Basic EDI Terminology:Top EDI Terms A to Z

By Angela Carver

• ANSI – American National Standards Institute – The national standards body for the United States. ANSI, through its accredited standards committees, keeps the standards for all applications of technology and mechanics for U.S. Industry.

• Accredited Standards Committee X12 - The group authorized by the American National Standards Institute to develop and maintain the EDI Standards used primarily in the United States. (See also: ANSI; ANSI ASC-X12; American National Standards Institute).

• Application Acknowledgement – A transaction set whose purpose is to return a response to a transaction set that has been received and processed in an application program. For example, the Purchase Order Acknowledgment transaction is used to respond to the Purchase Order transaction with content such as whether the receiver can fulfill the order and if it can be done on time.

• Application Advice - A transaction set that accepts, rejects or identifies errors in the content of any transaction set beyond normal syntax checks.

• Application Interface Software - Software that imports and exports data between in-house applications and the translation software.

• AS1 - a specification for EDI communications between two businesses using e-mail protocols. The standard provides S/MIME (Secure Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions) and uses Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to transmit data. An Internet connection capable of sending and receiving e-mail, an EDI transfer engine, and digital certificates are required for data exchange using AS1. Almost any type of data can be transmitted.

• AS2 - has largely superseded AS1, it specifies how to connect, deliver, validate and acknowledge data, and creates an envelope for a message which is then sent securely over the Internet. An implementation of AS2 involves two machines, a client and a server, communicating with each other over the Internet using HTTP protocol.

• AS3 - a communications method that uses FTP/S to send EDI transactions over the Internet.

• AS4 - Offers secure B2B document exchange using web services. AS4 was developed by the sub-committee of the OASIS ebXML.

• Attribute - A term used to describe a characteristic of an item. An attribute would hold a value to describe a characteristic such as pack height, length or width.

• Authentication - A mechanism that allows the receiver of an electronic transmission to verify the sender and the integrity of the content of the transmission through the use of an electronic “key” or algorithm shared by the business partners. The algorithm is sometimes referred to as an electronic or digital signature.

• Business Partner Agreement - contains the general contract terms and conditions, participant roles (buyers, sellers), communication and security protocols, and business processes (valid actions, sequencing rules, etc.). Extensible Markup Language-based Business Partner Agreement documents capture the essential information upon which business partners must agree in order for their applications and business processes to communicate.

• Compliance Checking - Checking process used to ensure that a transmission complies with ANSI X12 syntax rules (US).

• Confirmation - A notification that the transmission has been received by the intended receiver.

• Control Number - Also known as reference number. An identification number used to distinguish a standard data element (data element identifier) or a standard segment (segment identifier).

• Data Element - One or more data items, forming a unit or piece of information as defined in the data dictionary of a system of EDI Standards, and contained in an EDI message or transaction set. The term “data element” is often abbreviated as “DE” followed immediately by the data element number (i.e., data element 128 would be abbreviated as DE128) in some texts.

• Default Settings - Instructions to a computer, automatically establishing standard configurations at the time of log on. They eliminate the need to reconfigure at each sitting.

• Delimiters - Integral part of the transferred data stream, they consist of two levels of separators and a terminator. Delimiters are specified in the interchange header. From highest to lowest level, the separators and terminator are:- segment terminator, data element separator, and component element separator (used only in EDIFACT).

• DES - Data Encryption Standard. One of a number of standards for securing data during transmission by encrypting it.

• Digital Signature - An electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message and via the encrypted document digest, to ensure that the original content of the data that has been sent is unchanged.

• Electronic Envelope - Electronic information that binds together a set of transmitted documents sent from one sender to one receiver. There are three types of envelopes, the ISA/IEA, or transmission envelope, the GS/GE envelope, and the ST/SE envelope.

• Element - The smallest item of information in the standard.

• Element Reference Number - The number that identifies each element from the segment diagram with its corresponding definition in the data dictionary.

• FTP - (File Transfer Protocol) - used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet, or through a network. FTP is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any TCP/IP based network to manipulate files on another computer on that network regardless of which operating systems are involved.

• Evaluated Receipts Settlement - Method for initiating payment to a supplier that replaces the invoice. Used primarily in the auto industry. First the price is agreed upon by a blanket or other purchase order. Next, a material release tells the supplier the quantity to deliver. An advance ship notice confirms the quantity actually being delivered, and payment is triggered upon receipt.

• eXtensible Markup Language - Extensible Markup Language is designed to improve the functionality of the Web by providing more flexible and adaptable information identification. It is called extensible because it is not a fixed format like Hypertext Markup Language (a single, predefined markup language).

• Flat File - A computer file where all the information is run together in a single character string.

• FTP - File Transfer Protocol. A standard method of transmitting files from one computer to another over the internet.

• Gateway - The interconnection between public or private networks, enabling the transmission of documents in EDI format across multiple networks.

• GPC - Global Product Classification: a standard way of categorizing products that provides a way to link different company classification systems and offers a common language for collaborative business processes.

• GRN - Goods Received Note. A document raised by a customer receiving goods to confirm what has been received, so that invoices may be approved for payment.

• GTIN - Global Trade Item Number. A unique identifier for each product.

• Header - The specific segment that, in simplest terms, tells the receiving computer where an individual EDI message starts.

• HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol. A protocol used to request and transmit files, especially web pages and web page components, over the internet or other computer network.

• Hub - often a large customer working with "spokes" that are its suppliers. The hub partner normally establishes the requirements of which EDI documents it sends and receives. The suppliers, or vendors, are then required to implement an EDI solution in order to do business with that particular trading partner.

• ISA/IEA - the outer envelope known as the Interchange Envelope. It contains information on the number of transaction sets included, identifies the sender and receiver, and provides date and time of the transmission.

• Interchange Format - A specific data layout that defines a structured business document. The interchange format specifies the sequence, representation, and grouping of granular data elements, and may describe each element in terms of data type, options, cardinality, size, and valid values.

• Interchange Control Header - The data segment that indicates and identifies the beginning of an interchange.

• Interchange Control Trailer - The data segment that indicates the end of an interchange.

• JIT - Just In Time. A technique of managing inventory pioneered in Japan, under which materials are delivered by suppliers to a manufacturer as they are needed for production, rather than for storage or inventory.

• Mailbox - A file storage area within a computer, usually one used by a Network Service Provider, where information is placed until it can be retrieved by the intended receiver.

• Mapping - the process of creating data element mappings between two distinct data models; used as a first step for a wide variety of data integration tasks. For example, a company that would like to transmit and receive purchase orders and invoices with other companies might use it to create data maps from a company's data to standardized ANSI ASC X12 messages.

• Message Standards - The system of syntax, data elements, segments and messages (transaction sets) with which EDI will be conducted.

• NAK - A form of negative acknowledgment of an error detection in the transmission.

• Network Service Provider - A company that maintains a network and offers its services and capabilities to others for a fee.

• ODBC - (Open Database Connectivity) - provides a standard software API (application programming interface) method for using database management systems, independent of programming languages, database systems, and operating systems.

• OLE DB - (Object Linking and Embedding, Database) - an AP interface designed by Microsoft for accessing different types of data stores in a uniform manner. It separates the data store from the application that needs access to it through a set of abstractions that include the datasource, session, command and rowsets.

• Qualifier - Part of an EDI address.

• Receiver - The party to whom the EDI message or transaction set is transmitted.

• Segment - A part of an EDI message or transaction set, made up of a number of related data elements separated by a delimiter, conveying a part of the business transaction being made.

• Segment Directory - A listing of the segments unique to the specific system of EDI Standards being used, and usually part of the data dictionary.

• Segment Tag - A composite data element, in which the first component data element contains a code that uniquely identifies a segment as specified in the relevant segment directory. Additional component data elements can be conditionally used to indicate the hierarchical level and nesting relationship in a message and the incidence of a segment’s repetition [EDIFACT].

• ST/SE - these segments indicate the beginning and the end of a singular transaction and are therefore referred to as the Transaction envelope. They include information such as the number of segments in the transaction set to ensure complete transmission

• Shipment Notification - An EDI transaction sent by the shipper of material to the receiver advising that the shipment has been sent, and providing details such as manifest, PO number, estimated time of arrival, carrier, etc.

• Spoke - EDI term that refers to a business partner, usually a supplier to a buyer company (known as a Hub).

• SSH - Secure Shell. A set of standards and an associated network protocol that allows a secure channel to be established between a local and remote computer.

• Syntax - The system for arranging data elements and segments within an EDI message or transaction set, as dictated by the Message or Transaction Set Standards being used.

• Tag - The unique identifier used with segment and data elements.

• TDCC - Transportation Data Coordinating Committee. This is the original EDI organization for the United States. Through its efforts, the first EDI Standards were developed, published, and maintained. It is now EDIA, and has become the national EDI user group for the United States.

• Trading Partner - a person or organization that has agreed to exchange EDI business documents electronically. The sending or receiving party involved in the exchange of EDI transmissions.

• Transaction Level Acknowledgment - Acknowledgment of receipt and totality of data in a transmission of a functional group or individual transaction set.

• Transaction Set - A block of information in EDI, making up a business transaction or part of a business transaction. Outside North America, this is normally called a message.

• Translation - conversion of business application data to and from another data format, such as a standard (ASC X12 for example) using translation software and maps.

• Transmission Group - A collection of one or more functional groups. Also known as an Interchange.

• VAN - (Value Added Network) A third party network that acts as an intermediary between trading partners, and is responsible for routing, storing and delivering EDI messages. VAN’s typically support multiple data communications protocols and interconnect with other VAN’s to allow for almost ubiquitous transmission capabilities between trading partners.

• Version/Release - Identifies the publication of the standard being used for the generation or the interpretation of data in the X12 standard format.

• Web-EDI - A generic term for the transmitting of structured business messages over the internet. This may include solutions such as a log on to a portal and inputting commercial transactional information into a form on a website using an internet browser. This method requires an element of manual intervention.

• WINS - Warehouse Information Network Standards. A set of EDI standards for warehousing and distribution. WINS is a subset of the ANSI X12 national standard.

• XML - (Extensible Markup Language) is a flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web. XML can be used by any individual or group of individuals or companies that wants to share information in a consistent way.

Conclusion

• EDI implementation and execution can be a complex process. Before beginning your EDI project learn the basics so that you know what to look for in an EDI vendor, trading partner relationship and more.

• For more EDI terminology and resources visit these resource pages:• EDI Basics

• Datex Corporation EDI

• Datex “Why Choose EDI”

Source: http://datatrans-inc.com/knowledgebase/category/Industry+Terminologyhttp://datatrans-inc.com/knowledgebase/category/Industry+Terminologyhttp://www.edi-center.com/edi-terms.htm

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