Azure Logic Apps — B2B EDI: AS2, X12, EDIFACT

Integration Account, Partner Profiles, Schema Validation

Introduction

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the backbone of B2B commerce, enabling companies to exchange documents like purchase orders, invoices, and shipping notices in standardized formats. Azure Logic Apps with Integration Accounts provides a fully managed platform for EDI integration without writing complex parsing code.

Supported protocols:

• AS2 — Applicability Statement 2 (secure, receipt-based)
• X12 — Predominant in North America
• EDIFACT — International standard (UN/CEFACT)

Architecture Overview

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    B2B Integration Flow                          │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐           │
│  │  Partner A  │───▶│  Logic App  │───▶│  Partner B  │           │
│  │ (Sending)   │    │  (Azure)    │    │ (Receiving) │           │
│  └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘           │
│        │                  │                  │                   │
│        ▼                  ▼                  ▼                   │
│   X12 850 PO         Decode/Validate     X12 855 POA             │
│   (Purchase Order)   Transform            (Acknowledgment)       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Integration Account                           │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐            │
│  │   Partner    │  │   Agreement  │  │   Schema     │            │
│  │   Profiles   │  │   (Trading)  │  │   (Maps)     │            │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘            │
│                                                                  │
│  • Partner A: Sender                                             │
│  • Partner B: Receiver                                           │
│  • Agreement: X12 850 (Orders)                                   │
│  • Schemas: 850, 855, 810                                        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Prerequisites

Create Integration Account

# Create Integration Account
az logic integration-account create \
  --name my-integration-account \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --location eastus \
  --sku Standard

# Verify
az logic integration-account show \
  --name my-integration-account \
  --resource-group my-rg

Associate with Logic App

# Link integration account to Logic App
az logicapp update \
  --name my-logic-app \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --integration-account my-integration-account

Step 1: Create Trading Partners

Add Partner A (Your Company)

// Using Azure CLI
az logic integration-account-partner create \
  --integration-account-name my-integration-account \
  --name my-company \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --partner-type B2B \
  --content '{
    "businessIdentities": [
      {
        "qualifier": "ZZZZ",
        "value": "MY_COMPANY_ID"
      }
    ],
    "contactInformation": {
      "contactName": "IT Department",
      "email": "edi@mycompany.com"
    }
  }'

Add Partner B (Trading Partner)

az logic integration-account-partner create \
  --integration-account-name my-integration-account \
  --name partner-b \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --partner-type B2B \
  --content '{
    "businessIdentities": [
      {
        "qualifier": "ZZZZ",
        "value": "PARTNER_B_ID"
      }
    ],
    "contactInformation": {
      "contactName": "EDI Coordinator",
      "email": "edi@partnerb.com"
    }
  }'

Step 2: Upload EDI Schemas

Upload X12 Schema

# Upload 850 (Purchase Order) schema
az logic integration-account-map create \
  --integration-account-name my-integration-account \
  --name X12_850 \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --map-type Xslt \
  --map-schema-location "https://storage.blob.core.windows.net/schemas/X12_850.xsd"

Common X12 Document Types

Upload EDIFACT Schema

Step 3: Create Agreement

Create X12 Agreement

az logic integration-account-agreement create \
  --integration-account-name my-integration-account \
  --name x12-order-agreement \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --metadata '{
    "Partner1": "my-company",
    "Partner2": "partner-b",
    "AgreementType": "X12"
  }'

Agreement Configuration (JSON)

{
  "agreementType": "X12",
  "senderPartner": "my-company",
  "receiverPartner": "partner-b",
  "senderProfile": {
    "applicationIdentifier": "000000000",
    "interchangeIdQualifier": "ZZ"
  },
  "receiverProfile": {
    "applicationIdentifier": "000000000",
    "interchangeIdQualifier": "ZZ"
  },
  "x12Settings": {
    "version": "005010",
    "controlNumber": {
      "nextVersion": "0001",
      "startValue": "1"
    },
    "validationSettings": {
      "allowTrailingSeparators": true,
      "validateCharacterSet": true,
      "validateXsdType": true
    },
    "processingSettings": {
      "convertToXml": true,
      "preserveInterchange": true
    }
  }
}

Decode EDI in Logic App

Trigger: Receive EDI Message

{
  "definition": {
    "triggers": {
      "When_an_X12_message_is_received": {
        "type": "Request",
        "kind": "X12",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "referenceName": "/subscriptions/xxx/resourceGroups/my-rg/providers/Microsoft.Logic/integrationAccounts/my-integration-account"
            }
          },
          "metadata": {
            "xsdSchemaName": "X12_005010_850"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "actions": {
      "Validate_EDI": {
        "type": "ediIntegration",
        "operation": "decodeEdifact",
        "inputs": {
          "inputMessage": "@triggerBody()",
          "agreement": {
            "partnerName": "partner-b",
            "agreementType": "X12"
          }
        }
      },
      "Transform_to_JSON": {
        "type": "Liquid",
        "operation": "transformJsonToJson",
        "inputs": {
          "content": "@body('Validate_EDI')",
          "mapName": "X12_850_to_Internal_JSON"
        }
      },
      "Create_Internal_Order": {
        "type": "Http",
        "inputs": {
          "method": "POST",
          "uri": "https://api.mycompany.com/orders",
          "body": "@body('Transform_to_JSON')",
          "authentication": {
            "type": "ManagedIdentity"
          }
        }
      },
      "Send_Acknowledgment": {
        "type": "ediIntegration",
        "operation": "encodeEdifact",
        "inputs": {
          "inputMessage": "@body('Create_Internal_Order')",
          "agreement": {
            "partnerName": "my-company",
            "agreementType": "X12"
          },
          "messageType": "855"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Encode EDI for Sending

Encode to X12

{
  "actions": {
    "Prepare_Order_for_EDI": {
      "type": "Liquid",
      "inputs": {
        "content": "@variables('orderData')",
        "mapName": "Internal_JSON_to_X12_850"
      }
    },
    "Encode_to_X12": {
      "type": "ediIntegration",
      "inputs": {
        "inputMessage": "@body('Prepare_Order_for_EDI')",
        "agreement": {
          "partnerName": "partner-b",
          "agreementType": "X12"
        },
        "messageType": "850"
      }
    },
    "Send_to_Partner": {
      "type": "Sftp",
      "inputs": {
        "host": "partner-b.sftp.com",
        "method": "File",
        "path": "/outbound/orders/@{body('Encode_to_X12')}"
      }
    }
  }
}

AS2 Configuration

AS2 Agreement

{
  "agreementType": "AS2",
  "senderPartner": "my-company",
  "receiverPartner": "partner-b",
  "as2Settings": {
    "receiveAgreement": {
      "senderPartner": "partner-b",
      "receiverPartner": "my-company",
      "senderProfile": {
        "as2Identity": "PARTNER_B_AS2",
        "as2Name": "PARTNER_B"
      },
      "receiverProfile": {
        "as2Identity": "MY_COMPANY_AS2",
        "as2Name": "MY_COMPANY"
      }
    },
    "sendAgreement": {
      "partnerName": "partner-b"
    },
    "mdnSettings": {
      "sendMdn": true,
      "signMdn": true,
      "sendMdnAsync": false,
      "receiptDeliveryUrl": "https://api.mycompany.com/as2/mdn"
    },
    "securitySettings": {
      "enableCertificateValidation": true,
      "checkCertificateRevocationList": true
    }
  }
}

Validation Settings

Configure Validation Rules

{
  "validationSettings": {
    "validateCharacterSet": true,
    "validateXsdType": true,
    "allowTrailingSeparators": true,
    "treatEmptyNullAsWhiteSpace": false
  },
  "schemaValidationSettings": {
    "validateRequiredDataElements": true,
    "validateUnknownSegments": true,
    "validateCrossField": true
  }
}

Common Integration Patterns

Pattern 1: Purchase Order to Order System

Partner (X12 850) → Logic App (Decode) → Internal API → Database
                                    ↓
Partner (X12 855) ← Logic App (Encode) ← Order Confirmation

Pattern 2: Invoice Processing

Purchase (X12 850) → Logic App → Process Order
                                    ↓
Invoice (X12 810) ← Logic App ← Calculate & Send

Pattern 3: Ship Notice Correlation

X12 856 (ASN) → Decode → Correlate with Internal Order ID → Update System

Best Practices

Azure Integration Hub - Advanced Level