<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ManualTopic ID="/baanerp/ec/onlinemanual/000041" xml:lang="en">
	<Header>
		<Title xmlns:ssa="http://www.ssaglobal.com" xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">External EDI communication</Title>
		<Keyword><Level1>External EDI communication</Level1>
		</Keyword>
		<Keyword><Level1>EDI communication</Level1>
			<Level2>external</Level2>
		</Keyword>
		<Keyword><Level1>Network communication</Level1>
		</Keyword>
	</Header>
	<GeneralSection><List><ListIntro>There are three basic processes that are handled as part of the communication business object when you use a network for external communication:</ListIntro>
			<ListItem>Generate ASCII files based on internal file structures.</ListItem>
			<ListItem>Activate EDI software.</ListItem>
			<ListItem>Process inbound EDI messages.</ListItem>
		</List>
		<Paragraph>When a message (purchase orders or sales order acknowledgements) is created in the ERP application, ERP prepares ASCII files for the message based on predefined <Link href="/baanerp/ec/glossary/glossary#000075" role="glossary">conversion setups</Link>.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>Periodically, you must activate the external EDI software to generate <Link href="/baanerp/ec/glossary/glossary#000004" role="glossary">EDI messages</Link> based on ASCII files (a prepared message), to contact the external network, and to reconvert EDI messages to ASCII files.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>You can determine how frequently EDI must be activated with the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/ec/edi/ecedi7210m000" role="session">EDI Interchange Controller (ecedi7210m000)</GUIRef> session.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>When you receive external messages, ERP EDI creates ASCII files to hold the message data. For example, these messages are read and processed in internal order files.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>If the ASCII files cannot be converted into internal files due to errors, the ASCII file can still be converted later after correction processing.</Paragraph>
	</GeneralSection>
</ManualTopic>
