Method and apparatus for electronic data interchange
Contents
1. Default Value field will be displayed to be accepted or overridden C Constant The element and its related value will not be displayed on the data entry screen When the data are transmitted this element will be sent with whatever information is indicated in the Default Value field If the Requirement Code is CF or CP this element will be transmit ted only if the paired element the following element if CF and previous element if CP exists F Formula Use the formula in the field Default Value This element will not appear on the data entry screen HEADINGS Up to three lines of title for this element This is how the element will be labeled on the data entry screen DASHES A Y or N switch to indicate whether to display a line of dashes between the title lines and the data for this element The user uses the manipulative capabilities until all of the element attributes have been defined as desired It should be appreciated that the present invention enables the user to precisely define what information is going to be included in a particular transaction Unlike prior art approaches which hard code a set format for one 4 951 196 9 particular trading partner or a group of trading part ners the present invention permits a user to define a unigue transaction format for one or more trading part ners store it and then use the same equipment without further program modifications to define a totally2. comprised of a group of trading partners agencies countries departments within an organization etc that use a three tiered dictionary concept The 3 tiers are as follows 1 Tier 1 is the definition and identification of indi vidual unit data items known as elements Exam ples of elements are date date qualifiers quantity items number etc An element consists of a datum having an assigned fixed data length or variable data length 2 Tier 2 is the definition of records known as seg ments which are uniquely identified and consist of particular groupings of elements in a particular organization for the ultimate purpose of defining a part of a transaction Preferably but not necessar ily the grouping of elements in a particular seg ment should have some logical relationship Some elements may be required and others may be op tional within a particular segment 3 Tier 3 is the complete and full definition of trans actions which are uniquely identified Transactions are defined in terms of their segments in a particu lar order Some segments may be required and others may be optional in a particular transaction definition Also groups and subgroups of segments within a transaction may be further defined to indi cate multiple repetitions or iterations of the group and or subgroup loops The flexibility provided by dictionary defined trans actions unfortunately also causes some real world prob lems In practice larger
3. file Move spaces to the segment work area Move the current segment name to the segment work area Set the current position of the segment work area to the position immediately following the segment name KRRKRKRRK KK KA KR KH A a a KKK X12 TO FLAT FORMAT MAIN kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkKKRKKNKK Load dictionary structured transaction overlay Load flatfile image which was created during the build process for the current overlay Initialize flatfile image work file Set first record type to 99 last record type to 0 Open X12 data file for input Open the flat file for output Position to first segment in X12 data file Perform Segment Loop until end of transaction Perform Flat Image Process Close files Stop Run K kkkkRKKKKRKEKKKRKRKKK KKK TR KK KK KH KK KK KR REKKER KKK KKKKKKKKTKRKKK Segment Loop dk ck eo A oA GG G RA GI RR o TH KK KT A A A x I A x x x x x x Locate segment in overlay by segment name or use of type K elements If segment is defined in the overlay Get first element in segment Perform Element Loop thru Element Loop Exit until all elements in segment have been processed Get the next segment in the input X12 transaction Element Loop If element is blank Get next element in segment go to Element Loop Exit Locate proper element description in overlay FIGURE 6 B US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 12 of 26 4 951 196 If element has a default code of S Use this element to establish a qualifier qualified r
4. means comprises means for displaying to the user those segments that are mandatory for a given transaction means accessible to the user for modifying the num ber order and attributes of the segments and ele ments for a given transaction means for selecting a given system component having a plurality of fields some of which are associated with certain elements means for tailoring the given system component by moving the fields to different locations within the system component and means for automatically updating the mapping coor dinates of the elements associated with the moved fields 3 The system of claim 2 wherein said given system component is a data entry screen and wherein said ma chine system further comprises a keyboard for entering data and means for placing data entered onto the screen through the keyboard into an appropriate ordered position for its associated element in the dictionary structured transaction format 4 The system of claim 3 which further comprises means for transmitting translated data in a dictionary structured transaction format to a trading partner 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 12 5 A programmable machine system having a plural ity of system components for defining entering and translating business transaction data for transmitting said data among trading partners said system compris ing a input means for defining a dictionary structured tr
5. the chosen dictionary structured format Thus the first task is to appropriately configure the trading partner s sys tem 12 so that it can accommodate the demands dic tated by others for performing electronic data inter change therewith Upon starting up the system the screen 22 will dis play the main menu set forth in FIG 9 By selecting the option labeled Maintain System and Security Files the menu of FIG 8 will be displayed Pursuant to the present invention an overlay is first generated for each selected system component also sometimes referred to as the other part A system component can be any device e g printer screen disk etc where informa tion is preferably communicated in a more desirable user friendly or application friendly format than the dictionary structured format In FIG 8 overlays can be generated by entering one of the options 6 through 9 Option 6 is associated with the display 22 and keyboard 20 for purposes of entering data Option 7 is associated with the printer 24 whereas options 8 and 9 enable other system components to provide certain desirable conver sions of data listings A data entry overlay for subsequent use for data entry onto hard disk 16 via keyboard 20 and display 22 may be constructed so as to be very specific and to minimize keyboard input This is accomplished by se lecting only the segments and elements required using reserved words to call up data such as address from o
6. when needed for use 33 The method of claim 32 wherein the formatting steps b and e each include the substeps of using a flat file image work file to temporarily store data and periodically writing data from the image work file to a mass memory device 34 The method of claim 31 wherein the storing steps c and f each include the substep of writing transac tion group and interchange trailers to the fixed file at the end of at least the last segment of formatted data being stored in the DST file 35 The method of claim 31 wherein the formatting steps each include the substeps of locating current segments and elements in the DST overlay being used in the formatting step determining whether a current element is a constant or a formula if the current element is a constant moving the con stant value to a corresponding flat element and if the current element is a formula moving a calcu lated formula value to a corresponding flat ele ment 36 In a programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary structured transaction DST formats said machine system including a plurality of system components in cluding manual input means a display screen proces sor and memory a method of creating a data entry overlay to help minimize manual input of data compris ing the steps of interactively using the manual input means display Screen processor and memory to define with
7. 36 wherein the customizing step includes tailoring the appearance of the screen by moving at least two fields to different locations on the display screen 42 The method of claim 36 in which the DST over lay includes a plurality of segments with each segment having one or more functionally related elements in a defined sequence and wherein the customizing step includes modifying at least one of the segments 43 The method of claim 42 wherein the customizing step includes the substeps of a selecting desired segments out of those segments displayed on the display screen b specifying a maximum number of times a specific selected segment is permitted to appear specific location on the screen and c specifying whether particular groups of logically related segments will occur repetitively 44 The method of claim 42 in which each segment has a name and wherein the customizing step includes the substeps of a changing a segment name and b specifying beginning and ending segments of a group of logically related segments that occur re petitively 45 The method of claim 43 wherein the customizing step includes the substeps of a adding elements within a first segment of the basic data entry DST overlay and b deleting elements within a second segment of the basic data entry DST overlay 46 The method of claim 43 wherein the customizing step includes specifying attributes of elements within at least one segme
8. Bashore Road Palo Alto Calif The application program contains various modules as illustrated in FIG 1 These modules are periodically loaded into the processor 14 depending upon which functions the user desires to perform as indicated by his commands entered into the keyboard 20 The present invention is particularly concerned with the module which will be referred to as the Overlay Generator The source code for the Overlay Generator module is found in the microfiche appendix The overlay generator module is used for a variety of purposes FIG 4 A C describes how an overlay is used to enter data via the keyboard 20 and later to trans late it into a dictionary structured transaction ready for transmission to a trading partner FIG 5 A B de Scribes how an overlay is used for translating diction ary structured transaction data e g received from a trading partner via modem 26 into formatted printed output for use on the printer 24 This capability is useful for viewing or printing the transaction in a more user friendly format since the data as received are in a format that is not very understandable by ordinary human operators The second half of FIG 6 A C de scribes how an overlay is used to translate dictionary structured transaction data into formats composed of fixed field fixed length records contained in a file This capability is useful for presenting the data in a consis tent fixed format that can be more easily pro
9. GEMENT REPORTS partner specific data entry screens which are generated vis an overlay The entered data are These menu itens invoke the translation CONVERT X12 TO FLAT FILE translated also using the overlay CONVERT FLAT FILE TO X12 between transactions in a dictionary structured formats to from fixed file formats nn Select E Exit l using an overlay Option Enter option FIGURE 9 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 16 of 26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DATA ENTRY OVERLAYS SELECTION OVERLAY CODE TRANSACTION CODE DUI 850 PURCHASE ORDER nnzSelect AzAdd S Search C Copy DeDelete M Mrg X Xtract E Exit Option A Enter option FIGURE 10A US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 170f26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER DATA ENTRY OVERLAY SEGMENT SELECTION 7 SEGMENT OCCURS LOOPS ST TRANSACTION SET HEADER BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORO SELLER ADDRESS ADORESS CITY STATE ZIP SHIP TO ADDRESS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP BASELINE ITEM DATA DESCRIPTION TRANSACTION TOTALS TRANSACTION SET TRAILER NI N2 N3 N NI N2 N3 N 08 4 ON nn mn AD 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 3 1 1 nn el A Add D D1t B Build V View P Print T Trn Hdr EsExit Option Enter option FIGURE 10B US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 18 of 26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER DATA ENTRY OVERLAY SEGMENT UPDATE BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT
10. MENT POSITIONING et m Temm IL 0 DEFAULT POSITION 1 CALCULATED POSITION LINE 2 4 START NEW SCREEN LINE 3 P 0 DATE 1 HEADINGS Y or N DASHES Y or N C Change V View E Exit Option Enter option FIGURE 10F US Patent Aug 21 1990 Your Company Name Goes Here DATA ENTRY OVERLAY TRANSACTION HEADER COLUMN WIDTH MINIMUM GAP BETWEEN FIELDS 01 02 DEFAULT LINE SPACING 01 HEADINGS Y N DASHES Y N N OVERLAY DESCRIPTION PURCHASE ORDER C Change V Viev E Exit Enter option Sheet 220026 4 951 196 DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER REVERSE VIDEO ON ENTRY Y N N MANDATORY FIELO CHARACTER CONTINUATION CHARACTER Option FIGURE 10G US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 23 0f26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORDER DATA ENTRY OVERLAY SCREEN MODIFICATION 03 P 0 NUMBER P O NUMBER P 0 DATE DOCUMENTR TODAY SELLER ORGANIZATION SHIP TO ORGANIZATION E ADDR1 ST ADDRI ADDR2 ADOR2 ADDR3 CITY zC1TY U M UNIT PRICE VENDOR S PART NO ITEM DESCRIPTION amp 8 Enter to save position of field ESC to cancel move Option FIGURE 10H US Patent Aug 21 1990 DATA ENTRY OVERLAYS CA1 850 DU1 810 DUPONT INVOICE DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER BEG E353 01 E092 02 2 E324 03 10 E323 06 6 N1 elements etc These elements are handled as constants in the ov
11. O1 354 CTT02 347 CTTO3 NUMBER OF HASH TOTAL WEIGHT LINE ITEMS M NO 01 04 R 01 10 o R SEGMENT ELEMENT TITLE an NUMBER OF LINE ITEMS DESCRIPTION Total number of line items in a transaction set ELEMENT FIGURE 7 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 140f26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here MAINTAIN SYSTEM AND SECURITY FILEs 1 CONFIGURATION 10 ELEMENTS TRADING PARTNERS 11 SEGMENTS PART NUMBER CROSS REFERENCE 12 TRANSACTIONS L06 0Ns dictionary defined transaction formats SECURITY Specifically incorporated here are the ANSI ASC X12 and TDCC dictionaries which DATA ENTRY OVERLAYs are co ningled PRINT OVERLAYs This is a Supply Tech product in which the X12 TO FLAT OVERLAYS Overlay Generator is used to generate dictionary structured transsction formats 9 FLAT TO X12 OVERLAYS nnzSelect E Exit Option Enter option FIGURE 8 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 130626 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here STX12 MAIN MENU 1 MAINTAIN SYSTEM AND SECURITY FILES p 10 SEND RECEIVE TRANSACTIONS 11 PROCESS INCOMING TRANSACTIONS PROCESS OUTGOING TRANSACTIONS 13 ARCHIVE TRANSACTIONS 16 RESTORE TRANSACTIONS nn 15 ENTER INVOICES ENTER PRODUCTION RELEASES ENTER PURCHASE ORDERS ENTER PURCHASE ORDER ACKNOWLEDGE ENTER ADVANCE SHIP NOTICES ENTER PRODUCTION STATUSs These menu items direct the user to trading PRINT MANA
12. PURCHASE ORDER SEGMENT POSITION SEGMENT CODE SEGMENT NAME 02 BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT REQUIREMENT CODE MAXIMUM USE TYPICAL USE n n 000001 000001 01 POSITION OF SEGMENT THAT ENDS LOOP MAXIMUM LOOPS 00 N1 000000 000001 C Change V View E Exit Option Enter option FIGURE 10C US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 19 of26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DU1 850 PURCHASE ORDER DATA ENTRY OVERLAY ELEMENT SELECTION BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORDER sn es SEGMENT POSITION ELEMENT BEG 01 353 C TRANSACTION SET PURPOSE BEG 02 092 C PURCHASE ORDER TYPE BEG 03 324 P 0 NUMBER BEG 06 323 P 0 DATE nnzSelect AzAdd D Delete M Move V View U Update Seg EsExit Option Enter option FIGURE 10D US Patent Aug 21 1990 Your Company Name Goes Here DATA ENTRY OVERLAY ELEMENT UPDATE ELEMENT POSITION ELEMENT CODE 06 323 DATA TYPE DT DT M M DEFAULT CODE D DEFAULT VALUE CsChange V View E Exit Enter option REQUIREMENT CODE MINIMUM LENGTH Sheet 20 0 26 4 951 196 0U1 850 PURCHASE ORDER 8EG BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORDER DESCRIPTION P 0 DATE MAXIMUM LENGH 006 006 006 006 EDIT VALUE FROM 1 TO 1 FIGURE 10E US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 210f26 4 951 196 Your Company Name Goes Here DUL 850 PURCHASE ORDER DATA ENTRY OVERLAY ELEMENT UPDATE BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORDER eT AEN DING QUERRE SOMIT ELE
13. United States Patent 19 11 Patent Number 4 951 196 Jackson 4 Date of Patent Aug 21 1990 34 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EDI News Mar 1988 p 9 ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE EDI Trade Show brochure pp 12 15 date unknown 75 Inventor Angela G Jackson Lincoln Park Mich 73 Assignee Supply Tech Inc Southfield Mich 21 Appl No 190 147 Primary Examiner Clark A Jablon Attorney Agent or Firm Harness Dickey amp Pierce 57 ABSTRACT A programmable machine system and method for per 22 Filed May 4 1988 forming electronic data interchange among a variety of 51 trading partners The machine is programmed so that it 52 can define enter and translate business transaction data 58 in a variety of different dictionary structured formats N thereby providing the user with the flexibility to work 56 References Cited with electronic data in various formats without requir PUBLICATIONS ing reprogramming of the machine ST1 User Manual dated Jul 20 1988 by Supply Tech Inc 108 pages 48 Claims 26 Drawing Sheets Identity Overlay V Manipulate visual format of print amp data entry overlays N V Select segments establish their order Hard Disk Me gt Segment IDs and their v Determine overlay mapping amp format of other part gt Transaction IDs I order within transaction y Manipulate trans gt Ma
14. ansaction format having a plurality of elements in a particular organization b selector means for selecting a given system com ponent c overlay generator means cooperating with the input means and selector means for generating an overlay associated with the selected system com ponent said overlay being used to define at least one second format having positionable parts in the selected system component that are related to the elements in the dictionary structured transaction format the overlay also containing a mapping be tween the location of such parts in the selected system component to its associated elements in the dictionary structured format d translating means for translating data entered in the second format into said dictionary structured format and e transmitting means for transmitting the translated data in the dictionary structured transaction format to a trading partner 6 The system of claim 5 which further comprises memory means containing a an element dictionary including an identification code for a datum defining each element and certain parameters therefor b a segment dictionary including an identification code for each segment defined by a group of ele ments in a particular order and c a transaction dictionary including an identification code for each transaction defined by a plurality of segments in a particular order and wherein the system further comprises means for selecting infor
15. are allowed spatial ad 10 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 65 10 justment of displayed fields and titles for the data field of each element designated to receive keyed input If further tailoring of the display screen is desired the user can use this screen 10H to physically move the dis played fields to other areas of the screen thereby chang ing the mapping or can bring up any of the previously described screens to make additions deletions or title changes After a field on the data entry screen is repositioned the overlay generator module adjusts the formatting of the data entry screen and the mapping between the data entry fields and the elements in the dictionary struc tured format At this point in time the transaction for mat information is stored in a file on hard disk 16 This file contains a series of elements in the appropriate order for that transaction format The file also contains identi fication information for each element its position and its length The file also contains a coordinate which is associated with the related field in the other system component or other part which will be described A simplified representation of the overlay file is set forth in FIG 11 where overlays for three different transac tions are pictorially represented The overlay for trans action format DU1 850 consists of ordered segments BEG NI etc and their associated elements The ele ments are in the specified
16. cessed by other application programs The first half of FIG 6A C describes how fixed field fixed length records contained in such a file can be translated into a diction ary structured transaction format ready for transmis sion to a trading partner or for other purposes The foregoing text will concentrate on describing how one particular overlay is generated and used for entering data which are stored on hard disk 16 Once the data are stored in a dictionary structured format using the over lay it can be used in a variety of manners as described in connection with FIGS 5 and 6 above In addition it can be transmitted to the trading partner via modem 26 Likewise transaction information received via modem 26 from a trading partner can be stored in hard disk 16 with the overlay generator module being capable of translating it into more user friendly form such as map ping the data entries onto appropriate pixel positions or fields on display 22 Thus while the foregoing descrip tion will focus in on a specific example it should be understood that the present invention has a much broader applicability The hard disk 16 is used primarily for both storing computer application programs and records or files of data that can be accessed by the processor 14 The stored data include the dictionaries corresponding to the tier 1 tier 2 and tier 3 structure for a dictionary defined transaction as discussed above FIG 7 illus trates the conce
17. cond overlay for the second 5 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 DST format with each such overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordi nates of given elements to related fields of a se lected one of the system components and second means using the first overlay for translating data in the first DST format into a different format for use with the selected one of the system compo nents and using the second overlay for translating data in the second DST format into the different format for use with the selected one of the system components whereby the same programmable machine system and the selected system components is operated on data in different DST formats without reprogram ming applications software to accommodate such different DST formats 16 The machined system of claim 15 in which the system components includes at lest a data entry screen device and a mass memory device and wherein the first means defines different overlays for use with the data entry screen device and the mass memory device 17 The machine system of claim 15 wherein two of the selected system components are a data entry screen and a keyboard for entering data and the machine sys tem further comprises means for placing data entered onto the screen through the keyboard into the appropriate ordered position for its associated element in a DST format 18 The system of claim 15 in which th
18. cting for generating overlay means associ ated with the selected system component the over lay means being for defining a second format hav ing positionable parts associated within locations in the selected system component that are related to the elements in the DST format the overlay means 4 951 196 15 also containing mapping means for correlating the locations of such parts in the selected system com ponent to associated elements in the DST format and means for translating data entered in the second for mat into the DST format 21 The system of claim 20 which further comprises means for transmitting data translated into the DST format to a trading partner 22 The system of claim 20 which further comprises programmed memory means containing a an element dictionary including an identification code for each datum defining an element b a segment dictionary including an identification code for each segment defined by a group of ele ments in a particular order and c a transaction dictionary including an identification code for each transaction defined by a plurality of segments in a particular order 23 The system of claim 22 which further comprises means for selecting information from the dictionaries in order to create different DST formats 24 A method of using a programmable machine in cluding a mass memory keyboard data entry screen and central processing unit CPU to enter electronic business da
19. ctive input with a generalized format covering multiple trading partners They cannot produce exacting dictionary structured transaction formats and other part formatting to 4 951 196 3 the specific trading partner reguirements as is done by the present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables a trading partner to define the formats of a dictionary structured business transaction which provide the basis for the subseguent entry and translation of business transaction data for transmission among a variety of other trading partners All this can be accomplished without requiring pro gramming changes to the user s machine system The programmable machine system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an input means for defining a dictionary structured transaction format that has a plurality of elements in a particular organization Provision is made for selecting a particular system component such as a printer screen or the like which is typically not well suited for using the dictionary structured format to interface with a human operator An overlay generator generates an overlay that includes a second format associated with the selected system component The second format has elements or fields that are related to the elements in the dictionary structured format The overlay generator also generates a mapping between the related elements of the two formats Data that are en
20. differ ent transaction format for a different trading partner Once a transaction format has been defined in accor dance with the process just described the user exits back through to the screen in FIG 10B In addition to setting these very specific parameters already mentioned the user can set some overall trans action parameters for doing the mapping to the data entry screen To this end the screen of FIG 10G is accessed by the user by entering Option T in the screen of FIG 10B The screen of FIG 10G contains various fields where the user can enter information to build default attributes of the data entry screen These attributes are outlined as follows COLUMN WIDTH This field can set up the data entry screen in columns Each element placed on the screen will start in a position that is an even increment of the Column Width For example if the Column Width is 10 then the elements on the data entry screen will start on positions 10 20 30 40 50 only Most typically this is set to 1 to allow mapping in any area of the screen MINIMUM GAP BETWEEN FIELDS This sets the minimum number of spaces between each element on a data entry screen REVERSE VIDEO ON ENTRY Y N Y 2 When an element is filled in on the data entry screen it will have a white background and the characters will be black N Black background with white characters DEFAULT LINE SPACING Number of blank lines between an element the first
21. e system com ponents include a memory device and wherein the memory device contains information associated with segments and elements of a given transaction and wherein the first means comprises means for displaying to a user those segments that are mandatory for a given transaction and means accessible to the user for modifying the num ber order and attributes of the segments and ele ments for a given transaction 19 The system of claim 15 in which a plurality of the system components each have a plurality of different locations for data therein and the system further com prises means for selecting a given system component having a plurality of fields at various different locations some of which are associated with certain ele ments means for tailoring a given system component by moving selected one of such fields to different locations within the system component and means for automatically updating mapping coordi nates of the elements associated with the moved fields 20 A programmable machine system having a plural ity of components for defining entering and translating business transaction data to be transmitted among trad ing partners the system comprising input means for defining a dictionary structured transaction DST format having a plurality of elements arranged in a particular organization means for selecting a given system components means cooperating with the input means and means for sele
22. ed to the corresponding dictionary defined trans action The user can edit this screen as desired to select the segments and Occurs and Loops Some seg ments are repeated multiple times at their specific loca tion in the transaction Occurs refers to the maximum number of times a segment is permitted to appear at that location Within transactions specific groups of logi cally related segments occur repetitively The repeti tion of a group is referred to as a loop The attributes of each segment can be further modi fied to the exact requirements of the desired dictionary structured transaction using the manipulation capabili ties of the Overlay Generator using the screen format shown in FIG 10C by entering the appropriate line number in FIG 10B associated with the segment that is desired to be modified These further attributes are as follows SEGMENT NAME A field for the name of the partic ular segment REQUIREMENT to be O Optional The segment does not need to be used M Mandatory This segment must be used in the Transaction F Floating MAXIMUM USE The maximum allowable number of times this segment may be used at this location in the transaction The number enclosed in the parentheses is the dictionary defined number allowed for the maximum use but is not a limiting factor TYPICAL USE This is the number of times the ele ments in this segment are to appear as a table on the data entry screen Thi
23. elationship for printing Go to Element Loop Exit Use record type and position contained in the overlay element description to find the position into which the current element data are to be placed If this element will overlay a value already loaded into the flat image work file Perform Flat Image Process Place the element data into the flat image work file at the position in the record indicated by the overlay element description If current specified line is greater than last record type Move current line to last record type Else If current specified line is less than first record type Move current line to first record type Get the next element in the segment Element Loop Exit Exit Flat Image Process Write the flat image work file from first record type to last record type Initialize the flat image work file from first record type to last record type Set first record type to 99 last record type to 0 FIGURE 6 C US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 130f26 4 951 196 PURCHASE ORDER TRANSACTION SEGMENT TITLE TRANSACTION SET HEADER BEG BEGINNING SEGMENT PURCHASE ORDER N1 NAME N3 STREET ADDRESS N3 i STREET ADDRESS N4 CITY STATE PER ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNICATIONS CONTAC ITD TERMS OF SALE DEFERRED TERMS OF SALE DTM DATE TIME REFERENCE PO1 BASELINE ITEM DATA ITEM DESCRIPTION TRANSACTIONS TOTALS TRANSACTION SET TRAILER END TRANSACTION SET CTT
24. erlay and therefore are not on the data entry screen X12 TO FLAT OVERLAYS CA2 210 XYZ FRT INVOICE DU2 850 PURCHASE ORDER BEG elements REF elements FOB elements etc CATERPILLAR PO NU3 830 NUMMI RELEASE Sheet 240026 4 951 196 PRINT OVERLAYS CAR 830 CAT RELEASE CR2 850 CONRAIL PO FD1 850 FORD PO BEG elements NTE elements N1 elements etc FLAT TO X12 OVERLAYS MNR 830 NISSAN REL SM2 860 PO CHANGE REQ V12 850 VICS PO BEG elements Ni elements N2 elements etc FIGURE 11 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 250f26 4 951 196 DATA ENTRY SCREEN MAPPED USING DU1 850 DATA ENTRY OVERLAY X1 x2 x3 X4 x5 FIGURE 12 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet260f26 4 951 196 MAPPING PROCESS FROM DATA ENTRY SCREEN TO TRANSMISSION FORMAT Keyed Data Data Entry Overlay gt Data Stream for Transmission D1 X5 Y2 DU1 850 PO Overlay gt BEG E353 E092 D1 D2 D2 X2 Y3 See FIGURE 11 FIGURE 13 4 951 196 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE MICROFICHE APPENDIX This application contains a microfiche appendix of 5 software modules A B C D and E Module A has 2 microfiche with a total of 75 frames including test target and description frames Module B has 6 micro fiche with a total of 331 frames including test target and description frames Module C has 2 microfiche with a total of 117 f
25. for the current overlay Initialize intermediate work file Display screen image loaded from screen image file part of overlay Reference first element in dictionary structured transaction Perform Field Entry Process until end of transaction Add transaction to list of transactions to format Field Entry Process I currently displayed screen is not the screen indicated by the current element Display the screen image indicated by the current element Use the element row column calculated during the build process to position to the proper field on the screen Check the intermediate work file for data value corresponding to the current element If the value exists on the intermediate work file Move the intermediate value to the input value area Else If there is a default value defined in the overlay for this element Move the default value to the input value area Else Move spaces to the input value area Set error condition to true Perform Accept Loop until error condition is false Write Input value to Intermediate work file Reference next element in dictionary structured transaction FIGURE 4 A US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 60 26 4 951 196 Accept Loop Accept the input value from the console at the designated cursor position If the input value is blank If the element is mandatory Display an error message Go to end of accept loop Edit the input value according to data type and reserved words specified
26. h a tremen dous amount of flexibility without requiring a change in the software Thus it is not necessary to rewrite the software every time a new trading partner dictates a different dictionary structured transaction format Var ious other advantages of the present invention will be come apparent to those skilled in the art after having the benefit of a study of the specification drawings micro fiche appendix and following claims I claim 1 A programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in a plurality of different dic tionary structured transaction formats said machine system including a plurality of system components said machine system comprising first means for defining an overlay for each of the different dictionary structured formats each such overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordinates of given elements to re lated fields of a given system component and second means using a selected overlay for translat ing data in one of the dictionary structured formats into a different format for use on the given system component whereby the same programmable machine system is operated on different dictionary structured trans action formats without software modification 2 The system of claim 1 in which one of the system components is a memory and wherein said memory contains information associated with segments and ele ments of a given transaction and wherein said first
27. hase Orders Purchase Order Acknowledge ments Requests for Quotes Quotes Invoices and Bank Remittances Thus instead of documenting these trans actions on paper the data are transmitted electronically typically via a modem or digital data line connection between computer systems operated by each trading partner There may or may not be involved a third party service to receive store and forward these elec tronic business transactions In order to permit the translation and use of docu ments exchanged between the computer systems there must be established some type of standards for the defi nition of transactions Such standards that have been implemented include ANSI ASC X12 set up by the American National Standards Institute EDIACT Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Com merce and Transport and TDCC Transportation Data Coordinating Committee formats These formats uti lize element segment and transaction dictionaries These dictionaries are extremely flexible in that they have only a few mandatory requirements and a wide variety of options Thus a particular trading partner can specifically tailor a business transaction such as an Invoice to its own needs while still being within the standard format 25 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 For purposes of this invention the term dictionary defined transaction format is a format which has been agreed upon by a standard s organization which may be
28. heading of the next ele ment down MANDATORY FIELD CHARACTER The charac ter that will appear just before a keyed area on a data entry screen when both the segment and the element are mandatory This field may be left blank DASHES Y N Dashes are dotted lines just under a heading The dashes indicate the maximum size of the element Y The dashes will appear N The dashes will not appear Dashes are not necessary for data entry if you are using reverse video which also shows field size CONTINUATION CHARACTER Ifa segment has a typical use of 2 or more and the entire segment will fit on one line of the screen a table will be generated on the screen for the element in this segment The Con tinuation Character will appear before the first ele ment in each row of the table after the first row The character that is to be displayed to denote multiple table entries of the same data without replacing the heading OVERLAY DESCRIPTION This is where identifica tion of the trading partner and transaction are as signed to the overlay Exiting from screen 10G to screen 10B again the next step is to select the B build option to have the sys tem complete the first attempt at mapping of the dic tionary structured data to the in this case data entry screen Exiting from this screen 10B now brings up a manipulation screen like that shown in 10H FIG 10H shows the actual physical appearance of a data entry screen and the softw
29. iate element value into the segment work area starting at the current position and increment the current position to point to the character just past the end of the data that were just placed in the segment work area Reference next element in overlay New Overlay Process If X12 formatted transaction file is open perform Close Process Open X12 formatted file for output Write the X12 Interchange group and transaction headers Load dictionary structured transaction overlay Close Process Perform Write Segment Write X12 transaction group and interchange trailers Close X12 formatted file Write segment Strip any trailing element separators from the end of the segment work area decrementing the current position for each element separator stripped Place a segment terminator at the current position of the segment work area Write the segment work area to the X12 formatted data file Move spaces to the segment work area Move the current segment name to the segment work area Set the current position of the segment work area to the position immediately following the segment name FIGURE 4 C US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 8of26 4 951 196 RAEKKEKRKEKERAEKEKRAKEKKREREEK X12 TO PRINT FORMAT MAIN RRRIKAK ox o x x x x A A x XXX X Load dictionary structured transaction overlay Load flatfile image which was created during the build process for the current overlay Initialize flatfile image work file Set first
30. id element dictionary including an identification code for a datum defining each element and certain pa rameters therefor i storing a segment dictionary in the memory said segment dictionary including an identification code for each segment defined by a group of elements in a particular order and j storing a transaction dictionary in the memory said transaction dictionary including an identifica tion code for each transaction defined by a plural ity of segments in a particular order and wherein step b includes automatically displaying mandatory segments for each transaction code on the screen 13 The method of claim 12 which further comprises k modifying the displayed segments to thereby spe cifically tailor the transaction format as desired 14 The method of claim 13 which further comprises D performing steps a through e for a plurality of different trading partners whereby the machine is used to define enter and translate business transac tion data for transmission among a variety of trad ing partners even though each such trading partner uses different dictionary structured transaction formats 15 A programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in first and second diction ary structured transaction DST formats the machine system having a plurality of system components the machine system comprising first means for defining a first overlay for the first DST format and a se
31. ile and 2 how an overlay is used programmatically for translating transactions into formats composed of fixed field fixed length records contained in a file from dic tionary structured formats FIG 7 is a diagram showing the relationship among the three tiers element segment transaction of dic tionary defined transactions and dictionary structured transactions 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 4 FIG 8 is a submenu which shows how the overlay generator is accessed and how the three tier dictionary of dictionary defined transactions is accessed FIG 9 is the main menu which shows how data entry and file translation which require overlays are in voked FIG 10A is a representation of a screen which is used to identify a data entry overlay FIG 10B is a representation of a screen which is used to add and delete segments used in an overlay FIG 10C is a representation of a screen which is used to define or change the attributes of a segment used in a particular overlay FIG 10D is a representation of a screen which is used to add and delete elements used in a particular overlay FIGS 10E and 10F are a representation of screens which are used to define or change the attributes of an element used in a particular overlay FIG 10G is a representation of a screen which is used to define or change the overall data entry screen attri butes used by the Overlay Generator when it builds the data entry screen a
32. in the element definition in the overlay If the input value is acceptable Set the error condition to false Else Display an error message KRRREKREREKEKEKERERKKEKRERREKEKEKREKREREKREEREKEKRKEKEKKEEKAKAREKKKEKE Format Loop K RKRUKRKARKRKKRKRKAKKKKRRKRKKRKK KRHRKKAKRRRHAKRKRRKKRKR RKRRKK RKKKK a a If a different overlay is required perform New Overlay Process Initialize formulas Open Data Entry Intermediate file for input Move spaces to segment work area Position at first element in overlay Perform Format Process until end of transaction Perform Close Process Get next transaction in list to format Format Process Locate the current segment in the overlay based on the current element If element is a constant Move constant value to intermediate element value Else If element is a formula Move calculated formula value to intermediate element value Else Locate element on Data Entry Intermediate file to use intermediate element value from file If the current segment is not the segment that is in the segment work area Calculate any formulas depending on values in this segment Perform Write Segment FIGURE 4 B US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 70026 4 951 196 Format the intermediate element value according to its data type minimum length and maximum length Place an element separator in the current position of the segment work area and increment the current position of the segment work area Place the intermed
33. lat file is reached go to Format Process Exit If the current segment is not the segment that is in the segment work area Calculate any formulas depending on values in this segment Perform Write Segment Format the flat element value according to its data type minimum length and maximum length Place an element separator in the current position of the segment work area and increment the current position of the segment work area Place the intermediate element value into the segment work area starting at the current position and increment the current position to point to the character just past the end of the data that were just placed in the segment work area Reference next element in overlay Format Process Exit Exit FIGURE 6 A US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 11 0f26 4 951 196 New Overlay Process If X12 formatted transaction file is open perform Close Process Open X12 formatted file for output Write the X12 Interchange group and transaction headers Load dictionary structured transaction overlay Close Process Perform Write Segment Write X12 transaction group and interchange trailers Close X12 formatted file Write segment Strip any trailing element separators from the end of the segment work area decrementing the current position for each element separator stripped Place a segment terminator at the current position of the segment work area Write the segment work area to the X12 formatted data
34. line to 99 last line to 0 Open X12 data file for input Position to first segment in X12 data file Perform Segment Loop until end of transaction Perform Print Image Process Close files Stop Run KRRRRRRKKKR x x x Ge e e eo 00 oe ee o o o Ge o A x x e A 0 x x A A A x x x x RKR Segment Loop REKKREREKAEKRREKKREKKEKKKERRERKEEKKKEKEKKEREKKEEKKKEEREEAKEKEKSR Locate segment in overlay by segment name or use of type K elements If segment is defined in the overlay Get first element in segment Perform Element Loop thru Element Loop Exit until all elements in segment have been processed Get the next segment in the input X12 transaction Element Loop If element is blank Get next element in segment go to Element Loop Exit Locate proper element description in overlay If element has a default code of S Use this element to establish a qualifier qualified relationship for printing Go to Element Loop Exit Use line and column positions contained in the overlay element description to find the position into which the current element data are to be placed If this element will overlay a value already loaded into the print image work file Perform Print Image Process FIGURE 5 A US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 90 26 4 951 196 Place the element data into the print image work file at the position in the line indicated by the overlay element description If current specified line is greater than last line Move current line to las
35. mation from said dictio naries to create a plurality of different diction ary structured transaction formats with the overlay generator means being used to create second formats for the selected system compo nent and a mapping to each transaction format that is created 7 The system of claim 6 wherein at least one of the system components includes a keyboard the selected system component is a display screen the system uses a selected overlay to position certain characters on the display screen that are associated with a given element together with data entry fields therefor the keyboard is used to enter data into the data entry field on the display screen and the system translates entered data into the dictionary structured format 8 The system of claim 6 wherein the selected component is a printer used to print data in a user friendly format and said overlay is used by the translating means to trans late data to be printed via the printer from the dictionary structured format into the user friendly format 9 The system of claim 6 wherein said memory means includes a disk memory and said overlay is used by the translating means to translate 4 951 196 13 data in a dictionary structured format into a fixed field format for storage on the disk memory 10 The system of claim 6 wherein said selected system component is a disk memory and said overlay is used by said translating means to trans late data st
36. nt of the basic data entry DST overlay 47 The method of claim 46 wherein specifying attri butes of elements within segments is accomplished at least in part by using the manual input means to enter particular selections of attributes for selected elements displayed upon the display screen 48 The method of claim 46 wherein the attributes specified include at least two attributes selected from the group of attributes consisting of element codes data types requirement codes number of characters and default codes
37. of its primary features is that the present invention permits the vendor s computer system to define enter and translate business transaction data for transmission not only to just one customer but also to other customers which may and usually have different dictionary structured transaction format re quirements The basic system configuration includes an IBM mi crocomputer such as an IBM XT AT PS 2 or any IBM compatible microcomputer that uses an MS DOS operating system and which can accommodate the boards and devices of the following system compo nents The processor 14 communicates with a fixed hard disk 16 of 10 megabytes or more as well as with floppy disk drive s 18 A terminal including a keyboard 20 and display screen 22 provides a user interface with input 4 951 196 5 output capabilities A printer 24 with parallel interface is employed for providing hard copy Finally a modem 26 is used to provide bidirectional communication be tween processors of the various trading partners The processor 14 operates under the instructions of an application program which is typically contained on a hard disk and entered into the internal memory 28 of the processor in a conventional manner via disk drive 18 The application program of the specific embodiment of this invention was written in the COBOL language and compiled by a compiler commercially available under the trademark Professional COBOL supplied by Microfocus 2463 E
38. on within segment Note that elements 4 amp 5 have been deleted in the previous step The attributes of each element can be modified to the exact requirements of the desired dictionary structured transaction using the screen format shown in FIG 10E which is accessed by entering the appropriate sequence number in FIG 10D As with the segments the fields labeled ELEMENT POSITION and ELEMENT CODE refer to each elements position within that segment and its dictionary defined code The modifi able attributes are as follows ELEMENT CODE This is the code of the element that belongs in this seguential position of the segment being defined DESCRIPTION Free Form Description DATA TYPE Defines the type of data the element must contain Codes are AN Alphanumeric ID Identifier Must be specific code as defined by ANSI NN Fixed Decimal Numeric DT Date TM Time 24 hour clock HHMM format R Floating Decimal Point Numeric REQUIREMENT CODE Mandatory optional or conditional MINIMUM LENGTH Minimum number of characters the element must contain If the Element Type is N or R this count does not include the sign or deci mal point MAXIMUM LENGTH Maximum number of charac ters the element can contain If the Element Type is N or R this count does not include the sign or decimal point DEFAULT CODE BLANK Default Value is not used D Defauit When the data entry screen s used the contents of the
39. order and each element has the following information its dictionary defined identi fication code its position within the segment its field length and its mapping coordinates For example the third element in the segment BEG is code number 324 and the adjacent identifier 03 signifies that it is the third position in that segment A typical number for its length would be 10 The mapping coordinate X5 Y2 defines where the field for that element appears on the data entry screen The definition of the location for each field is discussed in connection with building the screen The overlay generator module operates in a similar manner to generate the other overlays pictori ally represented in FIG 11 Assume that during the screen building process the user located the fields in the character positions shown in FIG 12 which represents a simplified data entry screen The overlay generator during the mapping process would locate the character position of the first element in the transaction format file and insert those mapping coordinates X5 Y2 in the appropriate field in the data entry overlay The other elements likewise contain their respective mapping coordinates If the user decides to rebuild a new screen the elements in the transaction format file remain in their same order but the mapping coordinates will change to correspond to their new location on the screen The overlays for the other system components e g printer are ar
40. ordinates e formatting at least one segment of data in the second DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay and f storing the data formatted in step e in a fixed file in a mass memory device 29 The method of claim 28 further comprising the steps of storing the first and second DST overlays in a mass memory device for later use loading the first DST overlay from the mass memory device into the processor when needed for use and loading the second DST overlay into the processor from the mass memory into the processor when needed fur use 30 The method of claim 28 wherein in the format ting steps b and e each include the substeps of 1 finding a position where current element data corresponding to a specific element in the DST format are to be placed 2 determining whether such current element data would overlay a value already loaded into a flat image work file 3 writing the flat image work file if in substep 2 it is determined that the current element data would overlay a value already loaded into the flat image work file 31 In a programmable machine system including a manual input means a display screen processor and a mass memory device for operating on business transac tion data in different dictionary structured transaction DST formats a method of translating data organized in a fi
41. ored on the disk memory in a fixed field format into a dictionary structured format 11 A method of using a programmable machine to perform electronic data interchange among trading partners with at least two of the trading partners em ploying different dictionary defined transaction for mats said programmable machine having a plurality of system components including a keyboard a display screen and a memory said method comprising a entering a transaction code into the keyboard for a given trading partner b displaying segments for the entered transaction code on the screen c creating a data entry overlay that includes infor mation stored in the memory which contains an ordered seguence of elements in a dictionary struc tured format and mapping coordinates to positions on the screen where associated data fields relating to each element are located d moving the data entry fields on the screen to generate a desired screen format with the mapping coordinates to the associated elements in the over lay being updated accordingly e entering data into the data entry fields f using the data entry overlay to translate the en tered data into the appropriate order for the de fined dictionary structured transaction format and g transmitting data in the dictionary structured transaction format to a trading partner 12 The method of claim 11 which further comprises h storing an element dictionary in the memory sa
42. out manually coding a computer program a basic data entry DST overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordinates of given ele ments to related fields of the display screen by specifying an overlay code and a transaction type code and customizing the basic data entry overlay thus defined by modifying at least one of the characteristics provided in the basic data entry overlay 15 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 18 37 The method of claim 36 wherein the customizing step includes modifying at least one of the elements provided in the data entry overlay 38 The method of claim 36 wherein the customizing step includes specifying overall transaction parameters for mapping data entered via the manual input means to the display screen 39 The method of claim 38 wherein the overall transaction parameters being specified include at least two parameters elected from the group of screen pa rameters consisting of column width minimum gap between elements on the display screen reverse video selection default line spacing and mandatory field characters adjacent selected fields 40 The method of claim 38 wherein the overall transaction parameters being specified include visual effects on the screen to indicate maximum allowable sizes of corresponding elements and overlay descrip tion fields where identification of a trading partner and transaction are placed on the screen 41 The method of claim
43. overlay type Aug 21 1990 Flat File Build no v Initialize row column Exit Locate next element in order for this segment End of segment gt mapping Y routine Sheet 3 of 26 Initialize record and postion FIGURE 3 A 4 951 196 element fit in remaining part of record N Vv Increment record no reset postion within record V Update record no in Element parameters v Increment record postion immediately beyond element US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 4of26 4 951 196 Calculate row and column based on element s offset Reset column increment row v Save calculated row and column in Element parameters Vv Update mapping with header and attribute data v Increment immed iately beyond element FIGURE 3 B US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 50026 4 951 196 REKKERRAKKREREKERERKKEEK Data Entry Process Main KR U KRKARKKRKKRRKRKKK RKKKIKK Perform Entry Loop until all transactions have been entered Position to first transaction in list to format Perform Format Loop until end of entered transactions list Stop Run RRR REMARK IKE U HH TH RK RK RE KR A A a a U Entry Loop PERF EEE RER TER ER EL ELITE N EZ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 If transaction requires a different overlay Load Dictionary structured transaction overlay Load screen images which were created during the build process
44. pping action parameters title spend etc gt Transaction parameters gt Element IDs and their order within segment V Select elements amp establish their order gt Segment parameters I gt Element parameters V Manipulate segment parameters loops occurances etc v Manipulate element parameters data type size etc Only the direct and basic relationships and functionality are shown Specifically alternate module calling sequences are not shown additional module functions are not shown utility modules such as view and print are not shown indirect updates such as overlay element update affecting the mapping are not shown and initial updates much as overlay selection initializing default values for all overlay data are not shown US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 10026 4 951 196 0 Keyboard 5 CPU v v M H H 3 et m H u Processor Displays um nsnm Internal Memory Hard Disk lt gt Modem Telephone Connection Kid Keyboard gt CPU 20 Processor 14 i v Floppy Disk Unit Virre Memory 15 3 Hard Disk Application Programs s Overlay Generator program modules Data entry print file translation dictionary handling program modules Other application program modules Files Overlays for data entry print file translation Element segment transaction dictionaries dic
45. ptual relationship between the informa 20 25 35 40 45 50 60 65 6 tion in the transaction segment and element dictionar ies The element dictionary being the most basic in cludes an identification code e g 354 a title e g Number of Line Items data type e g N0 5 and the minimum and maximum data field lengths e g 1 and 4 respectively The segment dictionary includes an identification code and one or more functionally related elements positioned in a defined sequence The identification code CTT in FIG 7 thus defines a seg ment utilizing element numbers 354 347 etc in that order Also included is the designator M or O which indicates whether or not the element is required man datory or optional in this segment The transaction dictionary stored on disk 16 includes an identification code for each transaction e g 850 denotes a Pur chase Order transaction and one or more functionally related segments in a defined sequence Also included is a designator which indicates whether or not the seg ment is required mandatory or optional in this transac tion The transaction dictionary would contain both the mandatory and optional segments for each transaction In practice a trading partner will decide what infor mation it will require for particular transactions and typically provide each of its trading partners with a manual implementation guide which sets forth
46. rames including test target and description frames Module D has 1 microfiche with a total of 28 frames including test target and description frames and Module E has 1 microfiche with a total of 24 frames including test target and description frames A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protec tion The copyright owner has no objection to facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trade mark Office patent file or records but otherwise re serves all copyright rights whatsoever BACKGROUND 1 Technical Field This invention relates to programmable machine sys tems and more particularly to methods and apparatus for defining the formats of business transactions for the purposes of entering outputting printing and translat ing data which normally will be transmitted and re ceived among trading partners 2 Discussion Traditionally business transactions among trading partners have been documented primarily on paper thereby resulting the self evident problems associated with the storage and transmittal of a large number of physical documents In an attempt to overcome these problems the trend has been to use electronic data interchange EDT to transmit and receive various busi ness transactions among trading partners Examples of such transactions include Releases Advance Ship No tices Purc
47. ranged in similar fashion but contain mapping coordinates which are associated with that particular device The flow chart of FIG 3 describes in more detail how the ma chine system builds the data entry overlay i FIG 4 describes in detail how this overlay can now be used to enter and translate data for transmission to a trading partner Briefly data e g price associated with a given element e g E212 are entered into the related fields on screen 22 by the user via keyboard 20 The entered data and the element mapping coordinate are stored in an intermediate file The data are each associated with a mapping coordinate for each associ ated element Before it is time to actually transmit the data a software module instructs the CPU 14 to read each element from the pertinent overlay along with its 4 951 196 11 associated mapping coordinate see FIG 13 Software uses this mapping coordinate as a pointer to the interme diate file where is fetches the data having a correspond ing mapping coordinate Thus data D2 would be placed in the sixth position since it is associated with the sixth element E323 of the dictionary structured format see FIG 11 This reordering seguence continues until the data are all arranged in the appropriate seguence Then they can be transmitted to the trading partners in dictionary structured format In view of the foregoing it should be appreciated that the present invention provides the user wit
48. s field is only relevant if the Maximum Use is greater than one and all the ele ments will fit one line on a screen POSITION OF SEGMENT THAT ENDS LOOP If this segment is the first segment of a loop this field indicates the last segment in the loop If this segment does not start a loop this value must be zero MAXIMUM LOOPS If this segment is the first seg ment of a loop this is the maximum number of times it can complete the loop The number in this field must be zero if there is no loop HL LEVEL Hierarchical Level allows you to depict flexibly the relationships among HL segments This field shows relatively where this HL falls in rela tionship to others defined For example the Shipment HL may be designated level 1 the Order HL may be designated level 3 and the Item HL may be designated 6 The fields labeled SEGMENT POSITION refer to the ordinal position that the segment being defined holds within this rendition of this transaction The field labeled SEGMENT CODE refers to the segment ID the 2 to 3 characters which identifies the segment 0 20 25 30 40 45 50 60 65 8 The elements within each segment now can be added or deleted using the manipulation capabilities of the Overlay Generator using the screen format shown in FIG 10D The elements for each segment which make up the dictionary structured transaction are identified by their relative positi
49. s on the screen where associated data fields relating to each ele ment are located 27 The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of h moving the data entry fields associated with the first DST overlay on the screen to generate a de sired screen format and i updating mapping coordinates of the associated elements in the first DST overlay accordingly 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 16 28 In a programmable machine system including a keyboard a display screen a processor and at least one mass memory device for operating on business transac tion data in different dictionary structured transaction DST formats a method of transiating data organized in first and second DST formats to a file format com posed of fixed field fixed length records comprising the steps of a interactively using the keyboard display screen and processor to define without manually coding a computer program a first DST overlay including mapping coordinates b formatting at least one segment of data in the first DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with map ping coordinates contained in the first DST over lay c storing the data formatted in step B in a fixed file in a mass memory device d interactively using the keyboard display screen an processor to define without manually coding a computer program a second DST overlay includ ing mapping co
50. ssociated with a particular data entry overlay FIG 10H is a representation of a screen which shows the actual physical appearance of a data entry screen FIG 11 is a pictorial representation of the types of overlays presently produced by this overlay generator FIG 12 is a matrix representation of the relationship of the elements in a data entry overlay to the coordinate position of their associated fields on a data entry screen and FIG 13 is a representation of the elements on a data entry overlay to their position in the transmission data stream in dictionary structured format DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG 1 illustrates a communication network for per forming electronic data interchange between the pro grammable machine systems 10 and 12 of various trad ing partners In order to simplify the description of the present invention and to provide a concise description of the best mode for practicing this invention it will be described in connection with a specific example utiliz ing programmable machine system 12 However it should be understood at the outset that this invention can be used by different computer equipment and imple mented in different software languages Assume that the machine system 10 belongs to a large customer and that machine system 12 belongs to a ven dor of that customer The customer will often dictate the dictionary structured transaction format that all of its vendors must use One
51. t line Else If current specified line is less than first line Move current line to first line Get the next element in the segment Element Loop Exit Exit Print Image Process Print the print image work file from first line to last line Initialize the print image work file from first line to last line Set first line to 99 last line to 0 FIGURE 5 B US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet 100f26 4 051 196 xx x x x x x o x xx x KH RK A xk kkkkkxkx FLAT FILE TO X12 FORMAT MAIN dk ck ox A ox A A x d e x x x A Xxx x x xx Xkxk kxkxx Position to first transaction in flat file Perform Format Loop until end of flat file Perform Close Process Close Flat file Stop Run kkkkkkkkkAkkkkkkkRkkkkkKkkRRKkKKKKKKREKKKKKAKKKRAKKKRKKKRKKRIEKKKK Format Loop kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkKkkkKKKKKkRKKKKKRKKKKKRRKKKKKKKKKK KKK KER KK If a different overlay is required perform New Overlay Process Initialize formulas Move spaces to segment work area Position at first element in overlay Perform Format Process thru Format Process Exit until a new header record is encountered or end of flat file Format Process Locate the current segment in the overlay based on the current element If element is a constant Move constant value to flat element value Else If element is a formula Move calculated formula value to flat element value Else Locate element from flat file If a header record is encountered in the flat file or the end of the f
52. ta in first and second different dictionary structured transaction DST formats into a machine in preparation for interchange of such data among trading partners said method comprising the steps of a loading from mass memory into the CPU a first DST overlay associated with the first DST format b entering data via the keyboard associated with given elements of the first DST format into related fields shown on the screen c under the control of the CPU and using the first DST overlay storing data entered during step b in an intermediate file d loading from mass memory into the CPU a sec ond DST overlay associated with the second DST format e entering data via the keyboard associated with given elements of the second DST format into related fields shown on the screen and f under the control of the CPU and using the second DST overlay storing data entered during e in an intermediate file 25 The method of claim 24 further comprising the step of g under the control of the CPU and using at least one DST overlay fetching data entered during steps b and e from one or more intermediate files in preparation for transmission of such data to a trading partner 26 The method of claim 24 further comprising the step of g creating the first and second DST overlays with each such overlay containing information about the ordered sequence of elements in its DST format and mapping coordinates to position
53. tered in the second format are translated into the dictionary structured format so that they can be later transmitted in that for mat to a trading partner Also data received in a dic tionary structured format from a trading partner can be translated into the second format BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various advantages to the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following specification and by reference to the drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating program mable machine systems of two trading partners utilizing the present invention FIG 2 is a high level flowchart illustrating the major steps performed by the programmable machine system in carrying out certain aspects of the invention FIG 3 A B is a flowchart of how the system builds a particular overlay and mapping therefor FIG 4 A C is a pseudocode flow diagram of how an overlay is used programmatically for data entry and subsequent translation into a dictionary structured transaction FIG 5 A B is a pseudocode flow diagram of how an overlay is used programmatically for translating dictionary structured transactions into formatted printed output FIG 6 A C contains two pseudocode flow dia grams of 1 how an overlay is used programmatically for translating transactions into dictionary structured formats from into formats composed of fixed field fix ed length records contained in a f
54. ther files and to define data edits designating element values as constants formulae or defaults changing the length of the element changing the element name and positioning the data field represented by that element on the display 22 The first step in this process is to enter Option 6 FIG 8 and proceed to define the overlay by entering an Overlay Code and a Transaction Type Code in the spaces provided in the screen of FIG 10A The Trans action Type Code typically is that of the corresponding dictionary defined transaction Examples of ANSI ASC X12 Transaction Type Codes are Invoice 810 P 0 850 The Overlay Code normally designates a particular trading partner Thus the screen of FIG 10A 4 951 196 T illustrates that a Purchase Order for trading partner DUI has been entered Segments are now added or deleted to each overlay using the manipulation capabilities of the Overlay Gen erator module The screen format shown in FIG 10B is for a given Overlay DU1 850 which is accessed when a given transaction is defined and entered in the screen of FIG 10A The software automatically fetches those mandatory segments from the stored dictionary for the Biven transaction and displays them on the screen Then the user is given the opportunity to modify this basic set of segments The segments which make up the dictionary structured transaction are identified by their Segment IDs in FIG 10B which are the same as those assign
55. tionary defined transactions Data as received as entered and as translated into and from the dictionary structured formats Other application files FIGURE 1 US Patent Aug 21 1990 Sheet20f26 4 951 196 Identify Overlay Manipulate visual format of print amp data entry overlays V Select segments amp establish their order Hard Disk V Determine overlay mapping amp format of other part Transaction IDs vv Segment IDs and their order within transaction V Manipulate trans action parameters title spcng etc Mapping Transaction parameters Element IDs and their order within segment V Select elements amp establish their order Segment parameters v v vy v v Element parameters V Manipulate segment parameters loops occurances etc V Manipulate element parameters data type size etc Only the direct and basic relationships and functionality are shown Specifically alternate module calling sequences are not shown additional module functions are not shown utility modules such as view and print are not shown indirect updates such as overlay element update affecting the mapping are not shown and initial updates such as overlay selection initializing default values for all overlay data are not shown FIGURE 2 U S Patent Read segment hdr to determine
56. trading partners are individu ally tailoring the information required in each of their transactions so that while they do meet the dictionary defined format the completed transaction formats chosen by each are quite different Thus if one trading partner wants to do business via EDI with a variety of other trading partners at least one of the trading part ners must be capable of configuring and utilizing its computer system so that it can meet all of the require ments dictated by the other trading partners For pur poses of this invention the term dictionary struc tured transaction format is one that meets or approxi mates the guidelines of a dictionary defined format but is individually tailored by a given trading partner Thus a dictionary structured transaction format may be the same as may be different from may deviate from may be a subset of or may be a superset of that format speci fied by the dictionary defined format guidelines There are several software programs for use with electronic data exchange currently on the market They include EDI PC TM General Electric Corporation Rockville Md TELINK TM EDI Inc Hanover Md METRO Translator TM Metro Mark Integrated Sys tem Inc Roslyn NY However prior to the present invention they are be lieved to have had the following drawbacks They attempt to produce trading partner specific trans actions through a combination of operator sele
57. xed file format composed of fixed field fixed length records into a first and second DST formats the method comprising the steps of a interactively using the manual input means dis play screen and processor to define without manu ally coding a computer program a first DST over lay including mapping coordinates b formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the first DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with map ping coordinates contained in the first DST over lay 4 951 196 17 c storing the data formatted in step B ina DST file in a mass memory device d interactively using the manual input means dis play screen and processor to define without manu ally coding a computer program a second DST overlay including mapping coordinates e formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the second DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with map ping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay and f storing the data formatted in step e in a DST file in a mass memory device 32 The method of claim 31 further comprising the steps of storing the first and second overlays in a mass mem ory device for later use loading the first DST overlay from the mass memory device into the processor when needed for use and loading the second DST overlay into the processor from the mass memory into the processor
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search