Welcome to routing and modules

Every order, shipment and invoice that passes through Supply Lens is carried as a message. Before any work starts on a message, two questions have to be answered: which Supply Lens application does this work? and which piece of code does it? The routing and module screens in Prism answer those two questions for every integration type.

By the end of this course you will be able to set up the routing of a new integration type, choose which module runs, give one organisation a different module, share a module between many integration types, and find out fast why a message type is not working.

Who these screens are for

The routing and module screens are for administrators only. You must have the admin role. If you don't have it, the Administration menu does not show at all, and organisation users never see these screens.

That is deliberate, because of the next point.

Every change is global

An integration type, for example Shopify or an SFTP partner, is shared by every organisation that uses it. The routing and module routes you set on these screens apply to all organisations at the same time.

Each change saves immediately

Most Prism forms have a Save button. These screens mostly don't:

• Each change saves as soon as you make it.
• There is no draft and no undo.
• The only exception is the Details tab of an integration type, which has a Save button.

So when you tick a box or flip a switch, treat it as done. Where a change is dangerous, the screen asks you to confirm in a dialog first. Read those dialogs: they tell you what is about to happen.

How this course fits with Maps & Profiles

You took Maps & Profiles in Prism first. That course covers config-driven integrations, where published maps and profiles do the work instead of coded modules. This course covers the other half of the picture:

Routing is the part that both kinds share. A config-driven type with a perfect set of published maps still loses every message if its routing is wrong. You will see this point many times in the course, because it is the easiest one to miss.

What the course covers

1. How routing and modules work: the mental model. Message types, services, the two layers a message goes through, and which module route wins.
2. Integration types and routing: adding a type, reading the Routing tab, changing routing safely, and the emergency switches.
3. Module configuration: the Modules tab, module routes, the preview and available modules.
4. Module catalogue and groups: the list of all modules, and module groups that share routes across many types.
5. Tasks: worked scenarios for the jobs you'll do most.
6. Troubleshooting: a decision path for "this message type does not work", every message the screens show, and a glossary.

The examples use fictional businesses and integration types, such as Hilltop Coffee and an SFTP partner type called Acme SFTP (acme-sftp).