Data Archive & Transfer

This facility is useful where you have another system (e.g. Order Entry) and you want to transfer data into EdiSoft via files rather than key it in manually.

The files the other system will need to produce are comma delimited files and the file structure is shown in Interface Files section of this manual. This structure can be customised to suit your own external system.

The other system must be programmed to create the required files in the "Intray" directory of the EdiSoft Data directory. The EdiSoft Data directory is the one that shows as Location of Data in the Post Boxes table.

EdiSoft is able to run on a network, so it is necessary to ensure that only one transfer is taking place at the one time. Otherwise there will be great confusion. Where EdiSoft is running on a standalone system the same rules will apply because Windows is multitasking.

Your external program should check that there is no file in the Intray directory called AutoLoad.txt . If one exists then another task has already created files (or is currently creating files) and the current task must make a choice. If the AutoLoad.txt file can be locked then it is possible to append new records to the existing files because a previous task has created the files but EdiSoft has not yet been activated to process them. Otherwise (AutoLoad.txt file cannot be locked) the current task must wait (or abort).

3.	Lastly, create a file called AutoLoad.txt in the EdiSoft Intray directory. Be sure that this file is only created when the previous step is finished.

Activate the Import facility in EdiSoft. This can be done manually by clicking on the button, or automatically using the AutoLoad feature (see later in this document). EdiSoft will use the AutoLoad.txt file as the trigger for the load. It is therefore important that this file is only created when all the other files are complete.

EdiSoft will delete all the Import files and AutoLoad.txt when it is completed. If there is a system failure during the Import then the files will remain and the Import can be reactivated. Any data that was loaded in the previous attempt will be overwritten.

To do this you go into the Record Export & Archive facility of EdiSoft. Under the Housekeeping menu you will have various options for archiving & transferring. Both Archiving and Exporting are done from the same section. Once you select the required option (ie, Archive & Transfer EDN's), select the records you would like to export. To select multiple records for hold down the Ctrl key and click on the record (Ctrl+Click). Alternatively you can click on the first record, hold down SHIFT and click on the last record, and it will select all records inbetween as well.

When the records are selected, press the Export EDNs button or the Export RFPs button.

The Export files will be created in a sub-directory of the EdiSoft data directory. The name of this sub-directory is OutTray. (ie, under Woodwind\Data\Outtray) The structure of the Export files can be modified. These files are either in a comma delimited files and the standard file structure is shown Interface Files (attached), or as XML depending on what you have selected in your Autoload Configuration.

To do this you go drop down the Housekeeping menu and select the Record Export & Archive facility for the type of document you want to Export / Archive (CRNs, EDNs or RFPs. When the selection screen appears, select individual records to Archive by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the record (Ctrl+Click). Ctrl+A will select all the records. Ctrl+B will de-select all records.

The Archive files will be created in a sub-directory of the EdiSoft data directory. The name of this sub-directory is Archive . The archive files are in dBASE IV format so they can be accessed by many report writers and database software packages. It would not be wise to alter these records but it could be useful to extract data from them.

The files in this directory can be backed up to diskette and deleted if you are short on hard disk space. EdiSoft will create new empty files if necessary.

To do this you go into the Retrieve from Archive of EdiSoft. Select either the Archived EDN’s folder or the Archived RFP s folder. To select records for Retrieval you hold down the Ctrl key and click on the record (Ctrl+Click). Ctrl+A will select all the records. Ctrl+B will de-select all records.

The purpose of this facility is to monitor the EdiSoft data directory for incoming Imported files . This is done by a timer which can be set. When the timer detects that files have arrived then it will display a flash screen and you will need to wait a short while until the import is completed.

To configure AutoLoad, select Configure . The purpose of the various options is as follows.

Set the time interval (frequency) that you want EdiSoft to check for incoming data files.

Indicate whether you want the timer to start when you load the program. This will be useful if you want to include EdiSoft in your Windows startup procedures. Use this function together with the Initial Screen Status (Minimised) option.