1. Creating an EDI Partner

Partners need to be added to the EDI Generator before you can send as well as receive EDI documents from them. Declaring a Partner requires specific information from the respective trading partner, such as ISA and GS identifiers, segment separators, and EDI version specifications.

To add a partner, click the partner creation button with the plus sign at the top left. You can also edit Partner definitions from the table view, with support for bulk operations to delete multiple partners simultaneously.

1.1 Basic Partner Information

Provide the required information to configure the trading partner you are about to add. Your Partner would typically provide this information through their EDI implementation guide or setup documentation.

  1. Specify a Partner Name for the trading partner. This is a user-friendly identifier to easily distinguish this partner from others in the system (e.g., “Walmart”). This name will be used throughout the system for identification purposes.
  2. Specify the Partner AS2 ID that corresponds to the AS2 ID configured in the MFT Gateway Partner definition.
  3. Provide a Description for additional identifying information about the trading relationship.
  4. Select the File Type - typically X12 or EDIFACT for EDI Partners.

1.2 ISA and GS Information Configuration

For X12 EDI Partners, configure the following interchange and group header information:

ISA Header Configuration

  • ISA ID Qualifier: Specify the qualifier provided by the partner, or use ‘ZZ’ for mutually assigned identifiers.
  • ISA Identifier: Used in the ISA header to identify the partner. This is typically a DUNS number or mutually assigned identifier.

GS Header Configuration

  • GS Identifier: Used in the GS header to identify the partner in functional group communications.

1.3 Authentication and Security Information

Unless specifically advised by your trading partner to configure particular values, leave the authentication and security settings at their default values. These settings should only be modified based on explicit partner requirements.

1.4 EDI X12 Configuration

Configure the following X12-specific parameters:

Version and Release Information

  • X12 Version/Release: Specify the value for the GS8 header element (e.g., 005010).
  • Interchange Version: Define the value for the ISA12 header element (e.g., 00501).

Control and Usage Settings

  • Ack requested: Configure the ISA14 header element. Unless the partner has specified otherwise, this can typically remain at the default value.
  • Usage indicator: Usually defaults to ‘P’ for ‘Production’ environment.

Formatting Options

  • Use new line (\n): Enable this option to use the new line character as the segment separator. If this option is enabled, you must also enable the Preserve CR/LF characters (newlines) in incoming files option in the Organizations -> Processing panel.

1.5 EDI X12 Configuration

This section provides fine-grained control over how the EDI Generator processes and responds to EDI transactions. Keep the default settings intact unless you or your partner have specific requirements to modify these behaviors.

1.5.1 Auto Acknowledge

Specifies whether the system should automatically send back a 997 Functional Acknowledgment (FA) for any document type received from this partner. This feature is enabled by default as it represents standard EDI practice.

You may wish to disable this setting during initial setup phases if you need to resubmit the same document to the EDI Generator multiple times for testing purposes.

1.5.2 Exclude Transaction Details from FA

The EDI Generator typically includes statuses of each individual transaction from the incoming document (as AK2 and AK5 segments) in the automatic FA/997 response, in addition to the acceptance/rejection status calculated for the overall document (as AK1 and AK9 segments).

You can use this option to override this behavior (usually if specifically requested by the partner) to only include the overall document status in functional acknowledgments.

1.5.3 Include Vendor ID in ASNs

Enable this option if your trading partner requires a vendor ID in Advance Ship Notices (ASNs). When enabled, you can specify the partner-specific Vendor ID, which will be automatically included in all ASNs generated for that partner.

1.6 Document Types Configuration

Document Types
Document Types

When configuring document types, you can choose whether to validate your partners’ incoming and outgoing messages against:

  • Legacy EDI transaction set (v1): Traditional validation rules
  • Modern EDI transaction set (v2): Updated validation standards with enhanced capabilities

Select the appropriate validation method based on your partner’s requirements and your organization’s EDI standards compliance needs.

Once your EDI Partner has been created, you can proceed to configure document mappings and begin exchanging EDI documents through the system.