Electronic Data Interchange

Description
Information Content of Forms
Despatch by TDOC
Receipt by Recipient
Full communication cycle

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is a mechanism to speed up communications between people who use disparate and separate electronic systems. It is infinitely preferable to allow each party on a project to use the system they prefer rather than to force them to use "a project specific" system. Electronic Data Interchange is exactly what it says. It enables information to be sent from one system to another where the recipient can import and verify it with minimal effort.

An EDI is simply a text file with a structure which can be parsed to obtain the necessary information. There are no standards covering CEMDC (Construction Engineering Management Document Control). XML is one form of EDI consisting of text files in a specific format but this additionally requires the schema to be "published" so that the recipient can decode what is received. Attachments may accompnay the EDI so it is suitable for formal transmission of documents as well as just information. When it was operative the CITE (Construction Industry Trading Electronically) published a number of rules: one of these was that an EDI should be be "Human Readable". This tends to preclude XML which for complex transactions of the sort necessary in CEMDC cannot be construed as readable.

TDOC supports EDI for the following formal transactions:

Transmission of General Documents,
Transmission of Technical Documents covering:
- Transmittal,
- Acknowledgement of receipt,
- Return with comments and markups (after review).

In order to enable transmission between a TDOC User and someone who only has access to the internet, TDOC generates an HTML form which when completed and sent [via an internet server] generates an EDI back to the TDOC User. This simple methodology ensures the operability of what might be termed "one sided EDI".

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Information Content of Forms

The forms may be previewed, exported, or emailed to the recipient for their use. When the form is generated, it includes a considerable amount of embedded information which is what ensures that the effor in processing the form may be automated to generate an EDI which can be easily imported. Information includes the following:

The web address of the script that will process the form,
Your contact details, including email address,
The other persons details,
Your Jobno and its Title,
Any associated Groups and or Subjects,
Drop down lists of any associated information such as Document Types, and Status,
Details of each document, etc

The information is taken from the appropriate Register [Names, Jobs, Categories, etc] or the User's Configuration

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Despatch by TDOC

When a document is generated and despatched by TDOC using email, three things happen:

An electronic copy of the document is created usually in PDF format - to act as the legal record,
If required by the recipient, an EDI file is created to import the transmitted information if they are using compliant software,
An HTML form is created to allow the recipient to answer - if the recipient does not have any formal document control system.

The email includes all of the generated documents as well as any transmitted documents, so the recipient can then decide how they wish to respond.

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Receipt by Recipient

Recipients have a number of choices when receiving a document by email, and these are:

Print the document, and file it - effectively doing nothing and relying on their email system to record when it arrived and from whom,
- Reply if required by responding to the email, or
- Reply by using the HTML form, which does two things:
  - Generates an email with an EDI which is sent to the originator,
  - Generates a confirmation email back to the recipient.
Record the receipt in their own system either entering the information manually or by using the EDI file to import the information,
- Reply if required using their own system.

The same options exist for the a TDOC User on receipt of a response. The EDI import is the easiest and fastest option as long as the recipient has used either a compliant system or the HTML form to make their despatch.

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Full communication cycle

The full communication cycle consists of the following steps

A TDOC User initiates a communication which sends a message with an HTML form to enable the recipient to reply
The recipient uses the form and makes their reply. The data desptached by the form is processed by the TDOC EDI server
The TDOC Users receives an email with EDI attachment for import, which is simply a verification process.

When looking at the graphic illustration of the whole process, it is apparent that a Recipient could initiate a communication if a suitable form existed. Recipients may therefore request a form for issuing Technical Documents e.g. submitting them For Approval, and also for initiating formal correspondence e.g. raising an RFI.

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