Standards Viewer¶
EDI*atlas¶
AAltsys Technology provides a free download of a complete EDI implementation.
Enter username ADMIN and password ADM!N1 when starting the program.
System requirements¶
EDI*atlas was written in OpenInsight 8.0.1, and program limitations are inherited from that platform. Tested operating systems and requirements are:
- Windows XP, 32-bit only
- WINE on Linux (tested on Ubuntu 12.10 32-bit Intel, with Wine 1.4.1)
- Windows XP Virtual Mode running on Windows 7
Execution on Linux is somewhat slow and functionality is questionable. Execution in Windows XP Virtual Mode is excruciatingly slow and cannot be recommended.
EDI*atlas components¶
- Standards viewer, including full ASC-X12 versions 3070, 4010, and 5010.
- EDI transaction data validator.
- Translator which prepares functional acknowledgments with error reporting.
- Direct database mapper (provided your database is OpenInsight).
- Communications module supporting VAN and direct exchange options.
- Document and group exchange header history database.
- Full reporting of exchanges, errors, mappings, partners, etc.
Purpose¶
EDI is one of the least understood areas of information processing. As a result, it is common to find that one or more partners to a data exchange claims to be using EDI, when in fact the data files being exchanged are not in compliance with data exchange requirements. It is pointless to argue about EDI standards when one is not in compliance. Instead, use the standards validation features in EDI*atlas to identify deficiencies in EDI files and correct the deficiencies.
Hint
Exchange ‣ Interchange ‣ +Processes ‣ Receive File is a menu selection to process any EDI exchange file and check the data for standards compliance.
Program Documentation¶
Overview documentation for EDI is contained in this website. Documentation for
EDI*atlas is included with the program, and the user is encouraged to use the
[F1] key.
WARES and EDI¶
WARES includes a viewer program for navigating the X12 document standards heirarchy, as well as a full data-driven mapper tool. The viewer is based on standards table data from DISA.
Viewer Structure¶
EDI standards provide a hierarchical, structured approach to representing the information in business documents. The viewer accurately reflects this hierarchy, with each level of the standards having a corresponding documentation window in the viewer. These documentation windows may be selected from the Standards menu.
Levels of the standards hierarchy are interrelated through detail tables. Sets have detail tables which show segments within the sets. Segments and composites have tables showing their element members. Identifier type data elements have corresponding code tables. Each detail table is shown in a columnar popup display in the viewer. These popups are accessible from the documentation windows, or from the popups at higher levels.
The viewer hierarchy is navigated with certain keystrokes. Pressing
<Enter> on a line of a detail popup moves to a detail popup at the
next-lower level of the standards hierarchy. Pressing [F1] on a popup
line views the standards documentation page for the next-lower level. In the
documentation windows, pressing [SF1] displays the detail table for that
page. Pressing <Esc> moves from a lower level to a higher one.
The following table shows viewer detail popup and documentation window levels, and the keystroke relationships between levels:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ [SF1] [F1] <Enter> │
│ Sets Selection Popup ──┐ ──┐ │
│ │ Sets Documentation Window ──┐ <─┘ │ │
│ │ │ Set Details Table <─┘ ──┐ <─┤ │
│ │ │ │ Segments Documentation Window ──┐ <─┘ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ Segment Details Table <─┘ ──┬──┐ <─┤ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ Composite Structures Window ──┐ <─┘ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ Composite Details Table <─┘ ──┐ │ <─┤ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Data Elements Window ──┐ <─┘<─┘ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Element Codes Details Table <─┘ ──┐ <─┤ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Element Code Documentation <─┘ <─┘ │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Viewer Action Keys¶
The viewer uses five types of interface elements to display information: menus, windows, popups, messages, and text. The active keys for each part of the interface are shown in the following table:
| MENUS | <Up> | Move the selection highlight up one entry |
| <Down> | Move the selection highlight down one entry | |
| <Home> | Move the selection to the first entry of the menu | |
| <End> | Move the selection to the last entry of the menu | |
| <Enter> | Select the highlighted entry | |
| [F1] | Display help for the highlighted entry | |
| WINDOWS | [F1] | Display help for the current entry of the window |
| [F3] | Zoom the entry into a text window | |
| [F10] | Use the window’s menu | |
| [SF1] | Display the detail table for the current record | |
| [SF10] | Display a list of selected records | |
| POPUPS | <Up> | Move the highlight up one line |
| <Down> | Move the highlight down one line | |
| <Enter> | Display the detail popup for the highlighted line | |
| [F1] | Show the window for the highlighted line | |
| MESSAGES | <Enter> | Close the message |
| TEXT | <Esc> | Close the Zoom Text or Help Text window |
Corrections to Table Data¶
In the standards viewer, DISA table data was altered for consistency between standards versions. Changes in presentation are itemized following.
Apostrophes¶
Where doubled apostrophe characters were found in text, they were changed to the quote mark (”). Left apostrophe characters (`) were changed to apostrophes (‘). (The left apostrophe, or backtick, is not in the permissible character set for use with EDI.)
Maxuse¶
Whenever the Maxuse column in Set Details was not filled in, the null value was replaced with the number 1.
Repeats¶
Null values in the Repeat column of Set Details were replaced with 0.
Spelling¶
Numerous spelling errors in the data were detected but not corrected.
Conditions and requirements¶
In the standards, the “Condition Designator” has a “Condition Code” and a “Requirement”, and the “Relational Conditions” have a “Condition Code” and a “Requirement.” The Condition Designator is alternately referred to as the “Requirement Designator” in the standards, and this nomenclature is adopted in the viewer. The Requirement Designator (detail tables column “Req”) has a requirement code, and Relational Conditions have a condition code (detail tables column “Cond”) and a Relation reference list (column “Relation”).
In the standards, requirement codes with related element lists are displayed in syntax notes along with the note text. The viewer has additional columns for the Condition Codes and Relation lists in the detail table displays as stated in the previous paragraph. The syntax notes text is displayed in the Segments and Composites windows without the code values. Element reference lists in syntax codes are shown as a sequence of two-digit numbers in the standards. In the viewer, the lists are shown as reference numbers separated by commas. When more than one relational condition applies to an element, the condition codes and relation lists are separated by semicolons.
Requirement designator¶
Table data for the standards uses a C in the Requirement Designator to show that a relational condition exists. Published standards now use X instead of C, and the viewer has changed the table data for consistency.
Semantic notes¶
Semantic notes are annotated in the published standards by adding a Z to the Requirement Designator. A separate notes indicator column displays the semantic notes indicator Z in the viewer.
Component data elements¶
Simple Data Elements may be made up of multiple parts, as is the case with DE 103. The viewer separates code values by part in the Data Element details table. A length for the parts is also maintained internally in the data, although not shown in the details tables. Data Element parts are not described within the body of the standards.
Standards Inconsistencies¶
Inconsistencies in standards versions and usage are noted as follows.
Maxuse and repeat¶
The Maximum Use column is defined in DE 905 as type=N0, min=1, max=7. The standards represent an unlimited use with the notation >1. Since this violates the numeric data element definition, the number 9999999 is used in data transmission to show an infinite repeat. The standards use the same notation for DE 910, Loop Repeat Count. The viewer preserves the standards notation >1 despite this inconsistency.
Loop and segment requirement¶
The requirement designation for an unbounded loop is implicitly the same as the requirement designation of the loop’s first segment. However, a separate column explicitly defines the loop repeat, whereas the first segment’s maximum use designation could have implicitly defined the loop repeat.