Managing the Settings

Managing User Roles and Permissions

A role maps to a permission set. Each role has a specific set of asset management and functionality permissions in IBM webMethods B2B. When you assign a role to a user, the permissions associated with the role gets assigned to the user.

The following diagram illustrates the relationship between IBM webMethods iPaaS and IBM webMethods B2B to create and manage users:

By default, a Cloud-Tenant-Administrator maps to the Administrator role in IBM webMethods B2B and a webMethodsioB2B-User maps to the User role in IBM webMethods B2B.

IBM webMethods B2B provides you predefined roles to assign to a user to perform specific role-based activities in IBM webMethods B2B. Using IBM webMethods B2B you can assign the following roles to new users:

Note
For a new user to log in to IBM webMethods B2B product instance, it is essential that the Cloud-Tenant-Administrator assigns the webMethodsioB2B-User role to the new user.

Before You Begin

Important
After registering with IBM webMethods iPaaS, you become the default Cloud-Tenant-Administrator. Using these credentials, you can seamlessly switch between the subscribed applications.

Assigning a IBM webMethods B2B Role

As a IBM webMethods B2B Administrator, perform the following steps in IBM webMethods B2B:

  1. Log on to IBM webMethods B2B and go to Settings > User management > Users.

  2. In the Users tab, click next to the user you created in IBM webMethods iPaaS.

  3. In the Update roles dialog box, select the role you want to assign to the user. By default, a new user has only User role permission in IBM webMethods B2B.

    Important
    As an Administrator,
    • you cannot update your own roles.
    • you can assign Developer or User or ReadOnly User roles to other users.
    • you cannot update the roles of other users with Administrator role. You can update the roles of other Administrators from IBM webMethods iPaaS.

    You can assign Developer or User or ReadOnly User roles. The Roles tab describes each of the role permissions.

  4. Click Update.

Next Steps

Depending on the role assigned to the user, only those screens for which the role permissions are applicable are visible to the user. For example, a user with Developer or User or ReadOnly user can only view the My information tab (Settings > User management > My information).

For detailed list of asset and functional-level permissions available for each role, see User Roles and Permissions.

Note
After you add a user to IBM webMethods iPaaS, ensure that the user logs in to IBM webMethods Integration at least once. Else, you may notice an authorization required error in the following scenarios:
  • When you select a username in the processing rule action to call an integration or while modifying the processing rule action that calls an integration
  • If you create or update EDI and XML business documents as their schema information reside on IBM webMethods Integration

User Roles and Permissions

The following table list the user roles and respective permissions:

Note
To perform any activity listed under the Administrator column, you must have the Cloud-Tenant-Administrator role defined for the User (IBM webMethods iPaaS > Administration > User > Roles), because Cloud-Tenant-Administrator maps to the Administrator role in IBM webMethods B2B and a IBM webMethodsioB2B-User maps to the User role in IBM webMethods B2B.

Asset Management Permissions

B2B Assets Administrator Developer User ReadOnly User
Channels
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • View
Partner Profiles
  • Create
  • Send invitation to onboard a partner
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • View
  • View
Partner User
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • Update
  • View
  • View
Business Documents
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • View
Processing Rules
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • View
Queues
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Enable
  • Disable
  • Change state
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Enable
  • Disable
  • Change state
  • View
  • View
Trading Partner Agreement Definitions
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • View
Trading Partner Agreement Templates
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Create
  • View
  • Update
  • Delete
  • View
  • View
Field groups
  • Add group
  • View group
  • Edit group
  • Edit field
  • Add group
  • View group
  • Edit group
  • Edit field
  • View
  • View

Functional Permissions

B2B Assets Administrator Developer User ReadOnly User
Transactions
  • View
  • Search
  • Reprocess
  • Resubmit
  • View content
  • Edit content
  • Save filters and bookmark
  • Revert to original bookmark
  • Copy URL
  • Download Transactions
  • View
  • Search
  • Reprocess
  • Resubmit
  • View content
  • Edit content
  • Save filters and bookmark
  • Revert to original bookmark
  • Copy URL
  • Download Transactions
  • View
  • Search
  • Reprocess
  • Resubmit
  • View content
  • Edit content
  • Save filters and bookmark
  • Revert to original bookmark
  • Copy URL
  • Download Transactions
  • View content
  • Save filters and bookmark
  • Revert to original bookmark
  • Copy URL
  • Search
  • Download Transactions
Export Assets
  • Export assets as ZIP file
  • Export assets as ZIP file
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
Import Assets
  • Import assets as ZIP file
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
Deployments
  • Create deployments
  • View deployments
  • Publish deployments
  • Apply deployments
  • Rename deployments
  • Delete deployments
  • Create deployments
  • View deployments
  • Rename deployments
  • Delete deployments
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
Purge
  • Create purge schedule
  • Edit purge schedule
  • Activate/deactivate purge schedule
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
Certificate Monitoring
  • View
  • Delete certificate
  • View
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible
Control Numbers
  • View the list of control number definitions for the partners and for the enterprise
  • Add control numbers for partners and enterprise
  • Update control number settings for partners and enterprise
  • Delete control numbers that are set for partners and enterprise
  • View the list of control number definitions for the partners and for the enterprise
  • Update control number settings for partners and enterprise
  • View the list of control number definitions for the partners and for the enterprise
  • View the list of control number definitions for the partners and for the enterprise
Properties
  • Update
  • View
  • View
View
  • View
Notifications
  • View the notifications
  • Mark notifications as read
  • Search for notifications
  • View the notifications
  • Mark notifications as read
  • Search for notifications
  • View the notifications
  • Mark notifications as read
  • View the notifications
Activity Logs
  • View logs
  • Download logs
  • Search for logs
  • View logs
  • Download logs
  • Search for logs
  • View logs
  • Download logs
  • Search for logs
  • View logs
  • Download logs
  • Search for logs
Test Document
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • No
Environment Management
  • Switch between environments
  • Option is not visible
  • Option is not visible
  • Option is not visible
Submit Document
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • No
Managing Tasks
  • View
  • Start
  • Stop
  • Restart
  • Delete
  • Apply filters
  • View
  • Start
  • Stop
  • Restart
  • Delete
  • Apply filters
  • View
  • Start
  • Stop
  • Restart
  • Delete
  • Apply filters
  • View
  • Apply filters
Extensions
  • Add new account
  • Page is not visible
    Note
    Page is visible when a developer has a Cloud Container subscription.
  • Page is not visible
  • Page is not visible

Registering an Environment

Depending on your business use case, you can register to any number of existing IBM webMethods iPaaS environments for asset movement.

To register an environment

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Environments.

  2. Click Register environment. On the Register environment dialog box, specify the following information:

    Fields Description
    Name Specify a name for the environment.
    Description Provide a description stating the scope of the environment that you are about to create.

Switching Environments

Prerequisite: You must have at least two environments so you can switch between them.

Every instance displays the environment it represents at the top-right corner of the welcome screen.

  1. As an Administrator, perform the following steps to switch between environments.

  2. In IBM webMethods B2B, click next to the current environment name.

  3. Select the environment to which you wish to switch. You are in your chosen environment.

Archiving and Purging Data

IBM webMethods B2B archives the transactional data present in production database by moving them from production tables to archive tables.

IBM webMethods B2B archives the documents after a specified number of days (retention days). When IBM webMethods B2B archives a document, it copies the document and its references from production table to archival table and then removes the document and its references from the production table. By default, IBM webMethods B2B runs the archival schedule at UTC 00:00 (24 hour format) daily. You can update the default archive schedule.

You can purge transactional data from the IBM webMethods B2B archive tables. Purging is the process of systematically deleting the transactional data that exists beyond the retention days, from the archive tables.

When IBM webMethods B2B purges transactional data that exists beyond the retention days, it removes all the associated information such as the content, sender and receiver information, from the archive tables. As an administrator, you can create a daily schedule to purge the data.

IBM webMethods B2B archives and purges the following information related to transactional data:

Updating the Archival Schedule

By default, the roll-over period for archived transactions is 30 days. You can change the roll-over period to a maximum of one year. Both Schedule and Past schedules appear as separate tabs for easy tracking.

Important
The Past schedules page appears only for externalized archival enabled enterprise production tenants.
  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Archive.

    The following information appears in the Past Schedules tab:

    Action Description
    Run Date Date and time the archival schedule was last run. This field appears only in the Past Schedules tab.
    Task Type Type of task that is run.
    Task status Displays the status of the archival schedule when it ran last. The possible values are: Success and Fail.
    Retries Displays the number of retry attempts to move the live transactions to the archive data source. A maximum of 3 retry attempts are made, with a 5 minute wait between each retry attempt.

    You can examine a maximum of 10 past schedules.

    The following information appears in the Schedules tab:

    Action Description
    Retention days Date and time the archival schedule was last run.
    Next run Type of task that is run.
    Last error Displays the status of the archival schedule when it ran last.
    Actions Displays action that you can perform. You can edit the archival schedule.

    Click on a timestamp in the Run date column to examine the details of the archival schedule.

  2. Under Actions, click icon.

  3. On the Update schedule dialog box, provide the following details:

    Action Description
    Retention days Provide the number of days to retain the data before archiving. You can provide a value between 1 and 30. The default is 30 days.
    Unique keys retention days Number of days for which the references to transactions identified as unique are retained before archiving. These references are used to check for duplicates in inbound documents. The valid values are: 1-366 days.
    Note
    The unique keys are valid for the specified duration from the time they were first identified in the system. The duplicate detection on live transactions works based on the unique keys stored in the live store only for the duration you specify. Once the transaction’s unique is moved to the archive store, the next transaction with the same key is not considered as a duplicate and is added as a new entry in the live store to check for duplicate in future inbound transactions.
    Run daily at Specify the time at which archival should start daily.
  4. Click Update. The updated schedule appears on the Archive data page.

Configure the retention period for transaction data and the Unique keys retention days separately. The maximum retention days for transaction data is 30 days.

Viewing and Tracking Archival Schedules

You can view the archival schedules for the current schedule and past schedules on the Settings > Archive page.

If the archival task status is an intermediate such as PENDING, STOPPED, OR NEW states, the dataset count cannot be retrieved. If the archival task status is in FAILED state, then the changes in the archival schedule attempt is reverted to its original state.

Creating a Purge Schedule

Important
If you have an enterprise production tenant (Preview), then all data is retained, and cannot be purged.
  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Purge.
  2. On the Purge data page, click Add rule.
  3. On the Create rule page, specify the following details:

    Action Description
    Retention days Provide the number of days to retain the data before purging.
    Run at Specify the time at which purge should execute daily. The default is the time of schedule creation (current time).
    Start date Specify the date from when the purge should start. The default is the current date.
    End date Specify the date until when the delete schedule should run. If you do not specify an end date, IBM webMethods B2B runs the schedule indefinitely.
  4. Click Save.

This creates an execution schedule to purge the data. The created schedule appears in the Purge data page.

Next steps

By default, the purge rule that you created is inactive. Switch icon to activate it.

The Purge data page displays the following details:

Action Description
Retention days Number of days to retain the transaction data before deleting. The maximum value is 366 days.
Next execution Date and time of the next execution of the purge rule.
Last error Displays the error occurred, if any, during the last execution of the purge rule.
Actions Displays action that you can perform such as, change the status of the set schedule, edit, or delete the schedule.

Understanding Control Numbers

A control number refers to a number in the header of the business document that is used for validation and helps in ensuring that the business documents, exchanged between partners, are processed in order and no documents have been lost or unprocessed. Control number is generally used in the EDI document standards EANCOM, ODETTE, TRADACOMS, UCS, UNEDIFACT, VICS, X12 and VDA.

IBM webMethods B2B maintains control number information for unique combinations of:

For TRADACOMS, type is one of the following:

The control number definitions can be used through the operation getControlNumber exposed in B2B application to generate control numbers for outbound groups, envelops, and transactions. For details about the operations, see IBM webMethods B2B Operations.

You can view the complete list of control numbers on the Settings > Control numbers page.

The control number list is categorized in two sections:

Adding a Control Number

You can define a control number either from the control numbers page or from the partner profile’s control numbers page. When you define a control number from a partner profile’s control numbers page you can select whether you want to define that partner’s corporation name as a sender or a receiver. For details about how to add a control number from the Partner profiles page, see Defining a Control Number for a Partner Profile.

To add a control number

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Control numbers.

  2. Click Add Control Number.

  3. In the Control number definition section of the Add control number dialog box, provide the following details.

    Field Description
    Sender Sending partner’s full corporation name.
    Receiver Receiving partner’s full corporation name.
    Standard The EDI standard of the documents in which to use the control number.
    Select one of the following from the list: EANCOM, ODETTE, TRADACOMS, UCS, UNEDIFACT, VICS, X12, VDA.
    Mode The production mode associated with the interchange or group (or transmission or batch) header for which to use the control number. Possible values are:
    • Production
    • Test
    • Custom
    Note
    • For TRADACOMS, the only valid value is Production.
  4. For VDA, the value is always set to Custom.
  5. Group Specifies whether the control number is to be used for an interchange (or transmission) header or a group (or batch) header.
    Possible values are:
    • All. If you are adding a control number that is to be used for all group-level documents.
    • Envelope. If you are adding a control number for an interchange-level (or transmission-level) document. This is selected by default.
    • Custom. If you are adding a control number for a specific group type.
    Note
    For VDA, the value is always set to Envelope.
    Group name This field is enabled when you select Custom in the Group field. It specifies the name of the group.
    For example, for group-level (or batch-level) document that has a specific group type you can provide the following:
    • For non-TRADACOMS documents, provide the name of the group. For example, PO or IN.
    • For TRADACOMS documents, the name of the batch or file type. For example, NVHDR or ORDHDR.
    Version The version of the EDI standard selected.
    For example, for an ANSI X12 or UNEDIFACT interchange the version might be 00401 and for a group it might be 4010. For a TRADACOMS batch or transmission, the version can only be 1. For a TRADACOMS file, specify the version of the file document type.
    Note
    • When you select TRADACOMS as Standard the Version field is text box and you can type required value.
    • When you select TRADACOMS as Standard and Envelope as the Group, the version value in the Version field is auto-populated as 1.
  6. In the Settings section of the Add control number dialog box, provide the following details.

    Field Description
    Duplicate detection window Indicates a range of numbers that IBM webMethods B2B uses to determine whether a number is duplicate or out-of-sequence.
    Default value is 100.
    This value should be less than half the difference between the Maximum and Minimum value specified, that is:
    Duplicate detection window < (Maximum-Minimum)/2
    Note
    This is not applicable to outbound documents.
    Next control number The next control number that you expect for the interchange or group (or transmission or batch) to use.
    Default value is 1.
    The value should be as follows:
    Maximum<= Next control number <= Minimum
    Minimum The lowest number that the control number can have.
    Default value is 1.
    For VDA, the minimum value is 0.
    Maximum The highest number that the control number can have.
    Default value is 999999.
    The maximum value that you can specify is 99999999999999.
    If IBM webMethods B2B calculates the next expected control number and that number is greater than the control number maximum, then IBM webMethods B2B sets the control number to the value you specify in the Minimum field.
    Increment The value that IBM webMethods B2B uses to increment the control number to determine the next expected control number.
    Default value is 1.
    The increment value should be within the range: Maximum ~ Minimum.
  7. Click Add.
    The control number is created and listed on the Control numbers page under the Control numbers defined by you section. Once a control number is created, its association with the partner can be viewed on the Partners > Partner profiles > Control numbers page.
    You can modify the settings configured for a control number or delete a control number by clicking icon or icon in the Actions column for the corresponding control number.

Updating a Control Number

You can view all the control numbers on the Settings > Control numbers page. You can modify only the settings configured for the control numbers.

To update a control number

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Control numbers.

  2. Click icon in the Actions column for the control number whose details you want to update.

  3. Modify the values of the settings as required.

  4. Click Update to save the modified control number details.
    Click Cancel if you do not want to save the updated values.

For more information on control numbers, see here

Understanding Queues

A queue is a structure that maintains an order for documents to be delivered at a later time. You can create a queue to deliver business documents to business partners.

There are two types of scheduled delivery queues:

Note
The maximum number of queues allowed for creation is 100.

Creating a General Queue

To deliver a business document to a trading partner, you must create a processing rule for the document type and define the queue type in the processing action step.

To create a general queue

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings > Queue > General queue.
  2. Click Add Queue in the general queue, provide the following details:

    Field Description
    Queue information
    Name Defines the name of the queue.
    State Defines the state of the queue. The possible values are:
    • Enabled. Both queuing and batching is enabled.
    • Disabled. Both queuing and batching is disabled.
    • Draining. The queuing will be disabled but batching remains enabled for the existing queued transaction.
    • Suspended. The queuing is enabled but batching is disabled.
    Delivery service Defines the type of delivery service. The possible value is EDI Batch.
    Interchange control headers
    Sender identity Defines the values of sender identity. The field contains both sender id qualifier and its value.
    Receiver identity Defines the values of receiver identity. The field contains both receiver id qualifier and its value.
    Usage indicator The environment to indicate in the envelope headers. The possible values are Production and Test.
    Note
    For TRADACOMS, the only valid value is Production.
    Control number
    Control number Select the method for the service to create the control number for the envelope. The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequentialize. Control number is auto incremented.
    Group control number Select the method to create the group control numbers (or TRADACOMS batch transmission references). The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequentialize. Control number is auto incremented.
    • None. Do not overwrite the group or TRADACOMS batch control number.

    Note
    If Group control number is left blank, the value of Content control number is used.

    Content control number Select the method to select the content control numbers. The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequential. Control number is auto incremented.
    • None. Use the control number from the group or transaction header (or TRADACOMS batch or file header).
    EDI document type
    Standard The EDI standard to use.

    The possible values are: X12, UNEDIFACT, UCS, VICS, EANCOM, ODETTE, and TRADACOMS.

    Version Version of the EDI standard with which the envelope must be created. For example, 4010.
    Note
    • Values depend on the selected document standard.
    • For TRADACOMS, the only valid version is 1.
    One batch queue Select the method of operation to batch the document. The possible values are:
    • Single Output. Batch the EDI documents in the queue into a single batch EDI document that contains multiple interchanges or transactions.
    • Multiple Output. Batch the EDI documents in the queue into multiple batch EDI documents, each with a single interchange or transactions.
    EDIINT AS2 partner identities
    EDIINT AS2 sender identity Specify the AS2-From identity to send the document using the AS2 out channel.
    EDIINT AS2 receiver identity Specify the AS2-To identity to send the document using the AS2 out channel.
    Miscellaneous
    Create group Group related transactions together in the Transactions page. The possible values are True and False.
    Remove empty record Select to remove all the empty records from the batched documents. The possible values are True and False.
    Batch max count The maximum number of transactions the operation processes at a time from the queued transactions. The remaining transactions are handled in subsequent executions of the operation.

    If no value is provided, or a zero or a negative value is provided, all queued transactions are processed.

    Batch group The number of queued documents to be retrieved for processing. If no value is provided, or a zero or a negative value is provided, documents are retrieved one by one.
    Delimiters
    Default to TPA This option is selected by default. The delimiters specified in the TPA are used in the content generated in the document.

    Uncheck this option to specify a delimiter each for Record, Field, Sub-field, and Release.

    Record Specify a unique record.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ \n ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ ‘ ]
    Field Specify a unique field.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ * ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ + ]
    Subfield Specify a unique sub-field.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ : ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ : ]
    Release Specify a unique release.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ ? ]
    Scheduler
    Schedule Indicates the schedule type for the queue execution. You can select multiple hours and minutes to deliver business documents based on Daily, Weekly, and Monthly schedules.
    The possible values are:
    • Run once. To send the business document on a particular date and at a specific time.

      For example, the schedule runs on 24th May 2023 at 15:20 in the following image.
      run_once

    • Fixed interval. Sends the business document at a fixed interval.

      For example, the schedule runs after four days in the following image.
      fixed_interval

    • Daily. Sends the business document daily, at a selected time and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs daily from 1st June 2023 to 5th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      daily

    • Weekly. Sends the business document at a selected time, on weekdays, and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs on every Monday and Wednesday from 1st June 2023 to 30th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      weekly

    • Monthly. Sends the business document at a selected time and date, and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs on 2nd, 14th, and 24th starting from 1st June 2023 to 30th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      monthly
    Processing rule
    Create a processing rule with Queue for delivery action Select this field to create a processing rule upon creation of queue. This rule is used to add transactions into queue. The Sender, Receiver, and all the documents related to the standard and version specified below are used in the processing rule criteria.
    Senders Select the list of senders required for the processing rule criteria.
    Receivers Select the list of receivers required for the processing rule criteria.
    Documents Select the list of documents required for the processing rule criteria.
    Status Select the status of the processing rule.

    This field appears if you select Queue for delivery. The possible values are Active and Inactive.

    Position Select the position of the processing rule.

    This field appears if you select Queue for delivery. The possible values are First, Last, and Custom. Also select the Position index for the Custom position of the processing rule.

  3. Click Save.
    To update a general queue click icon, use the details described in the table above.

Creating a Partner-specific Queue

To deliver a business document to a trading partner, you must create a processing rule for the document type and define the queue type in the processing action step.

To create a partner-specific queue

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings > Queue > Partner-specific queue.
  2. Click Add Queue in the partner-specific queue, provide the following details:

    Field Description
    Queue information
    Partner name Defines the partner name of the queue.
    State Defines the state of the queue. The possible values are:
    • Enabled. Both queuing and batching is enabled.
    • Disabled. Both queuing and batching is disabled.
    • Draining. The queuing will be disabled but batching remains enabled for the existing queued transaction.
    • Suspended. The queuing is enabled but batching is disabled.
    Delivery service Defines the type of delivery service. The possible value is EDI Batch.
    Interchange control headers
    Sender identity Defines the values of sender identity. The field contains both sender id qualifier and its value.
    Receiver identity Defines the values of receiver identity. The field contains both receiver id qualifier and its value.
    Usage indicator The environment to indicate in the envelope headers. The possible values are Production and Test.
    Note
    For TRADACOMS, the only valid value is Production.
    Control number
    Control number Select the method for the service to create the control number for the envelope. The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequentialize. Control number is auto incremented.
    Group control number Select the method to create the group control numbers (or TRADACOMS batch transmission references). The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequentialize. Control number is auto incremented.
    • None. Do not overwrite the group or TRADACOMS batch control number.

    Note
    If Group control number is left blank, the value of Content control number is used.

    Content control number Select the method to select the content control numbers. The possible values are:
    • Control number settings. Selects the value already configured under Settings > Control Number, by using the inputs provided in the header category EDI Document Type and Interchange control headers of Queue settings.
    • Sequential. Control number is auto incremented.
    • None. Use the control number from the group or transaction header (or TRADACOMS batch or file header).
    EDI document type
    Standard The EDI standard to use.

    The possible values are: X12, UNEDIFACT, UCS, VICS, EANCOM, ODETTE, and TRADACOMS.

    Version Version of the EDI standard with which the envelope must be created. For example, 4010.
    Note
    • Values depend on the selected document standard.
    • For TRADACOMS, the only valid version is 1.
    One batch queue Select the method of operation to batch the document. The possible values are:
    • Single Output. Batch the EDI documents in the queue into a single batch EDI document that contains multiple interchanges or transactions.
    • Multiple Output. Batch the EDI documents in the queue into multiple batch EDI documents, each with a single interchange or transactions.
    EDIINT AS2 partner identities
    EDIINT AS2 sender identity Specify the AS2-From identity to send the document using the AS2 out channel.
    EDIINT AS2 receiver identity Specify the AS2-To identity to send the document using the AS2 out channel.
    Miscellaneous
    Create group Group related transactions together in the Transactions page. The possible values are True and False.
    Remove empty record Select to remove all the empty records from the batched documents. The possible values are True and False.
    Batch max count The maximum number of transactions the operation processes at a time from the queued transactions. The remaining transactions are handled in subsequent executions of the operation.

    If no value is provided, or a zero or a negative value is provided, all queued transactions are processed.

    Batch group The number of queued documents to be retrieved for processing. If no value is provided, or a zero or a negative value is provided, documents are retrieved one by one.
    Delimiters
    Default to TPA This option is selected by default. The delimiters specified in the TPA are used in the content generated in the document.

    Uncheck this option to specify a delimiter each for Record, Field, Sub-field, and Release.

    Record Specify a unique record.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ \n ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ ‘ ]
    Field Specify a unique field.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ * ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ + ]
    Subfield Specify a unique sub-field.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ : ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ : ]
    Release Specify a unique release.

    If no value is specified in the input or TPA, the following default values are added:
    • For X12: [ ]
    • For UNEDIFACT: [ ? ]
    Scheduler
    Schedule Indicates the schedule type for the queue execution. You can select multiple hours and minutes to deliver business documents based on Daily, Weekly, and Monthly schedules.
    The possible values are:
    • Run once. To send the business document on a particular date and at a specific time.

      For example, the schedule runs on 24th May 2023 at 15:20 in the following image.
      run_once

    • Fixed interval. Sends the business document at a fixed interval.

      For example, the schedule runs after four days in the following image.
      fixed_interval

    • Daily. Sends the business document daily, at a selected time and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs daily from 1st June 2023 to 5th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      daily

    • Weekly. Sends the business document at a selected time, on weekdays, and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs on every Monday and Wednesday from 1st June 2023 to 30th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      weekly

    • Monthly. Sends the business document at a selected time and date, and between the selected date range.

      For example, the schedule runs on 2nd, 14th, and 24th starting from 1st June 2023 to 30th June 2023 at 2:30 and 3:30 in the following image.
      monthly
    Processing rule
    Create a processing rule with Queue for delivery action Select this field to create a processing rule upon creation of queue. This rule is used to add transactions into queue. The Sender, Receiver, and all the documents related to the standard and version specified below are used in the processing rule criteria.
    Senders Select the list of senders required for the processing rule criteria.
    Receivers Select the list of receivers required for the processing rule criteria.
    Documents Select the list of documents required for the processing rule criteria.
    Status Select the status of the processing rule.

    This field appears if you select Queue for delivery. The possible values are Active and Inactive.

    Position Select the position of the processing rule.

    This field appears if you select Queue for delivery. The possible values are First, Last, and Custom. Also, select the Position index for the Custom position of the processing rule.

  3. Click Save.
    To update a partner-specific queue click icon, use the details described in the table above.

Configuring Runtime Options

Modify the properties to alter the manner in which IBM webMethods B2B operates. The categories are:

Before You Begin

You must have administrator permissions to make the changes.

Configuring Runtime Options

To configure system properties

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Runtime options.
  2. Select the category of the property you want to reconfigure. The table below lists all the properties you can modify:

     
    Category Sub-Category Name Property Name Description
    AS2 Message disposition notification (MDN) Time to wait before sending an asynchronous MDN Determines how many seconds IBM webMethods B2B waits before sending an asynchronous MDN. The default value is 30 seconds.
    Process the payload if asynchronous MDN is not sent The payload is to be processed when the asynchronous MDN is not sent successfully:
    • true. Processes the payload.
    • false. Does not process the payload. This is the default.
    Allow duplicate MDN processing Indicates whether to allow processing of duplicate MDN. The possible valid values are:
    • true. Processes duplicate MDN.
    • false. Does not process duplicate MDN and log a warning message.
    Miscellaneous properties Extract payload for processing Determines if the payload is submitted to IBM webMethods B2B for processing when the payload is an EDI or XML document (that is, its content type is either application/xml, application/edi-x12, application/edifact, or application/ediconsent):
    • true. Submits the payload to IBM webMethods B2B. This is the default behavior.
    • false. Does not submit the payload to IBM webMethods B2B.
    Check for AS2 errors and update the processing status IBM webMethods B2B system for changing processing status to DONE W/ ERRORS for any AS2 errors. The possible valid values are:
    • true. Changes the processing status to DONE W/ ERRORS.
    • false. Does not change processing status toDONE W/ ERRORS. This is the default value.
    Fallback to enterprise profile AS2 ID Indicates whether to consider the enterprise profile AS2 ID if the partner profile AS2 ID is not present. The possible valid values are:
    • true. IBM webMethods B2B considers the AS2 ID for the enterprise profile if it is configured.
    • false. IBM webMethods B2B does not consider the AS2 ID for the enterprise profile even if it is configured.
    Run processing rule for any AS2 errors Determines whether to run the processing rule in case there is a mention of an error in the user status of AS2 messages (EDIINT/MDN).
    Create a new AS2 Message-ID upon resubmission of EDIINT message If this option is enabled, then a new Message-ID is generated upon resubmission of request EDIINT message.
    AS4 Miscellaneous Enable Pmode validation Validates Pmode parameters. The default value is true. The valid values are:
    • true. Validates Pmode before using it to send or process a user message or pull signal.
    • false. Does not validate.
    Validate ebMS header Indicates whether to validate the ebMS header for an inbound message. The default value is true. The valid values are:
    • true. Validates the ebMS header for an inbound message.
    • false. Does not validate the ebMS header for an inbound message.
    Communication Request timeout value The duration IBM webMethods B2B waits for a response to an AS4 request. The default value is 30000 milliseconds.
    Request timeout value for Two-Way/Sync MEP The duration, in milliseconds, IBM webMethods B2B waits for responding MSH to submit a reply in a Two-Way/Sync mode.
    ebMS message security header TTL The length of time for which the ebMS message security header is valid. The time is in seconds. The default value is 3600 seconds.
    Peppol Validate CA certificate Indicates whether to validate the CA certificates with the Peppol-trusted CA certificates for the inbound messages.
    The default value is false.
    The possible values are
    • true. IBM webMethods B2B validates the CA certificate with the Peppol-trusted certificate in the truststore.
    • false. IBM webMethods B2B does not validate the CA certificate.
    Test Access Point profile ID The value of the partner identity to use in the the testing environment.
    Production Access Point profile ID The value of the partner identity to use in the production environment.
    Peppol test certificate chain The CA certificate chain to use in the test environment. Use the certificate chain encoded with base64 and saved with the .cer extension.
    Peppol production certificate chain The CA certificate chain to use in the production environment. Use the certificate chain encoded with base64 and saved with the .cer extension.
    EDI Encoding Default encoding Character encoding for encoding EDI documents. IBM webMethods B2B uses this property if it does not encounter an encoding variable in the pipeline. The default value is UTF-8. The possible values are:
    • US-ASCII
    • ISO-8859-1
    • UTF-8
    • UTF-16
    Encoding order Comma-separated list of character encoding to use if Default encoding property fails.

    If both the Default encoding and the Encoding order properties fail, then the value for the file.encoding Java system property is used. If this value is UTF-8, then ISO8859-1 is used.

    Encode in chunks Specifies the size of the EDI message selected for encoding in consecutive chunks.

    The maximum limit of the chunk size is 50 MB.

      Functional acknowledgment (FA) Maximum number of errors to report per FA transaction Specifies the maximum number of errors to report per FA transaction. The possible values are:
    • The maximum number of errors that can be reported for any one FA transaction. The default value is 100.
    • -1 specifies that any number of errors can be reported for an FA transaction.
      Document Validation Maximum number of errors returned while EDI documents validation The default value is 10. The maximum allowed limit is 100 and the minimum limit is 1.
      Miscellaneous Use both the release and version number of UNEDIFACT documents Specifies whether both the release number and the version number of the UNIEDIFACT message are used to determine the versions.
    Persist as received Specifies whether to persist EDI documents in IBM webMethods B2B exactly as they are received, without removing empty records and spaces between the records.
    • true. EDI documents are persisted exactly as they are received.
    • false. EDI documents are persisted after removing empty records and spaces between the records. This is the default behavior.
    Generate group control number for FA Generates the FA group control number for X12 documents. If this option is enabled, IBM webMethods B2B generates the group control number.
    The default value is false.
    If you want the same control number for the group and envelope, modify the Next control number of the corresponding document in Settings > Control number.
    General Document Validation Maximum errors returned during XML documents validation Maximum number of errors that can occur during XML document validation. The default value is 10. The maximum allowed limit is 100 and the minimum limit is 1.
    Tasks Maximum number of retries The number of times IBM webMethods B2B must try to rerun a failed integration specified in the Call an integration processing rule action when using reliable execution mode. Specify a positive integer. The default value is 5. The maximum allowed limit is 10 and the minimum limit is 0.

    Note
    The value configured in the Maximum number of retry attempts in the receiver profile’s delivery settings supersedes the value configured in the Maximum number of retries in the Runtime Options.


    For example, if you configure the Maximum number of retries in the Runtime Options to 2, and you configure the Maximum number of retry attempts in the delivery settings of the receiver’s profile to 5, the task persists for 5 iterations.
      Task retry factor Factor used for determining the duration to wait before making the second and subsequent attempts to rerun a failed integration specified in the Call an integration processing rule action when using the reliable execution mode. IBM webMethods B2B calculates the time to wait by multiplying the last wait time by this property. Set this property to a positive integer. The default value is 1. The maximum allowed limit is 10 and the minimum limit is 1.
      Task sweep time The number of seconds the task manager thread remains idle before checking for tasks it needs to perform (for example, a task to deliver a document or execute a service). The thread becomes idle when all tasks are completed, failed, or in the wait period between attempts. The thread waits for the number of seconds you specify with this property before waking up to check for tasks it needs to process. The tasks that the task manager tries to process when it wakes up are those tasks that failed on their last attempt and have not yet reached their retry limit. The minimum allowable setting for this property is 1 second. If you try to set this property lower than 1 second, the task manager remains idle for 1 second before checking for tasks it needs to perform. The default is 1. The maximum allowed limit is 600 and the minimum limit is 1.

    The task manager wakes up immediately when a new task arrives.

    This property can affect the duration to wait between attempts to retry a task. Typically, the duration to wait between retries is governed by one of the tasks listed below:

    • Delivery. The duration between retries specified in the delivery settings of the receiving partner’s profile.
    • Call an integration. Relies on the value configured for Time-to-wait before retry property.

    IBM webMethods B2B waits as long as this property specifies. If the task manager thread is idle when the wait between retries expires, the task manager thread does not wake up to process the task until the value set for Task sweep time expires.

      Time-to-wait before retry Number of milliseconds to wait before making the first attempt to re-execute a failed integration specified in the Call an integration processing rule action when using the reliable execution mode. The value you set should be a positive integer. The default value is 300ms. The maximum allowed limit is 1000ms and the minimum limit is 100ms.
      Notification Categories The categories for which you want to subscribe to receiving notifications. The available categories are:
    • Communications
    • Transactions
    • Assets
    • Archival

    You are subscribed to receive notifications of all categories by default, except for Archival. You will be subscribed to the System category by default and you cannot unsubscribe it. This is to ensure that you receive all the critical system alerts.

        Severity-level Specifies the severity level of messages for which you want to receive notifications.
    • Information
    • Warning
    • Error
    • Critical

    If you select information, you will be notified of all the warnings, errors, and critical messages along with information messages. If you select warning, you will be notified of the errors and critical messages along with the warnings and so on.

    You are subscribed to receive notifications of all severity types by default.

        Notification retention period Determines the duration for which the alerts are stored in IBM webMethods B2B. The default is 30 days. The minimum value is 1 day, and the maximum value is 30 days.
        Database threshold Storage limit (in MB) to set aside for the database after which you must receive the notification.

    While setting these options check the applicable resource limits for your subscription. For example, a paid enterprise tenant has a default database threshold set to 50Gb.

    The default is -1, which means the setting is disabled. The maximum value you can set is 500000 MB. The minimum value is -1.

        Receive certificate expiry notification before Number of days before the certificate expiry when you want to start receiving the notification (on a daily basis). The default value is -1 which means the setting is disabled. The minimum value is -1 day, and the maximum value is 60 days.

    Receive notifications for all primary, secondary, and partner-specific certificate types.

        Transaction processing categories The categories for which you want to subscribe to receiving transaction processing notifications. You are not subscribed to any of these categories by default. The possible values are:
    • Document processing completed. The intended processing rule was selected, and the document was processed based on the actions defined in that rule.
    • Document persisted. The document was saved in the database.
    • Processing rule selected. A processing rule was used to route an inbound document.
    • System status changed. Status of a transaction or task changed while processing inbound documents.
    • User status changed. The processing rule changed its state based on a user-defined status.
    • Validation error. A document validation error occurred.
    • Integration invocation. An integration was invoked through a processing rule.
        Transaction delivery categories The categories for which you want to subscribe to receiving transaction delivery notifications. You are not subscribed to any of these categories by default. The possible values are:
    • Batch delivery completed
    • Document enqueued
    • Processing task
    • Document sent
    • Immediate delivery completed
    • Failed tasks
        Show notifications on the panel for The configuration controls the number of days for which you want the notifications to be visible on the Notifications panel after which they appear only on the Notifications listing page. The default is 2 days. The minimum value is 2 days, and the maximum value is 5 days.

    Note that the notifications are displayed based on how many are generated in a day.

    Note
    The panel shows only 5 notifications per day. And similar messages are grouped and counted as one.

    For example, if you specify 3 as the configuration value, then if, on 07/27 there are 8 notifications, on 07/28 there are 100, on 07/29 there are 0 notifications, and 07/30 there are 15 notifications generated, then only the last five notifications for each day appears on the notifications panel. And no notifications are displayed for 07/29 because none were generated on that day.

      Password policy Minimum password length The minimum length of the password you can set. The minimum length is 8. The maximum length is 46. Applicable for partner users. This policy does not affect the passwords that were configured earlier.
        Minimum number of uppercase characters The minimum number of uppercase characters that must be part of the password you set. The minimum value is 1, and the maximum value is 20.
        Minimum number of lowercase characters The minimum number of lowercase characters that must be part of the password you set. The minimum value is 1, and the maximum value is 20.
        Minimum number of digits The minimum number of digits that must be part of the password you set. The default value is 1. The minimum value is 1, and the maximum value is 20.
        Minimum number of special characters The minimum number of special characters, such as asterisk (*), period (.), and question mark (?) that must be part of the password you set. The default value is 1. The minimum value is 1, and the maximum value is 20.
        Maximum number of repeated characters Maximum number of times you can repeat a character in the password you set. The default value is 3. The minimum value is 0, and the maximum value is 20.
      Large Document Handling Large document threshold The size of the document IBM webMethods B2B considers as a large document. The maximum limit is 31457280 bytes (30 MB), and the minimum limit is 1048576 bytes (1 MB). The default value is 5242880 bytes (5MB).
        Query threshold The maximum size of the payload IBM webMethods B2B reads to run the queries defined in an XML or EDI document type. Specify the value from the root element of the XML or EDI document. The maximum limit is 31457280 bytes (30 MB), and the minimum limit is 1000 bytes.
      Miscellaneous Properties Decimal format pattern Accommodates more than two digits after the decimal point. This property specifies the pattern that IBM webMethods B2B must use to format the decimal numbers. The pattern can contain any of the following symbols:
    • # Indicates a digit. Leading or trailing zeroes are omitted.
    • 0 Indicates a digit. Leading or trailing zeroes are included.
    • . Indicates a placeholder for a decimal separator.
    • , Indicates a placeholder for a group separator

    You can define a maximum decimal precision of 4 decimal places.

    The syntax is: ##.##.

    A few examples:

    • If the pattern is #,###.### it groups the integers in 3’s and limiting to 3 decimal places. For example, 5,123,456.789.
    • If the pattern is #,##.### it groups the integers in 2’s and limiting to 3 decimal places. For example, 2,34,56.789.
    • If the pattern is set to ###.###, that means you are limiting the decimal precision to 2 digits omitting any leading or trailing zeroes. For example, 112.151.
    • If the pattern is set to 000.##, that means you are limiting the decimal precision to 2 digits including the trailing zeroes. For example, 0012.15.
    • If the pattern is set to 000.000, that means you are limiting the decimal precision to 2 digits including any leading or trailing zeroes. For example, 012.150.
        SSL validation Enable when IBM webMethods B2B should prevent users from using weak or insecure SSL certificates. IBM webMethods B2B performs the SSL validation when you configure:
    • XML schema import through URL
    • Processing rule with an external integration call
    • HTTP-OUT channel

    SFTP File Size Configuration SFTP channel maximum file size in bytes Maximum file size to accept through an SFTP channel. The maximum file size limit is 20971520 bytes (20 MB), and for handling large documents the maximum limit is 524288000 bytes (500 MB). The minimum file size must be greater than 1 byte.
      Polling Logs Log poll activity If you enable the Log poll activity, the active SFTP-IN-CLIENT channels log the polling activity. A relevant message regarding the status of the polling mechanism of each of the channels appears in the General activity log.

  3. Click Save.

Managing Peppol Participants

IBM webMethods B2B acts as an Access Point service provider. It facilitates registering the Peppol participants in the Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) to receive the documents. IBM webMethods B2B UI’s Peppol page facilitates to add and delete the participant details. You can change the participant’s status between active and inactive.

For outbound transactions, the Peppol participant’s details to send the documents are available at Peppol Directory. For inbound transactions, register the details of the receiver as a participant in SMP through IBM webMethods B2B Access Point service.

To exchange the documents on the Peppol network, the participant’s status must be Active. The details of inactive participants cannot be retrieved when using IBM webMethods Integration IBM webMethods B2B operation retrievePeppolParticipantDetails.
Click the Active tab to view the list of active participants. The Inactive tab displays the list of inactive participants.

To change the status of the participant, click icon. To view the participant’s details and to add or delete the document type for the participant, click Participant id.

The Test view displays all the participant IDs to exchange the documents for testing purposes.
The Production view displays all the participant IDs to exchange the documents for production purposes.

Pre-requisites to add a Peppol participant

For prerequisites, see Before you begin in Peppol for AS4.

To add a Peppol participant

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings > Peppol > and click icon.
  2. On the Add participants page, provide the details:

    Field Description
    Participant id Type the Peppol participant identifier. The format for the participant ID is Identifier Scheme : Identifier Value.
    Participant identifiers must adhere to the following constraints:
    1. The Identifier Scheme must have four digits.
    2. Identifier Scheme and Identifier Value must be separated by a colon.
    3. The minimum length of the identifier value is 1 character.
    4. The maximum length of the identifier value is 45 characters.
    5. The identifier value must contain letters (a-z), numeric digits (0-9), the minus sign (-), the period character (.), the underscore character (_), or the tilde character (~).

    For example, 9915:test_01.
    Document type Select the documents that the Peppol participant can receive.
    Usage The usage for exchanging the documents.
    • When you add a participant from a Test view, the participant is added to exchange the documents for testing purposes.
    • When you add a participant from a Production view, the participant is added to exchange the documents for production purposes.
  3. When in a partner profile, the Identity type urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:identifiers:ap with the corresponding Identity value Identifier Scheme:Identifier value does not contain the Participant ID, the UI displays the Create partner option. When you enable the Create partner option, IBM webMethods B2B creates a partner profile with the Identity type and Identity values as below:

    • urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:identifiers:ap/Identifier Scheme:Identifier value For example, urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:identifiers:ap/0060:123456789
    • urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:identifiers:ap/CNAME(Identifier Scheme:Identifier value) For example, urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:identifiers:ap/buyer(0060:123456789).

  4. Click Save.