IP*Works! EDI AS2 Component : AS2 OCX, AS2 .NET Component, AS2 Class, AS2 Bean, AS2 Object

Available in: EDI/AS2

AS2Sender Component [IP*Works! EDI V8]

Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings

The AS2Sender component implements an AS2 / EDI-INT client.

NOTE: What follows is a very short description of the component interfaces. For more information, please consult the help files that come with the respective package.

Remarks

The AS2Sender component may be used to send EDI or other messages over HTTP/S, using the AS2 protocol. It may also be used to verify synchronous or asynchronous server responses.

A typical AS2 transaction is as follows:

(1) The sender sends an EDI document to the receiver using HTTP or HTTPS. Typically the document will be signed and encrypted (particularly if SSL is not used). A signed receipt will also be requested.

(2) The receiver decrypts the message and verifies the signature.

(3) The receiver sends a signed receipt back to the client. The signature is over the hash of an MDN, which contains a hash of the received message.

When sending an EDI message, the client should specify, at a minimum, AS2From and AS2To, URL, and EDIData. The Post method should then be invoked.

To secure the EDI transmission, the message may be signed and/or encrypted by setting the appropriate certificates. By default, the component will apply message security if the appropriate certificates are specified. To sign the data, set SigningCert. To encrypt, set RecipientCert. If the recipient uses different certificates for signing and encryption it will also be necessary to set ReceiptSignerCert.

SSL will also be used if the scheme in URL is "https". If your trading partner is using a self-signed certificate, it will be necessary to set SSLAcceptServerCert or trap the SSLServerAuthentication event to accept the certificate.

The message may also be compressed by setting CompressionFormat.

To request a receipt, or Message Disposition Notification (MDN), simply set the MDNTo property. The MDNOptions property may be used to customize the request. By default, the component will request a signed MDN over an SHA1 hash.

The component supports both synchronous and asynchronous MDN receipt delivery. By default, the component requests synchronous MDN receipt delivery, and the MDN will be returned in the HTTP reply. To request asynchronous MDN delivery, set the MDNDeliveryOption to the URL where MDN's are to be delivered.

The HTTP reply will automatically be processed by the component. If an MDN was requested, Post will validate the MDN and (if signed) establish non-repudiation of receipt. Any errors or warnings will cause the component to throw an exception.

In either case, after the EDI transaction is processed successfully, the MDNReceipt will be populated with the appropriate values.

Validating Asynchronous MDNs

The component may also be used to process and verify asynchronous MDNs. To do this, you should invoke ReadAsyncReceipt. This will read the receipt from the current HTTP context (or from MDNReceipt, if set manually), and allow you to determine your trading partner's identity and the message ID. You should then set ReceiptSignerCert and OriginalContentMIC, and finally invoke VerifyReceipt.

Property List

The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


AS2From	The AS2 Identifier of the sending system.
AS2To	The AS2 Identifier of the receiving system.
AS2Version	The version of AS2 being used.
AsyncMDNInfoDir	Path to a directory to store data used in verifying AsyncMDNs.
Attachments	Collection of files attached to the current message.
CompressionFormat	The compression format (if any) to use.
Cookies	Collection of cookies.
EDIData	The EDI or other data to be sent.
EncryptingAlgorithm	The algorithm used to encrypt the EDI data.
Firewall	A set of properties related to firewall access.
From	The email address of the HTTP agent (optional).
LocalHost	The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted.
LogDirectory	The path to a directory for logging.
LogFile	The log file written.
MDNDeliveryOption	A URL indicating how the receipt is to be delivered.
MDNOptions	Used to indicate the options requested for the MDN receipt.
MDNReceipt	The MDN receipt returned from the server.
MDNTo	Used to indicate that a message disposition notification is requested.
MessageId	The Id of the message.
OriginalContentMIC	The Message Integrity Check(s) (one-way hash) of the outgoing message.
Proxy	A set of properties related to proxy access.
ReceiptSignerCert	The public key certificate for the MDN receipt signature.
RecipientCert	The public key certificate of the recipient.
SigningCert	Contains the certificate to use when signing messages.
SSLAcceptServerCert	Instructs the component to unconditionally accept the server certificate that matches the supplied certificate.
SSLCert	The certificate to be used during ssl negotiation.
SSLServerCert	The server certificate for the last established connection.
Subject	The subject of the message.
Timeout	A timeout for the component.
URL	The URL to post to.
UserAgent	Information about the user agent.

Method List

The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Config	Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.
DoEvents	Processes events from the internal message queue.
Post	Post data to the AS2 server, and check the receipt.
ReadAsyncReceipt	Reads an asynchronous MDN receipt from the current HTTP session.
Reset	Resets the state of the control.
SetRequestHeader	Allows the user to set or add arbitrary HTTP request headers.
SetTPInfo	A convenient way to set AS2 communication parameters using XML strings.
VerifyReceipt	Verifies an asynchronous MDN receipt.

Event List

The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Connected	Fired immediately after a connection completes (or fails).
Disconnected	Fired when a connection is closed.
EndTransfer	Fired when a document finishes transferring.
Error	Information about errors during data delivery.
Header	Fired every time a header line comes in.
SetCookie	Fired for every cookie set by the server.
SSLServerAuthentication	Fired after the server presents its certificate to the client.
SSLStatus	Shows the progress of the secure connection.
StartTransfer	Fired when a document starts transferring (after the headers).
Transfer	Fired while a document transfers (delivers document).

Configuration Settings

The following is a list of configuration settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


LogOptions	The information to be written to log files.
SignatureAlgorithm	Signature algorithm to be used in outgoing messages.
AuthScheme	The authorization scheme to be used when server authorization is to be performed.
User	A user name if authentication is to be used.
Password	A password if authentication is to be used.
Authorization	The Authorization string to be sent to the server.
UseCryptoAPI	Whether to use the Microsoft Crypto API for cryptographic message generation.
CodePage	The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations (Windows/COM only).