EDIFACT Components in the Sterling B2B Integrator Map Editor
The following table lists the components that make up the EDIFACT layout in the Sterling B2B Integrator Map Editor, the icons that represent the components, and descriptions of the components.
| Component | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| EDIFACT root element |  |
The EDIFACT root element represents the message that the Sterling B2B Integrator is mapping. At the EDIFACT file root element, you define the message type and encoding. It is a group and can contain groups and records. |
| Group |  |
A group is
a looping structure that contains a sequence or an implicit group
of repeating field tags (in Sterling B2B Integrator
Map Editor,
a group is related segments and groups that repeat in sequence until
either the group data ends, or the maximum number of times that the
loop is permitted to repeat is exhausted). A group that is subordinate to another group is a subgroup (and corresponds to a nested looping structure, a loop within a loop). When a group contains an extended rule or a standard rule, an asterisk appears to the right of the group icon. |
| Segment |  |
An EDIFACT segment contains a field tag (in Sterling B2B Integrator
Map Editor,
an EDIFACT segment is a group of related elements or composite data
elements that combine to communicate useful data). An EDIFACT segment
can occur once or can repeat multiple times. Note: If
an EDIFACT segment occurs more than once in a map, it is identified
by its name <ID>. The second and subsequent occurrences are
identified by <ID>:n, where n is the number of
the occurrence in the map.
|
| Element |  |
An element is a field or a group of EDIFACT components
(the smallest piece of information defined by the standard) that define
an EDIFACT element. An element can have different meanings depending
on the context. In other data formats in the Sterling B2B Integrator
Map Editor,
an element is not considered to have useful meaning except in the
larger context of the segment that contains it. However, elements
used in the Sterling B2B Integrator
Map Editor to
represent EDIFACT fields and components contain useful and discrete
information. Note: If an element occurs more than once
in a map it is identified by its name <ID>. The second and subsequent
occurrences are identified by <ID>:n, where n is
the number of the occurrence in the map.
A repeating element is an element with the ability to loop (occur more than once) within a particular EDIFACT segment. To enable a single element to repeat multiple times within an EDIFACT element, the occurrence of the element must be separated by a start and end delimiter. The use of start and end delimiters help the translator determine where elements and components are defined within a field tag. When a field has a link performed against it, a red check mark appears over the element icon. When a field contains an extended rule or a standard rule, an asterisk appears to the right of the element icon. |