More answers in-line. ----------------------------------------- Michael C. Rawlins, Rawlins EC Consulting www.rawlinsecconsulting.com
henkjanebbers wrote: > --- In [email protected], Mike Rawlins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks for you answer. > > >>> 2. Which versions exist of X12? >>> >>> >> Many, and yes, the transaction set definitions can differ quite a bit >> across different versions/releases. >> > Let's if I udnrstand this: > a ISA version 00401 with message orders (850) is different from the > same 850 in a ISA version 00303?? > Not necessarily. You are confusing the interchange version and the functional group (or transaction set) version. The interchange version in the ISA only applies to the ISA and IEA segments (and a few others that are not commonly used). What you're most concerned with is the version specified for the functional group in the GS segment. That is what tells you, for example, the version of the 850. > >>> 4. In X12 there is a *Basic Character Set, and a Extended >>> > Character Set; > >>> and there's also Control Characters. >>> >>> >> Unlike the EDIFACT syntax, there is no indicator in the X12 interchange >> to advise the consumer the character set (or even the encoding) that is >> used. Encoding (EBCDIC vs. ASCII, for example) is beyond the scope of >> the standards. >> > > This is new for me - you are saying that I can recieve a file in > EBCDIC? Are x12 fils actually snet in EBCDIC?? > Yes, you can receive an X12 interchange in EBCDIC. More companies probably use ASCII, but there are quite a few that use EBCDIC. Translation between different encodings is a service routinely offered by VANs. The key concept to understand is that the X12 standards only specify what is called a "graphical" character set. They are completely agnostic about the bit patterns used to represent the graphical characters. > >>> 5. I do not understand 'bounded groups'. >>> >>> >> Yes, they are used. Bounded loops are groups of segments that may >> repeat. The first instance of a bounded loop is preceded by an LS >> segment, and the last instance is followed by an LE segment. In >> practical terms for implementing a translator, I think you probably >> don't need to do anything special to handle them. They are defined in >> the standard to prevent a condition in transaction set instances called >> "segment collision", in which a parser might not otherwise know >> > where it > >> is without the inclusion of the LS and LE segments. >> > > OK. > But I still do not understand it. > When I fix the example on my tutorial (yeah, still haven't gotten around to it) it might be more clear to you. Until then the best you can do is review X12.6 and some transaction set definitions that use the LS/LE segments. > >>> 6. Concerning data type 'binary': is this really used? How? >>> > (because it > >>> seems to me this would lead to syntax problems with >>> > separators/terminators. > >>> >>> >> Yes, it is really used, though rarely. It would cause syntax >> > problems if > >> it weren't for the fact that in transaction set instances most "binary" >> data is "filtered", i.e., represented in a transmission friendly >> encoding such as binhex or base64. >> > I mean: if data is binary, it is possible that in the binary data > there is a character that is in use as a separator/terminator. This > would lead to an invalid EDI file, wouldn't it? > Yes, it would, except for the caveat that users must choose delimiters that don't appear in their data. > > > ... 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/
