B2B Gateway

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Inbound process for custom files

To receive and process custom, non-EDI files that a partner sends to the organization,

B2B Gateway

runs the inbound flow that is defined for the partner according to the defined schedule.

You can use one of the following methods to process inbound custom files:

Two-step processing, using two custom mappings. An inbound mapping reads the file that the partner sends, processes it, and writes the file to an interface file on the

B2B Gateway

document store. A process-to-backend mapping then writes the data to the backend system. When you use two-step processing, you can use a single process-to-backend mapping to process all inbound custom files to your backend system from a single interface file.

Single-step processing. A single custom mapping reads the file that the partner sends, processes it, and writes the file directly to the backend system. When you use single-step processing, you must write the logic of writing the data to the backend system for every inbound custom file from each partner.

Intelligent Structure Discovery processing. Use Intelligent Structure Discovery to discover the file structure of a custom input file, and auto-generate a parsing process that creates an interface CSV file with the discovered content. The Intelligent Structure Discovery parsing process replaces a custom inbound mapping. You can also create a custom process-to-backend mapping to process the auto-generated interface file to the backend system.

The inbound flow for custom files includes the following stages:

When an inbound process runs,

B2B Gateway

runs the inbound mapping that you assigned the partner. The source and target of the mapping are based on the source and target details from the partners definition metadata. The source of the mapping is the location from where to read the incoming files. The target of the mapping can be either an interface file on

B2B Gateway

or the backend system.

If the target of the inbound mapping is an interface file on

B2B Gateway

, and if during partner configuration you assigned a process-to-backend mapping for the inbound flow,

B2B Gateway

runs the defined mapping.

If you assigned values to mapping parameters during partner configuration,

B2B Gateway

uses the values in the mapping flow.

The mapping writes the data to the backend system.

If you did not assign a process-to-backend mapping, the inbound process ends with the placement of the interface file on