Which file formats are commonly used within EDI? Where do they originate from? You can find easy-to-understand answers to these questions here.
In the third part of “EDI explained for beginners,” we provide information about frequently used formats in electronic data interchange.
EDIFACT
EDIFACT is an abbreviation. It stands for “Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport.” The German term is „Elektronischer Datenaustausch für Verwaltung, Handel und Verkehr“. The format represents a cross-industry, international standard for document exchange in business transactions. The different document types always have a short name consisting of six capital letters, e.g., ORDRSP = Order Response.
XML
XML is also an abbreviation. It`s a shortname for “Extensible Markup Language”. In German, this is translated as„Erweiterbare Auszeichnungssprache“. The format is characterized by a kind of tree structure with data and metadata. The <tags>, which often designate information with a clear name, make it easy for humans to read. In the background, a so-called XML schema (XSD = XML schema definition) defines structural and content restrictions. This often goes hand in hand with the standard character encoding UFT-8
IDOC
The term is short for “Intermediate Document” and was established by SAP for business processes. IDOC documents use a table with data and metadata in the background. The information in an IDOC file is often much more difficult to understand without the relevant knowledge of the file structure.
Delve deeper into the world of electronic data exchange and find out how you can connect your preferred file format to NTG. Contact us here >>
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