Select Delimiter/Terminator tab to set file delimiter characters
Sometimes receivers dictate the delimiters. The Delimiter/Terminator tab of the Trading Partners – New window allows you to enter information to override the default delimiters, release characters, and repeat characters normally used in X12 and EDIFACT—for specific maps for specific trading partners. For X12 maps, the program uses the default transaction delimiters defined in X12 version 0200. For EDIFACT maps, the program uses the standard EDIFACT message delimiters. For HL7 maps, you must enter delimiter values on this window because there are no default values for HL7 message delimiters.
The delimiters and release characters are stored in the trading partner database with their 3-digit ASCII equivalents. These overrides apply only to outbound maps. On inbound maps, the program knows where to look in the incoming data to find the characters that are being used for delimiters, repeat characters, and release characters. You also enter information on this tab indicating whether a period or comma is used as the decimal indicator for EDIFACT messages.
Delimiters are special characters that are used to separate segments, elements, subelements, fields, components, and subcomponents. When the program is reading EDI data and encounters a delimiter, it knows that the current segment/element/etc. has ended and a new one has begun.
A release or escape character is a special character that is placed before a delimiter to signal to the program that it should not treat the following character as a delimiter. When the program is reading EDI data and encounters a release/escape character, it simply reads the following character rather than using it as a delimiter.
A repeat or repetition character is a special character used between repeating elements. Certain EDI standards allow multiple occurrences of an element and its subelements (or components and subcomponents)—within the definition of a single element/component. When ECMap encounters repeating elements/components, the program recognizes a single element/component because the repeating elements/components are bounded on either end with element/component delimiters. However, the repeat characters that separate the elements/components within the element/component signal to the program that these are the next instance of the repeating elements/components—within the single delimited element/component.
If you right-click in any of the text boxes on the window, ECMap displays a drop-down list of available delimiter overrides. You must choose the delimiter from this list.
For X12, you can override delimiters for:
Segment
Element
Subelement
Repeat Character
The ability to have repeating elements was added to
X12 in version 4020. Prior to that version, there were no repeating
elements in X12 data.
For UN/EDIFACT, you can override delimiters for:
Segment
Element
Subelement
Release Character
Repeat Character
Decimal Indicator
For HL7, you can override delimiters for:
Segment
The HL7 segment terminator is defined as <CR> and
technically cannot be changed. However, since some trading partners
mandate that it be different, ECMap allows you to override this
value.
Field
Component
Subcomponent
Escape Character
Repetition Character
All NCPDP delimiters are fixed and cannot be altered.
The Batch has a fixed-length header and trailer. The batch detail
record is a variable length.
At the bottom of the tab, there is a Data Encoding section. From the Packed Decimal Character drop-down list, select the character that indicates that a signed packed decimal is positive. The legal values include B, C, and D. When you specify that a field is a “Packed Decimal” field type on the New Field or Field Properties window, you enter information that tells the program whether or not the field is signed, as well as the number of non-decimal and decimal numbers the field contains. When the program encounters a “Packed Decimal” field that is signed, it looks at the value selected from this drop-down list to determine whether the number in the field is positive.
