Understanding Control Numbers

A control number refers to a number in the header of the business document that is used for validation and helps in ensuring that the business documents, exchanged between partners, are processed in order and no documents have been lost or unprocessed. Control number is generally used in the EDI document standards EANCOM, ODETTE, TRADACOMS, UCS, UNEDIFACT, VICS, X12 and VDA.

IBM webMethods B2B maintains control number information for unique combinations of:

  • Sender and Receiver ​

  • Document standard and version

  • Production mode (Production, Test, or Custom).

  • Type

    For ANSI X12 or UN/EDIFACT (and all supported sub-standards), type is one of:

    • Envelop, if the control number is to be used for an interchange header.
    • Group, if the control number is to be used for a group header.

    For TRADACOMS, type is one of the following:

    • Envelope, if the control number is to be used for a TRADACOMS transmission header.
    • Batch, if the control number is to be used for a TRADACOMS batch header, a TRADACOMS file header (for example, ORDHDR, ACKHDR, and INVHDR), or a message type for a TRADACOMS file type, (for example, ORDHDR, ACKHDR, and INVHDR).

The control number definitions can be used through the operation getControlNumber exposed in B2B application to generate control numbers for outbound groups, envelops, and transactions.

You can view the complete list of control numbers on the Settings > Control numbers page.

The control number list is categorized in two sections:

  • Control numbers defined by you. These are the control number definitions that you define for groups and envelop segments of EDI payload. The control number definition has details such as Sender, Receiver, Production mode, Standard, Version, and Group. Use the search box to search the required control number by typing the characters of the search string in the search box. You can delete or modify the settings configured for a control number in this section.

  • Control numbers defined by IBM webMethods B2B. These are the control number definitions that the system defines, which you can use to create control numbers for transaction segments of the EDI payload. The control number definition displays only the settings information. You can modify the settings of the control number definition, but you cannot delete these definitions as these are system generated. You can view the control numbers associated with partners on the Partner profile > Control number page.