I would venture to say that it is more dependant on your application than anything else. SAP, for example, uses the IDOC format. Syteline has its own EDI file format. I am sure other applications have their own predefined formats as well.
I previously wrote the interfaces to a number of application systems and found that the a structure similar to the IDOC structure worked best in every circumstance where you had to start from scratch. Of course I was designing the whole thing, file format, programming, etc. for systems that didn't have a real EDI interface. But by grouping like data types (i.e. name and address, dates ) into a single record with qualifiers that identify the type of information (i.e., Ship To, Bill To, PO Date, Cancel Date) it made things pretty simple overall. Jon ----- Original Message ---- From: "Becker, Adam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2006 12:51:52 PM Subject: [EDI-L] Application File Formats Hello All, I'm hoping to get your input on application files, does any body know of any best practices for defining the format for these? Is delimited or positional better? Should you use qualifiers for things like references or just have a field for every type of reference you could possibly expect? Should you only have one line in the file for each line in the database? Any input/advice/ past mistakes/etc. would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Adam This email message and any attachments are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) . This email and any attachments may contain confidential, privileged or otherwise protected information, including legal protection under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If you are not the above named intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, disclosure, printing, copying, or distribution of this email or attachments is strictly prohibited and may subject you to criminal and/or civil penalties. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender by telephone or reply email and destroy this email [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ____________________________________________________________________________________ Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
