![]() ![]() Positions (usually column “Pos”) are unique counters. The picture above contains HL, TD1, TD5, REF, DTM, N1, N2, N3, N4, and HL segments (see column Id).Īs I wrote above, the order is important – the segments should be placed in the same sequence as it is defined in this table. In most cases it also contains other important characteristics (will be described below). Notes describe the usage rules, while comments are more a free-form text.Ĭ2/010L means “comment 2/010 for this loop” (a note would start with “N”), to find its content scroll down to the end of the page – you’ll see this:Įvery row (except loops) describes a data segment, used in this transaction and always contains the segment ID and Name. Often there is a column for optional references to notes/comments. I hope it is clear – this is the maximum this loop can be repeated in the document (top-level loop) or in another loop (if it is a nested loop). ![]() 2.2.1 Maximum number of repetition (loop) Usually loops have just a few parameters – maximum number of repetition (mandatory) and notes/comments. It is important to know how to read these “lines” and be able to understand nested structures. ![]() Since loops might include segments or other loops, there is a special visual approach to show their content in specifications – loops has top, right and bottom borders which “encompass” its content (hope it is clear):Īs you can see, loop HL includes loops N1 and another HL (which includes 3rd HL loop in its turn): Loops are usually marked with bold font and grey background (see the picture). Every loops contains at least one segment, it goes first in the loop and always mandatory (otherwise we won’t be able to recognize when the loop starts in many cases). Loops are groups of segments (see below) or other loops. In this sample segments ST and BSN belong to the Header section, and HL, TD1 and TD5 belong to the Details. Usually every transaction set contains 3 sections – Header, Details and Summary. Let’s review the main components of this table. if you see on the picture above that TD1 is placed before TD5, your data should contain TD1 first and then – TD5, not the opposite! This data structure describes all the loops and segments used in this transaction, their position, number of repetitions, optionality and other things.Īlso, and it is very important, this table defined the order of loops and segments in the transaction. It looks like a table and this is a very important part of document – it allows you to see the whole structure. If there is no Cover page, you can often find X12 version at the bottom of each page:Ī typical X12 specification has a section which describes the data structure. “4010” is pronounced as “fourty-ten”, not “four thousand and ten” □ Sometimes X12 version has a prefix of 00, like 004010 – it is still 4010, and you should use 4010. And do not mix it up with the document version (1.0 on the picture above) – X12 version uses 4 digits like 4010, 2002, 3020 and so on. Since v4010 is the most used versions now, people often do not expect to see something like 3020 or 7010 – so check it just in case. Also I usually check the publication date to make sure it is not too old – if it is from 1990s, I would probably ask if it is the latest version. The most important information is Transaction Set number (856 on the picture above) and X12 version (4010). Often (but not always) it starts with a Cover page which contains X12 transaction set number (such as 850 for Purchase Order or 810 for Invoice), version, publication date, author, logo and some other things. Prerequisites: you should be familiar with X12 components, such as transactions, loops/groups, segments and elements. Usually specifications are straight-forward, but there are some nuances you should be aware of.Īn X12 specification is a particular implementation of X12 transaction, defined by a company to be used with its partners. This article is about reading and understanding typical ANSI X12 specifications, generated with tools like SpecBuilder in PDF or MS Word format.
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