There are a number of data transmission standards involved in EDI. Click on a standard below to get more information.

EDIFACT
UCS
X12

EDIFACT

EDIFACT (ISO 9735:1988): The International Organization for Standards' 1988 standard for Electronic data interchange for administration, commerce and transport. It defines application layer syntax. It was amended and reprinted in 1990.

EDIFACT was prepared by UN/ECE Trade Division and adopted by ISO/TC 154. The UN/ECE has also prepared Message Design Guidelines which are included in the UN/ECE Trade Data Interchange Directory. The standard was published in 1988 and amended with very small changes in 1990.

The standard gives syntax rules for the preparation of messages to be interchanged between partners. ISO/OSI service specifications and protocols can be followed in communication of messages. The standard specifies several levels which are identical except for the character sets. Certain characters are reserved for use as a terminator, separators and a release character.