From time to time Support Services will request a Versions Report for your eBridge software.

Providing the Versions Report ultimately saves us time in troubleshooting the issue you are experiencing with your integration solution.

The Versions Report, amongst other things, allows us to see which Application Adapter is in use, exactly which eBridge components are installed, and where the installation itself is located.

This can be a vital piece of our investigation, and the good news is that it is a relatively simple piece of documentation to retrieve.

Step 1:

Open the Bridge

Step 2:

Navigate to the HELP file menu

Step 3:

From the drop down select BRIDGE VERSION REPORT

Step 4:

Click on the ENVELOPE icon

Step 5:

You will be presented with the option to print the report to a variety of different file formats. Please choose text or .pdf format and then choose the location for the file to be saved to from the LOCATION drop down

Step 6:

The file will be created in the specified format and saved to the exact location specified

I am sure that over time many of our valued eBridge Connections customers will find this to be very useful information.

Our goal in Support is to arrive at prompt resolutions and to maximize the leverage gained through your integration solution. We understand the need to stay competitive in this market, and we fully relate to the fact that your time-spent is an important part of that mix.

If you require any assistance at all, please do not hesitate to call the eBridge Help Desk at 1-800-755-6921.

Our experienced Support Services staff are standing by to guide you through these processes and arrive at positive outcomes.

Take care for now!

Paul Tittel

eBridge Help Desk Administrator

Support Bridge Version, Support, Versions report

This week in our Support Services blog we would like to continue our discussion about the most common documents which are exchanged between Support Services and our valued eBridge customers.

Just to re-cap: we have in previous weeks looked at the ‘export only’ function which allows the user to extract the raw data used for the EDI document; and we have also outlined the steps required for retrieving a log report, which details the process the application runs to retrieve and send documents, and highlights any possible errors in the process.

Both sets of documentation are essential for troubleshooting issues you may have with your outbound and inbound profiles; but the most vital documentation required for troubleshooting are the maps!

In EDI, document maps determine what specific business data is to be transmitted between trading partners, and the mapping logic defines exactly how, and under what circumstances, that data should be used. Essentially, the maps provide logic and instruction to the translator based on the agreed-to system and business requirements of each trading partner.

Mapping issues can occur for a variety of reasons: Sometimes your trading partner’s system requirements change; other times the data has undergone some subtle change; and in some cases, accepted EDI protocols have changed. Finally, mapping issues may occur where a business scenario arises which is not covered by the current mapping logic.

Whatever the case has happens to be, if a document fails to process or is rejected by your trading partner, Support Services will almost always request a copy of your current document map, corresponding with the document type you are sending or receiving (orders, invoices, ASNs, etc.).

Retrieving the map is a fairly straightforward process:

The maps reside in the mapper folder. This is typically located at: C:\Program Files\eBridgesoft\eBridge200x\Mapper, for eBridge 2004 and 2006; and C:\Program Files\eBridgesoft\Mapper for eBridge 4.1.

For standard EDI, the map names are based on trading partner, document type, and eBridge application version.

For example: Target, 810 (invoice), Version 4010, would be: TAR81041.map

For ePortal users, the trading partner is most often not specified, as the same document map is used for each trading partner. In this instance, for example, an inbound order map would be labeled ‘850’ and the trading partner with which you are having the issue is inconsequential.

For webstore integration, map names vary and determining the correct map may require some dialogue with Support Services.

That is why we are always here to help!

If you have any issues, mapping or otherwise, please do not hesitate to give me a call at the Help Desk at 905-631-8057 or 1-800-755-6921 ext. 224

Have a great week and I will check in soon!

Paul Tittel

Help Desk Administrator

eBridge Support Services

EDI Tips and Tricks, Support

Good Afternoon!

This week in our Support blog we will continue to highlight some of the central documents which are exchanged between the eBridge Help Desk and our clients.

Last week we highlighted the importance of the ‘export only’ function, which allows us to view the raw data being sent from your ERP – we use this data to troubleshoot a compromised transmission.

The log report is similarly vital: it tracks the entire process from start to finish and will provide a snapshot of any errors or anomalies which could be halting the process, both inbound and outbound.

If there should ever be an issue with either your inbound or outbound profiles, providing a log report to the Help Desk is a fundamental first step for launching an investigation.

Below are the steps for retrieving a log report:

Step 1:

Open the eBridge application:

Step 2:

Navigate to Reports on the File menu:

Step 3:

Select Processes:

Step 4:

Highlight the process that you wish to export:

Step 5:

Double click on the process and the report will appear, click ‘OK’:

Step 6:

Click on the ENVELOPE icon:

Step 7:

You will be presented with the option to print the report to a variety of different file formats. Please choose text or .pdf format and then choose the location for the file to be saved to from the LOCATION drop down. Click ‘OK’:

You are now ready to send the report to support@ebridgeconnections.com!

I hope that you have found this information helpful.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any issues with your integration solution.

You can call me directly at 905-631-8057.

Have a great week!

Paul Tittel

Help Desk Administrator

Support eBRIDGE Blog, eBridge log report, Support

Over the past weekend, the eBridge Connections ePortal suffered from a serious disruption of service. The outage lasted approximately 30 hours from July 1st to July 2^nd and it meant that some of our customers faced delays in transacting documents.

We are very sorry about what happened. Our customers expect and deserve a perfect uptime from their data integration platform. Many of our clients have questions about what caused this outage and we would like to be as transparent as possible with this information.

How did this happen?

This weekend, one of our EDI communications partners was performing maintenance on their servers. This maintenance took longer than expected. Once their servers were returned to operation, eBridge became overloaded with backlogged EDI transmissions from our communications partner. This meant that significant delays occurred in the transmission of documents through ePortal, as our servers processed the backlog. Some clients may not have received any documents at all while ePortal managed the overflow of documents. We have an alert system in place that would have notified our team about the delays and ensured that the backlog was buffered appropriately. This alert system failed, for reasons that we are still investigating.

Were any documents lost?

No. At this time, we do not believe that any documents were lost. The entire backlog of documents has now been processed, and the service disruption ended as of Tuesday morning EST.

What is eBridge Connections going to do to ensure that this does not happen again?

Within the next 10 days, our development team will be implementing an improved buffering mechanism with built-in redundancies. This system will be better at identifying and managing spikes in document traffic than our previous system. We also plan to add an independently-hosted system status page, which will provide our customers with information on the status of the network. Our core development team continues to research the outage and we will take any additional steps necessary to avoid future delays in document transmissions.

I have more questions about what happened.

Some elements of this outage are still under investigation. We know that many of our customers have questions about what happened, and we are here to answer them as best we can.  Please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-755-6921 or send us an email at support@ebridgeconnections.com. You can also contact me personally at cbrown@ebridgeconnections.com.

Again, we sincerely apologize to all of our clients for the delay in transactions over the weekend. We understand that our platform is critical for your business and we are grateful for your patience as we worked through this outage.

Colin Brown
President/CEO
eBridge Connections

Integration, eBRIDGE Blog