GLOSSARY

Acknowledgement: response to a command returned to the originator. Acknowledgement messages are standardized and may contain the following information: confirmation of message receipt, success/failure of processing for syntax and content, or reason code for each type of failure.

Advance Ship Notice (ASN): An electronic version of a printed packing slip that tells a buyer that goods have been shipped, how they have been packed and the estimated arrival time. Also referred to as a Delivery Notice or Dispatch Advice.

ANSI ASC X12: American National Standards Institute, Accredited Standards Committee X12, which comprises government and industry members who create EDI standards for submission to ANSI for approval and dissemination.

Application Programming Interface (API): is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building application software. In general terms, it is a set of clearly defined methods of communication between various software components.

AS2: Applicability Statement 2. A newer protocol developed to implement secure and reliable messaging over HTTP. Allows data to be sent over the Internet using the HTTP protocol.

Authentication: A mechanism that allows the receiver of an electronic transmission to verify the sender and the integrity of the content of the transmission through the use of an electronic “key” or algorithm shared by the business partners.

Bar Code: An array of rectangular marks and spaces in a predetermined pattern. Usually used for automatic product or shipment identification.

Business Partner: The entity with which EDI business documents are exchanged. This may be either the sender or the receiver of information in EDI.

Business to Business (B2B): The practice of buying and selling between companies through the use of electronic transactions.

Communications: The means of electronically linking two computers to exchange information.

Control Number: Also known as reference number. An identification number used to distinguish a standard data element (data element identifier) or a standard segment (segment identifier).

Data pool: a GDSN-compliant mechanism for business partners to share and synchronize data. As well as storing product data, a data pool provides the necessary functions and workflow to communicate with the GLOBAL Registry and with other data pools.

DSD: Direct Store Delivery. The practice of delivering product directly to store and notifying the store of the delivery electronically rather than by paper.

EANCOM: A subset of EDIFACT messages, developed by GS1, to allow business partners to exchange commercial documents in a simple, accurate and cost effective manner.

EDI Translation: The conversion of application data to and from a standard format.

EDIFACT: Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. The international EDI Standard as developed through the United Nations.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): The computer-to-computer transfer of business transaction information using standard, industry-accepted message formats.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Packaged software systems using database technology and a single interface to control all the information related to a company’s business, including customer, product, employee, and financial data.

File Structure: The format into which a file is arranged by the computer, so that the information it contains can be retrieved on demand.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A standard method of transmitting files from one computer to another over the internet.

Functional Acknowledgement: A transaction set transmitted by the receiver of an EDI transmission to the sender, indicating the receipt and syntactical acceptability of a message. It does not provide acknowledgement of the content of the message, just that the message has been successfully received and interpreted. Often abbreviated and referred to as “FA”.

GLN: A Global Location Number (GLN) is a unique number that is assigned to locations to enable them to be identified uniquely worldwide. These global location numbers can be used to identify any legal, physical and functional locations. Global location numbers are reference keys to computer files where information about the company or location can be found. The GLNs replace the names and addresses of locations and are particularly useful when automating processes; they allow computers to route information to the correct destination with no manual involvement. GLNs must be used when identifying locations and business partners within Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) business messages and data pools, and they can also be used in bar codes to identify a physical location or to provide relevant information for delivery or invoicing purposes.

GS1: A worldwide network of standards bodies and service providers which develops global supply chain standards and solutions.

GTIN: Global Trade Item Number. A unique identifier for each product.

HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol. A protocol used to request and transmit files, especially web pages and web page components, over the internet or other computer network.

IDOC: stands for intermediate document, is a standard data structure for electronic data interchange between application programs written for the popular SAP business system or between a SAP application and an external program.

Interconnect: Two VAN’s (EDI Providers) who link to one another’s address.

Internet of Things (IoT): A network of physical devices embedded with electronics, software and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

Invoice: A request for payment that communicates to a buyer the specific items, price, and quantities delivered that must be paid for by the buyer. Payment terms will usually accompany the billing information.

Mailbox: A file storage area within a computer, usually one used by a Network Service Provider, where information is placed until it can be retrieved by the intended receiver.

Message Implementation Guide (MIG): A publication listing EDI messages that are in use in a particular industry or application. It indicates how the information in those messages should be presented on a segment-by-segment, and data-element-by-data-element basis, including which segments and data elements are needed, which are not and what code values will be expected in the application of that particular message.

Message Standards: The system of syntax, data elements, segments and messages (transaction sets) with which EDI will be conducted.

Message Type: An identified and structured set of data elements covering the requirements for a specified type of transaction, e.g., an invoice.

Network: An electronic communications system that links computers together to allow EDI to take place.

Protocol: Communication standards that determine message content and format, enabling uniformity of transmissions.

Purchase Order: A document issued by a buyer to a seller that lists item and price details  of products to be purchased and the terms of sale under which the buyer will purchase the seller’s goods.

Purchase Order Acknowledgment: Confirmation to the buyer that the supplier will be filling the purchase order as requested.

SFTP: Secure File Transfer Protocol. A network protocol that provides file transfer and manipulation functionality over any reliable data stream. It is typically used with the SSH-2 protocol to provide secure file transfer.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The protocol that is most commonly used for transferring email between servers over the internet.

Standards: Something established for use as a rule or basis of comparison. In the context of EDI, this usually refers to the system of message standards that are in use between business partners.

Standards Body: A committee, usually made up of representatives of the users of a given Standard, and either accepted by industry or charged by a government to maintain the Standards in question.

Supply Chain: A sequence of events, which may include conversion, movement or placement, which adds value to goods, products, or services.

Syntax: The system for arranging data elements and segments within an EDI message or transaction set, as dictated by the Message or Transaction Set Standards being used.

Translation: The process of converting information to and from EDI standard formats.

Validation: The process of determining that compliance standards have been met by a particular document in an EDI transmission.

Value-Added Network: Often abbreviated as VAN and today called an EDI Network Services Provider, a third-party entity which handles the electronic exchange of information between subscribers to its services. Services provided by VANs include electronic mailboxing of EDI transmissions, protocol and speed conversion, and EDI record keeping for audit tracking.

Web-EDI: A generic term for the transmitting of structured business messages over the internet. This may include solutions such as a log on to a portal and inputting commercial transactional information into a form on a website using an internet browser. This method requires an element of manual intervention.
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XML: The usual abbreviation for Extensible Markup Language – an open standard for describing data defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).