Message types and services
Lesson 3 of 25 5 min read
The four message types an integration can do, the three services that do the work, and which service can do which message type.
Every routing decision in Prism links two fixed lists: message types and services. Once you know both lists by heart, the Routing tab and the Routing Switches page are easy to read. This lesson teaches you both lists and how they fit together.
Message types: the four steps of an integration
A message type is one step in the work that an integration does. There are exactly four. You can't add or delete a message type.
| Short name | Full name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Create | Create Target Data from Document | Changes a Supply Lens Document into the data that the partner expects. |
| Parse | Parse Source Data | Changes the data that the partner sent into a Supply Lens Document. |
| Receive | Receive from Integration Configuration | Gets data from the partner. |
| Send | Send to Integration Configuration | Gives data to the partner. |
The screens use the short name when there isn't much space, so you'll mostly see Create, Parse, Receive and Send.
A useful way to remember them: two are about translating data and two are about moving it.
Same four steps as Maps & Profiles
These four message types match the four kinds of map and profile you met in Maps & Profiles in Prism: Create → create map, Parse → parse map, Send → send profile, Receive → receive profile.
Services: the applications that do the work
A service is a Supply Lens application that does the work for a message. There are three. You can't add or delete a service.
| Service | Name on the screens | Message types it can do |
|---|---|---|
| Integrations | Main integrations service | Create, Parse, Receive and Send |
| AS2 | AS2 Service | Receive and Send only |
| Peppol | Peppol Service | Create, Parse, Receive and Send |
The important exception is AS2 Service. It only moves data, over the AS2 protocol (a secure way for trading partners to exchange files). It can't Create or Parse. So an AS2 partner usually has Send and Receive handled by AS2 Service, while any translation is done elsewhere.
Why this matters on the screens
These lists explain several things you'll see later:
- On the Routing tab, Handled by only offers services that are on and can do that message type. You'll never be offered AS2 Service for a Create row.
- On the Routing Switches page, the Create and Parse cells of AS2 Service show as off. That isn't a fault: the link doesn't exist, because AS2 can't do those message types.
- The AS2 partner preset ticks only Send and Receive.
Which services could handle this?
Hilltop Coffee's new retail customer trades over AS2 and wants orders sent as EDI files. You need to work out what the integration type will need:
- Send and Receive: the files travel over AS2, so AS2 Service can handle both.
- Create: turning a Supply Lens order into the EDI file is translation. AS2 Service can't do Create, so if the type needs Create it has to go to a service that can, such as Main integrations service.
You haven't touched a screen yet, but you already know what the Routing tab should look like.
Recap
- There are four message types: Create, Parse, Receive and Send. You can't add or delete them.
- Create and Parse translate data. Receive and Send move it.
- There are three services: Main integrations service, AS2 Service and Peppol Service.
- AS2 Service can do only Receive and Send. The other two can do all four.
- The screens only offer services that can do the message type in question.
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