What are Elements?
Segments contain data elements. Data elements contains actual EDI data.
Example
SEG*1*2*38*3~
A data element has certain properties. For example, it contains the minimum and maximum lengths of the data it can contain. It also has a data type. This is the type of data that the data element expects to contain.
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Data Type
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Description
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Alphabetic
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Only alphabetic characters
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Identifier
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An ID
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String
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Any alphanumeric character
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Numeric
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Integers
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Positive Number
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Only positive integers
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Negative Number
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Only negative integers
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Decimal
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Real numbers
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Date
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Dates
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Time
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Times
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Data elements have an element number associated with them. The element number is used to identify the element in the EDI structure. Element numbers are unique to each element.
Adding An Element
Go to the ELEMENTS tab and click on the NEW button.
The New Element dialog will appear.
- Enter an element number for the new element in the Number text box
- Select the data type from the Data Type combo box
- Enter the minimum length and the maximum length of the data that the data element will contain.
- Enter an optional description
- Click on the SAVE button to save the new element
The element can now be used in Template Segments and Composite Elements