Inheriting and Overriding Parameter Settings

Parameter settings can be overridden at several levels both for the B2B Host and, below the level of B2B Host, for each individual trading partner.

The following applies to all levels below the Host Protocol/Transport, including all trading partners levels:

• A parameter can have its value set explicitly. If it has an explicit setting at this level, the setting overrides any default values that were set for this parameter higher in the inheritance chain.

• A parameter can be set to inherit from the next-higher level. If so, the parameter’s current value at any time is inherited from the first explicit setting higher in its inheritance chain.

To explicitly override a parameter setting at a particular level, access the Overrides tab for that level, locate the parameter, check its Override box, explicitly set the parameter to the value you want, and click Save. When you do this, all of the same parameters lower in the inheritance chain (except for those affected by an explicit setting lower in the chain) are updated to the new value.

Quick Summary of Inheritance

Inheritance of ePM parameter settings follows these rules, where “<- “ means “inherits from”:

• Host transaction profile <- host action <- host action group<- host protocol (<- Enterprise Designer attribute definitions)

• TP transaction profile <- TP action<- TP action group <- TP protocol; but if not explicitly overridden anywhere in the TP chain<- host transaction profile

• TP action<- TP action group<- TP protocol; but if not explicitly overridden anywhere in the TP chain:<- host action

• TP action group<- TP protocol; but if not explicitly overridden anywhere in the TP chain:<- host action group

• TP protocol<- host protocol

Inheritance and Overrides in B2B Host Configuration

On the Host side, inheritance and overrides are involved but straightforward:

• If a host transaction profile parameter setting is not explicitly overridden, then: settings for its business parameters are inherited from the host business action; settings for its delivery parameters are inherited from the host delivery action; and settings for its transport parameters are inherited directly from the host transport.

• If a host business or delivery action setting is not explicitly overridden, then settings for its parameters are inherited from its host action group.

• If a host business or delivery action group setting is not explicitly overridden, then settings for its parameters are inherited from its host business or delivery protocol.

• If a host transport/business/delivery protocol setting is not explicitly overridden, then settings for its parameters are determined by the attribute definitions built into B2B Host in Enterprise Designer.

• Host transport settings inherited from the B2B Host built in Enterprise Designer are also affected by eWay configuration settings. If an eWay configuration parameter is not set, its value is determined by the configuration settings for the corresponding external system in the Environment.

Inheritance and Overrides in Trading Partner Configuration

On the TP side, inheritance and overrides can be affected by Host settings:

• If a TP transaction profile parameter setting is not explicitly overridden, then: settings for its business parameters are inherited from the TP business action; settings for its delivery parameters are inherited from the TP delivery action; and settings for its transport parameters are inherited directly from the TP transport; however, if there are no explicit overrides in the TP chain, it inherits from the corresponding host transaction profile.

• If a TP business or delivery action setting is not explicitly overridden, then it inherits any explicit overrides in its TP action group and above; however, if there are no explicit overrides in the TP chain, it inherits from the corresponding host action.

• If a TP business or delivery action group setting is not explicitly overridden, then itinherits any explicit overrides in its TP business/delivery protocol; however, if there are no explicit overrides in the TP protocol, it inherits from the corresponding host action group.

• If a TP transport or business/delivery protocol setting is not explicitly overridden, then it inherits from any explicit overrides in the corresponding host protocol.

Example of Multiple Inheritance and Overrides

In this example, a B2B Host was created that included a custom delivery protocol named dpad2 that included three custom messaging attribute definitions (MADs). In ePM, various of the outbound parameter settings were modified at every possible level. (This is poor practice, and employed here simply to illustrate the principles.)

Figure 5–21 and Figure 5–22 show parameters at the highest level in ePM — the protocol level itself. In the example, three parameters in the host protocol are overridden by the TP protocol.

Figure 5–21 Host Parameters at the Protocol Level

Figure 5–22 TP Parameters at the Protocol Level

Figure 5–23 and Figure 5–24 show parameters at the second-highest ePM level — the action group level. In the example, the host action group overrides two parameter settings inherited from the host protocol, and the TP action group overrides two different parameter settings inherited from the host action group. In this example, the TP action group setting for Duplication Checking is inherited from its parallel host action group (because there is no explicit override at TP protocol level), and that the settings for mad2NumberPi, Encryption, and Character Set Encoding are inherited from its immediate parent, the TP protocol level.

Figure 5–23 Host Parameters at the Action Group Level

Figure 5–24 TP Parameters at the Action Group Level

Figure 5–25 and Figure 5–26 show parameters at the third-highest level in ePM — the action level. In the example, the host action overrides two parameter settings inherited from the protocol and one inherited from the action group. The TP action overrides one parameter setting inherited from the TP action group, one inherited from the TP protocol, and one inherited from the host protocol. In this example, the TP action setting for mad2Boolean is inherited from its parallel host action (because there is no explicit override in the TP inheritance chain, either at the TP protocol or the TP action group level), and that the setting for Use Signature is inherited from its immediate parent, the TP action group level.

Figure 5–25 Host Parameters at the Action Level

Figure 5–26 TP Parameters at the Action Level

Figure 5–27 and Figure 5–28 show parameters at the bottom level in ePM — the transaction profile level. In the example, the host transaction profile overrides one parameter settings inherited from the protocol, one inherited from the action group, and one inherited from the action. The TP transaction profile overrides two parameter settings, both inherited from the host protocol, but one of them deserves special attention: The parameter setting for Expect Acknowledgments, which was set to Yes in the host protocol , is overridden and set to Yes — the same value (see Figure 5–21). The effect of this is to break the inheritance but keep the value: Even if the setting in the host protocol should change in the future, the parameter setting in the TP transaction profile does not change.

Figure 5–27 Host Parameters at the Transaction Profile Level

Figure 5–28 TP Parameters at the Transaction Profile Level