To use the EDI data handler, you must create or modify business
object definitions so that they contain the metadata that the data
handler requires and so that they include the fields that
correspond to those in the EDI message. This section provides the
information you need to create business object definitions to work
with the EDI data handler. In particular, it provides the following
information:
The EDI data handler uses business object definitions when it
converts business objects or EDI documents. It performs the
conversion using the structure of the business objects and their
application-specific information. Figure
28 shows the structure of
the business objects that represent an EDI message.
Figure 28. Business
object structure for an EDI message

To ensure that business object definitions conform to the
requirements of the EDI data handler, use the guidelines provided
for each of the following business objects:
The EDI data handler expects a top-level business object to hold
the information for the EDI message. Table
29 describes how the EDI data handler interprets the properties
of a business object and describes how to set the properties when
modifying a business object for use with the EDI data handler.
Table 29. Properties
for the EDI top-level business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business
object definition must have a unique name. It is recommended that
these business object definitions begin with a standard prefix. The
name of the top-level business object depends on the message
standard, as follows:
|
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
- Note:
- When the data handler converts an EDI document to a business
object, it identifies the top-level business object for the EDI
document through the name-handler lookup table. For more
information, see Creating the
name-handler lookup file.
As Figure 28 shows, the top-level
business object definition
contains the following attributes:
- An attribute to represent the EDI document header
- As many attributes as needed to represent any segments
- As many attributes as needed to represent any segment loops or
groups
- An attribute to represent the EDI document trailer
The header attribute of the top-level EDI business object
represents a single-cardinality array that contains the header
information. The application-specific information for this
attribute must include the following tag:
type=header
The Type property for this attribute contains the name of the
header business object. For information on the attributes of the
header business object, see Header business
object.
Each segment attribute of the top-level EDI business object
represents a single-cardinality array that contains the segment
information. Table 30 shows the
attribute properties for a segment attribute in the top-level
business object definition.
Table 30. Attribute
properties for a segment attribute in the EDI top-level business
object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
The name of a segment attribute takes the form:
Tag + Position
(if duplicated)
|
Type |
The type of a segment attribute takes a name of the form:
TopLevelBusObj + Tag
This attribute property contains the name of the appropriate
segment business object.
|
ContainedObjectVersion |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Relationship |
Set to
"containment". |
Cardinality |
If Max
Use or Repetition is set to "1" in the EDI
documentation specification, set the value of this attribute
property to "1". Otherwise, set this attribute property to
"N". |
MaxLength |
Always set to
"1". |
Key |
Always set to
"false". |
Foreign
key |
Always set to
"false". |
Required |
If
Status or Option is set to "M" in the
EDI documentation specification, set this attribute property to
"true". Otherwise, set this attribute property to
"false". |
Default
value |
Not used by
the EDI data handler. |
Application-specific information |
Set to:
name=name of segment
|
- Note:
- The Max Use, Repetition, Status, and
Option fields are part of the EDI document specification.
For more information, refer to your EDI documentation.
For information on the attributes of the segment business
object, see Segment business object.
Each segment-loop attribute represents a multiple cardinality
array that contains the segment information. Table 31 shows the attribute properties for a
segment-loop attribute in the top-level business object
definition.
Table 31. Attribute
properties for a segment-loop attribute in the EDI top-level
business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
The name of a segment-loop attribute takes the form:
Tag + Position
(if duplicated)
|
Type |
The type of a segment loop attribute takes a name of the
form:
TopLevelBusObj + Loop/Group keyword + Tag
This attribute property contains the name of the appropriate
segment-loop business object. This name can include a keyword (such
as Loop) to indicate the purpose of the segment.
|
ContainedObjectVersion |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Relationship |
Set to
"containment". |
Cardinality |
Always set to
"N". |
MaxLength |
Always set to
"1". |
Key |
Always set to
"false". |
Foreign
key |
Always set to
"false". |
Required |
If
Status or Option is set to "M" in the
EDI documentation specification, set this attribute property to
"true". Otherwise, set this attribute property to
"false".
Only set this attribute property to "true" on the first
segment in the Loop/Group.
|
Default
value |
Not used by
the EDI data handler. |
Application-specific information |
Includes:
- name=name of first segment in
loop
- type=loop
For example, the following application-specific information
identifies a segment loop whose first segment name is
AMT:
AppSpecificInfo=name=AMT;type=loop
|
- Note:
- The Status and Option fields are part of the
EDI document specification. For more information, refer to your EDI
documentation.
For information on the attributes of the segment-loop business
object, see Segment-loop business
object.
The trailer attribute of the top-level EDI business object
represents a single-cardinality array that contains the trailer
information. The application-specific information for this
attribute must include the following tag:
type=trailer
The Type property of this attribute contains the name of the
trailer business object. For information on the attributes of the
trailer business object, see Trailer
business object.
To hold header information for the EDI message, the EDI data
handler expects a header business object as the first attribute of
the top-level business object. Table 32
describes how the EDI data handler interprets the properties of
this business object definition and describes how to set these
properties when modifying the business object for use with the EDI
data handler.
Table 32. Properties
for the EDI header business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business
object definition must have a unique name. It is recommended that
the name of the header business object include the business object
prefix. It can also include identifying information such as the
keyword "header". |
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
This business object definition contains an attribute to
represent each header segment of the header. The
application-specific information for each attribute identifies the
name of the header segment. Each header segments can contain
attributes that are simple, single-cardinality, or multiple
cardinality.
To hold segment information for the EDI message, the EDI data
handler expects a segment business object. Table 33 describes how the EDI data handler
interprets the properties of this business object definition and
describes how to set these properties when modifying the business
object for use with the EDI data handler.
Table 33. Properties
for the EDI segment business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business object definition must have a unique name. It is
recommended that the name of the segment business object definition
have the form:
BusObj Prefix + Tag
|
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
As Figure 28 shows, the segment
business object can contain the following attributes:
- A simple (String) attribute to represent an EDI
element
- An array attribute to represent a composite
Each simple attribute of a segment business object must have the
attribute properties shown in Table
34.
Table 34. Attribute
properties for simple attributes
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business
object attribute must have a unique name. |
Type |
Each simple
business object attribute must have a String type. |
Cardinality
|
Always set to
"1". |
Key |
Used for
simple attributes only: must be set for the first string
attribute of the business object. |
MaxLength
|
Set to the
maximum size of this String attribute. Within an EDI
document, when you embed a separator character as part of actual
data |
Foreign key
|
Always set to
"false". |
Required
|
If
Status or Option is set to "M" in the
EDI documentation specification, set this attribute property to
"true". Otherwise, set this attribute property to
"false". |
Default
value |
Not used by
the EDI data handler. |
- Note:
- The Repetition, Status, and Option
fields are part of the EDI document specification. For more
information, refer to your EDI documentation.
Each composite business object is an array that contains the
elements of an EDI composite. Table 35
shows the attribute properties for a composite attribute.
Table 35. Attribute
properties for a composite attribute in an EDI segment business
object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
The name of a
composite attribute takes the form:Tag + Position (if
duplicated) |
Type |
The type of a segment attribute takes a name of the form:
BusObj Prefix + Tag
This attribute property contains the name of the appropriate
composite business object.
|
ContainedObjectVersion |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Relationship |
Set to
"containment". |
Cardinality |
If
Repetition is set to 1, set the value of this attribute
property to "1". Otherwise, set this attribute property to
"N". |
MaxLength |
Always set to
"1". |
Key |
Always set to
"false". |
Foreign
key |
Always set to
"false". |
Required |
If
Status or Option is set to "M", set this
attribute property to "true". Otherwise, set this
attribute property to "false". |
Default
value |
Not used by
the EDI data handler. |
Application-specific information |
None |
Required
Server Bound |
Always set to
"false". |
- Note:
- The Repetition, Status, and Option
fields are part of the EDI document specification. For more
information, refer to your EDI documentation.
For more information, see Composite
business object.
To hold composite information for an element in the EDI message,
the EDI data handler expects a composite business object.
- Note:
- Composites are usually found in EDI documents that follow the
EDIFACT standard. However, they can exist in documents that follow
the X.12 standard as well.
Table 36 describes how the EDI data
handler interprets the properties of this business object
definition and describes how to set these properties when modifying
the business object for use with the EDI data handler.
Table 36. Properties
for the EDI composite business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business object definition must have a unique name. It is
recommended that the name of the composite business object
definition have the form:
BusObj Prefix + Tag
|
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
The composite business object can contain simple
(String) attributes or arrays.
To hold information for a segment loop or group in the EDI
message, the EDI data handler expects a segment-loop business
object. Table 37 describes how the EDI
data handler interprets the properties of this business object
definition and describes how to set these properties when modifying
the business object for use with the EDI data handler.
Table 37. Properties
for the EDI segment-loop business object definition
Property
name |
Description |
Name |
Each business object definition must have a unique name. It is
recommended that the name of the segment-loop business object
definition have the form:
BusObj Prefix + Tag
|
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
To hold trailer information for the EDI message, the EDI data
handler expects a trailer business object. Table 38 describes how the EDI data handler
interprets the properties of this business object definition and
describes how to set these properties when modifying the business
object for use with the EDI data handler.
Table 38. Properties
for the EDI trailer business object definition
Property
Name |
Description |
Name |
Each business
object definition must have a unique name. It is recommended that
the name of the trailer business object include the business object
prefix. It can also include identifying information such as the
keyword "trailer". |
Version |
A constant
representing the current version of the business object definition.
Current value is 1.0.0. |
Application-specific information |
No metadata
that includes a type tag. Might have metadata with
cw_mo tags to indicate attributes that are to be ignored
during the conversion process. |
This business object definition contains an attribute to
represent each trailer segment of the trailer. The
application-specific information for each attribute identifies the
name of the trailer segment. The trailer segments can contain
simple, single-cardinality, or multiple cardinality attributes.
There are two ways to create business object definitions for an
EDI document:
- You can use Edifec SpecBuilder to export the definition EDI
document as a business object definition.
- You can manually create a business object definition for the
document.
SpecBuilder can function as an object discovery utility,
creating business object definitions based on an EDI document. It writes them to a business object
definition file that can then be loaded into the business
integration system. SpecBuilder is a third-party application
released and supported by Edifecs Inc. Please consult the
SpecBuilder documentation or the Edifecs web site for
assistance.
- Note:
- IBM does not include the SpecBuilder tool as part of its
release. The tool is, however, available on an Edifecs CD. To
obtain a copy of the Edifecs CD, please contact your IBM account
executive or technical support.
This section describes how to manually create business object
definitions to represent EDI documents. Use Business Object
Designer Express to add or delete attributes from the business
object definition as well as edit attribute properties, as
needed.
- Note:
- The structure of an EDI document can be quite complex. It is
recommended that you use SpecBuilder to build as much of a business
object definition as possible.
To define a business object based on an EDI document:
- Create the top-level business object definition.
For information on the structure of this top-level business
object, see Top-level EDI business
object.
- Create the child business objects for the top-level business
object. In the top-level business object, create a child object
attribute for the business objects shown in Table 39.
Table 39. Business
objects for the EDI data handler
Keep the following in mind:
- The business object attribute name need not be the same as the
EDI element name. The application-specific information is used to
specify the element name.
- Type determination: String is a cardinality 1
contained element with no element content or associated
attribute-list declaration. BusinessObject is a
cardinality n contained element, or contained element with
element content or associated attribute specification(s).
- Application-specific information is required for many of the
attributes. See the information in Top-level
EDI business object for more information.
- Create a business object attribute for each simple element. For
more information, see Simple
attribute.
- Create child business objects for any nested business objects,
such as header segments, trailer segments, and composites. Follow
the rules listed above.
