Dear Matt:
At the last ASC X12 Trimester Meeting in October, I was resoundingly
elected Chair of the X12C TG2 Communications and Control Subcommittee -
Syntax Work Group, responsible for X12.5 and X12.6. Using the awesome
powers invested in this office, I forced through X12 data maintenance
item DM #002199 which addresses this very issue but had been languishing
in the subcommittee for almost a year.
I silenced or intimidated all opposition, and ram-rodded Peter Randlev's
DM through the full subcommittee and then brought the DM forward to
X12J - the Technical Assessment Subcommittee - the gatekeepers of X12
purity. Thoroughly cowed by my forceful defense of the change, X12J
meekly passed the DM on for full X12 member approval. I think it got
approved. But I'm not sure: drunk with power, I don't have time to keep
track of petty details.
Actually, if truth be known, if I hadn't been held by the hand through
each step of the process by one of my fellow chairs, I wouldn't have had
any idea what to do. But that doesn't matter: I have the title and it
looks good on my resume.
The text of DM# 002199 is reproduced hereinafter:
Status: RECOMMENDED FOR BALLOT BY X12J
Submitter: PETER RANDLEV
Company: INDEPENDENT MEMBER
Subcommittees: J
Reason For Change
A request for an informal interpretation was made by an X12 member as to
the use of the carat symbol "^" in an alphanumeric character string
within an NTE segment. It was determined that the carat and the left
single quotation mark "`" were not listed in X12.5 appendix and X12.6
section 3.3. They appear to be the only two symbols from a typical
keyboard that are not included. Thus, it is requested that they be
included so that, if desired, they can be used in a character string in
segments such as the MTX and NTE.
It is recognized that the carat "^" is listed in section 5 of X12.5 as a
possible data element separator. But , so is the asterisk "*" which is
included in the two control standards. There is a note in 3.3.2 of X12.6
which states "Special characters are removed from this category when
they are used as delimiters."
William J. Kammerer
FORESIGHT Corp.
4950 Blazer Memorial Pkwy.
Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305
(614) 791-1600
Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/
"Commerce for a New World"
-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, February 04, 2000 4:49 PM
Subject: To What Character Set Does Caret Belong?
Looking through Appendix A of the X12.5 Interchange Control Structures
section of the X12 standards (4010), I cannot find the reference to the
caret (^) in any of the character sets. It does appear in section 5
(Recommendations for the Delimiters) as a potential data element
separator.
It seems as if every other standard keyboard character is accounted for
in either the basic or extended character sets. I'm just curious if
this was an oversight or if it was left off intentionally.
Anyone on the committee wanna comment?
Matt
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Matt Brown 805 3rd Avenue
EC/EDI Engineer New York, NY 10022
Internet Commerce Corporation 212-271-7640
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