Part 3.3 Attribute Descriptions

Component Element Separator

• Ex: “>” (Greater Than Sign)
• It will be the unique character in the EDI file. If this character is present multiple times in the EDI file, then it will not be valid EDI file.  

Delimiter
A delimiter is an element separator character. It can be any character that is not used in the data or as a control character.

Data Element Delimiter or Separator (ANSI X12 & EDIFECT)

• “*” - Asterisk Symbol - ANSI X12 & UCS
• “+” - Plus Symbol - EDIFECT

Sub Element Delimiter Or Composite Data Element Separator (ANSI X12) Or Component Element Separator (EDIFECT)

• “\” - Back Slash - ANSI X12 & UCS
• “:” - Colon - EDIFECT

Release character
A release character is a character that indicates the following character is to be taken as data, not a control character.

• “?” (Question Mark) - EDIFECT (It is only for EDIFECT)

Repeating Data Element (ANSI X12) Or Repetition Separator (EDIFECT)
A repetition separator is a delimiter that is used to separate repeated occurrences of a simple or composite data structure.

• “^” - Caret, Hat Sign, Accent Circumflex) - ANSI X12
• “*” - Asterisk - EDIFECT

Terminator Or Segment Delimiter/terminator (ANSI X12 & EDIFECT)
A terminator is the last character in the segment that indicates the end of the segment.

• “~” - Tilde - ANSI X12 & UCS
• “‘” - Single quote - EDIFECT

The element requirement designators in EDI

• M – Mandatory - If this character is present in the segment, then we will have to present that element.
• O - Optional (C – Conditional in EDIFECT) – The use of this element is at the discretion of the trading partners.
• X – Relational (Not used in EDIFECT) – The requirement for this element is dependent upon the absence or presence of another element.