PartnerConnect
GUI Quick Start Guide
Revision History
Revision Number |
Author |
Date |
Comments |
1.0 |
Hubspan |
05/09/2007 |
Initial Version |
1.1 |
Hubspan |
8/24/2007 |
Updated look and
feel |
Table of contents
2.2 Downloading PartnerConnect
3.2 Configuring PartnerConnect
3.3.3 Managing Distribution Lists
3.7.1 Encryption Options Dialog
5.1 Installing PartnerConnect
Upgrades
table of figures
Figure 1 -
PartnerConnect.exe Executable
Figure 2 -
PartnerConnect Configuration Dialog
Figure 3 -
PartnerConnect Login and Password
Figure 5 -
Distribution List Tooltip
Figure 6 -
Accessing the Manage Distribution Lists Dialog
Figure 7 -
Manage Distribution Lists Dialog
Figure 8 -
Distribution List Maintenance Dialog
Figure 11 -
Trading Partner Archive Contents
This document provides a functional guide to trading entities implementing document delivery solutions based on PartnerConnect using the PartnerConnect Graphical User Interface (GUI). PartnerConnect is a product offered by Hubspan that enables trading entities to transmit and receive files to and from other trading partners. PartnerConnect offers a simple file exchange solution that is lightweight and easy to implement.
· PartnerConnect Installation Guide – this document details the installation and usage of the PartnerConnect software via it’s command-line interface.
· Workspace Quick Start Guide - this document describes usage of the Hubspan online monitoring tool.
This section outlines installation of the PartnerConnect Client.
To run the PartnerConnect client, the computer and network it is connected to should meet the following technical requirements:
· Intel compatible PC 500mhz or above
· 256 MB RAM
· 200 MB free disk space
· Windows XP, 2000, NT
· Connectivity to the public Internet including the ability to transmit HTTP and HTTPS requests.
· Business Software Systems– It must be possible for the routines you create to generate files from your existing business software systems to be able to access the installation of the PartnerConnect client and place files in the PartnerConnect Outbox.
Contact Hubspan Customer Support for information on how to receive the PartnerConnect Client package. This package is a platform specific package distributed as a single file.
Platform |
Distribution |
Windows XP, 2000 |
PartnerConnect_V##B###b####_Win32.zip |
Note: The # symbol above indicates Hubspan build versioning information for the PartnerConnect product.
The following are options for installing the PartnerConnect GUI.
1.
Unzip
Installation File – Use a tool such as WinZip to unzip the installation file
to a directory on the computer that you will run the software on, such as: c:\PartnerConnectClient\. From this point onwards in this guide,
“%InstallDirectory%” refers to the directory that the installation file has
been unzipped to.
2.
Self
Extracting Executable – This
is more wizard-like approach than the one above. The self-extract executable allows you to
choose where you install the PartnerConnect software, gives you the option to
add a Start Menu folder for it, and provides you with an uninstaller in the
event you want to remove PartnerConnect from your machine.
This section details the usage of the various dialogs in the PartnerConnect GUI to configure the client, along with sending and receiving files.
Once the PartnerConnect client software has been installed, the GUI can be run by following these steps:
1. Open “My Computer”. In Window XP and later, this is in the start menu. For older versions of Windows, a link should be provided on the Desktop.
2. Double-click on the drive where you installed the PartnerConnect software (see Section 2.3 above), and navigate to your PartnerConnect installation.
3. Double-click on the “bin” directory underneath your PartnerConnect installation.
4. Inside of the “bin” directory, double-click on the PartnerConnect.exe executable file. This will run the PartnerConnect GUI.
Figure 1 - PartnerConnect.exe Executable
When running the PartnerConnect GUI for the first time, the configuration dialog opens. This dialog is used to configure the PartnerConnect client with values that can be used to trade data with partners on the Hubspan Secure File Transfer System.
Figure 2 - PartnerConnect Configuration Dialog
The user may not get past the configuration dialog without a valid configuration that can be used to contact the Hubspan File Transfer System. The PartnerConnect GUI requires only three pieces of information to run correctly: the Client URL, the Client Login, and the Client Password.
Figure 3 - PartnerConnect Login and Password
These three pieces of information are provided by Hubspan during the initial implementation phase. Descriptions and usage of the configuration options appear in the right column of the configuration dialog. Once you have correctly configured PartnerConnect to interact with the Hubspan Secure File Transfer System, the main PartnerConnect GUI window will open.
The main window of the PartnerConnect GUI opens to the “Send Files” tab, which is used to send data files to a trading partner on the Hubspan Secure File Transfer System.
Figure 4 – Send Files Tab
The usage of the send tab can be described into three distinct steps.
1.
Select a Destination – A destination is
essentially a mailbox in which to deposit files in the Hubspan File Transfer
System. A destination can be both a singular
recipient (denoted by the icon), or a Distribution List (denoted by the
icon).
2. Add Files to Send – Files can be added to the list of files to send via both the Add Files button, and the Add Directory method. The Add Directory button recursively adds all of the files in a directory structure to the list of files to send.
3. Click Send – The Send button triggers the actual send of data to the Hubspan File Transfer System. Upon clicking this button, the user will be prompted for confirmation to send the files to the selected Destination. Upon confirmation, a dialog will be opened that displays the progress, along with any ancillary information about the progress of the file sends.
The Send Files tab of the PartnerConnect GUI has a number of features to aid in its use.
1. Mass Distribution Sends – Instead of manually copying a file, and sending to a number of trading partners individually, the user can save processing time and network resources by sending via the Mass Distribution functionality. This allows for a single transmission of a file to the Hubspan File Transfer System, which in turn distributes the files to each of the trading partners in the Distribution List. Distribution List creation and management is described later in this document.
2. Add Directory Functionality – The Add Directory button allows the PartnerConnect GUI user to add a large number of files to send to a trading partner. As mentioned, the Add Directory button recursively traverses a directory and adds all of the files in it to the list of files to send.
3. Distribution List Description Tooltip – It is easy to view which trading partners are contained in a Distribution List. To do so, simply move the mouse over the Distribution List on the Send Tab and a tool tip containing the name of the Distribution List and the recipients it contains will be displayed.
Figure 5 - Distribution List Tooltip
The creation and maintenance of Distribution Lists can only be done when the Send Tab is the active tab in the PartnerConnect GUI. Assuming the Send Tab is the active tab, the user can access the dialog to manage the PartnerConnect Distribution Lists by selecting the “Manage Distribution Lists” option from the file menu.
Figure 6 - Accessing the Manage Distribution Lists Dialog
The Manage Distribution Lists dialog allows the user to create and update Distribution Lists. Additional functionality includes the ability to copy the contents of one Distribution List into a new Distribution List, and the ability to validate a Distribution List (verifies that all of the recipients in a Distribution List must have compatible encryption settings).
Figure 7 - Manage Distribution Lists Dialog
Upon clicking the create, edit, or copy button from the Manage Distribution Lists dialog, a dialog like the one below will pop up, which allows the user to manipulate the recipients that are included in a Distribution List. The list of trading partners available for inclusion in a Distribution List is the list of trading partners a given PartnerConnect user is configured to exchanges files with in the Hubspan File Transfer System.
Figure 8 - Distribution List Maintenance Dialog
The Receive Files tab allows the PartnerConnect user to retrieve files from the Hubspan File Transfer System.
Figure 9 - Receive Files Tab
To retrieve files from trading partners via the Hubspan File Transfer System, follow these three steps.
1. Press “Retrieve Files” – The Retrieve Files button queries the Hubspan File Transfer System for files received from trading partners. In the event new files are downloaded from a trading partner, the name in the trading partner list will change to bold (indicating files were received).
2. Choose a Trading Partner – If files have been received from a trading partner, to actually view what was retrieved, the user must select the trading partner from the list on the left side of the dialog. This will essentially allow a view of the contents of the user’s mailbox from the given trading partner.
3. Move or Copy the Retrieved Files – The files retrieved from a trading partner, in order to view or edit them, must be moved or copied out of the PartnerConnect application.
The default functionality of the PartnerConnect Client is to save and archive every file sent via the send command. Once a file has been sent and archived, it must be cleared from the archive to allow the user to send a file of the same name to the same trading partner. These activities can be accomplished from the PartnerConnect GUI Send Archive tab.
Figure 10 - Sent Archive Tab
The usage of the Sent Archive tab is comprised by two steps.
1. Select a Trading Partner – Selecting a trading partner from the list of trading partners displays a list of the files sent to the given trading partner that have not been cleared from the archive, as below.
Figure 11 - Trading Partner Archive Contents
2. Select All – Selects all files in the sent archive for the selected trading partner. This allows you to move or delete all of the files at once.
3. Move or Delete Files From Archive – Once viewing the contents of a trading partner-specific archive, the user should select a list of files to either move or delete and either move or delete them from the Sent Archive.
The PartnerConnect GUI History tab allows the user to view the transactional history of files sent and received from a specific PartnerConnect Client installation.
Figure 12 - History Tab
Each PartnerConnect Client installation keeps a rolling history of transactions for the past 30 days. Also, to view more specific details of a transaction, a PartnerConnect user can double-click on a transaction record on the PartnerConnect History tab, and be automatically logged into the Hubspan Workspace Tool. Along with being logged-in automatically, the user will be taken directly to the transactional details for the given file activity.
Please note that the Auto Login feature requires a valid Workspace login, and a valid configuration for the Workspace AutoLogin Settings in the PartnerConnect configuration dialog.
The PartnerConnect GUI options menu allows the user to configure various settings in the PartnerConnect GUI, and in the client installation in general.
Figure 13 - Options Menu
The Options menu allows there user to pull up the PartnerConnect Options, which are the basic configuration options needed to load the PartnerConnect client to begin with (see Section 3.2 above). Also available are Encryption Options, which allow the user to set up payload-level encryption on a per-trading partner basis, and GUI Options, which include various GUI-specific options.
The Encryption Options Dialog allows the user to setup payload-level encryption for each trading partner. Both the PKCS#7 and the PGP encryption routines are available. In order to change the actual values for fields in this dialog, the user must select a trading partner, and then select the type of encryption to send with, and the type of decryption expected with receiving files. Once the cryptography type is selected, the fields associated with that type of cryptography will be editable.
The GUI Options dialog allows the user to setup a small set of GUI-specific options, including system tray icons, and whether or not to encrypt its configuration.
If the user chooses the “Show Tray Icon” option, a system tray icon is created, which allows the user to close the PartnerConnect GUI from the tray. Also, if the “Minimize to Tray” option is checked in conjunction with the tray icon, the PartnerConnect GUI will minimize to the system tray. If the “Show Tray Icon” is not checked, the “Minimize to Tray” option will grey out, as it is not valid.
The Encrypt configuration file option allows the user to set a password for the configuration file of the PartnerConnect software. Once a password is set for encrypting the PartnerConnect configuration, the “Change Config Password” on the Options menu will be activated.
The Change Config Password dialog allows the user to change the password used to encrypt the PartnerConnect configuration file. This option is only available when the “Encrypt configuration file” option is chosen in the GUI Options.
When your PartnerConnect solution does not function as designed, Hubspan provides resources to assist you with diagnosing and resolving the problems you encounter. If your business encounters errors transmitting one or more production PartnerConnect files, you can open a case with Hubspan Customer Support through several methods:
· Phone – US 1 (206) 838 5430 to report an incident with a Customer Support representative
· Email – Email support@hubspan.com with the details of the errors you are encountering.
Note: You should only open cases with Customer Support regarding issues with the production system. Any implementation issues regarding test files should be communicated to Hubspan Client Services.
When opening a case with Customer Service, be sure to provide as much specific detail as possible about the error that is occurring such as:
1. Trading Partner Identity –The organization IDs of the trading entities that you are transmitting files to/from, including any relevant Hubspan Account Codes used to identify business units within the trading partner that you are sending the files to.
2. Filename –The name of the files containing the transaction batches that you are having trouble transmitting
3. Date/Time Transmitted – The Date and Time (including time zone) that you transmitted the files you are inquiring about.
4. Error Condition/Log – A detailed description of what actions the PartnerConnect system performed when the file in question was transmitted such any error messages recorded in the PartnerConnect error log. If possible, you should also include information available in the Hubspan Workspace application regarding the delivery status of the files.
In preparation for opening a technical support case with Hubspan you can carry out several troubleshooting steps to isolate where the problem is occurring:
1. PartnerConnect Client Software Status – Check the status of the PartnerConnect Client software after it has completed execution. Review any technical error messages it returns, or whether it has stopped responding. If an automated scheduler is being used to execute PartnerConnect, this information may be logged by the scheduler application.
2. Files transmit status – Check the status of each file that is being sent. Note which files remain in the PartnerConnect “tohub” directory and which have been moved to the “tohubarchive” directory.
3. Client Log – Review the PartnerConnect log file for details regarding the processing of each transaction batch file. If possible, you may want to try transmitting the failed transaction(s) on your test PartnerConnect system.
4. Workspace – Login to the Workspace web application and check the status and content of the files you are investigating.
Over time, Hubspan may offer new versions of the PartnerConnect client software and the PartnerConnect service to provide additional functionality, support new types of files, and to address issues identified in previous versions.
When new versions of the PartnerConnect software become available from Hubspan, your implementation team should install the upgrade on a test PartnerConnect system. This will permit your team to test and identify the impact the new software will have on your existing business systems before you start to use the upgrade to send production files. When installing PartnerConnect Upgrades, be sure to first backup data such as configuration files, client log, and data directories. Follow closely the installation instructions that accompany the updated software.