Concepts in BizTalk Services B2B
B2B in BizTalk Services is all about processing EDI and non-EDI messages between trading partners. It is meant to make B2B integration simple, powerful, and flexible using Azure. B2B, by its nature of protocols, formats, and transport, tends to be complex in configuration; with Azure, service configuration of an agreement between partners is simple. It's easy to extend the service and connect with other technologies such as SharePoint and mobile services to build a rich and powerful solution.
The top-level concepts in B2B/EDI include the following:
EDI message structure
Partners and agreements
Property promotion in EDI
Batching
Tracking and archiving
Extensibility and object model API
EDI message structure
EDI messages (either X12 or EDIFACT) have a nested structure, compartmentalizing transactions for ease of understanding by the receiver. Every structure has a header and trailer to identify the start and end of the nested structure. The following outlines the nesting...
