EDIFACT Connector - CData Arc Documentation

The EDIFACT connector can generate EDIFACT documents from XML or convert EDIFACT documents into XML.

Key Capabilities

Full bidirectional translation between EDIFACT and XML formats
Comprehensive interchange header validation and generation
Support for multiple EDIFACT versions with automatic schema detection
Interchange and functional acknowledgment support

Overview

When receiving EDIFACT documents, EDIFACT connectors validate EDIFACT interchange headers and convert the EDIFACT document into XML. This is useful as a staging step, because XML is the primary format that uses to manipulate data in a flow. The EDIFACT connector automatically reads the input file to determine the appropriate EDIFACT schema, then parses the document according to this schema. When generating EDIFACT documents, EDIFACT connectors convert XML into EDIFACT document syntax and apply the appropriate interchange headers. This is useful as the final step for creating an EDIFACT document, after the XML data has been fetched and transformed elsewhere in the flow.

Interchange header validation can be avoided by enabling the Test Indicator setting.

An EDIFACT connector can also automatically generate acknowledgments to incoming EDIFACT documents. For more information, see EDIFACT Acknowledgments.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the correct schema installed for the document type you need to process. The EDIFACT connector natively supports the following schema definitions: 4.1, D03A, D04A, D07A, D96A, D96B, D97A, D99A and D99B. You can find them in the app_data/edifact_schemas directory of your installation. If you need different schemas, you can download the additional schema files from the website for free. After you download and extract the zip archive, place the entire folder into an appropriately named subdirectory of the app_data/edifact_schemas directory.

Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Translation Configuration

Settings related to the core operation of the connector.

Setting	Description
Connector Id	The static, unique identifier for the connector.
Connector Type	Displays the connector name and a description of what it does.
Connector Description	An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
Translation Type	Whether the connector should convert EDIFACT documents into XML, or generate EDIFACT documents from XML.
Dynamically process partners	When enabled, the connector automatically identifies and tracks trading partner relationships from EDI transactions. When disabled, you must manually define the partner relationship. See EDI Partners Tab for more information.

EDI Partner

Setting	Description
Partner Identifier (UNB2.1)	The unique Id identifying the sending party in the EDIFACT communication. When you are generating an EDIFACT document, this should be your identifier. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked.
Personal Identifier (UNB3.1)	The unique Id identifying the receiving party in the EDIFACT communication. When you are generating an EDIFACT document, this should be your trading partner’s identifier. Only applicable when Dynamically process partners is unchecked.

Interchange Settings

Settings related to the EDIFACT interchange headers. When generating EDIFACT documents from XML, these settings are used to generate document headers. When parsing EDIFACT documents, these settings are used to validate the incoming document.

Setting	Description
Syntax Identifier (UNB1.1)	Identifies the character set used in the EDIFACT document.
Syntax Version (UNB1.2)	In combination with the Syntax Identifier, determines the syntax to be used in the EDIFACT document. Based on your selection here, other interchange setting options appear or disappear on the Advanced tab.
Partner Code Qualifier (UNB2.2)	The qualifier for the Sender Identifier, which provides context to the value (for example, an EAN location number).
Personal Code Qualifier (UNB3.2)	The qualifier for the Recipient Identifier, which provides context to the value (for example, an EAN location number).
Test Indicator (UNB11)	Whether the interchange is in test mode or production mode. If you check this, interchange headers are not validated when documents are received.
Functional Group	Check this to automatically add the sender and recipient identifiers to the Functional Group Settings on the Advanced tab.

Acknowledgments

Settings related to generating and requesting acknowledgments.

Setting	Description
Technical acknowledgment (CONTRL)	Whether a technical CONTRL ACK should be returned (when receiving) and requested (when sending). A technical acknowledgment serves as a receipt of the interchange.
Functional acknowledgment (CONTRL)	Whether a functional CONTRL ACK should be returned (when receiving) and requested (when sending). A functional acknowledgment serves as an indication of acceptance or rejection of the received interchange.

Sample Files Tab

Advanced Tab

EDI Delimiters

Settings that specify which characters separate elements, segments, and so on.

Setting	Description
Data Element Separator	The character that separates individual data elements in the document.
Component Element Separator	The character that separates elements within a composite data structure in the document.
Segment Terminator	The character that indicates the end of a segment in the document.
Release Char	The character that releases (escapes) the next character, overriding its usual meaning. This allows reserved characters to appear as data within documents, as long as they are preceded by the Release Char.
Repetition Char	The character that indicates repetition of element values.
Suffix	Appended to the Segment Terminator to distinguish segments.

Interchange Settings

Additional settings related to the EDIFACT interchange headers. These options appear or disappear based on the Syntax Version specified on the Settings tab.

Setting	Description
Service Code List Directory Version Number (UNB1.3)	Further specifies the syntax to be used in the EDIFACT document. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Character Encoding (UNB1.4)	Specifies how characters are encoded (such as ASCII or UTF-8). Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Address for Reverse Routing (UNB2.3)	The optional address in the sender’s system to which responding interchanges should be sent. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax versions prior to version 4.
Partner Internal ID (UNB2.3)	An additional sender identifier to facilitate internal routing of response interchanges. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Partner Internal Sub-Identification (UNB2.4)	Further identifies the sender when sub-level identification is required. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Routing Address (UNB3.3)	The optional address in the recipient’s system to which interchanges should be routed. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax versions prior to version 4.
Personal Internal Identification (UNB3.3)	An additional recipient identifier to facilitate internal routing of received interchanges. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Personal Internal Sub-Identification (UNB3.4)	Further identifies the recipient, for when sub-level identification is required. Only applicable for EDIFACT syntax version 4.
Partner Password (UNB6.1)	Reference or password to gain access to the recipient’s system.
Partner Password Qualifier (UNB6.2)	The qualifier that provides context to the Partner Password, if applicable.
Application Reference ID (UNB7)	Identifies the application group to which the messages in the interchange relate.
Processing Priority Code (UNB8)	Code for requesting processing priority for the interchange.
Communication Agreement (UNB10)	Defines the type of communication agreement controlling the interchange.

Functional Group Settings

Settings related to the functional group headers of EDIFACT documents. These optional identifiers can help group similar interchanges together or facilitate sub-addressing within an organization.

Setting	Description
Application Partner Identifier (UNG2.1)	Identifies the application sending the document (such as a division, branch, or computer system).
Application Personal Identifier (UNG2.1)	Identifies the application for which the document is intended.

Advanced Settings

Settings not included in the previous categories.

Setting	Description
Batch Transactions	An interchange can contain multiple transactions. When this is not checked, the connector creates a separate output file for each transaction in the interchange. When checked, the connector groups all transactions into a single output file. Only applicable when the Translation Type is EDI to XML.
Use Reference Id	When checked, when you are translating EDIFACT into XML, reference Ids are used to name XML elements. Only applicable when the Translation Type is EDI to XML. For example: `<_143>value</_143>`. If this is unchecked, the Reference designator is used to name XML elements: `<BEG03>value</BEG03>`
Encoding	Specifies the character encoding (such as ASCII or UTF-8).
Expand Qualifier Values	When checked, XML elements containing an EDI qualifier include child elements containing the qualifier code and value. For example: `<N101>` `<Code>ST</Code>` `<Value>Ship To</Value>` `</N101>`
Functional Acks	By default, all functional acknowledgments (997, 999) are routed to the connector selected in the flow diagram, and XML translations are not received in the Transactions tab. Check this to have the translated acknowledgment also be included in the Transactions tab. This allows functional acknowledgments to be integrated into a destination source in addition to new EDI documents.
Generate Description As	When translating EDIFACT into XML, descriptions of the EDIFACT segments and elements can be provided as context for the EDIFACT data. Use this dropdown to choose whether to add this context as an XML comment or as XML attributes.
Local File Scheme	A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros.
Nest Loops	When checked, the connector detects EDI structures that have hierarchical relationships embedded in the EDI data, and generates XML with these hierarchical relationships represented as parent-child relationships. See Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS and HYN Loops for more information.
Processing Delay	The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting.
Strict Schema Validation	Whether the connector should Ignore, Warn, or Fail when the following are detected: repeat counts above the allowed number, missing required elements or segments, invalid qualifier and code values, disallowed element lengths, and invalid element values. Choosing Disable turns off the schema validation checks.
Track UNB2.1	Whether to add UNB2.1 values as tracked headers to processed messages.
Track UNB3.1	Whether to add UNB3.1 values as tracked headers to processed messages.
Track Transaction Types	Whether to add transaction types as tracked headers to processed messages.
Validate Identifiers	Check this to ensure that the identifiers in the translated document match the identifiers in the connector’s configuration.
Duplicate File Action	How the connector should behave when it receives a message with a control number that the connector has seen before (a duplicate). When set to `Ignore`, the connector silently skips the duplicate and continues processing. When set to `Warn`, the connector processes the file but returns a warning. When set to `Fail`, the connector does not accept the file and returns an error.
Upload Schema	Use this to upload a schema and install it in the connector’s Schema folder. If a schema already exists, you are asked if you want to overwrite it.
Reset State	EDI connectors keep track of control numbers that have been used and increment that number to ensure that future runs do not duplicate data. Use this button to reset the counter to its initial state without changing any of the configured settings.

Logging

Miscellaneous

EDI Partners Tab

Automation Tab

Automation

Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.

Setting	Description
Send	A toggle that instructs the connector to automatically send files when they are ready.
Resend Interval	The interval the connector waits before resending a file that received a negative ACK. For example, if a trading partner receives the file but something is wrong with it and they send back a negative ACK, this setting specifies how long to wait before sending the file again.
Max Attempts (async)	The maximum number of times the connector processes the input file when a functional ACK is requested. Success is based on the return of a functional ACK within the Resend Interval. If a successful functional ACK is not returned, the connector resends the file until Max Attempts is reached. If this is set to 0, the connector resends the file indefinitely.

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

Converting Formats

The following sections detail the process of converting EDIFACT to XML and vice versa.

EDIFACT to XML

Setting the Translation Type to EDI to XML instructs the connector to parse incoming EDIFACT documents into XML. The connector first reads all of the header information for the interchange and functional group sections of the document and validates them against the configured connector settings (unless Test Indicator is checked). The connector then parses out the specific EDIFACT schema used in the document and loads the schema from the edifact_schemas folder on disk (additional schema files can be downloaded from our website for free). Using the schema, the connector generates XML representing the EDIFACT structure of the document, populates the XML with the values from the document, and provides context to each value either as XML comments or as attributes in the XML elements (based on the value of Generate Descriptions As). To see this process with a set of test EDIFACT documents, navigate to the Transactions tab of an EDIFACT connector (with Translation Type set to EDI to XML) and select More > Create Test Files. EDIFACT documents for an invoice, purchase order, purchase order acknowledgment, and shipping notice are automatically generated and placed in the Transactions directory. After these test files are processed by the connector, navigate to the Transactions tab to see the resulting XML. Once EDIFACT documents are converted to XML, the data can be transformed and manipulated in many ways. Commonly, EDIFACT data needs to be stored in a database or other back-end application system. Since uses XML to represent inserts into these back-end systems, storing the EDIFACT data becomes a matter of mapping one XML structure onto another. This is typically done with the visual designer-driven XML Map connector.

XML to EDIFACT

Setting the Translation Type to XML to EDI instructs the connector to generate an EDIFACT document out of an XML representation of the document. After the connector has constructed the EDIFACT message out of the data parsed from the XML, it adds functional group and interchange headers according to the configured connector settings. To see this process with a set of test XML files, navigate to the Transactions tab of an EDIFACT connector (with Translation Type set to XML to EDI) and select More > Create Test Files. XML files representing an invoice, purchase order, purchase order acknowledgment, and shipping notice are automatically generated and placed in the Transactions directory. After these test files are processed by the connector, navigate to the Transactions tab to see the resulting EDIFACT document.

Print View

Use With the XML Map Connector

Upload Test File

EDIFACT Acknowledgments

The following sections detail the two types of EDIFACT acknowledgments (ACKs), and how expects, processes, and generates ACKs.

Technical versus Functional Acknowledgments

Technical ACKs, sometimes called interchange ACKs, are an indication that an interchange has taken place between the two parties, although not necessarily that any individual message has been exchanged. These serve as a receipt to the sender indicating that the EDIFACT message was successfully received, but it does not specify whether there were any issues with processing the message content. Functional ACKs are an indication that an interchange has been processed by the receiving party. They can report acceptance, acceptance with issues, or rejection of the received document. These serve as both a receipt that an interchange was successfully received and that it was fully processed.

Expecting, Processing, and Generating Acknowledgments

Expecting Acknowledgements

EDIFACT connectors operating in XML to EDI mode can be configured so that technical and/or functional ACKs are expected for a message. When one or both Technical acknowledgment (CONTRL) and Functional acknowledgment (CONTRL) are checked in the Acknowledgments section of the Settings tab, the connector maintains a Pending ACK status for a transmission until the appropriate ACKs have been returned and processed. This means that the connector status can be used to determine whether the recipient has confirmed that they received the interchange. The following diagram shows the logical flow involved when expects an ACK from an invoice document:

In the illustration above, an EDIFACT connector operating in XML to EDI mode generates the document to be exchanged (1) and holds it in a Pending ACK state while the document is transmitted to the trading partner. The trading partner processes the transmission according to their business logic and creates acknowledgments in accordance with the configured exchange parameters (2). When the acknowledgments are returned, they are processed according to the information in the next section (3).

Processing Acknowledgments

In a typical flow, EDIFACT ACKs arrive at an EDIFACT connector operating in EDI to XML mode. This EDIFACT connector can be configured to automatically route any received acknowledgments to the EDIFACT connector that originally generated the document being acknowledged. Routing ACKs between EDIFACT connectors is configured visually on the Flows canvas by dragging the gray dot at the bottom of the EDIFACT connector in EDI to XML mode onto the EDIFACT connector that is in XML to EDI mode. Once the EDIFACT connector in XML to EDI mode receives the routed ACK, it pairs the ACK to the original message and changes its state from Pending ACK to Sent.

Generating Acknowledgements

When an EDIFACT connector in EDI to XML mode receives a message and generates the corresponding XML, it can automatically generate CONTRL acknowledgments for the received message. To accomplish this, check Technical acknowledgment (CONTRL) and/or Functional acknowledgment (CONTRL) in the Acknowledgments section of the Settings tab. These acknowledgments must be routed to another EDIFACT connector (in XML to EDI mode) to finalize the ACK. The connector to which the ACK is routed applies interchange headings and passes the ACK along to the next connector in the flow like any other EDIFACT message. To route the ACK appropriately, drag the gray dot at the bottom of the EDIFACT connector in EDI to XML mode onto the EDIFACT connector that is in XML to EDI mode. The following diagram shows the logical flow involved when creating an ACK for a received invoice document:

As shown in the illustration above, after a trading partner sends a message expecting an acknowledgment (1), the EDIFACT connector in EDI to XML mode that parses the document automatically generates an ACK (2). This ACK is an XML file containing the transactional information relevant for the transaction. Then, this XML acknowledgment is routed back to an EDIFACT connector in XML to EDI mode (3) so that the interchange headers (and any other EDI party agreement settings) are applied before the ACK is sent back to the trading partner.

Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS and HYN Loops

In EDI documents, most hierarchical relationships are represented by the order of EDI segments. Some EDI structures, like CPS loops (found in DESADV documents) and HYN loops (found in PRICAT documents), do not follow this convention. Instead, they have the hierarchical relationships embedded in the EDI element data itself. This can make it difficult to preserve these hierarchical relationships when converting the EDI data to XML. The EDIFACT connector supports preserving hierarchical relationships in CPS and HYN segments via the Nest Loops setting on the Advanced tab. When enabled, the connector parses the elements in the CPS and HYN segments to determine which segments “belong to” other segments in a hierarchical relationship. These hierarchical relationships are reflected in the output XML as parent-child relationships; in other words, this setting converts hierarchy implied by the EDI content into hierarchy represented by the XML structure. This section explains how hierarchy is encoded in CPS and HYN data, and how this hierarchy is converted into XML when Nest Loops is checked.

CPS and HYN Hierarchies

All CPS and HYN segments have two values that help establish hierarchy:

an Id value, which identifies the current segment (this value is stored in CPS01 or HYN01, or as the first element in a CPS or HYN segment)
a parent-Id value, which identifies the current segment’s hierarchical parent (this value is stored in CPS02 or HYN02, or as the second element in a CPS or HYN segment)

For example, a segment has an Id value of ‘2’. If the next segment should “belong to” this prior segment in a hierarchical relationship, the next segment’s parent-Id should also be ‘2’. If a segment’s parent-Id is ‘0’, the segment does not have a parent (it is at the top level of the hierarchy).

Converting CPS and HYN Hierarchies to XML

When Nest Loops is checked, the EDIFACT connector automatically handles the conversion of CPS and HYN hierarchies to the XML hierarchy. The connector parses the Id and parent-Id values from the CPS and HYN segments, and ensures that the resulting XML elements are appropriately nested inside the elements representing their parents. In other words, if segmentA has a parent-Id value that is equal to segmentB, the resulting XML has segmentA as a child of segmentB. In this way, the hierarchical relationships are preserved in the XML structure when the EDI data is translated.

Macros

Examples

EDIFACT Operations

In addition to the Operations provided with , connectors can provide operations that extend functionality into Script. These connector operations can be called just like any other Script operation, except that they must be called through the connector.rsc endpoint and must include an auth token. The following operation is specific to the functionality of the EDIFACT connector.

edifactScan

Scans header values from the headers of an EDIFACT document.

Required Parameters

file: The path to the EDIFACT file.

Optional Parameters

format: The file format. The default value is EDIFACT.

Output Attributes

InterchangeSyntaxIdentifier: The Id of the syntax version being used (UNB1.1).
InterchangeSyntaxVersion: The version of the syntax rules being used. Values range from 1 to 5, where higher numbers support more advanced character sets (UNB1.2).
InterchangeSenderIdQualifier: The interchange qualifier of the sender Id (UNB2.2).
InterchangeSenderId: The interchange sender Id (UNB2.1).
InterchangeReceiverIdQualifier: The interchange qualifier of the receiver Id (UNB3.2).
InterchangeReceiverId: The interchange receiver Id (UNB3.1).
DocumentType: The document type or transaction set Identifier code (UNH2.1).

Common Errors

Following is a list of common errors, their causes, and the recommended solution.

Error: Schema file not found ([schema major version] [schema document type])

Cause When parses an EDIFACT file, it first scans the file for the EDI version and document type to determine which schema to use during parsing. The application includes an extensive set of EDIFACT schemas in JSON format. They are stored in the schemas folder in the application directory (next to the data folder). This error indicates that the application could not find a schema file matching the major version and document type reported by the file. If the [schema major version] or [schema document type] values are missing in the error message, the EDI document does not contain the major version or document type. Otherwise, this error indicates that the appropriate document schema is not included in the set of schema definitions automatically included with . Resolution If the EDI file does not contain the schema major version or document type, contact the trading partner (or other source of the EDI document) and inform them that these values must be included in the message header. Otherwise, find the appropriate schema version from our free download page. Download the schema folder and place it in the following path: [application_directory]\schemas\edifact_schemas\[major_version]\

Error: The segment at line [line number] with tag [segment name] is not in a valid position in the specified schema ([schema major version] [schema document type]). This may indicate that the input file contains segments that are out of order.

Cause When parses an EDIFACT file, it first scans the file for the EDI version and document type to determine which schema to use during parsing. The application includes an extensive set of EDIFACT schemas in JSON format, stored in the www\app_data folder of the root installation directory. This error indicates that the parser encountered an EDI segment in the file that does not match the order of segments defined in the relevant document schema. This can indicate a few different issues:

The EDI file was generated incorrectly by the trading partner
The EDI file was generated using a different schema version than what is indicated in the file
The EDI file was generated using a custom schema

Resolution If the EDI file was generated using a custom schema, place the custom schema file (in JSON format) in the folder where reads EDI schemas. The connector searches for schemas by checking the following locations in this order:

Inside its folder on disk (for example, <ConnectorDirectory>/Resources/Schemas/)
If a schema is used by multiple connectors, CData recommends you use a folder structure like this: <ApplicationDirectory>/schemas/<type>_schemas/<major version>. In this example, <type> should be edifact.

If the EDI file was not generated using a custom schema, there are two approaches to resolving the discrepancy between the EDI file generated by the partner and the EDI schema used to parse it.

Manually edit the appropriate EDI schema file (found in the filepath above) to adjust the segment order so that it matches the partner’s EDI files. The error message indicates the line in the file where the segments diverge from the schema definition. Trace through the JSON definition of segment order until the divergence is found, and re-order the segments in the JSON to match the file provided by the partner.
Contact the trading partner about the EDI file. Confirm that the file was generated according to the major version that is reported by the file, and explain that the order of the segments in the file is not recognized.

Which approach to use depends on your familiarity with EDI segments for the particular document type (to correctly edit the JSON schema according to the partner’s file) and the partner’s flexibility (to adjust the EDI file in response to informing them about the error).

​Key Capabilities

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Connector Configuration

​Settings Tab

​Translation Configuration

​EDI Partner

​Interchange Settings

​Acknowledgments

​Sample Files Tab

​Advanced Tab

​EDI Delimiters

​Interchange Settings

​Functional Group Settings

​Advanced Settings

​Logging

​Miscellaneous

​EDI Partners Tab

​Automation Tab

​Automation

​Performance

​Alerts Tab

​SLAs Tab

​Converting Formats

​EDIFACT to XML

​XML to EDIFACT

​Print View

​Use With the XML Map Connector

​Upload Test File

​EDIFACT Acknowledgments

​Technical versus Functional Acknowledgments

​Expecting, Processing, and Generating Acknowledgments

​Expecting Acknowledgements

​Processing Acknowledgments

​Generating Acknowledgements

​Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS and HYN Loops

​CPS and HYN Hierarchies

​Converting CPS and HYN Hierarchies to XML

​Macros

​Examples

​EDIFACT Operations

​edifactScan

​Required Parameters

​Optional Parameters

​Output Attributes

​Common Errors

​Error: Schema file not found ([schema major version] [schema document type])

​Error: The segment at line [line number] with tag [segment name] is not in a valid position in the specified schema ([schema major version] [schema document type]). This may indicate that the input file contains segments that are out of order.

Key Capabilities

Overview

Prerequisites

Connector Configuration

Settings Tab

Translation Configuration

EDI Partner

Interchange Settings

Acknowledgments

Sample Files Tab

Advanced Tab

EDI Delimiters

Interchange Settings

Functional Group Settings

Advanced Settings

Logging

Miscellaneous

EDI Partners Tab

Automation Tab

Automation

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

Converting Formats

EDIFACT to XML

XML to EDIFACT

Print View

Use With the XML Map Connector

Upload Test File

EDIFACT Acknowledgments

Technical versus Functional Acknowledgments

Expecting, Processing, and Generating Acknowledgments

Expecting Acknowledgements

Processing Acknowledgments

Generating Acknowledgements

Master-Detail Hierarchy: Translating CPS and HYN Loops

CPS and HYN Hierarchies

Converting CPS and HYN Hierarchies to XML

Macros

Examples

EDIFACT Operations

edifactScan

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

Output Attributes

Common Errors

Error: Schema file not found ([schema major version] [schema document type])

Error: The segment at line [line number] with tag [segment name] is not in a valid position in the specified schema ([schema major version] [schema document type]). This may indicate that the input file contains segments that are out of order.