functions as the Import Resources option in the Resource Manager. When you use the Import service, all available resources are imported, and all imported versions are set as the defaults, where applicable.
Import Trading Partner using Basic Import Utility Process
The Basic Import Utility process imports converted XML files into Sterling B2B Integrator.
CSV File Layout
Your CSV file must conform to the file layout for the BasicCustomerImport map.
Exit Codes
Import utilities returns 0, 1, or 99 as exit codes based on import status.
Test an HTTP Profile
You can test the HTTP profile by going to the Trading Partner Profile screen in the Admin Console and selecting Test Now next to the profile you want to verify.