Hi Mechele,
I followed JDEList for some months now (and if you search the Forum for topics such as Table Conversion, Upload Data, Batch Process ... and so on, you'll discover there's a living history related with the "How should I transfer legacy/third part swre data to JDEdwards W or OW?").
If I'm not mistaken, the "Use Table Conversions and the Batch Processes already in place" was voted, by far, as the best practice.
Pros:
-validation done at the JDE level
-easiness to build a Main UBE that controls some Table Conversions
-the available Batch Processes or Store & Forward followed by Edit & Creation are tested, some SARs may be applicable, ... in a word, you are strictly detained from REinventing the wheel (I know the feeling/frustration your creative mind gets ...)
-nice Access database or .csv or even flat files are there for you to select whichever is more attractive
-you don't have to be an expert in business analysis; some common sense will suffice
-one of the fastest implementations possible (the business case is already part of the JDE model)
Cons:
-have to have some advanced knowledge in JDE Tools & Development; if work is outsourced, the proper documentation is a MUST (and believe me, this issue will keep haunting you and your power user ...)
-have to have A LOT of documentation: the JDE docs CD, Interoperability, Batch Process, Store & Forward, SARs, JDEListers stories
-you will have to look for itsy bitsy fields (such as padding them, formatting keys, running transactions processors, versions and processing options and, you know, everything that makes you love JDE and their programmers forever)
Anyway, this is how I started a few months ago, to compare the Sales Orders versus Batch Invoices ... and it was a very nice exercise; that is why I'll be adopting another approach when the Xe retrofit would start.
Don't forget to state WHAT is that you want to accomplish (upload/transfer/convert ...)!
Good luck,
Adrian
LIVE: B732.1 SP12.2, Oracle 805
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