Fields

A Field is a placeholder inside a Business Process. Instead of typing in one fixed value, you let the Field pull its value from somewhere else, such as a Route (for EDI or Application processes) or an EDI Enveloper (for Connection processes).

That means the same Business Process can behave differently depending on which Route or Enveloper is using it.

When can I use Fields?

Fields are only available when your Business Process is built from one of these templates:

• Inbound EDI Business Process
• Outbound EDI Business Process
• Application Route Business Process
• Connection Business Process

Fields can hold a simple value (like a string) or a whole object (like a Ruleset or Transformation Settings).

Why use Fields?

Say you process EDI orders for 10 trading partners, and each one needs a different Ruleset. Without Fields, you'd have to build 10 nearly-identical Business Processes — one per partner. With Fields, you build the Business Process once, add a Field for "Ruleset," and let each partner's Route supply its own value.

How it works

1. Create a Business Process using one of the templates listed above.
2. In the task that needs a variable value (for example, the Execute Transformation task), create a new Field instead of typing a fixed value, and set its Type (e.g., Ruleset).
3. Open the Route or EDI Enveloper for a specific trading partner, add the Business Process to it, and enter a Value for the Field.
4. Repeat for each Route - every partner feeds its own value into the same shared Business Process.

Example: one Business Process, two trading partners