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The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 3 of 5

Testing with a trading partner

16 min

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Partner testing is layered on purpose. Each layer assumes the one below works, so you test from the bottom up and don't start a layer until the one below meets its exit criteria. Otherwise a certificate problem looks like a mapping defect, and a mapping defect looks like a pricing problem.

4 End to endThe business cycle: 850 → sales order → 855 → delivery → 856 → billing → 810, with the partner checking its side.
3 Business rulesEach mapping rule and its error behavior, including negative tests.
2 Syntax and envelopesValid X12 both ways, correct IDs and control numbers, clean 997s, test indicator set.
1 ConnectivityAS2 both directions with the agreed certificates, signatures, encryption and signed MDNs.
The four layers of partner testing, tested from the bottom up.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-edi-304

Layer 1: connectivity

Exchange certificates first, through a channel the security team trusts, and confirm fingerprints by phone or a second channel. Then send a small test file each way. Exit criteria: a signed, encrypted file received in each direction, a signed MDN returned and verified each way, the MIC matched, and a negative case proven, for example a file signed with an unknown certificate rejected as expected.

Layer 2: syntax and envelopes

Now send real 850 test files and real outbound documents. Check envelope identifiers and qualifiers in both directions, that control numbers in ISA13, GS06 and ST02 match their trailers and don't repeat, and that 997s come back accepted within the agreed time. Mark every test interchange as test: ISA15 = T. In TPM, the agreement's Send Test Interchange to Target System setting then decides whether test interchanges reach SAP S/4HANA, and the B2B monitor shows the usage indicator as Test. Agree with the partner that their test files also carry T, so nothing from the test window can become a production order.

Layer 3: business rules

Each mapping rule gets at least one positive test, and each error behavior a negative test. The test data has to exist: the customer and its 11 depot ship-tos in client 100 of CMQ, the VOE2 and VOE4 entries, customer-material records for Northern Plains' part numbers, and a price contract. Expected results come straight from the spec examples.

TestInputExpected resultRule
Standard orderPO NP-77810, depot D07, 10 EA of NP-ALT-24Sales order for 10 PC CMC-ALT-100, ship-to 17100457, customer PO NP-77810NPCL-850-01, -07, -10, -12
Unknown depotDepot D99IDoc status 51 with a partner determination error; no 855 sentNPCL-850-07
Unknown partBuyer part NP-XXX-00IDoc status 51 for material determination; Maria's team notifiedNPCL-850-12
Price differencePO104 = 225.00 against a contract of 232.00Order created at contract price with a warning for MariaNPCL-850-14
Duplicate POSecond 850 with PO NP-77810Duplicate purchase order check stops a second orderBusiness key
Missing dateNo DTM*002Order created; requested date set by Maria's teamNPCL-850-04

Business-rule tests for the Northern Plains 850, derived from the spec. Numbers are illustrative test data.

Layer 4: end to end

The last layer runs the full cycle with the partner checking its side: Northern Plains sends an 850, Contoso returns the 855, ships with an outbound delivery and sends the 856 at goods issue, bills and sends the 810. The partner confirms that each document posted in its system: the 855 updated its PO, the 856 created a receipt expectation, the 810 matched the PO and receipt. That three-way match on the partner's side is the real exit criterion; a clean 997 only proves syntax.

The end-to-end test with Northern Plains: the partner confirms the business result on its side, not only the 997s.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-edi-304

Entry and exit criteria

Agree criteria per layer with the partner before testing starts and write them in the test plan. Contoso uses entry criteria such as "spec version 1.0 signed; certificates exchanged; test data loaded" and exit criteria such as "all planned tests run; no open severity 1 or 2 defects; every rule ID has a passed test; partner confirms its side in writing". Certification is the partner's formal statement that the exit criteria of the last layer are met.

What would you do?

In the second test week, Northern Plains reports that Contoso's 856s are "rejected", but Contoso sees accepted 997s for every 856. What should Priya do next?

Key points
  • Test from the bottom up: connectivity, syntax and envelopes, business rules, end to end.
  • Mark test interchanges with ISA15 = T; in TPM, Send Test Interchange to Target System controls whether they reach SAP.
  • Every mapping rule gets a positive test and every error behavior a negative one; prepare VOE2, VOE4 and customer-material data first.
  • The partner's confirmation of its business result is the real exit criterion; a 997 only proves syntax.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. Which layer of partner testing should be finished first?

  2. 2. What does ISA15 = T on a test interchange do?

  3. 3. An unknown depot code arrives in a Northern Plains 850. What did the spec define as the expected result?

  4. 4. What is the real exit criterion of the end-to-end layer?