The Transmit pipeline is a form of the Commerce Interchange Pipeline that packages and transmits a business data object to a business partner.
The template for this pipeline is Transmit.pct. An example of a pipeline based on this template is the InterchangeTransmit.pcf file that is used by the Microsoft Market sample site.
The Transmit pipeline consists of the following stages.
The Map stage translates the business data object in the Object name/value pair into a stream of bytes suitable for transmission. By default, this stage writes the results of the conversion to a value in the Transport Dictionary called working_data.
For information about this stage, see Using Mapping Components.
The supplied components for this stage represent two ways to format the business data object as text.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| MapToXML | Reads the data stored in the business data object in the Transport Dictionary, converts this data to an XML stream or to an XML-enclosed binary stream, and then writes the resulting stream to a specified name/value pair in the Transport Dictionary. |
| MakePO | Generates a text-based purchase order (PO) by merging the information on the order form with a purchase order template. |
The Add Header stage encapsulates the working data within a header that provides additional information about the transmission, and writes the result back to the working data.
The components related to this stage include the following.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| AddHeader | Appends a series of XML tags to the working data, including a transaction ID, the date and time on which the transaction occurred, and optionally, a return receipt request, and sender and receiver addresses. Usually, AddHeader is used only in a Transmit pipeline in which MapToXML appears in the Map stage, and when the OpenHeader component is needed in the Receive pipeline. |
| EncodeMIME | Applies MIME-encoding to the data in the working data name/value pair. |
The Digitally Sign stage places a digital signature on the stream of bytes. Optionally, you can use the components in this stage to apply S/MIME encoding to the data.
The components related to this stage include the following.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| DigitalSig | Digitally signs the data in the working data name/value pair, using the Public Key Crypto System 7 (PKCS7), using a specified certificate. |
| EncodeSMIME | Applies secure MIME-encoding to the data in the working data name/value pair. This operation can include digitally signing and encrypting the business data object. EDIINT standard. |
The Encrypt stage encrypts the working data for transmission. The components use the encryption technology supported by the Microsoft® Cryptographic application programming interface (CryptoAPI), including the following:
The components related to this stage include the following.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| EncryptPKCS | Encrypts a business data object using the Public Key Crypto System (PKCS) security standard. |
| EncodeSMIME | Applies IETF EDIINT draft Internet standard secure MIME-encoding to the data in the working_data name/value pair. This operation can include digitally signing and encrypting the business data object. |
The Audit stage writes selected elements of information about the business transaction to the audit database.
The components related to this stage include the following.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Audit | Writes specified values from the Transport Dictionary into a database table in the audit database. |
| AuditReceipt | Writes data from the receipt into the audit database table. Not used in a Transmit pipeline. |
The Transport stage transmits the mapped, signed, and encrypted stream of bytes to the destination. For information about this stage, see CIP Transports.
The components related to this stage include the following.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| PipetoPipeTransfer | Initializes and executes a remote pipeline to receive the Transport Dictionary from the current pipeline. |
| SendSMTP | Converts the signed and encrypted working data to text, and then sends it as an e-mail message to the specified recipient. |
| SendHTTP | Converts the signed and encrypted working data to text, and then sends it using an HTTP POST to transmit the data to a Web page (CGI, ISAPI, ASP, and so on) |
| SendDCOM | Sends the converted working data using Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) to create and execute an MtsTxPipeline or MtsPipeline object on a remote Commerce Server computer. |