Overview

Outbound Integrations refer to Master File and/or Transaction data exports from NorthScope. Examples of Outbound Integrations include exporting Customers, Items, Journal Entries, and Sales Orders from NorthScope to be used by an external system.

The Outbound Integration List View displays the list of outbound files that have not been processed yet (successfully picked up by the third-party system) or that could not be processed due to errors. From this list view, individual integration records can be reprocessed, put on hold, bypassed, and/or manipulated.

Understanding the Outbound Integration Statuses

To view the Outbound Integration list view, expand the Company module and click 'Outbound Integration'. Each outbound integration record that displays will display with the following fields:

Created: Displays the day and time the outbound transaction was created. This field is never editable.
ID: Displays the ID of the transaction attempting to be processed. ie: Customer Address ID or Transaction ID just depending on the Transaction Type. This field displays as a hyperlink that, when clicked, opens the outbound integration record's record view, allowing the user to manipulate the data. This field is editable in the record view.
Integration Message: Displays the information, usually the error, that was presented back from the attempt to integrate. This field is never editable.
Last Processed: Displays the last date and time that the integration record was attempted to be processed. This field is never editable.
Reprocess Until: Displays the date and time that the transaction will stop attempting to reprocess. This field is never editable, however the user can manually process outbound integration records beyond their 'Reprocess Until' expiration.
Status: Displays the current status that the outbound transaction is in. This is the integration status not the actual transaction status. This field is editable using mass update and from the record view.
Transaction Type: Displays the user-friendly name of the transaction type that is attempting to be processed. This field is never editable.

The potential statuses that an outbound integration record can be in include the following:

New: A record with a status of 'New' is a new record that has never been processed.
In Process: A record with a status of 'In Process' means the integration of that record into the host system is currently processing.
Completed: A record with a status of 'Completed' is a record that was successfully processed to the host system.
Error: A record with the status 'Error' means that there was an error in the integration procedure for that record and the integration failed.
Reprocess: A record with the status 'Reprocess' is a record that will continue attempting to integrate to the host system until the time limit is surpassed.
Hold: A record with the status 'Hold' is a record that's integration is on hold and no attempt to process the record will be made.
User Bypassed: A record with the status 'UserBypassed' means that no attempt will be made to process the integration record and no edits can be made to the integration record.

Reprocessing an Outbound Integration Record

When an outbound integration record fails to integrate, the record's status is updated to 'Reprocess' so long as the 'Reprocess Until' time limit has not been reached. If the 'Reprocess Until' time limit has been reached, the record's status will be updated to 'Error' and will no longer automatically reprocess.

Because outbound integration records have a time limit for reprocess attempts, the user may want to reprocess an outbound integration record after it stopped reprocessing automatically. In order to do this, the user can manually reprocess the record.

If the user would like to reprocess one outbound record, the user can open the integration record by clicking the ID hyperlink. From this window, click the Status field drop-down arrow and deleted the current 'Error' status and select 'Reprocess'. Click Save and exit the record. Saving the record with the new status WILL NOT reprocess the record at the time the user saves, it will reprocess the next time the integration procedure is ran. If the user would like to immediately reprocess the record, the user would click the Process toolbar icon, which would process all the integration records in the list view with a status of New or Reprocess.

If the user would like to reprocess many outbound records, the user can use the mass update functionality.

Note: If the user has not edited an outbound integration record's data, the reprocessing procedure for that outbound integration record will reprocess the record with the original data that failed to integrate - it WILL NOT get new data from the database. For example, if an Invoice transaction failed to integrate due to the Vendor setup being incorrect in NorthScope and the user fixed the Vendor's setup in NorthScope, the integration record would not grab the newly updated Vendor information to reprocess. Therefore, the user would have to manually update the integration record's data and set its status to 'Reprocess'.

Bypassing an Outbound Integration Record

Users have the ability to effectively void outbound integration records that have yet to be successfully integrated using the User Bypassed status update. When a user updates an outbound integration record's status to User Bypassed, the integration record is no longer displayed in the Outbound Integration list view nor will it be included in any future integration procedures.

If the user would like to bypass one outbound record, the user can open the integration record by clicking the ID hyperlink. From this window, click the Status field drop-down arrow and deleted the current 'Error' status and select 'User Bypassed'. Click Save and exit the record. Saving the record with the new status will remove the record from the list view and from all future integration attempts. Because it no longer displays in the list view, it is effectively voided and can no longer be edited or retrieved.

If the user would like to bypass many outbound records, the user can use the mass update functionality.

Putting an Outbound Integration Record on Hold

If a user would like to pause the integration attempts for an outbound integration record, the user can place the record in a status of 'Hold'. Records in a status of 'Hold' will not be integrated but will remain in the list view for the user to edit.

If the user would like to put one outbound record on hold, the user can open the integration record by clicking the ID hyperlink. From this window, click the Status field drop-down arrow and deleted the current 'Error' status and select 'Hold'. Click Save and exit the record. Saving the record with the new status will prevent the record from integrating but it will keep the record in the list view. Because the record still displays in the list view, the user can change the integration record at any time to be integrated by updating the status.

If the user would like to put many outbound records on hold, the user can use the mass update functionality.

Mass Updating Outbound Integration Records

Users can update the status of multiple outbound integration records at once using the Mass Update functionality.

First, the user must either filter the list view for the desired records to update or the user must select the desired record to update. Then, click the Mass Update toolbar icon. This will open the Mass Update dialog window. If the user filtered the list view for the desired records to update, select the 'All Filtered Records' option for 'This action will apply to'. If the user selected the desired records to update, select the 'Selected Record(s)' option for 'This action will apply to'. Then, select the status to which to update the affected records. View the optional statuses below:

(No Change) –Will not invoke any change or process any information upon clicking the Apply button
Hold –Will place the affected records on hold. This will have the record(s) bypassed when the integration runs again. This will keep the record(s) in the list view and visible to the user until the record is updated again by the user or a new record is attempted to be processed for the same transaction type and transaction.
Reprocess –Archives all currently selected integration records and marks them as a status of “User Bypassed”. Creates new records that are exact copies of the selected integration records, flags them as UserReprocessed and updates the status to “Reprocess”. These will then be processed with the exact data that was attempted to be processed in the original failed record.
User Bypass –Marks all the selected records as a status of “User Bypassed” and will not be displayed in the outbound inquiry nor be attempted to integrate again. This effectively voids the integration record.

Once the desired status is selected, click the Apply icon. Clicking Apply will update all records according to the rules associated with the status changes. This will NOT run the integration process that runs all integration records that qualify to be ran. The “Process” button must be clicked on the inquiry list view or the timed process event must happen before any records will be processed through the integration procedures.

Editing an Outbound Integration Record

When an outbound integration record is reprocessed the data that gets processed is the data that is in the unlabeled field on the integration record's record view. If the user does not edit the integration data, then the record will continue to reprocess with the original data that failed. Therefore, a user may need to manipulate the record's integration data in order for the record to successfully integrate.

In order to edit an outbound integration record, the user must first open the record's record view by clicking the ID hyperlink.

When the outbound integration record's record view is opened, the following fields are editable:

Source System
Source ID
Status
Unlabeled field

The unlabeled field contains the integration procedure attempting to be ran, including the integration record data. The user can manipulate the data in an attempt to correct the integration error.

Note: Editing the integration data does not update the originating record, it only updates what will be integrated to the host system.

Once the integration record's data has been edited for the corrections, the user should set the record to a status of 'Reprocess' and save the record. The next time the record is processed, it will process with the manipulated data instead of the original failed data.

Note: Edits made to the integration record will only save if the record is simultaneously saved with a status of 'Reprocess'.