Product: Mapping Manager

Article Link: http://help.truecommerce.com/en/articles/6699289-mapping-manager-framework-connection-overview

A Framework Connection is one that directly connects to your system through either some sort of Web/Cloud solution such as HTTPS, or locally through the use of a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) and the Integration Service.

In contrast, a Flat File connection is one that reads/writes flat files (a text file such as XML, or CSV file)

In general there are two type of connections possible with Framework - the Cloud Framework and the Local Framework. Some ERPs support only a single channel, while others may support both.

A Cloud Framework connection utilizes web services such as HTTPS to send and receive data across the internet - allowing the connection to be done all through the browser without requiring any local installations onto your machine. This is beneficial as it removes most environmental issues or requirements to configure permissions as you're simply asking your web browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari) to interact with the Transaction Manager website which then makes its requests to your ERP hosted through an online platform.

Other the other hand - a Local Framework connection is one that uses your machine to communicate with your ERP, through special downloads such as the Integration Service and a DLL configured specifically for your ERP. This setup requires your machine to have direct access to your ERP in some way, and requires your machine to be specifically configured to allow Transaction Manager to pass data. But once it's setup - the data and requests get sent from Transaction Manager to your machine, and then your machine passes it onto your ERP.

Whether you're using Cloud or Local - the concept for sending and receiving data is the same. Since your ERP doesn't know that Transaction Manager specifically exists, the system simply waits for Requests such as "Please find all Invoices between these dates", or "Here is a new Purchase Order, please accept it". Every action Transaction Manager performs is a request to your ERP to do something, whether that's to create a new Purchase Order, to send over an Invoice to be imported, or just provide your inventory.

Your ERP will provide a Response to those requests. If it was able to achieve the request, it'll accept it and let Transaction Manager know, if it didn't like the request it'll reject it informing Transaction Manager that the request was unsuccessful.

A Cloud Framework connection is one that connects through a web-request system, such as HTTPS with Post/Get requests being sent to a URL and typically using an Authentication system such as OAuth or Web Tokens to transfer data to your ERP.

Whenever Transaction Manager need to perform an action such as an Import or Export it will first send that request to your ERP by sending an HTTPS request (Get) stating what it would like to do, when your ERP receives that request it will process it on its end, and then send back the response letting Transaction Manager know if it was successful or failure.

Since Cloud Framework is done through the internet - performance is dependent on both Transaction Manager and the services hosting your ERP to be working at optimal levels. You may experience some minor issues or timeouts during times of high-load.

Local Framework on the other hand leverages the Integration Service that gets installed locally on a machine, paired with a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) which interacts with your ERP system on your behalf and transfers the data between it and Transaction Manager - allowing the two to directly talk to each other.

Integration Service

The Integration Service is a locally installed Windows Service that runs in the background of your computer - this background process creates a bridge between Transaction Manager and your machine allowing Transaction Manager to make requests to your machine asking it to perform a specific task (such as sending a Purchase Order to your ERP).

The Dynamic Link Library or DLL is a compact file that is downloaded and installed into the Integration Service's folder locally on your machine that provides all the code necessary to communicate between your ERP and Transaction Manager.

Anytime you press Import or Export from within Transaction Manager - Transaction Manager will reach out to the Integration Service and tell it that it wants to do something, to which the Integration Service will then find the necessary DLL for your system and then tell it what operation Transaction Manager wishes to do, and passes the data (be it the Purchase Order, or a request to search for invoices within a given week) so that your ERP can process the request, to which the Integration Service listens for the response from your ERP and then provides those results back to Transaction Manager.

DLL Version

Over time TrueCommerce updates the code within the DLL to allow for new features, bug fixes, or performance enhancements. Your local machine won't get these updates unless you manually update the DLL.

However this is only needed if you're experiencing issues typically or need the latest features. You can always check the version of your DLL by Right Clicking it → Properties → Details tab if you have any questions about it.

In short! Here are some key take aways from what we've learned today

rev 11/2/22