EDI Glossary
204 — See Set 204 Load Tender.
210 — See Set 210 Electronic Invoice.
211 — See Set 211 Bill of Lading.
214 — See Set 214 Shipment Status.
820 — See Set 820 Remittance Advice.
990 — See Set 990 Response to a Load Tender.
997 — See Set 997 Functional Acknowledgment.
AIR — Air freight standards.
ANSI — American National Standards Institute.
AS2 — Applicability Statement 2 is the current specification developed by EDI over the Internet (EDIINT) for transporting data between organizations via the Internet.
Automated Data Capture — Includes bar-coding and radio frequency devices; used to automatically capture and use information to improve the timeliness and quality of data, and to provide users with the ability to manage and track transactions.
Batch — See Electronic Envelope.
Communications Protocol — The method by which two computers coordinate their communications.
Compliance Monitoring — A check done by the VAN/third-party network or the translation software to ensure the data being exchanged is in the correct format for the standard being used.
Control Segments — Segments containing identifying characteristics for each part of a transmission.
Control Structure — The beginning and ending (header and trailer) segments for entities in EDI.
Data Element Dictionary — A dictionary of all data elements used by a standard format. See Specs.
Data Segment — See Segment.
Data Segment Sequence — The sequence of data segments in a document or message. It may occur in any of the following three areas of the message: Heading, Detail, Summary.
Direct-Connect — EDI mail exchange between Con-way and trading partner.
Document — A transaction set or message.
Document Turnaround — A turnaround document is one that is sent to confirm or acknowledge the detail that a trading partner may have sent via a transaction set. The turnaround document is set up to be generated automatically. See Set 997 Functional Acknowledgment.
EC — Electronic commerce; use of integrated technologies to streamline external business procedures in order to facilitate trade. EC technologies include EDI, Internet, electronic document management, automated data capture, among others.
EDI — Electronic data interchange; the computer-to-computer communication of business documents using standard data formats. Standard formats ensure that different companies can exchange business data without modifying their computer systems. EFT is the financial equivalent of EDI.
EDI Standard/Format — A format for transmitting business documents between business entities in a nonproprietary environment. Various groups have developed standards, such as ANSI and TDDC.
EDIFACT — EDI customer supplemental information; electronic repository for appointment and delivery information.
EFT — Electronic funds transfer; the bank-to-bank exchange of standard EDI transaction sets for transferring funds.
Electronic Bill of Lading — See Set 211 Bill of Lading.
Electronic Commerce — See EC.
Electronic Document Management (EDM) — The capture, storage and retrieval of electronic images and documents.
Electronic Envelope — An electronic envelope consists of codes that mark the boundaries of electronic documents. The electronic envelope contains the document. To transmit EDI transaction sets to trading partners, you must enclose the transaction sets in electronic envelopes.
Electronic Invoice — See Set 210 Electronic Invoice.
Electronic Load Tender — See Set 204 Load Tender.
Electronic Mailbox — A repository of information belonging to a single user. The mailbox makes it unnecessary for the user to provide dedicated hardware for the purpose of awaiting incoming calls. It also provides consolidation of EDI transactions, allowing the user to send multiple receivers in a single session.
Electronic Signature — A method for ensuring that the sender and receiver of electronic messages are valid and authorized. Also referred to as authentication.
Element — One or more characters that represent numeric or alphanumeric fields of data. A related group of elements makes up a segment.
Element Separator — A special character used to separate elements in a segment. The suggested character is a special control character called an RS or record separator.
Encryption — The scrambling of data at each end of a transmission to prevent in-transit readability.
Financial EDI — The exchange of financial EDI transaction sets corporate to corporate, but not corporate to bank. Typical transactions include lockbox and remittance advice.
Flat File — A fixed field, fixed record-length application data file.
Front-End Processor — A communications computer associated with a host computer.
FTP — File transfer protocol; a very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to log in to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.
Functional Acknowledgment — See Set 997 Functional Acknowledgment.
Generic Mapping — Generic mapping means using multiple trading partners’ requirements for a transaction set into map to increase standardization.
Gentran — Specific software that is used by Con-way to translate a flat file into a standard format and vice versa for transmission to and from a business partner via EDI.
Header — The segment that indicates the start of an entity that is to be transmitted. Headers are control structures.
Header Area — The transaction set header area contains preliminary information that pertains to the entire documents, such as the date, company name, address, PO number, terms, etc.
Imaging — The creation, storage and retrieval of electronic copies of paper documents.
Interchange — The exchange of information between one company and another.
Interchange Control — A layer around an electronic envelope that contains information regarding the control numbers, sender and receiver IDs, and other relevant information.
Interconnect — The ability of VANs to connect to one another for EDI mail exchange.
Loop — A repetition of a segment or a group of segments within an EDI document.
Mailbox — See Electronic Mailbox.
Mailslot — A subset of electronic mailbox. An electronic mailbox can contain numerous mailslots that can be set up to capture various trading partners or transaction sets.
Mapping — The process of converting a proprietary file to standard and vice versa.
Message — The collection of data, organized in segments, exchanged to convey meaning between partners engaged in EDI, also called document or transaction.
MOTOR — Trucking industry freight standards.
OCEAN — Ocean freight standards.
Payment Agency — Agency solicited by sender or receiver that is responsible for paying invoices.
Receiver ID — Code identifying the party receiving the transmission, mutually agreed upon by the trading partners.
Reference Number — Numbers assigned by the trading partner (and/or the related shipper, consignee or third party) used to identify a shipment.
Remittance Advice — See Set 820 Remittance Advice.
Response to a Load Tender — See Set 990 Response to a Load Tender.
Segment — Unit of information in a transaction set. A segment can be used in multiple transaction sets or multiple times in the same transaction set. It is composed of elements and is analogous to a record.
Sender ID — Code identifying the party sending the transmission, mutually agreed upon by the trading partners.
Set 204 Load Tender — Used as a load tender (pickup request) and can also be used to feed the customers’ bill of lading information into our freight bill entry system.
Set 210 Electronic Invoice — Used to provide itemized freight charges.
Set 211 Bill of Lading — Used as both a pickup request and for the purpose of feeding the information into our freight bill entry system.
Set 214 Shipment Status Message — Used to report the status of a shipment to the shipper, consignee or third parties, from pickup to final delivery.
Set 820 Remittance Advice — Used to receive remittance advice, identifying the detail needed to perform cash applications from the customer, freight payment agency or the customer's bank. Also used by CNF to send vendor payment and employee reimbursements.
Set 990 Response to a Load Tender — Can be used to provide general information relative to a specific shipments. Used as a response to Transaction SET204, which has been used as a load tender.
Set 997 Functional Acknowledgment — Functional response that confirms that EDI data has been received from a partner and is structured correctly according to accepted standards and definitions for that transaction set.
Shipment Status Message — See Set 214 Shipment Status.
SKU — Stock keeping unit; a unit designator to uniquely identify a product.
SMTP — Simple mail transfer protocol; a TCP/IP protocol governing electronic mail transmission and reception.
Specs — A dictionary of all data elements used by a standard format.
Standard Version — The basic agreed-upon format for an EDI document. Each transaction set or message format will look the same. Also called standard format.
Syntax — The collection of data formation rules for an EDI transaction set, much as grammar defines formation rules in a natural language.
Third-Party Logistics Company — Agent solicited by sender or receiver to audit, manage and, in some cases, pay for the sender's or receiver's freight.
Trading Partner — In the broad sense, any company doing business with Con-way.
Trading Partner Profile — Specific information that is used to uniquely identify an EDI trading partner. This information is usually maintained in the translation software.
Trading Partner Specific Mapping — Mapping the trading partner’s exact segment and element requirements, with the idea that the map is used only for that one trading partner. Con-way prefers generic partner mapping.
Trailer — The ending segment of a set of segments. The trailer is a control structure.
Transaction Set — The record formats for the data sent/received in a business transaction.
Translation Software — Software that translates a flat file into a standard format and vice versa for transmission to a business partner via EDI. Con-way uses Gentran.
VAN — Value-added network. VANs add value to the communication environment by allowing multiple computer types, modems and transmission speeds to access the VAN electronic mailbox. Based on EDI control data, they will automatically place the EDI documents into the correct business partner mailbox.
VAN Interconnect — See Interconnect.
VICS — Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions (used for general merchandising).
X12 Standards — Generic EDI standards designed to allow a company to exchange data with any other company, regardless of industry. X12 standards are set by Accredited Standards Committee X12, whose work is approved by the American National Standards Institute. Accordingly, X12 standards are often called the ANSI X12 standards.
