What are the EDI standards in different periods and regions?

Summary. 1. The EDI standard ensures that the computer network automatically transmits and the computer automatically processes files and data.

1. The EDI standard ensures that the computer network automatically transmits and the computer automatically processes files and data.

2. The EDI standard also ensures that the whole process of network transmission is audited, which greatly improves the transparency and reliability of commercial document transmission.

The standardized EDI format conversion ensures that various business documents (such as documents, receipts, manifests, acceptance notices, export licenses, certificates of origin, etc.) of different countries, regions and enterprises can be exchanged electronically without barriers, and promote the development of international sales.

The three elements of EDI include: data standardization, EDI software and hardware, and transmission protocol. These three elements need to work together to make up a complete EDI.

First, let's introduce the first element, data standardization. Data standardization means that data in EDI needs to be transmitted between the sender and receiver in a standard format. EDI standards are electronic data interchange standards jointly discussed and formulated by representatives of various enterprises and regions, and the existing international standards include EDIFACT, X12, VDA, etc.

Enterprises need to exchange business data through jointly recognized standards.

Next is the second element, EDI software and hardware. To successfully deploy an EDI system, it needs to be equipped with the software and hardware required for EDI. The EDI software can take the data in the user's database and convert it into the standard format of EDI for subsequent data transfer and exchange.

EDI software consists of multiple functions, such as data capture, standard format conversion, business data processing, and EDI message transmission. EDI hardware mainly includes computers, network cables (or dedicated lines).

Finally, there is the third element, the transmission protocol. EDI has a secure and controllable file transfer mode, including AS2, AS4, OFTP (ODETTE FTP) v2, SFTP, FTP, SCP, etc. EDI files need to be transferred over the Internet, and with the above-mentioned transfer protocols, safe and secure data exchange can take place.

The diagram above depicts how EDI works, with files sent from enterprise A to enterprise B.

The first element mentioned above, that is, data standardization, is reflected in the fact that the EDI software of Enterprise A and Enterprise B transmits business files in the standard EDI packet format.

Element 2: EDI software and hardware are embodied in enterprise A and enterprise B, such as computers and EDI software, respectively. As shown in the preceding figure, the EDI software of enterprise A converts the obtained service data into EDI packets in a standard format, signs and encrypts them, and sends them to the EDI software of enterprise B through the communication network.

After receiving the EDI packets from Enterprise A, the EDI software of Enterprise B decrypts and verifies the EDI packets and translates them into readable service files of Enterprise B.

Element 3: Transmission protocol. In order for two computers to exchange files (either internally or over the Internet), both parties must use the same transfer protocol.

An important part of the EDI system.

Communication protocols. The first step is to understand what communication protocol the partner's system can use to receive and send EDI files. The author has participated in hundreds of enterprise EDI docking projects, involving EDI communication protocols such as AS2, FTP, SFTP, FTP S, HTTP, HTTP S, OFTP, etc.

At present, the internationally popular EDI file transfer protocol is called AS2 protocol. This protocol is based on the HTTP S transport protocol, which means that any business with an internet connection can use it. In addition, this protocol can digitally sign and encrypt the business documents that need to be transmitted, making the entire transmission process very secure.

In addition, the normal delivery of business documents can be confirmed through the MDN acknowledgment.

EDI parsing.

In addition, it is necessary to parse the business documents in the standard EDI format received by the EDI system into a data format that can be processed by the internal system, and if you need to send the EDI business documents, you need to convert and encapsulate the data generated by the internal system into the EDI standard format. At present, the most popular EDI standards in the world include ANSI X12, which is widely used in North America, and EDIFACT, which is widely used in non-North America. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) GS1 is working on the development of a world-wide EDI standard, and there are currently two parallel standards GS1 XML and GS1 EANCOM.

The author himself has worked in the North American retail industry for many years and is relatively familiar with ANSI X12, having participated in the project management and implementation of EDI in China, Canada and Australia, and has used all the EDI standards mentioned above. ANSI X12, EDIFACT, and GS1 EANCOM all use flat files to express structured data through field header identifiers, field separators, etc., which has the advantage of fast computer processing speed and the disadvantage that it is more complex and difficult for people to learn. XML data is inherently structured, and node representation is more user-friendly and easy to understand, but due to the large amount of data redundancy, the processing speed will be affected when the amount of data is large.

It should be noted here that a single-function connector does not have EDI resolution. For more information about EDI, please consult Shanghai Yunhui Information Technology****.

Internal system integration.

To put it simply, it is to import the received documents into the internal system, or to generate business documents to be sent through the internal system, which we can also call the interface of the internal system. This often requires the involvement of in-house system providers in the design and implementation. The authors have been involved in system integration with SAP.

It is recommended to use a standard interface, such as SAP IDOC. Or you can define a custom format such as XML, CSV, or intermediate tables.

Answer]: The EDI standard is actually a standard protocol for the transmission of messages between international networks and systems.

Un edifact standard.

The earliest coincidence was the use of telegram messages for the transmission of business documents, and later fax documents replaced telegram messages. However, the biggest problem with faxed documents is that the information must be managed through a paper carrier, and the information cannot be incorporated directly into the information system. The advent of e-mail systems solves this problem.

Development of EDI technology.

After the un edifact standard was proposed, it was immediately welcomed by countries around the world. Some international organizations are also making continuous efforts for its wide application and technical improvement, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) convened a multi-country world conference in 1992 and Xiaomohuai in 1994 to study the application of EDI and reduce the cost of international development and improve efficiency. The open EDI concept proposed by the meeting has made EDI develop from a closed to an open standard protocol for all enterprises (including small and medium-sized enterprises and people), and the transmission of EDI has gradually developed from the value-added network used in the past to decoupled from the specific network protocol and transferred to the open Internet network.

EDI standards include EDI network communication standards, EDI processing standards, EDI contact standards, and EDI semantic syntax standards.

EDI Standards:

1) EDIFACT grammar rules (ISO9735);

Message Design Guidelines;

Grammar application guide;

edifact data element.

Catalogue (EDED);

EDIFACT** Table (EDCL);

EDIFoFact Composite Data Element Catalog (EDCD);

EDIFACT Segment Directory (EDSD);

8) EDIFACT Standard Message Format (EDMD);

9) ** Data Exchange Format Composition Overview (UNCID).

EDI standards The core of EDI is the standardization of the data format of the business being processed, and EDI essentially requires an internationally unified standard to communicate in a common language. Since EDI is a communication between computers and computers, taking EDI as an example, EDI transmits electronic documents, so in order to enable the computers of different business users to identify and process these electronic documents, it is necessary to develop a standard that can be understood and used by all partners in accordance with the agreement. At present, there are two major standard systems in the world, one is the UN EDIFACT standard developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) that is popular in Europe and Asia, and the other is the ANSI standard developed by the National Committee for Standardization (ANSI) in North America.

EDI standards should be guided by two basic principles: 1) Provide a language that can be used by all parties who send and receive the data, and that the language used is the same. 2) This standard is not affected by the computer type, that is, it applies to the data exchange between computers, and it is independent of the computer.

To become a standard data format for EDI, three elements need to be defined: data objects, data segments, and standard packet formats. The current industry standards are:

CIDX (chemical), VICX (department store), TDCC (transportation), etc. They are all specialized in a particular sector. The most popular and authoritative EDI standard in the world is UN EDIFACT, which is briefly introduced below:

UN EDIFACT stands for United Nations Rulers for Electronic Data Exchage for Administration, Commerce and Transport, and it indicates that this standard applies to the administration, ** and transportation industries. The following are the main points of the three elements of the UNISO data format. A data element is the basic unit of an electronic document.

There are about 1,000 standard data elements in the United Nations, all of which are listed in the meta catalog. Each data element is uniquely identified by a four-digit number. The object directory gives each object an identifier and gives it a meaningful name as a brief explanation of the element's meaning.

Finally, the type and length of the data element are specified. The data element is generally an alphanumeric string, and all types are nothing more than an (letter, number) or a (letter). Length is the number of characters.

A data segment is made up of a set of data objects. There are two types of data segments, one of which is called a user data segment. It reflects the items in the document that have a certain function.

It is an intermediate information unit, which corresponds to a column on the paper document, such as the shipper, the consignee, etc. Another type of data segment is called a service data segment. It is also sometimes referred to as a control data segment.

It is the provision of information services for the electronic transmission of information.

The United Nations Organization for Standardization defines EDI as:

EDI is an electronic transmission method that forms a structured transaction or message data format for the processing of business or administrative transactions within a recognized and uniform standard, from a computer application system to a computer application system.

EDI has three definitions.

Definition 1: The 1995 edition of the American Dictionary of Electronic Commerce (1995) defines electronic commerce as: "the exchange of standard-format documents between computers for commercial purposes." ”

Definition 2: The American National Bureau of Standards (NSW) EDI Standards Committee defines EDI as: "EDI refers to the transmission of information of commercial or strategic significance in a standard format between independent organizations. ”

Definition 3: According to the United Nations EDIFACT Training Guide, "EDI refers to the exchange of data in a standard format between the computer application systems of the partner with minimal human intervention".

From the above definition of EDI, it is not difficult to see that EDI includes three aspects, namely, computer applications, communications, networks and data standardization. Among them, computer application is the condition of EDI, communication environment is the basis of EDI application, and standardization is the characteristic of EDI. These three aspects are interconnected and interdependent, forming the foundation of EDI.

Data processing and transaction processing business refers to the use of a variety of data and transaction transaction processing application platforms connected to the public communication network or the Internet, through the public communication network or the Internet to provide users with data processing and transaction processing business. To engage in this type of business, you need to apply for a ** Data Processing and Trading License, referred to as an EDI license.

What kind of business needs to apply for an EDI license?

These conditions are required to apply for an EDI license:

1. The registered capital of the applicant enterprise must meet more than 1 million;

3. To apply for an EDI license, the enterprise needs to provide social security for no less than 3 people, and the personnel should preferably be managers and technicians engaged in related business.

What materials are required for EDI license processing:

1. Scanned copy of the company's business license;

2. Scanned copy of the company's legal person ID card;

3. Articles of Association; (Industrial and commercial file adjustment).

4. Social security certificates;

5. Scanned copy of ID card of the company's main management personnel;

6. Color scanned copy of the hosting agreement and a copy of the qualification certificate of the hosting provider IDC (Internet data center);

7. Internet domain name registration certificate;

8. Relevant certificates of shareholders;

9. The company's equity structure chart;

10. Lease agreement or real estate certificate;

11. Enterprise trademark certificate.