FAQ for Bots open source Edi translator

(Click on items to see details.)

• Installation questions
  • What operating systems does Bots run on?
    • Windows (confirmed for XP, vista, 7)
    • Linux (confirmed for ubuntu, debian, openSuse, CentOS)
    • Solaris (confirmed for OpenSolaris)
    • BSD (confirmed for FreeBSD)
  • How do I install?
    • See the wiki.
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• Starting with edi
  • Where do I start?
    • There is a tutorial
    • Check out other plugins. Plugins provide good example configurations.
  • OK, Bots looks suited for my purposes. But how do I start edi?
    • Edi can be complicated.
    • Edi involves edi standards, communication protocols, edi partners, commercial relationships, logistics, ERP-software, etc.
    • Quite a lot of knowledge is involved.
    • Bots is just a tool. A very good one. And for free.
    • You can hire EbbersConsult to help you get started with edi.
  • We have to do a lot of translations. Can you train us to set up translations?
    • Yes. We understand this issue.
    • If you use a lot of edi messages or need different mappings for different edi-partners, edi can become expensive.
    • We can set up a first translation; you can set up the other translations and/or do smaller adoptions (for eg new business partners); we can guide you to do this.
    • There are several ways to handle this in Bots. We can teach you how.
  • I am looking for the plugin for messagetype XXX. Do you have such a plugin?
    • All plugins can be downloaded from the web site.
    • There is a lot to get started with: grammars for x12 and edifact messages, good example plugins, documentation, etc.
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• Can Bots....about functionality of Bots
  • Can Bots handle message X in format Y?
    • Yes (most likely).
    • Basically Bots can handle all message types of all major edi formats (edifact, x12, tradacoms, XML).
    • And the messages can be converted to 'any' message format in the layout you want.
    • (bots is a so called 'any-to-any translator').
  • Where can I get grammars for x12 transactions?
    • See the downloads at the sourceforge page and the wiki for more information..
  • Does Bots support AS2?
    • Not directly. Communication in Bots is client-orientated - AS2 needs a server - think 'like an FTP-server'.
    • You can Bots as translator and use an AS2 server for communication.
    • Different solutions for AS2 servers:
    • VAN's often offer AS/2 (often extra costs).
    • Open source AS2 software; google for it. I am interested in your experiences.
    • Buy commercial AS2 software (this can be expensive).
  • Does Bots archive incoming and outgoing message?
    • Yes. This is easy to set-up (per channel).
  • How long does Bots keep the incoming and outgoing messages?
    • There are 2 types of storage.
    • Day-to-day storage. The period is controlled by a parameter in config/bots.ini. Default is 30days.
    • Long term archive. The period is controlled by a separate parameter in config/bots.ini. Default is 180days.
  • Can Bots handle a lot of edi messages and/or very large messages?
    • Yes. Performance is good and stable.
    • More information about performance on wiki
  • Is Bots stable?
    • Yes. We are quite proud of this.
  • Is there a C/java/compiled version of Bots?
    • No. And neither is this planned.
    • Actually there is no reason to...performance is not a problem.
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• License issues
  • I want to use Bots but have an issue with the GPL license.
    • Contact us; eg a LGPL license is possible.
  • I want to integrate Bots with our application but GPL...is there a commercial license?
    • Contact us. This is not free.
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• All technical questions: see the wiki
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• And of course there is always a Mailing list.