What Is EDIFACT?

EDIFACT is the abbreviation for Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. This is a global set of rules defined by the UN for the inter-company electronic data exchange (EDI) between two or more business partners via EDI.

However, since the EDIFACT standard was very comprehensive and created for almost every business transaction and every industry, subgroups (the so-called subsets) soon emerged. The subset EANCOM was created for the retail sector, which contains the mandatory fields of the EDIFACT standard and the industry-specific optional fields. By creating so-called subsets, the messages are better handled and easier to understand. The following table provides an overview of the EDIFACT messages.

Figure 1: EDIFACT Messages
EDIFACT messages
DELFOR	delivery forecast	What is an EDIFACT DELFOR Message?
DELJIT	delivery Just-in-Time	What is an EDIFACT DELJIT Message?
DESADV	despatch advice message	What is an EDIFACT DESADV Message?
IFTMIN	instructions of transport
IFTMBF	transport booking request
IFTMBC	transport booking confirmation
INVOIC	invoice message	What is an EDIFACT INVOIC Message?
ORDERS	purchase order message	What is an EDIFACT ORDERS Message?
PAYORD	payment order message
PRICAT	price catalogue message	What is an EDIFACT PRICAT Message?
PRODAT	product data message
INVRPT	inventory report	What is an EDIFACT INVRPT Message?
RECADV	receipt advice	What is an EDIFACT RECADV Message?
MSCONS	Metered Services CONsumption report message
UTILMD	UTILities Master Data message
ORDCHG	purchase order change request	What is an EDIFACT ORDCHG Message?
CONTRL	functional acknowledgement	What is an EDIFACT CONTRL Message?
REMADV	remittance advice	What is an EDIFACT REMADV Message?
SLSRPT	outgoing sales report	What is an EDIFACT SLSRPT Message?
ORDRSP	purchase order response	What is an EDIFACT ORDRSP Message?

Like any language, the EDIFACT rules are based on a character set to be used, the vocabulary (data elements) and grammar (syntax).

Based on the data elements, data element groups/segments of the syntax and the guidelines for the development of message types, globally applicable uniform messages are created. The syntax contains rules according to which the messages exchanged between the communication partners can be structured uniformly, i.e. equally well understandable for all participants, regardless of the hardware and software used. In addition, the syntax allows the user to optimise the transfer files so that only the content actually required is transferred.

The segments and data elements are variable in length. Unlike fixed-length data records, their contents do not have to be filled with blanks or zeros. Only the segments, data element groups and data elements for which content exists in the current message are transferred. This leads to significant savings in data transmission overhead.


UN/EDIFACT syntax/ISO 9735
Elements	Segments	Messages
United Nations trade data in the business directory For example: Date, time, unit of measure, quantity, city, street (on... 35) variable field length	Functional grouping of data elements Mandatory/can elements Syntax rules For example: NAD = name & address = variable segment length	Grouping of segments to describe business processes Mandatory/can elements Syntax rules For example: Invoice, order

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Usable character sets

Two character sets are currently defined to display the message contents:

Typ A: printable characters only
Typ B: printable characters and all characters of the 7- and 8-bit code permitted in data communication.

Data elements

This is the basic module that represents information, e.g. the article number. A data element is comparable to a data field. The data elements are always in a defined sequence within a segment. They can be identified in the segment by their position.

Segments

This is a summary of logically related data elements. It is comparable to a data set. The segments within a message are always in the sequence defined in the message structure diagram.


EDIFACT segments
NAD	Name and address
Description:	To specify the name, address and function of a partner, either as a code only by C082 or (if necessary also additionally) unstructured by C058 or structured by C080 to 3207
3035	Participant, qualifier	M	an..3	BY = purchaser DP = delivery address
C082	Identification of the participant	K
3039	Identification of the participant	M	an..17
1131	Code list, qualifier	K	an..3
3055	Responsible for code maintenance	K	an..3
C058	Name and address	K
3124#1	Line for name and address	M	an..35
3124#2	Line for name and address	K	an..35
C080	Name of the participant	K
3036	Name (1-5)	M	an..35
3042	Street	K	an..35
3164	City	K	an..35
3251	ZIP code	K	an..9
3207	Country	K	an..3

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The message is a summary of all EDIFACT segments that are required to represent a business transaction, such as an invoice. The message is identified by the specifications in the message header segment (UNH). It is closed with the message end segment (UNT). Only those segments whose data elements contain content are transferred. Segments for which no information is available are omitted completely.

The EDIFACT message name "ORDERS D96 A" indicates:

An order is "ORDERS"
The letter "D" stands for draft
"96" is the year on which a change was made to this message, and
"A" means in the first half of 1996

A message group is a group of messages of the same message type, for example, several delivery notes, for the same recipient.

Since each message is identified by the message reference number, the sequence of messages within the message group is arbitrary. The message group is identified by the specifications in the header segment UNG. The end of a message group is described with the end segment UNE.

Transmission file

This is a summary of messages or message groups. The transfer file is sent directly to a recipient or forwarded to several recipients via a clearing center. Since each message group is unique due to sender and recipient information and the message reference number, the sequence of the message group within the transfer file can be arbitrary. It is identified by the specifications in the user data header segment (UNB) and ends with the user data end segment (UNZ). The transmission file of an EDIFACT message looks like this:


The following is an example of an invoice in EDIFACT format:
UNB+UNOA:1+01010000253001+O0013000093SCHA-Z59+991006:1902+PAYO0012101221' UNH+1+INVOIC:D:97A:UN' BGM+381+1060113800026+9' DTM+137:199910060000:102' NAD+BT+VAUXHALL MOTORS LTD::91' RFF+VA:382324067' NAD+SU+2002993::92' RFF+VA:123844750' CUX+2:EUR' PAT+1' DTM+140:19991031:102' LIN+++090346642:IN' QTY+12:54:PCE' MOA+203:1960.29' PRI+AAA:3630.1724::NTP:100:C62' RFF+SI:165480' DTM+11:199909280000:102' RFF+ON:X18V00003' RFF+TN:AB1' TAX+7+VAT+++:::0' NAD+ST+023::92' UNS+S' MOA+77:1960.29' TAX+7+VAT' UNT+24+1' UNZ+1+PAYO0012101221'

The basic structure of an EDIFACT message is always the same and consists of certain frame segments:

UNA segment (optional): here you can rename separators and special characters
UNB segment: file header; forms the envelope with the UNZ, which contains general information
UNG segment: group start; messages can be combined into message groups
UNH segment: message header; this is where the actual message is located
UNT segment: end of message
UNE segment: group end
UNZ segment: end of file