Method and apparatus for electronic data interchange

Claim 2

A programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in a plurality of different dictionary-structured transaction formats, said machine system including a plurality of system components, said machine system characterized by: first means for defining an overlay for each of the different dictionary-structured formats, each such overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordinates of given elements to related fields of a given system component; and second means, using a selected overlay, for translating data in one of the dictionary-structured formats into a different format for use on the given system component; whereby the same programmable machine system is operated on different dictionary-structured transaction formats without software modification.

Claim 3

The system of Claim 1 in which one of the system components is a memory, and wherein said memory contains information associated with segments and elements of a given transaction, and wherein said first means comprises: means for displaying to the user those segments that are mandatory for a given transaction; means, accessible to the user, for modifying the number, order and attributes of the segments and elements for a given transaction; means for selecting a given system component having a plurality of fields, some of which are associated with certain elements; means for tailoring the given system component by moving the fields to different locations within the system component; and means for automatically updating the mapping coordinates of the elements associated with the moved fields.

Claim 4

The system of Claim 2 wherein said given system component is a data entry screen and wherein said machine system further comprises: a keyboard for entering data; and means for placing data entered onto the screen through the keyboard into an appropriate ordered position for its associated element in the dictionary-structured transaction format.

Claim 5

The system of Claim 1 wherein the plurality of system components are for defining, entering, and translating business transaction data for transmitting said data among trading partners, and the system includes and is further characterized by: a) input means for defining a dictionary-structured transaction format having a plurality of elements in a particular organization; b) selector means for selecting a given system component; c) overlay generator means cooperating with the input means and selector means for generating an overlay associated with the selected system component, said overlay being used to define at least one second format having positionable parts in the selected system component that are related to the elements in the dictionary-structured transaction format, the overlay also containing a mapping between the location of such parts in the selected system component to its associated elements in the dictionary-structured format; and d) transmitting means for transmitting the translated data in the dictionary-structured transaction format to a trading partner.

Claim 6

The system of Claim 4 which further comprises: memory means containing: a) an element dictionary including an identification code for a datum defining each element and certain parameters therefor; b) a segment dictionary including an identification code for each segment defined by a group of elements in a particular order; and c) a transaction dictionary including an identification code for each transaction defined by a plurality of segments in a particular order; and wherein the system further comprises: means for selecting information from said dictionaries to create a plurality of different dictionary-structured transaction formats, with the overlay generator means being used to create second formats for the selected system component and a mapping to each transaction format that is created.

Claim 7

The system of Claim 5 wherein: the selected component is a printer used to print data in a user-friendly format, and said overlay is used by the translating means to translate data to be printed via the printer from the dictionary-structured format into the user-friendly format.

Claim 8

The system of Claim 5 wherein: said memory means includes a disk memory, and said overlay is used by the translating means to translate data in a dictionary-structured format into a fixed-field format for storage on the disk memory.

Claim 9

The system of Claim 5 wherein: said selected system component is a disk memory, and said overlay is used by said translating means to translate data stored on the disk memory in a fixed-field format into a dictionary-structured format.

Claim 10

The system of Claim 1 in which the system components include a memory device and wherein the memory device contains information associated with segments and elements of a given transaction, and wherein the first means is further characterized by: means for displaying to a user those segments that are mandatory for a given transaction; and means, accessible to the user, for modifying the number, order and attributes of the segments and elements for a given transaction.

Claim 11

The system of Claim 1, in which a plurality of the system components each have a plurality of different locations for data therein, and the system is further characterized by: means for selecting a given system component having a plurality of fields at various different locations, some of which are associated with certain elements; means for tailoring a given system component by moving selected ones of such fields to different locations within the system component; and means for automatically updating mapping coordinates of the elements associated with the moved fields.

Claim 14

The method of Claim 11, further characterized by: e) entering data into the data entry fields; f) using the data entry overlay to translate the entered data into the appropriate order for the defined dictionary-structured transaction format; and g) transmitting data in the dictionary-structured transaction format to a trading partner.

Claim 15

The method of Claim 12 which further comprises: I) performing steps (a) through (e) for a plurality of different trading partners, whereby the machine is used to define, enter and translate business transaction data for transmission among a variety of trading partners even though each such trading partner uses different dictionary-structured transaction formats.

Claim 16

The method of Claim 11 which is further characterized by: e) storing an element dictionary in the memory, said element dictionary including an identification code for a datum defining each element and certain parameters therefor; f) storing a segment dictionary in the memory, said segment dictionary including an identification code for each segment defined by a group of elements in a particular order; and g) storing a transaction dictionary in the memory, said transaction dictionary including an identification code for each transaction defined by a plurality of segments in a particular order; and wherein step (b) includes automatically displaying mandatory segments for each transaction code on the screen.

Claim 17

The method of Claim 14 which is further characterized by: h) modifying the displayed segments to thereby specifically tailor the transaction format as desired.

Claim 20

The method of Claim 16, further comprising and being characterized by the step of: g) under the control of the CPU and using at least one DST overlay, fetching data entered during steps (b) and (e) from one or more intermediate files in preparation for transmission of such data to a trading partner.

Claim 21

The method of Claim 16, further comprising and being characterized by the step of: g) creating the first and second DST overlays, with each such overlay containing information about the ordered sequence of elements in its DST format and mapping coordinates to positions on the screen where associated data fields relating to each element are located.

Claim 22

The method of Claim 18, further comprising and being characterized by the step of: h) moving the data entry fields associated with the first DST overlay on the screen to generate a desired screen format, and i) updating mapping coordinates of the associated elements in the first DST overlay accordingly.

Claim 23

In a programmable machine system, including a keyboard, a display screen, a processor and at least one mass memory device, for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, a method of translating data organized in first and second DST formats to a file format composed of fixed-field, fixed-length records, comprising and being characterized by the steps of: a) interactively using the keyboard, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a first DST overlay including mapping coordinates; b) formatting at least one segment of data in the first DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the first DST overlay; c) storing the data formatted in step (b) in a fixed file in a mass memory device; d) interactively using the keyboard, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a second DST overlay including mapping coordinates; e) formatting at least one segment of data in the second DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay; and f) storing the data formatted in step (e) in a fixed file in a mass memory device.

Claim 24

In a programmable machine system, including a keyboard, a display screen, a processor and at least one mass memory device, for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, a method of translating data organized in first and second DST formats to a file format composed of fixed-field, fixed-length records, comprising and being characterized by the steps of: a) interactively using the keyboard, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a first DST overlay including mapping coordinates; b) formatting at least one segment of data in the first DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the first DST overlay; c) storing the data formatted in step (b) in a fixed file in a mass memory device; d) interactively using the keyboard, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a second DST overlay including mapping coordinates; e) formatting at least one segment of data in the second DST format into the fixed file format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay; and f) storing the data formatted in step (e) in a fixed file in a mass memory device.

Claim 25

The method of Claim 20, further comprising and being characterized by the steps of: storing the first and second DST overlays in a mass memory device for later use; loading the first DST overlay from the mass memory device into the processor when needed for use; and loading the second DST overlay into the processor from the mass memory into the processor when needed for use.

Claim 26

The method of Claim 20, wherein in the formatting steps (b) and (e) each include the substeps of: finding a position where current element data corresponding to a specific element in the DST format are to be placed; determining whether such current element data would overlay a value already loaded into a flat image work file; writing the flat image work file if in substep (2) it is determined that the current element data would overlay a value already loaded into the flat image work file.

Claim 27

In a programmable machine system, including a manual input means, a display screen, processor and a mass memory device, for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, a method of translating data organized in a fixed file format composed of fixed-field, fixed-length records into a first and second (DST) formats, the method comprising and being characterized by the steps of: a) interactively using the manual input means, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a first DST overlay including mapping coordinates; b) formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the first DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the first DST overlay; c) storing the data formatted in step (b) in a DST file in a mass memory device; d) interactively using the manual input means, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a second DST overlay including mapping coordinates; e) formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the second DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay; and f) storing the data formatted in step (e) in a DST file in a mass memory device.

Claim 28

In a programmable machine system, including a manual input means, a display screen, processor and a mass memory device, for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, a method of translating data organized in a fixed file format composed of fixed-field, fixed-length records into a first and second (DST) formats, the method comprising and being characterized by the steps of: a) interactively using the manual input means, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a first DST overlay including mapping coordinates; b) formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the first DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the first DST overlay; c) storing the data formatted in step (b) in a DST file in a mass memory device; d) interactively using the manual input means, display screen and processor to define, without manually coding a computer program, a second DST overlay including mapping coordinates; e) formatting at least one segment of data in the fixed file format into the second DST format by moving elements of the data about in accordance with mapping coordinates contained in the second DST overlay; and f) storing the data formatted in step (e) in a DST file in a mass memory device.

Claim 29

The method of Claim 23, further comprising and being characterized by the steps of: storing the first and second overlays in a mass memory device for later use; loading the first DST overlay from the mass memory device into the processor when needed for use; and loading the second DST overlay into the processor from the mass memory into the processor when needed for use.

Claim 30

The method of Claim 24, wherein the formatting steps (b) and (e) each include the substeps of: using a flat file image work file to temporarily store data; and periodically writing data from the image work file to a mass memory device.

Claim 31

In a programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, said machine system including a plurality of system components including manual input means, a display screen, processor, and memory; a method of creating a data entry overlay to help minimize manual input of data, comprising and being characterized by the steps of: interactively using the manual input means, display screen, processor and memory to define, without manually coding a computer program, a basic data entry DST overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordinates of given elements to related fields of the display screen by specifying an overlay code and a transaction type code; and customizing the basic data entry overlay thus defined by modifying at least one of the characteristics provided in the basic data entry overlay.

Claim 32

In a programmable machine system for operating on business transaction data in different dictionary-structured transaction (DST) formats, said machine system including a plurality of system components including manual input means, a display screen, processor, and memory; a method of creating a data entry overlay to help minimize manual input of data, comprising and being characterized by the steps of: interactively using the manual input means, display screen, processor and memory to define, without manually coding a computer program, a basic data entry DST overlay having an ordered sequence of elements and mapping coordinates of given elements to related fields of the display screen by specifying an overlay code and a transaction type code; and customizing the basic data entry overlay thus defined by modifying at least one of the characteristics provided in the basic data entry overlay.

Claim 33

The method of Claim 26, wherein the customizing step includes modifying at least one of the elements provided in the data entry overlay.

Claim 34

The method of Claim 26, wherein the customizing step includes the substeps of: a) adding elements within a first segment of the basic data entry DST overlay; and b) deleting elements within a second segment of the basic data entry DST overlay.

Claim 35

The method of Claim 26, wherein the customizing step includes specifying attributes of elements within the basic data entry DST overlay.

Claim 36

The method of Claim 26, wherein the customizing step includes specifying overall transaction parameters for mapping data entered via the manual input means to the display screen.