Electronic Data Interchange
EDI transfers structured business documents between systems. Format, partner profile, data mapping and responses need to agree.
Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI, is the electronic exchange of business documents with standardised structures between different companies' systems. Examples include orders, despatch notices and invoices. EANCOM and GS1 XML are examples of EDI standards. Sending a PDF by email alone does not constitute this kind of structured system-to-system exchange.
In a fictional integration project, an ERP sends order PO-84 for 10 pieces of item A-17. The target system uses a different identifier for the same item. The mapping must connect those identifiers and preserve the unit: an incorrect field mapping must not turn 10 pieces into 10 cartons.
Distinguish technical delivery from business acceptance
A receipt acknowledgement may confirm technical delivery. Whether the order has been accepted must be established by the agreed business response. Link responses unambiguously to the original order and define what happens with unknown items, invalid units or repeated messages.
The integration requires agreement on format version, partner profile, required fields, identifiers and transport. A syntactically valid message can still contain values that are wrong for the business transaction. Check meanings, agreed business rules and references between the order and its response as well as the structure.
Sources
Related terms
- Data mappingData mapping defines how source data enters a target structure. Field names, meaning, units and error handling all need to fit.
- Mapping tableA mapping table stores specific correspondences, such as identifier pairs from two systems. It makes a confirmed link reusable.
- Server-sent eventsServer-sent events carry text notifications from server to client over HTTP, for example about the progress of a background job.
- Entity tagAn ETag identifies a particular representation version of an HTTP resource and supports conditional reads or changes.
- Cross-Origin Resource SharingCORS controls browser access to responses across origin boundaries. It replaces neither API login nor permission checks.
- Real-time processingReal-time processing handles arriving events against a defined latency target. Event time, processing time and late data need explicit rules.
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