Trading Networks 10.7 | Administering and Monitoring B2B Transactions | webMethods Module for EDI | Batching EDI Documents | Extracting Transactions and Sorting the Batched Documents | Delimiters Used for the Batch EDI Document
 
Delimiters Used for the Batch EDI Document
For ANSI X12 and UN/EDIFACT documents, each collection area is associated with a set of delimiters:
*Record delimiter
*Field delimiter
*Subfield delimiter
*Release character (used by UN/EDIFACT)
Note:
For TRADACOMS documents, Module for EDI provides built-in support for the following TRADACOMS delimiters: segment terminator, data element separator, sub-element separator, and segment code separator. You cannot modify this list of delimiters. TRADACOMS users should skip this section and continue reading Updating the Task Status and Publishing Documents for Failed Tasks.
The batchProcess service uses these delimiters when it combines the transactions in the collection area into the final batch EDI document(s). The batchProcess service determines the delimiters to use for a collection in the following order:
1. The batchProcess service delimiters input parameter. If you specify the batchProcess service delimiters input parameter, the batchProcess service uses the delimiters you specify for all collection areas. As a result, all interchanges in the output batch EDI document(s) will all have the same delimiters.
2. The delimiters EDITPA variables. If you leave the batchProcess service delimiters input parameter null, the batchProcess service uses the delimiters EDITPA variable to determine the delimiters to use for a collection area. Leave the batchProcess service delimiters input parameter if you want the interchange segments of the output batch EDI document(s) to use different delimiters.
How the batchProcess service locates the EDITPA varies based on whether the EDI document in the batch queue has interchange headers, as follows:
*If the EDI document has interchange headers, the batchProcess service uses the sender and receiver from the interchange header to locate the EDITPA.
* If the EDI document does not have interchange headers, the batchProcess service uses its senderIDQualifier, senderID, receiverIDQualifier, and receiverID input parameters to locate the EDITPA.
3. Module for EDI defaults for delimiters. If the batchProcess service cannot obtain delimiters from either its delimiters input parameter or the delimiters EDITPA variable, it uses the following default for delimiters:
Type of delimiter
Default to use when cannot obtain delimiter value from other sources
For ANSI X12
For UN/EDIFACT
Record
\n     (newline character)
‘        (apostrophe)
Field
*        (asterisk)
+        (plus sign)
Subfield
:         (colon)
:         (colon)
Release character
(not used by ANSI X12)
?        (question mark)