<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ManualTopic ID="/baanerp/ec/onlinemanual/000041" xml:lang="en">
   <Header>
      <Title>External EDI communication</Title>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e310537">
         <Level1>External EDI communication</Level1>
      </Keyword>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e310540">
         <Level1>EDI communication</Level1>
         <Level2>external</Level2>
      </Keyword>
      <Keyword type="header" order="d1e310545">
         <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>