AS (Applicability Statement) 2 is a specification for dealing with business-to-business communications data that will enable companies to maintain their investment in electronic data interchange technology while getting some of the flexibility of the Internet.
In draft form now, AS2 is a standard by which applications transmit EDI or other data, such as XML, over the Internet using HTTP. Like its predecessor, AS1, AS2 specifies the means to connect, deliver, validate and reply to data; it does not concern itself with the content of the EDI document, only the transport.
AS2 essentially creates a wrapper around EDI flat files that enables sending them over the Internet, instead of over an expensive VAN (value-added network). In addition, AS2 provides security and encryption around the HTTP packets.
Transmission process
An HTTP POST operation is used to send EDI, XML or any other business data. The URI address specified in the operation (Request-URI) identifies a process that opens up and treats the message while generating a response to the client that will contain a receipt acknowledgment message, signed or otherwise, or any other related transaction.
This "request/response" type of transactional interchange provides a secure, reliable and authenticated means of transport via Internet using HTTP. The basic structure of an AS2 message consists of a MIME format to which certain specific AS2 headers have been added within an HTTP message.
Two types of receipt acknowledgment are possible in AS2:
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