About Interfaces

Interfaces enable you to import data from, and export data, to other systems, including Web Viewer, making any necessary adjustments (for example, data aggregation and time bucketizing). Here are several common examples:

• An ASCII Communication Toolkit interface that reads customer orders from an ASCII file and converts them into orders in Infor Production Scheduling.
• An ODBC Communication Toolkit interface that reads new product data from an ERP system.

You can run interfaces manually, but most users set groups of interfaces to run at predefined times or time intervals.

The interface module is optional and enabled with your license. You will only be able to use this menu command if you have the ASCII Communication Toolkit or the ODBC Communication Toolkit. There are standard interfaces for orders, decoupled process batches and inventory points, among others, but you can also use it to create customized interfaces.

These tabs are displayed on the Interface Entry window:

• General: Allows you to specify the generic information about the interfaces.
• Sharing: Allows you to define the users who can access the interface.
• Setup: This tab is only enabled, if you select the entity Infor ERP Adage-Delivery or Production with a type of ASCII or if you select the entity Planning Board for publishing data.
• Entity tab for ASCII: Allows you to select the attributes that you want to couple to columns in a text file or in a database and define the attribute formats. Once coupled, a default format and column are set. Define the number of the row and the way the data looks or should look in the file you are using. These can be changed. Instead of getting a string that holds the exact format settings, an example is shown. For ASCII, the value, if not an interfaced mechanism, is an expression. This expression can be a value or an expression that results in a valid value of the correct type for the attribute. These expressions are checked upon execution. If the resulting value is not appropriate, the value will be set to the proper null-value for the type of the attribute.
• Entity tab for ODBC: Allows you to select the attributes that you want to couple to columns in a text file or in a database.
• Format tab for ASCII: Describes the source or destination of the information for/from the interface.
• Format tab for ODBC: Allows you to enter the data required to connect to a database and create an interface if using ODBC.
• Options: Includes options for creating, updating and comparing interfaces and allows you to specify import options.
• Parameters: This tab is displayed, if the entity "Bucketizer," "inventory level," or "resource utilization export" has been selected. You can specify settings that are only applicable to the bucketizer, inventory level, or resource utilization export.