Re: XML downloaded...how to upload?

[Pete Hall <pbhall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 08:04 08/16/2002, Rick Rayburn wrote:
>We just closed an agreement to receive an EDI - type transmission in which
>the data file will be sent and retrieved in XML format. Having virtualy no
>experience with XML, I have no idea about how or what software might:
>
>1. convert the file to a CSV or text - type format
>2. convert to EBCDIC and land it on the AS400

Apparently, you've got some work to do. You have many options, but afaik
all of them will take more than a little work on your part. Somewhere,
you'll need to parse the XML data stream, and turn it into data elements
that mean something to you. That can be done anywhere. You'll probably want
to employ a parser application, rather than writing one yourself.
Alphaworks built one for the AS400. Microsoft makes one that's free. There
are others. Platform isn't a limitation. Expect to struggle at first. You
need a fair understanding of a lot of stuff before any of it makes sense.

You could also look at BizTalk server (Microsoft). BizTalk 2002 seems to
work well (solid and not too many warts). It's very flexible, will
interface with just about anything, includes a powerful workflow processor
and very easy VB script mapping widgets (functiods). Even though it comes
from the evil empire, I've gotta say it's very impressive. It's definitely
not free though. If EDI (in any of its forms) is important to your
organization, it's worth a look. In-depth knowledge of XML/XSLT is not
required. Plan on getting outside help at first though.


Pete Hall
pbhall@ameritech.net
http://www.ameritech.net/users/pbhall/index.html