Has anyone used AS2 protocol for EDI?

Question

I don’t know if anyone can point me in the right direction of writing the code to send the AS2 file?

Answer 1

My colleague wrote an AS2 implementation in C # for one of our clients some time ago (he used .NET 1.1), so I can tell you that what you want to do is definitely achievable.

To do this, you need to get a copy of the AS2 RFC, as well as any other RFCs referenced by AS2 one (for example, various HTTP).

You will also need something to test your work - another AS2 implementation to which you can send your messages.

This is what my colleague did, and at the end of this process, he created the AS2 transport, which took about 7 years to deal with several multinational companies that used Drummond certified products.

You don’t have to go this way - you can send a valid AS2 message by simply specifying the correct AS2 headers in the HTTP message, but then you will only implement a minimal subset of the AS2 standard that will not include the encryption, authentication and lack of protocol cancellation aspects that make its useful.

If you only want to send AS2, perhaps with basic encryption and signature, this may be feasible.

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However, I strongly recommend that you not write your own AS2 implementation if you a) are not or are not sure that you will only send basic messages with simple encryption and signature.

I say this because:

1. The code is nontrivial
2. You will encounter certification issues.

The certification issue is perhaps the biggest hurdle. All AS2 offers from major suppliers (e.g. Gentran, WebSphere, BizTalk) are Drummond certified. This means that they have passed a series of tests conducted by Drummond Group Inc., and found that their AS2 implementation can interact with all other implementations.

Drummond certification is a long and expensive process, and without it you are always considered suspicious. Even if you implement a flawless AS2 sender, your code will always be the place your fingers point to.

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As for the alternatives, there are several free or relatively inexpensive AS2 implementations, such as OpenAS2 (Java only) or Boomi (commercial, but not too expensive), up to full-fledged B2B mechanisms, such as Websphere and BizTalk.

I have not heard about AS2Box before, but it looks like it can satisfy your needs (although usually people using AS2 do not want to go through unreliable third parties).

As with everything, it really depends on the specifics of what you need to do.

Answer 2

It's a bit late, but in order to keep this answer up to date: now with Azure Biz Talks services, it's not so bad to just use BizTalk. Here is a good example: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsazure/Windows-Azure-BizTalk-EDI-8ebd429f