Do it Best Corp. Interactive Async Communications Conversion Guide Publication No. EL2105 Publication Date: December 9, 2005
This manual contains reference information about software products from Activant Solutions Inc. The software described in this manual and the manual itself are furnished under the terms and conditions of a license agreement. The software consists of software options that are separately licensed. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium, or to enable any software options, except as specifically permitted under the license agreement. In addition, no part of this manual may be copied or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Activant Solutions Inc. From time to time, Activant makes changes to its software products. Therefore, information in this manual is subject to change, and the illustrations and screens that appear in the manual may differ somewhat from the version of the software provided to you. Created by Learning Products and Education Copyright: 2005 Activant Solutions Inc. All rights reserved. Activant Solutions Inc., the Activant logo, Activant Eagle, and Activant Eagle for Windows are trademarks of Activant Solutions Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Activant Solutions Inc. 7683 Southfront Road Livermore, CA 94551 Publication No. EL2105 Publication Date: December 9, 2005
Contents 1) Introduction...1 Overview...1 When to Complete the Conversion...1 Help and Additional Information...2 2) Checking Eagle Software Level...2 3) Contact Do it Best Corp...3 4) Set Up Control Streams...5 Overview...5 Creating Interactive Async Control Streams...5 Testing Interactive Async Control Streams...7 5) Review Procedure Changes...7 i
Introduction The preferred communications method with Do it Best Corp. is to utilize the FTP communications in place today. If your retail store(s) is currently utilizing a broadband internet connection, it is recommended you convert to FTP communications, instead of Interactive Async. To do so, refer to the Do it Best FTP Communications Conversion Guide, document number EL1054, located on the Activant Customer Support website. This document is designed to help you convert from async (asynchronous) communications to a new type of async communications, Interactive Async. Currently you use async communications to transmit information to and from Do It Best Corp., such as purchase orders and electronic invoices. The new communications method, Interactive Async, still sends the same information to and from Do it Best Corp. With Interactive Async, an optional e-mail address can be provided to Do it Best Corp. in order to receive an e-mail confirmation following a successful data transmission when you send data (Purchase Orders, Point-of-Sale Data) from your Eagle system to Do it Best Corp. Communication, transmitting data to and from Do it Best Corp., is accomplished using control streams you have set up on the Activant Eagle system. The conversion process adds new control streams that are designed to work with Interactive Async communications. Read through the entire document before starting any of the conversion steps. This will give you a complete understanding of the conversion process and help to ensure a smooth transition from async to Interactive Async communications. Overview The following is an overview of the conversion process: Check Your Software Level You ll need to verify that the correct Eagle software level is installed on your system. Contact Do it Best EDI Services Support They will provide you with information (such as your user id and password) and configure your data for Interactive Async communications. Set Up Control Streams Once you have the information from Do it Best EDI Services Support and you know you re on the correct level of Eagle software, you are ready to set up the new control streams and do test transmissions. Review Procedure Changes Read this section to learn about any procedure changes that you need to be aware of now that you are using a new type of async communications. When to Complete the Conversion The conversion process can be completed at any time and does not require a quiet system. It is important that you coordinate the timing of the conversion from async to Interactive Async 1
communications with Do it Best Corp. Once you have completed the conversion process from async to Interactive Async communications, you can no longer receive data using async communications. Work with Do it Best EDI Services Support to determine the best time for you to convert. In most cases, this will be after you transmit your weekly purchase order and after you receive your EFM data, using the async method. Help and Additional Information Do it Best Corp. EDI Services Support phone number is 1 (260) 748-5565. Activant Solutions Inc. Eagle Advice Line phone number is 1 (800) 678-7423. If you experience any problems converting to Interactive Async communications, or with communications after converting, contact the Eagle Advice Line and ask for a telecommunications specialist. Additional information can be found in online help and in the Do it Best Corp. User s Guide (part number EL1040). The guide is available online at www.activant.com. Checking Eagle Software Level Your software level must be Level 27.1590 or higher to use Interactive Async communications. To check your current software level, do the following: 1. At the Function prompt, type PCO and press <Enter>. 2. Check the software level in the Programs field near the top of the screen. (See the following PCO screen example). 2
SYSTEM SOFTWARE PCOs Programs: 27.1590 OS: 17.2517 master: 17.2501 cnfgrtn: 17.2013 sco_os5_trgt: 16.0000 sco_os5_cfg: 17.1357 sco_os5: 17.2509 sco_os5_rtl: 17.0531 sco_os505: 17.0532 sco_os505_rtl: 17.0533 sco_os505_krnls: 17.2454 boot/combo: 17.2346 SOFTWARE PACKAGES Eagle FAX Release 2.9 SOFTWARE PATCHES 2911 08/26/05 Do it Best Interactive Async Telecom (Note: this patch could appear anywhere in the patch list, and it may have a different patch number than 2911) 3. If your software level is 27.1590 or 27.1590.xxx, check the PCO screen to see if you have the Do it Best Interactive Async Telecom software patch installed. If the patch is not installed on your system, use the floppy patch and the patch installation instructions you received in your conversion packet and install the patch. If you did not receive the floppy, or cannot get it to install, call the Eagle Advice Line at 1(800) 678-7423. 4. If your software level is below Level 27.1590, contact Activant Solutions Inc. at 1(800) 678-7423 to order the latest Eagle system software. When you receive the new software, check what level it is. If it s level 27.1590 (or 27.1590.xxx), install the Interactive Async patch that came with the software. The patch is built for Level 27.1590, and has the software enhancements for Interactive Async. If you receive level 27.1591 or higher, contact the Eagle Advice Line at 1(800) 678-7423. 5. Press <End> to exit PCO. Contact Do it Best Corp. Before you can transmit data using Interactive Async communications, do the following: 1. In the table below, write in your Eagle store numbers and corresponding Do it Best Corp. member numbers. 3
2. Make sure you have transmitted your purchase order and have received your EFM data. This means your async mailbox should be empty. 3. Contact Do it Best EDI Services Support at (260) 748-5565. If you are not sure if you are currently communicating via async or FTP, ask Do it Best. If you are currently using FTP, do not use this guide, because you are already using the preferred method of communications. If you are currently using async, tell Do it Best you want to switch to Interactive Async communications. They will set up an Interactive Async mailbox, user id, and password for each of your stores. They will also give you the option of supplying an e- mail address in order to receive an e-mail confirmation following a successful data transmission when you send data (Purchase Orders, Point-of-Sale Data) from your Eagle to Do it Best Corp. Request that your Interactive Async mailboxes be set to TEST status. Use the table below to write down the Do it Best supplied user id and password for each of your Do it Best member numbers. Do it Best Interactive Async Information Table Eagle Store # Do it Best Member # User ID Password 4
Set Up Control Streams Overview The following is an overview of the process you will follow to set up the Interactive Async control streams. Create Interactive Async control streams. Use the TCSUTL utility to create the new control streams you will use for Interactive Async communications. Test Interactive Async control streams. Test each of the new Interactive Async control streams. Coordinate this with Do it Best Corp. DO NOT continue with the conversion process until the tests are successful. The following sections provide the detailed steps you will follow with each control stream to accomplish the conversion as explained in the overview. Complete the following procedures to create and test your Interactive Async control streams. Creating Interactive Async Control Streams Important: All control streams must begin with the letters indicated ( HWIPO, HWIEFM, HWIEFMTC, HWIRDC, etc). You can optionally add a suffix (i.e. to indicate the store number), but you must use the required letters. For example, the control stream name HWIEFM2 is acceptable, because it contains the required letters HWIEFM. However, the name DIBEFM2 is not acceptable, because it doesn t contain the required letters HWIEFM. The TCSUTL screen enforces the rules of the required letters. Use the same control stream names for Interactive Async that you had been using for async. That way, you won t have to change any End of Day queues or any of your procedures. Follow the steps below to create your Interactive Async control streams. 1. From the Eagle Browser, type MTC in the Launch bar and press Enter. In the Maintain Transmission Control Stream window, type HWI and click Display. Then use the Next Item button to verify the names of all control streams that start with HWI, and delete any that end in the letter B (unless you are multi-store and you have a store B if so, call the Advice Line). For example, if you have control streams such as HWIEFMB or HWIERPB, delete these. Be sure to ONLY delete control streams that end in the letter B (these are old bysnc control streams, and will not be needed again). 5
2. At the Function prompt, type TCSUTL and press <Enter>. The Transmission Control Stream Utility screen displays. 3. At Control Stream Vendor, type the number that corresponds to Do it Best Interactive Async and press <Enter>. A different TCSUTL screen displays. 4. At Transmission Type, type the number that corresponds to PO (Purchase Order) and press <Enter>. Notice the Control Stream Name and Dial Number fields have been pre-set to default values. 5. At Control Stream Name, verify the name is correct. Multistore: If necessary, add the store number to the end of the name. For example, if you re adding the EFM control stream for Store 2, it would normally be called HWIEFM2. 6. At User ID, type the user id provided by Do it Best. (Refer to the Do it Best Interactive Async Information table above.) Press <Enter>. 7. At Password, type in the password provided by Do it Best. (Refer to the Do it Best Interactive Async Information table above.) Press <Enter>. 8. At Dial Prefix, type in any dialing prefix that is needed. A typical prefix is 9, (the number 9 plus a comma), where 9 gets an outside phone line, and the comma provides a short delay before dialing the phone number. If you don t have a need for a dial prefix, leave the field blank. Press <Enter>. 9. At Dial Number, leave the default phone number of 18002308815. 10. Press <Add>. If you see the message CONTROL STREAM HAS BEEN ADDED at the bottom of the screen, the control stream has been successfully added to your system. If you see the message CONTROL STREAM XXXXXXXX ALREADY EXISTS, DO YOU WANT TO RENAME IT (Y OR N)? at the bottom of the screen, the Control Stream Name you re trying to add already exists in MTC. Type Y and press <Enter>, so that the existing control stream will be renamed (it becomes a backup copy, in case there are any problems), the new control stream is added with the values you entered on the screen, and the message CONTROL STREAM HAS BEEN ADDED displays at the bottom of the screen. 11. Repeat steps 3 through 10 for each of the following control streams: EFM Multistore: Repeat these steps to create an EFM control stream for each store location. For example, create an EFM control stream for Store 2 called HWIEFM2. EFMTC EID 6
EPDC Multistore: Repeat these steps to create an EPDC control stream for each store location. For example, create an EPDC control stream for Store 2 called HWIPDC2. ERDC ERP 12. Press <End> to return to the Function prompt. 13. If you use the Order Confirmation report, you will need to add the control module OCRHWI as the last line of each EFM control stream(s) you just created. If you are not using the Order Confirmation report, skip this step. At the Function prompt, type MTC and press <Enter>. The Maintain Transmission Control Stream screen displays. To add the control module, type HWIEFM and press <Display>. Position your cursor at the start of the first blank line of the control stream (the line below the line that starts with CAD). Type OCRHWI and press <Change>. Multistore: Repeat this step for the EFM control stream for each store location. 14. Press <End> to return to the Function prompt. Testing Interactive Async Control Streams Now that you have created the Interactive Async control streams, test each of the control streams to make sure each transmits successfully. Coordinate the test transmissions with Do it Best EDI Services Support. Also check the Async Transmission Log (ASYMSG) to confirm that each transmission was successful. It is important for you to test the transmissions and contact Do it Best EDI Services Support. Your Interactive Async mailbox is in a TEST status, and will remain so until testing is completed. If you sent a purchase order and supplied an email address to Do it Best EDI Services Support, check your email for a confirmation email from the Do it Best Corp. communication server. Finally, once you have successfully completed your testing, contact Do it Best EDI Services Support and have them switch your mailboxes from TEST status to PRODUCTION status. Review Procedure Changes Once you ve completed the conversion process to create the Interactive Async control streams, there are no changes to the procedures you use to transmit and receive information from Do it Best Corp. Continue to follow the same steps that you used with the async communications. 7
If you have EFM, ERP, or EPDC in an end-of-day queue, you do not have to change the queue(s) if you kept the same control stream names as you used when you transmitted with async. However, if you changed the control stream names, you need to rebuild any associated queues. 8