Using XML with Legacy Business Applications

Overview of the X12 EDI Syntax and Standards

We need to get some terminology straight first. I'm never quite sure whether to start at the bottom or the top when trying to explain the X12 EDI standards. Since this book is about XML and XML is about documents, let's start at the middle with X12's notion of a document. I'll note where the UN/EDIFACT standard uses different terminology.

• Transaction set: This is X12's notion of a document. In the strictest terms a transaction set is the actual instance document in a data stream. However, even in the standards the term is sometimes ambiguously used to describe the definition or designation of a document type in the standard rather than an instance of the type. Each transaction set type is oriented ...