COBI.edi is a background service for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with SAP Business One.
It automates the exchange of business documents (e.g., sales orders, delivery notes, invoices) in XML format between SAP and EDI providers. COBI.edi supports both import and export of documents and integrates error handling, backup, and monitoring functions directly into SAP Business One.

Supported transaction types:

• ORDERS – Import and export of sales orders
• DESADV – Import and export of delivery notes (dispatch advice)
• ORDERSP – Import of order confirmations
• INVOICE – Import and export of invoices

Supported EDI providers:

• Transus
• Avedium

Automation:

• Scheduled import/export runs at configurable intervals
• Backup and logging of all processed XML documents
• Consolidation of invoices into invoice lists
• Creation of shipping tours from open delivery notes (optional Coresuite printing)

Error handling:

• Automatic SAP Business One alarms to a user group on import errors
• EDI Log for monitoring, filtering, and re-import of corrected documents
• Option to use dummy business partners/items if data is missing

Special developments:

• DESADV import: Creates not only goods receipt but also customer delivery note and invoice; additionally triggers the DataInterchange API to send a shipping update and customer email.
• INVOICE import: Incoming invoices are imported as “parked” documents with validation. Amounts are compared to purchase orders; mismatches generate warnings in SAP.

• Standard installation path: C:\COMPnet\COBI.edi
• COBI.edi runs as a Windows service and must be active.
• SAP Business One access is required for configuration.
• The service must be restarted after configuration changes.

Within the installation directory, COBI.edi uses the following main folders:

When COBI.edi is installed, additional entries appear under Administration → Add-ons in SAP:

Located under:
Administration → Add-ons → EDI Configuration

Important settings:

• Backup path – Storage location for XML backups
• Import interval – Time in minutes between import runs.
• Alarm group – User group for automatic SAP alarm messages in case of errors.
• EDI provider server address – (e.g., Transus/Avedium)
• Dummy partner/item definitions – Placeholder for unrecognized data
• Tranus Import/export paths – Folder for exchange files.
• Special options - (e.g., export with test flag, export pack structures, fetch invoice data from FatherCard)

Located under:
Administration → Add-ons → EDI Log

• Central monitoring tool for all import/export jobs
• Displays status (success, warning, error) with details
• Allows filtering and re-import of corrected documents
• Documents can be marked as completed

Located under:
Administration → Add-ons → EDI groups

• Grouping of business partners (e.g., corporate structures)
• Configuration of GLN numbers for orders, invoices, DESADV, ORDRSP
• Options for invoice lists, pack structure exports, master NVE, discounts, test runs
• Assignment of transaction types and export intervals (manual, daily, hourly, minutely)

An EDI Group bundles multiple business partners (e.g., subsidiaries of a corporate group) under one configuration. All members of a group inherit the same EDI settings. Configuration is done via: *Administration → Add-ons → EDI Groups*

The following options are available:

For each document type, the export interval must be defined:

• Manual: No automatic export, only on demand
• Daily: Export at a defined time of day
• Hourly: Export every *x* hours
• Minutely: Export every *x* minutes

Additional fields:

• Start time / End time – defines the active period for hourly or minutely exports
• Last execution – read-only field showing the last export timestamp
• Compare orders from date – only exports orders with document date equal to or later than this value
• Export only documents of the last X days – restricts export to a rolling time window

Each EDI Group can have multiple assigned business partners. Partners can be added via the “Add” button in the group configuration or directly in the Business Partner Master Data by assigning the *EDI Group Code*.

• Creation via: Sales → Create Invoice List

• Selection of consolidation partner and time period
• Consolidation of multiple invoices into a single list with a continuous transaction number
• Search via: Sales → Search Invoice List

• Accessible via: Sales → EDI Shipping Tours
• After selecting a shipping method, all open delivery notes of this type that have not yet been assigned are displayed

• Allows the creation of shipping tours from open delivery notes

• Export possible as shipping advice or tour for the carrier
• Optional with Coresuite layout print

• All documents are stored in Backup/IMPORT or Backup/EXPORT folders by transaction type.
• All activities are logged with timestamp, transaction type, file name, and status.
• Test exports can be executed directly from the document view in SAP (button EDI Export).

• If an error occurs during import, a SAP Business One alarm is triggered and sent to the alarm group specified in the EDI configuration.

• The alarm group must first be created in SAP Business One under User Groups with the group type Alarms, before it can be assigned in the EDI configuration.

• In case of import errors, an alarm is automatically sent to the configured alarm group.

• Typical errors:
• Item number / GTIN not found
• Business partner or delivery address not available

• Complete missing data in SAP (e.g., add GTIN, create business partner).
• Mark the document in the EDI Log → start Reimport.

• After a successful reimport: a new log entry is created with status “Reimport” and the document number.

• If enabled, missing partners or items are automatically replaced with dummy data.

• No SAP alarm is triggered; instead, a warning is shown in the EDI Log.

• The document is still imported but must be corrected manually later.

• From a business partner document (invoice, delivery), click *EDI Export*.

• XML will be generated in the export path.
• Export timestamp is stored; structure validation must be performed by the trading partner.

Since the standard functionality is not always sufficient, special logic must be implemented via plugins for customer-specific requirements.

When importing a DESADV (dispatch advice) from a supplier, in addition to the normal goods receipt the following actions are performed automatically: A customer delivery note and an invoice are created in SAP Business One. The UpdateOrder endpoint of the DataInterchange API is called so that the shipping notification is sent to the shop via S4T. A shipping email is sent to the customer.

For better control in accounting, the INVOIC import has been adapted so that incoming invoices are created in SAP Business One as “parked documents.” Additional validation checks are applied:

When importing an INVOIC, the amounts from the received file are compared with those from the corresponding purchase order.

If discrepancies are found, a dedicated warning field in SAP Business One is filled accordingly.