The profile ID uniquely identifies a profile. When you create a profile, the B2B Data Exchange Server generates and sets the profile ID. When you import a profile into another instance of B2B Data Exchange, the B2B Data Exchange Server of the new instance generates a new profile ID for the imported profile. The imported profile ID can differ from the original profile ID.

You can use the profile ID variable, $profileId, to represent a profile in the file pattern in the endpoint setup. The value of the variable can vary from one system to another for profiles with the same name. Each B2B Data Exchange instance can generate a different profileId for the same profile name.

For example, when you move a profile from a development environment of B2B Data Exchange to a production environment, the production instance generates a profile ID. For this reason, if you develop and test workflows in a development environment and then move them to a production environment, use the $profileName variable instead of the $profileId to associate between a partner and workflow.