Functional Group Envelope

The functional group is the mid-level EDI envelope.

A functional group contains one or more transaction sets of the same type transmitted from one sender to one receiver. For example, a functional group can be a set of five purchase orders. A functional group is enclosed in a functional group envelope.

A functional group envelope surrounds a functional group and is made up of a functional group header and trailer segment pair. When data is transmitted, the functional group envelope signals a change in the transaction set type, sender, or receiver.

Note: In the UN/EDIFACT standard, the functional group and functional group envelope are rarely used. In the TRADACOMS standard they are not used.

The VDA standard does not use functional groups.

The following table describes the contents of the functional group envelope:


Contents	Description
Header	EDI version number and release number. The EDI translator uses this information to correctly interpret data received from customers. Sub-addresses for the sender and receiver, if applicable. A sub-address identifies a division or functional area in a company.
Trailer	Number of segments, including the header and trailer segments.
Both header and trailer	Matching control numbers that uniquely identify the functional group. Generally, EDI translator of the sender assigns the control numbers. The EDI translator of the receiver uses the control numbers to verify that the trailer control number matches the header control number.

The following figure shows the functional group and its position in the EDI envelope hierarchy:

Information about this image can be found in surrounding text.