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url: /statelake/administering-statelake/designer/trading-community.md
---

# Trading Community

The **Trading Community** is formed by a group of **Trading Partners** - entities such as customers who are to receive data in the same format, where that data is extracted in a single **Action** and is identified for each entity, but kept separate.

The **Trading Community** manager provides viewing access to all **Trading Partners** that can be used during the execution of an **Action**.

You must first assign a **Trading Partner** to an **Action** before it is used. A **Trading Partner** is linked to an **Action** on the **Trading Partners** tab.

**Trading Partners** can also be activated via script.

Setting up a **Trading Partner** allows you to configure information specific to a particular party that **Statelake** is able to interact with - this **Trading Partner** (and their specific details) are then used in the execution of an **Action**.

Since **Trading Partners** can be set up to be totally different, this allows you to configure one **Action** to perform a task that may behave differently during execution, depending on the **Trading Partner**.

The type of **Action** and its settings determine whether the **Trading Partner** is used as just a lookup reference, or as a recurring trigger item that causes the **Action** to run once for each **Trading Partner** assigned to it. For further information please refer to the **Actions** [Trading Partners Tab](/statelake/administering-statelake/designer/actions/trading-partners-tab)

For example you might have an action that exports invoices. While the format that the invoice is exported to might be the same, one **Trading Partner** might like it delivered to their HTTP server while another likes it delivered via email. By configuring the **Transport** based on the **Trading Partner** you can use the one **Action** to deliver the invoices via the desired method of each **Trading Partner**.

**Trading Partners** are always necessary when you are wanting to use **Outbound Transports**, because the link between a file and the **Transport** that is to be used is configured in the **Trading Partner**.

There are two ways to create a **Trading Partner** in a configuration - by using the **New** button or the **Import** button.

![](/statelake/images/image-20230809-000214-6bfbf3f9.png)

## Fields

| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Search | Used in conjunction with the **Search** button, enter the name of a **Trading Partner** to enact a filter through the **Trading Partner** list, so that only **Trading Partners** whose name matches the search pattern will be displayed. |
| Trading Partner List | A full alphabetic listing of **Trading Partners** that match the search criteria. A blank **Search** box will display all **Trading Partners**. Be aware that a double-click on any **Trading Partner** on this list will delete it. |

## Buttons

| Button Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Search | Click to apply the current filter settings to the list of Trading Partners. |
| New | Click to create a **New Trading Partner** and enter their details. |
| Edit | Click to **Edit** the currently selected **Trading Partner**. |
| Delete | Click to **Delete** the currently selected **Trading Partner**. |
| Import | Click to **Import** a **Template** file containing a **Trading Partner**. You will be asked for the path and location of the **Template** file. |

## Search

Enter the **Search** pattern to filter the list so that only those **Trading Partners** whose name matches the pattern are displayed.

The **Search** pattern can include the following wildcard characters:

* Use the percent sign % to represent any number of characters, including none.
* Use the underscore \_ to represent exactly one character.

A percent sign % wildcard character is automatically inserted at the beginning and end of the pattern you specify in the **Search** field box. For instance, entering **X** in the **Search** box is equivalent to entering %X% and will find any **Trading Partner** whose name contains the letter **X**. This search pattern entry is not case sensitive.

In this example, the letter **C** has been entered into the **Search** box. The two entries that contain the letter “*C*” are listed.

![](/statelake/images/image-20230809-001730-2029033c.png)

In this example, the letter **T** has been entered into the **Search** box. The two entries that contain the letter “*T*” are listed.

![](/statelake/images/image-20230809-002050-ba3e1ef2.png)

These illustrate and confirm that the **Search** box is not case sensitive.

To see all entries, the box **Search** box should be blank.