For example, the physical address of a facility is 123 E. Cholla Street,
Somewhere, AZ 85008 USA. This address has an address signature of 123ECH85008.
TIS determines a physical address by using a matching algorithm on the address
signatures. If more than one address has the same address signature, TIS uses a
weighting algorithm to determine which address matches the freight bill.
A collection is a way of accessing data similar to spreadsheets. A
spreadsheet is made up of tables containing rows and columns. All of the records within
the table must have the same data structure. In a spreadsheet table, a cell
(record) can only have a single valued attribute, such as 132, or East Main
Street, or Scottsdale. A spreadsheet cell can reference a cell in another
spreadsheet.
A collection is made up of tables containing rows and columns, but each
individual object (row or column) can have a different data structure. In a
collection, an attribute (cell, record) can contain another collection (which may be a
different data structure), which can also be made up of more collections.
In a collection a single cell can contain:
Currently, collections are stored as strings and have a length max of 64K.
Each object in a collection is delimited by brackets ( [ ] ). Each attribute is
delimited by a special character (FIND OUT FROM BILL WHAT THE ACTUAL ASCII
VALUE IS) that looks like a solid square box.
It also includes tools, applications, and networking services.
You can have multiple entities per workgroup, but all the entity
For example, if you had multiple customer
FPS automatically checks for duplicate batches from your carriers. If FPS
finds a duplicate freight bill or invoice, it can use rules defined by your
company to determine whether the suspected duplicate is really a "duplicate", or FPS
can flag the duplicate as an exception for a person in your company to review.
Jane Doe
- at -
123 E. Cholla Street
Somewhere, AZ 85008 USA
For example, the Event Registry could be used to:
Depending on your company
The following table describes each type of exception batch FPS can generate.
Glossary
attribute name. The attribute name is the name of the attribute in the schema
of the source. It is expressed as [attrib name].
new attribute name:old attribute name. The new attribute name replaces the
old attribute name that is found in the schema of the source. It is expressed as
[new attrib name:old attrib name].
attribute name result:expression. The attribute name will be the result of
the expression. An expression can be any valid rules engine expression. It is
expressed as [attrib name result:expression]. For example,
[ripoff:(SELF![Rate_Amt]*1.20)]
foundational object in the new rules engine architecture
data access object
a single value
complex objects (an array of values)
another collection
the start or completion of a task
errors
tasks being queued
the arrival of a Data Pack
other application specific events
start a process when a Data Pack containing a specific data type arrives
send an e-mail message to a system operator any time an error occurs
| Exception Batch
| Description
|
| Invalid Data
| Transactions that contain missing data required by your company.
|
| Duplicates
| Freight bills or invoices that your company has already received from your
carriers.
|
| Location
| Freight bills that do not contain origins or destinations your company has
defined on FPS.
|
| Financial
| Freight bills that do not have the appropriate rates applied or deviate from
your company’s rules.
|
| Cost Allocation
| Freight bills that could not be cost allocated to your company's defined cost
centers.
|
| Cost Allocation (P)
| Freight bills that could not be cost allocated prior to payment.
|
An exception batch ID is a unique identifier given to each exception batch, which is a subset of the invoice batch. The exception batch ID is eight alphanumeric characters.
Exception Processing
FPS processes and audits a carrier’s freight bills using unique rules and conditions established by your company. FPS brings to your attention the freight bills that are exceptions to the audit process. These bills require your review or decisions.
Expression
In a rule, expressions let you combine a set of conditions allowing you to evaluate more complex situations. Expressions can combine up to eight conditions or expressions. Expressions are joined together with “AND,” “OR,” “OR NOT,” or “AND NOT,” that, when evaluated, are true or false. For example, you might create a Customer Sales Promotion Expression to recognize if a freight bill is a customer order AND sales promotion AND NOT an overnight letter.
Facsimile Freight Bill
FPS provides two ways to view freight bills -- Facsimile or Generic. The facsimile freight bill provides a familiar way to look at a vendor’s invoice as it appears on paper, usually including the vendor’s logo and colors.
Fax Image
CCITT (WHAT IS CCITT?) image which can be faxed or transferred electronically. The DDS can be used to store, print, display, or transmit a Fax Image.
File Group
In a collection, a file group is a name you specify to refer to a physical directory on a network or your own computer. This name lets you reference the physical directory by name instead of using the absolute path.
Financial Exceptions
Financial exceptions are freight bills that do not have the appropriate rates applied. The Freight Payment System performs a financial audit to assure your company that the appropriate rates have been applied to the freight bill.
FPS
See Freight Payment Service
Freight Bill
A freight bill is the billing for transportation charges that represents the physical movement of goods from a point of origin to one or more destinations. It shows the transaction detail for a shipment on an invoice.
Freight Payment Service
The Freight Payment Service (FPS) is a service that receives, audits, and pays freight bills automatically through electronic data interchange.
Function
A function is used by the Rules Engine to evaluate and/or manipulate data.
Generic Freight Bill
FPS provides two ways to view freight bills -- Generic or Facsimile. The generic freight bill provides a convenient way to look at freight bill information in an organized format.
Historical Data
Data stored in a local database on your FPS workstation.
Imaging Service
File Express’ Imaging Service is a service that can take a company’s paper documents, such as customs records, delivery receipts, or freight bills and provide electronic images on the Trax FPS Workstation. File Express can also provide these electronic images on CD, which can provide company’s legal records similar to microfiche.
Paper documents can be submitted to File Express four ways:
electronically via fax connection
magnetic tape (in any image format)
diskette (in any image format)
paper documents
Each document submitted can be any number of pages in length, but can only be referenced as one image within the Trax FPS Workstation. For example, a five-page document is considered one image.
Integrated Applications
In the DDS, integrated applications are applications that:
read and write to Data Packs directly
use Data Packs as their basic document file or database
Inter-enterprise Application
An inter-enterprise application is an application capable of spanning multiple organizational or geographic boundaries. Invoicing your customers via EDI or an Internet-based customer order system are examples of inter-enterprise applications. Integrated applications running in multiple locations for a variety of organizations can share information through messages. Tasks related to business transactions that an organization has historically performed manually can be automated through inter-enterprise applications. DDS provides the basic transportation functions that support these types of applications. DDS can convert files and messages from one system into message or file formats for another system as part of the data transfer operation. DDS data conversion capability can support information originating in any system or format, not just systems built with File Express’ Inter-enterprise Application Development Suite (IADS).
Invalid Data Exceptions
Invalid data exceptions are transactions that contain missing or invalid data required by your company. If a carrier sends your company a transaction without the required data, the system rejects or flags the erroneous data and reports the exception to you. Most companies do not use this type of exception batch because they do not rigorously monitor the quality of the data coming from their carriers.
Invoice
An invoice is a document used by a carrier to bill the party responsible for the payment of a shipment. An invoice can contain one or more freight bills.
Invoice Batch
In FPS, an invoice batch is a vendor batch that has been divided into small, manageable units. Each invoice batch contains invoices. Inside each invoice, there can be one or more freight bills.
List
In a collection, a list is a series of values that are enclosed by left and right square brackets ( [ ] ).
Location Exceptions
Location exceptions are used by companies that do not use bills of lading to determine whether freight bills originated from or went to one of their locations. And if not, if it is a freight bill that their company should be paying for.
The Freight Payment Service takes the addresses used by your carrier and matches them to your customer lists, facility file, vendor list, or any set of locations defined in your reference data.
Location Matching
FPS matches the addresses in the shipping transaction to any set of locations you define.
Location Records
In FPS, location records are used by FPS to identify the parties or facilities involved in the shipping transaction. Even if you do not have a Bill of Lading (BOL) to match to a freight bill, FPS can determine whether the origin or destination is a facility that is known to your company using location records. If the origin or destination is not known to your company, then you would review the freight bill prior to payment to make sure it belongs to your company.
Logic Definitions
Logic definitions can be, expressions, conditions, actions, rules, or classes.
MDB
An MDB is a database file that contains data in the form of tables. It also contains queries, forms, reports, modules, and macros that help you use the stored information.
Message and Message Groups
A message is a logical record of information that the central system sends to your workstation, or your workstation sends to the central system or another workstation. Messages are sent to your workstation and to the central system as a group. A message group is any collection of messages. An invoice batch contains many messages that are sent in a message group.
Objects
See Data Objects????? You can think of an object as a logical record. An object could be an invoice, a freight bill, an invoice batch, or vendor account. An object can be made up of multiple records. An invoice batch is made up of multiple records.
Payment Processing
With the Freight Payment Service, there are three ways transportation vendors (carriers) can be paid, based on a company’s contracted terms. Vendors can be paid with:
a check (Information from FPS generated reports is used by in-house accounting
systems to create checks.)
an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
an electronic data feed to an in-house accounting system
Payment Request Batch
A payment request batch contains all audited freight bills from an invoice batch. In the audit process, you decide to pay all, some, or none of the freight bills which are now in the payment request batch. Once the freight bills are in the payment request batch, further adjustments cannot be made.
For example, an invoice batch contains 503 freight bills. You approved payment for 500 freight bills and have chosen not to pay three freight bills. The payment request batch still contains 503 freight bills. The system notifies the vendor that 500 freight bills were approved for payment and that three freight bills are not being paid, including the reason for the decision. A payment request batch becomes a remittance batch once a check is created.
Physical Address
In FPS, a physical address is an actual street address that someone ships to regardless of the company, department, or individual involved in the shipping transaction. For example, the following address might appear on a freight bill:
Jane Doe/Sales Department
Cactus Distribution
123 E. Cholla Street
Somewhere, AZ 85008 USA
The physical address is:
123 E. Cholla Street
Somewhere, AZ 85008 USA
Physical Address Alias
A physical address alias is a different way of expressing a facility’s physical address. For reporting and cost allocation purposes, FPS needs to recognize one address for each facility. An alias could be a common misspelling, a common typographical error, an old address of the facility, or another street address used by the same facility.
Physical Address Records
In FPS, physical address records can contain generic fields to hold any information that is important to your company such as cost centers or department codes.
Precedence
In a Rule Class, if multiple rules in the same rule class are true, FPS creates a precedence request for you to choose which rule provides the best outcome. You set up FPS to recognize business conditions and which business condition takes precedence.
Rate
Established shipping charge for the movement of goods.
Receiving Agents
In the DDS, receiving agents are applications that are capable of unpacking the data in a Data Pack into an operating system file or external database.
Reference Data
Additional information that helps verify or enrich freight bill information.
Remittance Batch
A remittance batch contains the freight bills approved for payment in the payment request batch. Multiple remittance batches can be paid with the same Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or check.
Rule
In FPS, a defined business condition or procedure a company uses to automate freight bill processing.
When a certain business condition exists, it results in a particular action being taken. A company can define rules based on any combination of attributes on a transportation transaction.
Rule Class
A rule class is a group of rules that compete with each other to come up with a specific result. A rule class might contain rules pertaining to cost allocation only. The rules engine evaluates all rules in a class simultaneously. The rules engine can only take action on one rule in a rule class even if more than one rule is true. That action is based on precedence.
Rule Class Expressions
For every rule class, there may be an expression that must be true for the rules engine to even evaluate the class. For example, you might have a sub-class for domestic and a sub-class for international. You might have an expression that says when you are processing domestic freight bills, do not evaluate the international sub-class rules.
Rule Class Hierarchy
A rule class hierarchy determines the order of evaluation. For example, you might have a “rating” and “cost allocation” rule class. You want the rules engine to evaluate the rules in the “rating” rule class before the “cost allocation” rule class.
Rule Sub-Class
A rule sub-class adds an additional condition or qualifier to its parent rule class. Using sub-classes, you can re-use rules from a higher level class and add conditions or qualifiers to suit your purposes at the next level.
Rules Engine
The rules engine is the mechanism that performs the implementation of a company’s business logic (rules). It tries to simulate how the human mind makes decisions as closely as is technically possible.
The rules engine is designed to be evolutionary, adapting to a company
’s unique business requirements over time. A company’s business logic does not need to be defined all at once. FPS learns from new conditions are encountered on a freight bill that FPS does not know how to resolve. Real world information can be used draw conclusions and make decisions. Over time, the tasks FPS performs, and how it performs those tasks, improves -- fewer and fewer issues need to be managed by exception.SCAC
Standard Carrier Alpha Classification
Schema
In a collection, the schema is a string that specifies the name of a table.
Selection criteria
In a collection, a string expression is used by the Rules engine that takes one of three forms:
| If the string is a
| Then it is
|
| single value
| used to seek into the table on the primary key
|
| bracketed list of values
| a multi-valued seek on the primary key
|
| SQL Where clause
| used to perform a query
|
In addition to the standard SQL Where clause, where you would normally have to spell out the
“table.fieldname”, you can use ACCESS’ methods of accessing a table. For example, you can use “table![fieldname]” to reference fields inside of ACCESS Basic.
Also, you can use our Aliases. We provide table aliases so you do not have to indicate whole names of tables. For example, you can use FB instead of
“freight bill”. We also provide logical tables. You can use any reference to a TRAX table alias for a logical table which is written like this: FB![field name].You can also use the special string called SELF. You can refer to something that is part of the current collection. For example, SELF![field name]. SELF in a Collection_Create applies to the thing you are creating on. If you wanted to use the freight bill table, you might use SELF![somefield] instead of saying FB![field]. This is important because many times this expression is built programmatically in the rules.
Shipping Agents
In DDS, shipping agents are applications that are capable of creating and shipping Data Packs from operating system files or external databases.
Snapshot
Source
In a collection, the source is a string that indicates the database source. The source can take four forms:
Null (
The name of an .MDB. If the source does not use the .MDB extension, the .MDB
must be in the directory that is identified in filegroups (an option off of the
Config Menu) as being the custom directory.
The name of the File Group .MDB. The .MDB must have the .MDB extension.
An absolute path name. It would be the fully specified path name, i.e.
System Object
The File Express Inter-enterprise Application Development Suite uses Data Packs to store application data. In Data Packs, system objects are streams that contain application configurations, application rules, meta-data, and screen or report formats for applications developed for or with IADS.
Tariff
Printed price list filed by the carrier to the appropriate agency indicating transportation charges.
Task Queue & Scheduler (TQS)
File Express’ Task Queue & Scheduler is a program which provides a persistent task queue and task scheduler. The Task Queue provides:
task priority
task dependency
task history
status information
The task scheduler is used to schedule tasks to be performed by a transport agent based on a specific event, a specific time, or time interval.
TCF
TCF is the communication software FPS uses to send and receive central system and FPS workstation messages.
Transport Agents
In the DDS, transport agents provide data transfer services that move data packs, waybills (routing slips), and shipment tracking information from one Distribution Point to another.
Vendor
In FPS, a carrier that transmits shipping transactions to and from a user.
Vendor Account Records
In FPS, the vendor account record defines valid vendor account numbers that have been issued to your company from a vendor. Not all vendors issue account numbers. Vendor account records can contain generic fields to hold any information that is important to your company such as cost centers or department codes.
Vendor Batch
In FPS, a vendor batch (or vendor feed) is single transmission of the data from a vendor. It can contain any number of invoices. Invoices can have one or more freight bills. A batch is usually the data transmitted in an EDI “functional group.”
Vendor Records
In FPS, vendor records describe important vendor information to FPS. This record contains information such as vendor codes, payment terms, type of payment made to vendor, or banking information, if using Electronic Funds Transfers.
Warehouse
In the DDS, A Warehouse provides a convenient way of grouping Data Packs by type that have similar archival or purging requirements. Warehouses are purely logical data stores. Each Warehouse can contains multiple Warehouse Bins. A Warehouse can span multiple disks and disk directories each containing one or more Warehouse Bins.
Warehouse Bins
In the DDS, each Data Pack Warehouse can be divided into one or more sections called a Warehouse Bin. As Data Packs arrive at a Distribution Point, they are placed in the active Bin. Though a Warehouse can have any number of Bins, only one can be active at a time. A new current Warehouse Bin can be created automatically when the existing bin reaches a specific size or when a time event occurs such as the start of a new month.
Workgroup
A workgroup is a physical set of databases that contains multiple database (.mdb) files. Usually your company has a different workgroup for each fiscal year. By default there are three workgroups: production, test, and training. The production workgroup would contain all of the production data related to a fiscal year. Inside each workgroup you can have multiple entities.