EDI Frequently Asked Questions

1. EDI Standards and Format

Q1. What are the different EDI standards and how do they differ?
The most common EDI standards are ANSI X12 and EDIFACT. ANSI X12 is primarily used in North America, while EDIFACT is used internationally. Each standard specifies how business documents should be formatted and structured, though they cater to different regional and industry-specific requirements.

Q2. What is the ANSI X12 standard and what industries primarily use it?
ANSI X12 is an EDI standard developed by the American National Standards Institute. It is widely used in North American industries such as healthcare, retail, finance, and logistics.

Q3. What is the EDIFACT standard and how is it different from ANSI X12?
EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce, and Transport) is an international EDI standard developed by the United Nations. Unlike ANSI X12, it is used globally and supports a broader range of business document types.

Q4. What is the EDIFACT standard and how is it different from ANSI X12?

• 810: Invoice

• 850: Purchase Order

• 856: Ship Notice/Manifest (Advance Ship Notice)

• 997: Functional Acknowledgment

• 820: Payment Order/Remittance Advice

Q5. How do you handle acknowledgments (997) in ANSI X12?

To handle 997 acknowledgments in Adeptia, configure a transaction to generate a 997 for each inbound EDI transaction to acknowledge receipt. For inbound 997s, set up a transaction to parse the acknowledgment and update the status of the original outbound transaction.

Q6. What are the common types of EDI files?

• ANSI X12: Widely used in North America for various industries such as retail, healthcare, and transportation.

• EDIFACT: Commonly used in European and international transactions.

• HL7: Used predominantly in the healthcare industry for exchanging medical information.

• EANCOM: A subset of EDIFACT, used mainly in the retail industry.

Q7. What is the structure of an EDI file?

• Interchange Control Header and Trailer: Delimiters that mark the start and end of an EDI file.

• Functional Group Header and Trailer: Group-related transaction sets.

• Transaction Set Header and Trailer: Enclose individual transactions.

• Segments and Elements: Each transaction set is composed of segments (lines of data), which are further divided into elements (individual pieces of data).

Q8. What delimiters are used in EDI files?

• Segment Terminator: Indicates the end of a segment (e.g., ~).

• Element Separator: Separates data elements within a segment (e.g., *).

• Sub-element Separator: Separates components within a composite data element (e.g., :).

Q9. How are EDI files validated?

• Syntax Checking: Ensures the file adheres to the EDI standard’s rules (correct delimiters, segment order, required segments present, etc.).

• Schema Validation: Checks against the specific schema (e.g., 850 Purchase Order) to ensure all required elements and segments are present and correctly formatted.

• Business Rule Validation: Ensures the data makes sense in a business context (e.g., valid product codes, acceptable values for quantities and prices).

Q10. What are the common errors in EDI files and how are they resolved?

• Missing Segments/Elements: Ensure all required segments and elements are present.

• Invalid Data: Correct any data that doesn't conform to the expected format or values.

• Incorrect Delimiters: Verify that the correct delimiters are used throughout the file.

• Compliance Issues: Check the file against trading partner-specific guidelines and correct any discrepancies.

Q11. How are EDI files transmitted?

• AS2 (Applicability Statement 2): Secure and reliable, widely used for internet-based EDI.

• FTP/SFTP (File Transfer Protocol/Secure FTP): Used for transferring files over the internet securely.

• VAN (Value-Added Network): A third-party network service that provides secure EDI message routing.

• HTTP/HTTPS: Used for web-based EDI transmission.

Q12. How do I troubleshoot issues with EDI file transmission?

• Check Communication Protocol: Ensure the correct protocol is configured and functioning properly.

• Verify Connection Details: Confirm IP addresses, ports, and authentication credentials.

• Review Logs: Analyze transmission logs for errors or warnings.

• Test Connectivity: Perform test transmissions to isolate and identify issues.

Q13. What is an EDI 997 (Functional Acknowledgement)?
The EDI 997 is a transaction set used to acknowledge receipt of an EDI document. It indicates whether the received document was accepted, accepted with errors, or rejected. The 997 helps in tracking and ensuring the successful transmission and processing of EDI files.

Q14. What is an EDI 810 (Invoice), and what does it contain?

• Invoice Number: Unique identifier for the invoice.

• Invoice Date: The date when the invoice is issued.

• Purchase Order Number: Reference to the purchase order.

• Item Details: Description, quantity, unit price, and total price of the goods/services.

• Payment Terms: Terms of payment, including due date and discounts.

• Shipping Details: Information about the shipping method and delivery.

Q15. What are EDI acknowledgments?

• 997 (Functional Acknowledgment): Confirms receipt of an EDI message and indicates whether it was accepted, accepted with errors, or rejected.

• 999 (Implementation Acknowledgment): Similar to 997 but provides more detailed error reporting.

• TA1 (Interchange Acknowledgment): Confirms receipt of the interchange and reports envelope-level errors.

Acknowledgments are important because they provide assurance that EDI documents have been received and processed correctly, helping to track and resolve errors promptly.

Q16. What is the significance of control numbers in EDI files?

• Interchange Control Number: Identifies the entire interchange (ISA segment in X12).

• Group Control Number: Identifies a group of related transaction sets (GS segment in X12).

• Transaction Set Control Number: Identifies individual transaction sets (ST segment in X12).

These control numbers are essential for matching acknowledgments, tracking transactions, and ensuring data integrity.

Q17. Debugging Steps in EDI

1. If the issue is related to Inbound File processing, cross-verify if the relationship has all values defined as per the Input EDI file.

2. Check that the Partner ID and Host ID defined in Trading Partner are similar to the file.

3. Try using the "Skip Compliance Check" option while defining the relationship. If it works after checking this option, then your file may have some issues.

4. Check if your Inbound file is valid or not by validating it in third-party EDI software.

5. If an issue occurs while Outbound File Processing, then check if you have applied Filters on ISA, GS, ST, SE, GE, and IEA.

Q18. Is there a way to view the errors that an inbound EDI document contains? I couldn't tell what my errors were to be able to correct them.

If you want to view the Parsing errors of your EDI file then you have to use some third-party tool such as EDI Notepad.

Q19. Is there a way to exclude compliance on an inbound document so that you can bring it in regardless of the errors it contains? I know there is a compliance check, but I don't think this applies when manually attaching an EDI document like I was doing now.

Skip compliance check works only at the Runtime level and it isn't applicable for the files loaded in the Data mapper for Preview purposes.

Q20. EDI - No such file or directory.

Error:

We began receiving these errors in the Kernel log, and we cannot figure out why:

2013-10-08 13:09:41 java.io.FileNotFoundException: /home/console/AIS/AdeptiaServer/ServerKernel/web/edi/010test77669804818/input/00031580224289_08000_00testtest52.CRM_879_14_00026703-879 (No such file or directory)

This error is caused by the file that Adeptia is trying to reference not being created in that directory

• The hard drive that Adeptia is writing to is full

• The directory that Adeptia is writing to has too many directories

Solution:

1. Free up necessary space on the hard drive

2. Clean up the directory  - AdeptiaServer/ServerKernel/web/edi

• Modify the EDI cleanup time -  http://support.adeptia.com/entries/23286567-Log-Cleanup-and-Archival-Guide

• The property abpm.appmanagement.retainTime can be set to define the data clean-up time.

Q21. You have a B2B Outbound Relationship that sets a file name for a particular trading partner and you are in need to place a date at the beginning of the file name.

Assume, your trading partner is requesting a format: YYYYMMdd_Delta_MSN_111001.txt, then you can get the B2B Outbound Relationship file name in the required format "YYYYMMdd_Delta_MSN_111001.txt" by defining the target filename as "%%YYYYMMdd%%_Delta_MSN_111001" under translation properties of your Outbound Relationship activity. Refer below screenshot for help.

Q22. Data too long for column GS_SEGMENT

Error:

1. The Adeptia Suite 5.3 with MySQL as a log database.

2. The EDI Inbound with source file has a GS Segment’s length > 64

Data truncation: Data too long for column 'GS_SEGMENT' at row 1
Cause:

The GS_Segment column within the log database has a character limit of 64.

Solution:

Run the attached alter script on the log database. The transaction should be completed successfully.