Q. What databases can Flow Software access?
Q. What software packages can Flow Software access?
Q. What businesses benefit from Flow?
Q. What data files does Flow support?
Q. How does Flow actually process the data?
Q. What are actions?
Q. How does Flow transmit data between computers?
Q. Can I produce reports from within Flow?
Q. How do I know what’s going on?
Q. How secure is the software?
Q. What technology do I need to run Flow?
Q. What databases can Flow Software access?
A. The following databases can be accessed (read from/written to) by Flow:
- Microsoft SQL Server 2000 & above
- Microsoft Access 97 & above
- MySQL 4.x & above
- Oracle 8i & above
- Interbase 5.6 & above
- Informix
- DB2
- MYOB v9 / v10 (Premier & Enterprise)
- Any ODBC compliant database as per the Microsoft ODBC specification
- Any ADO compliant data source as per the Microsoft ADO specification
These databases can be accessed using either the SQL89 or SQL92 specification (as supported by the database platform).
Q. What software packages can Flow Software access?
A. The below list is an indication of the accounting systems that Flow can work with. It isn’t a complete list; however we do have clients running each of these systems. This is because Flow doesn’t actually work with the “accounting system”, it works with the database as specified above. For example, Flow works with Exonet and it achieves this because it is capable of working with MS SQL 2000.
- QuickBooks
- Sybiz Vision
- MYOB
- Quanta
- Exonet
- Moneyworks
- Microsoft Great Plains
- Microsoft Axapta
- Microsoft CRM
- Sage Accpac
- Sage Pastel
- Cash Manager
- Plus Factor
- SAP B1
- ABM
- Global
Q. What businesses already benefit from Flow?
A. We are always designing templates so that you can use Flow to link to even more companies via EDI. Here is a small sample of companies supported:
- Fisher & Paykel
- Crane
- Mitre 10
- Bunnings
- Plumbing World
- ITM
- Progressive Enterprises
- First Mobile
- Carters
- Foodstuffs
- Digital Mobile
Q. What data file formats does Flow support?
A. The following files can be accessed (read from/written to) by Flow:
Flat Files: Any file stored in ASCII format that has a structured format of defined “Records” and “Fields”. Records are commonly separated with “Carriage Return/Line Feed” character pairs however any separator will work. Fields are commonly separated with comma, tab, or vertical tab characters however any separator will work.
EDI Files: Any EDI type file based on either UN/EDIFACT or ANSI X12
XML Files: Any XML type file that can be described by the XML Schema (XSD) specification as published by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This includes any XML based standards such as SOAP, XHTML, and ebXML.
Q. How does Flow actually process the data?
A. Flow provides a mapping engine that is capable of translating data from one structured data set to another. In short, if Flow can access the data, then it can translate that data to another structured data set. The mapping engine is capable of restructuring the data as it is transformed so that the source and destination data sets do not need to have similar data structures.
Mapping logic is implemented in the form “events” containing Object Pascal code. Any logic can be implemented within the scope of the Object Pascal programming language. It programming functionality provided in Flow is a subset of the programming functionality provided by Delphi that was deemed to be useful to an operator of Flow (other Delphi functionality can be implemented as required). The user interface provides a graphical interface for the user to enter the “scripts” for each event. The order of events is defined within the Flow program. The user can control the execution and timing of certain events.
Q. What are Flow Actions?
A. Actions are a combination of data access, maps, and transports that perform a certain “action”. An example of an action is “Export invoices to Placemakers” – this action reads data from the accounting software, formats it into the correct file, and sends it to the correct trading partners (i.e. Placemakers). An action is defined by the user. An action can have multiple steps. It is common for an action to receive a request, process it, then produce a response. The whole action needs to be completed, otherwise everything is rolled back. I.e. if the response is not sent, then the incoming data is not processed into the database, and the action is flagged as an error waiting for operator review. The operator can review the log and re-process the action.
Q. How does Flow transmit data between computers?
A. Flow provides the ability to move computer files between computers (typically using a TCP/IP based network). The following standards are available for transporting files however the recommended standard is HTTP/S.
- Local file access (Windows functions for reading/writing/detecting files around hard drives)
- LAN file access (Windows functions for reading/writing/detecting files around Local Area Networks). This can be performed using either UNC or Mapped Network Drives.
- FTP – reading and writing files via the FTP standard.
- HTTP/S POST – reading and writing files via the HTTP POST specification
- HTTP/S GET – reading and writing files via the HTTP GET specification
- SMTP – sending files via SMTP standard
- POP – receiving of files via the POP3 standard
- ebMS – sending and receiving of files via interaction with various third party ebMS implementations (Flow does not currently provide its own ebMS product)
- SOAP – sending and receiving of files via the SOAP standard
- MSMQ – sending and receiving of files via the Microsoft Message Queue standard.
Q. Can I produce reports from within Flow?
A. Flow has an award winning in-built “banded” report writer. The functionality of the report writer is comparable to Crystal Reports. The report writer is developed and maintained by a third-party of which Flow has purchased the source code. Flow is responsible for integration of the report writer into the core Flow source code.
The report writer is capable of creating form layouts (e.g. invoices, orders) as well as reports (e.g. customer sales by month report). The report writer is typically used to create custom “notification” reports to provide users with information about what is happening with their electronic transactions.
Reports can be delivered either directly to printer, to file, screen, or email. Reports can be published in many formats including XHTML, PDF, JPEG, and Excel. Reports can be embedded directly into an email body.
Q. How do I know what’s going on inside Flow software?
A. All processes performed by Flow are logged within an audit trail. A log is created each time an “action” is run. Every log is saved in the database and can be reviewed at any time. Logs can be deleted by a user with administrator access. A log stores the following information about the execution of an action:
- Date and Time of Execution
- The action Id and Name
- The final status of the execution (Successful, Canceled, Error)
- The trading partner the execution occurred for
- Executed by (either Flow or the server)
- Any SQL statements that were executed
- Any files (filename and location) imported or exported during execution
- Any database transactions flagged as processed during the execution
- Any transports that were initiated during execution (files received or sent).
Q. How secure is the software?
A. Security is provided at many levels:
Program Security: The software license is secured using 128bit Public/Private key encryption. This is similar to security used on HTTPS banking websites. It is impossible for software licenses to be created without the Private Key. Personal (or private) information that is stored in Flow is encrypted using RC4. The configuration database is only accessible to people with user rights on the MS SQL server. As with any program that stores its configuration information in a MS SQL server – that information is only as secure as the user access to the MS SQL server.
User Security: To access the Flow program you need to login with a username and password. Users can be created with either user rights or administrative rights. The password is secured using MD5 (if a password is lost it must be recreated).
Transport Security: Information is encrypted during transport depending on the method of transport selected. For example, Emails are sent in clear text so the data in the email is not encrypted. For HTTPS the data is encrypted using 128bit SSL certificates. For this reason we only recommend HTTPS for secure transport of data over the internet.
Q. What technology do I need to run Flow?
A. Flow requires the following minimum hardware to operate:
- Windows 2000 / Windows XP / Windows 2003 / Windows Vista
- Intel Pentium 3 or equivalent CPU
- 256MB RAM
- 300MB disk space for program files.
- Extra disk space to store EDI files.
In addition the following third party software products are installed as part of the Flow program:
- MS SQL Server 2005 Express
- MS Dot Net Framework 2
- MS XML v6
- MS XML v4
It is also recommended that you have the following hardware/software available to operate Flow. None of this is required to operate Flow:
- Internet Connection – for sending and receiving files
- Email program – for reviewing email messages
- MS Excel (or other spreadsheet software)– for reviewing files if need be
- Internet Explorer (or other internet browser software) – for reviewing files if need be, or operating the web interface of Flow
- Remote Access – for simplified support.
