Key terms that may be helpful to know in advance of readings some sets of instructions and preferred terms when submitting requests for configurations.
General Terms
Business Logic Statements
Business Logic Statements, are programmed actions that run with the configuration profile you develop. When you have permissions to work with these, you can select from existing logic statements or customize other logic statements for more complex tasks. For example, you can select “Enable Ship To Alerts” to turn on that type of notification. Or you can create a customize logic statement like, “Divide the Line Item – Quantity Per Unit Price by 6.”
Conexiom Platform
The infrastructure upon which the Conexiom applications and services run. The Partner Portal, for example, is one of many systems that run on the Conexiom Platform. See The Conexiom Platform.
Configuration
You might encounter the word “Mapping” in Conexiom program interfaces and elsewhere. For example, you might encounter a Mapping Error. Mapping, however, can be thought of simply as Configuration, which is our preferred term.
Generally, in the software industry as a whole, the term map or mapping means matching items from one set with items in another set or performing a function on each item in one set to get a new set that corresponds to the first set.
In Conexiom software, mapping creates a relationship between one thing in an original source document from a trading partner and a second thing in the final digital document. That is, it essentially transfers one area, term, or set of terms from the original document you submit to an area, a term, or a set of terms in the digital document that is the final product that Conexiom produces. For example, the Ship To section of the original document you submit needs to be mapped to the Ship To section of the final document. This final document allows for digital processing and data extraction on a massive scale.
The Map
At the heart of the process to produce the digital document is the “map” or “configuration.” This set of instructions lays out directions in snippets of logic that are applied during document transformation. It is also used to help communicate changes in a configuration request.
The majority of the Connection Development Team’s time is spent transforming written requirements into code. See Change Requests. When you produce a configuration request, you are asking for a change to this map.
First Pass Mapping
First Pass Mapping is a type of initial request that creates a pre-agreed set of default instructions to configure new trading partners, whether customers or vendors. Every First Pass Mapping is an Initial Request, but not all initial requests are first pass mapping. See First Pass Mapping. See also Initial Change Requests vs Subsequent Change Requests.
Cross Reference
A cross reference is a type of mapping that creates a simple equivalency from one term to another term. Cross references are managed in cross-reference tables. Examples include having the input term “Package” be output as “PKG” or the input Part Number “AB1234” be output as Part Number “CD1234.” Cross references can be very complex, transforming completely what is input.
Cross reference tables can be applied at the global level, (acting on all of a client’s trading partners), or on the individual trading partners only. At their most basic level, cross references allow you to transform individual terms, however, they can also perform other functions. For example, you can convert Part Numbers, units of measure, quantities, and names, but you can also compare a price against a pricing list; or use address lookups to find Ship To, Bill To, or Remit to IDs.
Splitting
Splitting refines the mapping of fields that the AI machine learning has produced when too many data types occupy one field. That is, in a data field there may be a grouping of information that needs to be divided into two or more separate groups so they can be mapped appropriately.
When you do this, you “split” the field information to create a second field definition within the same field.
For example, the part number for a product may be listed in a field definition where other information is also listed. In a case like this, you split the text of that field up so that the part number forms one group of text and the other information forms another group of text. Each group then comprises a separate field definition. Note that one of the groups may not be of value; (in this case it would be the information that does not belong in the part number). It may simply continue to exist as information that isn’t required.
Trading Partner
The preferred generic term for a client company’s “customers” or “vendors” on the Conexiom Platform is “trading partners.” They are the source of the documents Conexiom processes to digitally extract data. There is no limit on how many trading partners a client may have.
Preferred Terms for Configuration (Mapping) Instructions
With initial and subsequent configuration (change requests) efficient communication with Configuration Development (CD) Team is extremely important. Following is a list of preferred terminology you should use to help with that communication.
Following are terms to use in your configuration (change) request, when appropriate.
Preferred Terms when Submitting 'Change Requests'
Alphanumeric Characters
The term Alphanumeric Characters is text with both letters and numbers. It may also include other characters such as dash (-), dot (.), quotes ('), etc. In your configuration request, only send alphanumeric characters. A specific example is usually needed.
Append
Append typically means to add text to end of an existing field, but can mean at the beginning. You may need to specify which for the sake of clarification.
Example
"Append end of PO Number with revisions value, separated by dash (-).
Ex. PO122887-01."
Concatenate
To combine two or more values resulting in an updated or new field value, use Concatenate. The order in which fields are combined is significant. If the order is unclear and no example is provided, clarification will be needed. Also see Suffix and Prefix.
Example
"Please create a line note by concatenating part description and size. Separate the combined fields using a dash.
Ex. Line 1 note should be: 'Orange safety vest-3XL'."
Contains
By default, the term Contains refers to case-insensitive matching of a particular element within a field or statement. See Match for other comparison terms.
Example
"Ignore a line item when description contains "shipping fee"."
Default
In mapping terms, Default is used to initialize a field to a specified value. Or in some cases, Default is to set a value to a field in case that field has no mapped value.
Example
"Please default shipping terms to 'Next Day'."
Exact Match
Exact Match is case sensitive and spaces need to match. Additionally, Exact Match means comparing the entire field, (as in the second example). See also Match.
Example
"IF line item description contains an exact match to "I will pick up" THEN set shipping instructions to "will pick up".
Extract
Use Extract to scrub characters, (words, numbers, or special characters), from the original data, as opposed to Delete or some other possible synonym. You can also use Remove.
Hardcode
Hardcode means that a field is always set with a specified value and is not editable. The expectation is the field must always be the specified value and no subsequent inputs should alter it.
Example
"Please hardcode unit of measure to "EA".
Letters (Alpha Characters)
Letters are characters A through Z and a through z. Note the case sensitivity. Further clarification is likely needed for letters with dieresis.
Example
"IF the value under 'Vendor Number' column starts with a letter THEN map it as the 'Vendor Number'. ELSE, default to '5132000001'.
Like
Compares words or concepts. Instead, consider Match or Contains.
Match
Match is not case sensitive but spaces need to match. Additionally, Match means comparing the entire field. See also Exact Match.
Phrase
A Phrase is two or more words.
Prefix
A Prefix is something you add to a word or block of text at the beginning of a field. The text added may be another field or a word constant. Use as noun or verb. (Also see Suffix).
Example
"Please prefix document number with 'PO-', always."
Remove
Use Remove to scrub characters, (words, numbers, or special characters) from the original data, as opposed to Delete or some other synonym. You can also use Extract.
Set
Use Set to specify an action that leads to a particular outcome.
Example
"IF 'ShipTo company' cannot be found on the document, THEN set the "ShipTo company' as 'ABC Distributors'."
Special Characters
In general, the term Special Characters needs clarification. It can be helpful to specify which characters to keep and provide examples of what to exclude.
Example
"For 'Quantity', only map number characters [0-9]. Exclude characters such as EA, FT, etc..."
String
A String is a data type used in programming, that is used to represent text rather than numbers. It is a sequence of characters and can contain letters, numbers, symbols and even spaces. It must be enclosed in quotation marks for it to be recognized as a string. Because of the vagueness of the definition, depending on the context, a change using this term may be difficult to explain. Instead, consider other terms that could be used.
Suffix
A Suffix is something you add to a word or block of text at the end of a field. The text added may be another field-constant or a string constant. Use as noun or verb. (Also see Prefix).
Example
"Please suffix 'Part Number' with text from size column and separate combined values with dahs (-).
Ex. Line 1 of PO 12345 would have a 'Part Number' of 'V899239-2XL'."
Word
Words are alpha characters separated by a space or line break. Use this term to indicate that a single word or string is to be considered in the configuration. Because of the vagueness of the definition, depending on the context, a change using this term may be difficult to explain. Instead, consider other terms that could be used.