Using XML with Legacy Business Applications

Invoice: Flat File to XML to EDI

Now let's expand on the conversions in Chapter 8. BlueberryBush has been bought by MegaSoftware and retired. Big Daddy applies his special BlueberryBush user discount to upgrade to MASH2004. This program uses the flat files we discussed in Chapter 8. Big Daddy has started to sell to some major grocery chains, which want him to send their invoices using X12 EDI, version 004010. However, he still doesn't need to do a lot of EDI, and he doesn't want to spend thousands of dollars for a capable desktop EDI system. He also doesn't want to spend his time on a WebEDI service entering invoices manually. Sheila sets up the FlatToXML and XMLToX12 utilities and a stylesheet to perform the conversions. Figure 11.3 shows the ...