So I have been asked how to interface with an installed SAP system using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). EDI is one of those things that my own system environment does not natively use, has apparently been out there for a long time (pre-internet, even), and exists as a batch of some kind of arcane standards for data transfer between totally different systems. I never paid much attention to it, just figured it was like saying “ODBC” and that if I ever actually ran into it I’d just find a driver.
Now I’m in that situation and it looks, umm, not so simple. There’s other stuff involved (something called a “.van” file that is apparently akin to an XML schema file?) and when I try to read up on it, everything I find seems to assume the reader is already versed in SAP and EDI or else wants the complete unabridged tome on how to implement EDI. All I want is the quick 'n dirty: is EDI usually accomplished by exporting data from System A to an intermediate file (text file? binary file? markup file with schema?) which is then, in a separate operation, sucked into System B as a specialized import operation? does EDI somehow still involve (god help me) analog telecommunication devices and some kind of godawful specialized equipment actually makes the EDI file in response to listening to modem squawks or telex bleeps? Are there indeed export drivers for various platforms that convert non-EDI-centric System A’s data to an EDI-compliant format for export, assuming that “export” is how it’s done? Or drivers that let a live ODBC connection occur? (and, if the latter, what the heck is the “.van” file all about? why are ‘files’ involved at all?)
Anyone dealt with this stuff?