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. Select the Partner Type from the dropdown:
    • AS2: For partners using AS2 protocol for secure document exchange via the MFT Gateway
    • SFTP: For partners using SFTP protocol for file-based document exchange
  2. 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.
  3. Specify the partner identifier based on the selected Partner Type:
  4. Provide a Description for additional identifying information about the trading relationship.
  5. Select the EDI Standard from the dropdown - choose X12 or EDIFACT based on the EDI standard used by the partner.

1.2 Partner Identification Configuration

Depending on the selected EDI Standard, configure the following identification information:

For X12 Partners (Partner ISA and GS Identification):

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

For EDIFACT Partners (Partner Identification):

  • UNB ID Qualifier: Specify the qualifier code used in the UNB segment (e.g., ZZ).
  • UNB Identifier: Used in the UNB header to identify the partner.
  • UNG Identifier: Used in the UNG header to identify the partner (Optional: only applicable if functional groups are being used).

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 EDIFACT Information

Configure the following EDIFACT-specific parameters:

  • Version / Release: Select the EDIFACT version and release standard used by this partner (e.g., D96A or D00A) from the dropdown.
  • Syntax Identifier: Select the character set encoding / syntax identifier (e.g., UNOC or UNOA) from the dropdown.
  • Syntax Version: Specify the EDIFACT syntax version (typically 3 or 4).

[!NOTE] The syntax-related configurations and delimiters/separators specified below are only used for generating outgoing EDIFACT messages. Incoming EDIFACT messages are processed using the configurations specified within the message itself.

Delimiters and Separators:

  • Composite Element Separator: Specify the character used to separate components within composite elements (typically :).
  • Element Separator: Specify the character used to separate data elements (typically +).
  • Release Character: Specify the escape/release character used to treat delimiters as literal data (typically ?).
  • Segment Separator: Specify the character used to mark the end of an EDI segment (typically ').
  • Decimal Mark: (Read-only) Automatically set to . by default to specify the notation character used for decimals.

1.6 Processing

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.

1.6.1 X12-Specific Processing Settings

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Enable External Integration (All configured document types except 816): Enabling this option will automatically enable external integration (such as QuickBooks Online, HTTP endpoint or SFTP endpoint) for all document types configured for this partner (except X12 816). This option is only visible if External Integration is enabled in your account settings.

  • 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.

1.6.2 EDIFACT-Specific Processing Settings

  • Include groups in outgoing EDIFACT messages Enable this option if you want to include functional group headers (UNG/UNE segments) to group messages inside outgoing EDIFACT interchanges.

  • Auto Acknowledge Specifies whether the system should automatically send back a CONTRL Functional Acknowledgement (FA) for any document type received from this partner. This is enabled by default.

  • Exclude transaction details from FA The system typically includes status details for each individual message from the incoming document in the automatic CONTRL response. Check this option to exclude transaction-level details and send only the overall interchange-level acknowledgement.

  • Enable External Integration (All configured document types) Enabling this option will automatically enable external integration (SFTP endpoint or HTTP endpoint) for all document types configured for this partner. This option is only visible if External Integration is enabled in your account settings.

1.7 Document Types Configuration

Document Types
Document Types

After that, you can configure any previously created EDI Definitions for the current partner. The configured definition for each specific type will then be used to validate the EDIs of that type that are received from or generated for this partner.

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