EDI process

Previous sections explain all ordering options, this section pulls out the parts related to EDI or EDIFACT ordering to help those who are using EDI for some or all of the ordering process.

EDI allows order files to be sent between vendors and Koha. When the files are processed the order information is loaded directly into Koha.

The full workflow is outlined below.

Note

Libraries do not have to automate the full process and not all vendors support all functions. For example a library might use QUOTE and ORDER files but carry out manual invoicing/receipting. Or a library may create the basket on Koha either manually or from a file of MARC records but send the order back to the vendor via an ORDER file. Speak to your vendors to establish which functions they support.

Warning

Koha uses the EDIFACT standard (EDItEUR and BiC) not the X12 standard for electronic ordering.

Setting up EDI in Koha In order to use EDIFACT in Koha, the

EDIFACT system preference must be enabled.

Before you begin ordering using EDI you will need to take the following steps:

Ask your vendor/bookseller/jobber for their connection information. See EDI questions for vendors below.

It might also be beneficial to ask for a few sample EDIFACT files from the vendor

Share with your vendor/bookseller/jobber your library codes, item type codes, fund codes, and any other codes or authorized values they might need for creating your MARC order records

Communicate with your support provider or the community about whether you will need a plugin based on your vendor’s answers

For example ByWater Solutions has published plugins for specific vendors here: https://github.com/bywatersolutions/koha-plugin-edifact-enhanced

Create a vendor/bookseller/jobber record in Acquisitions

Review your Acquisitions system preferences

Fill in the MarcFieldsToOrder system preference with values for order files (see the MARC order fields section below) if your vendor will be sending you files of MARC records for you to import manually. If the vendor will be sending automated EDI QUOTE files the MarcFieldsToOrder system preference does not need to be filled.

Enter your EDI Accounts

Enter your Library EANs

Turn on the EDI cron so that EDI files can be processed.

EDI questions for vendors

You will need to gather the following information from your vendors before beginning the set up process in Koha.

EDI accounts

EDI accounts: This is the basic connection information for your vendor. It will be used to fill in the EDI accounts section.

Vendor: The name of the vendor

Description: A short description if additional explanation is needed (especially if you have multiple accounts for one vendor).

Transport: Does the vendor transmit EDI files via FTP, SFTP, or something else that requires special processing?

Options:

FTP

SFTP

FILE

Remote host: The URL or IP address of the FTP/SFTP server

Username: The username for the above server

Password: The password for the above server

Download directory: The path on the server that contains files for Koha to download and process

Upload directory: The path on the server that Koha will upload files to for your vendor to process

Qualifier: Who assigned the SAN below?

Options:

EAN International (14)

US SAN Agency (31B)

Assigned by supplier (91)

Assigned by buyer (92)

SAN: The identifier for the vendor

Standard: Which standard is used by the vendor, this will change how the EDI messages are interpreted

Options:

BiC

EDItEUR

Quotes enabled: (yes or no) Does this vendor support sending and receiving quotes via EDIFACT and do you want to send and receive quotes via EDIFACT?

Orders enabled: (yes or no) Does this vendor support sending and receiving orders via EDIFACT and do you want to send and receive orders via EDIFACT?

Invoices enabled: (yes or no) Does this vendor support sending and receiving invoices via EDIFACT and do you want to send and receive invoices via EDIFACT?

Responses enabled: (yes or no) Does this vendor support sending and receiving responses via EDIFACT and do you want to send and receive invoices via EDIFACT?

Automatic ordering: (yes or no) Check this box if you want quotes to automatically generate orders.

EAN

Each library using EDIFACT needs to specify a buyer identifier know as a SAN or EAN. This will fill in the Library EANs setting.

Library: Choose the library this EAN represents

Description: Add a description to this EAN, if needed

EAN: Enter the EAN

Qualifier: Choose who assigned the EAN above

Options:

EAN International (14)

US SAN Agency (31B)

Assigned by supplier (91)

Assigned by buyer (92)

MARC order fields or grid ordering

Note

This is only necessary if your vendor will be sending you files of MARC records for you to import via Stage MARC records for import in the Cataloging module. If your vendor will be sending automated EDI QUOTE files the MarcFieldsToOrder system preference does not need to be filled.

These values will fill in the MarcFieldsToOrder system preference.

price: MARC21 field that contains the item price

quantity: MARC21 field that contains the number of items for the given record

budget_code: MARC21 field that contains the Koha budget code to be debited

discount: MARC21 field the contains the discount as a percentage the the price will be discounted by

sort1: MARC21 field that will populate custom field sort1

sort2: MARC21 field that will populate custom field sort2

Ordering via EDI

The first step in ordering using EDI happens on the book vendor’s website. Each seller will use different language, but you will need to place your order on their site. Some language that you might see included “basket”, “order”, “cart”, and/or “MARC order”. The vendor will then either send you a file of MARC records to import into Koha OR the vendor will send a QUOTE file if you have this enabled in your EDI accounts settings.

Working with a MARC file

Once you have this MARC file downloaded to your computer you will want to log in to Koha and continue the process there.

In Acquisitions create a basket for the vendor you ordered from. Add your file to the basket by ordering from a new file.

From the confirmation screen you will see all of the data in the MARC file related to your order. If you are not seeing fields such as fund and quantity filled in then be sure to confirm that your MarcFieldsToOrder preference is set right.

Once you have added all of the items to the basket you can click the ‘Create EDIFACT order’ button.

Note

The ‘Create EDIFACT order’ button only displays is you have enabled the EDIFACT system preference.

You will be asked if you wish to create the EDI order and close the basket.

Sending the EDIFACT order

This will generate an ORDER file with the status ‘Pending’ in the EDIFACT messages in Koha.

The pending files will be processed by the EDI cron job and sent to your vendor and the status in EDIFACT messages will be updated to ‘Sent’.

Working with a QUOTE file

If you have QUOTE files enabled you can place the order on the bookseller’s website and a QUOTE file will be automatically generated and made available to be collected and loaded to Koha. You will see the file listed in the EDIFACT messages in Koha with a status of ‘Received’. The basket will have been created and records and items added to the basket.

Once you have checked that the basket is correct you can click the ‘Create EDIFACT order’ button. The process then completes as for Sending the EDIFACT order above.

EDI invoicing

When the book vendor is done processing your files they can send an INVOICE file via EDI as well. The EDI cron job will grab invoice file, create an invoice on Koha and mark items found in the invoice as received and update your funds without any need for manual intervention. As a final check the invoice can be reviewed and closed if all items have been receipted correctly.

INVOICE files can be viewed in the EDIFACT messages. Processed files have the status ‘Received’.

If you set the EdifactInvoiceImport preference to ‘Don’t’ you can load invoice files manually.

EDIFACT messages

A log of all messages sent and received via EDIFACT can be found under EDIFACT messages.

Note

Staff members must have the edi_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to view sent EDIFACT messages.

Note

Old EDIFACT messages can be deleted with the clean up database script using the --edifact-messages parameter.

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