This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
Overview of EDI
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) – standardized message formats for the transfer of commercial information between business partners. The two most common documents exchanged using EDI are purchase orders (EDI 850) and invoices (EDI 810). To transfer the EDI data, companies are often using the Internet or VANs (Value Added Networks). EDIFACT is the most popular EDI standard in Europe and ANSI X12 is in active use in North America. In the global supply chain, the GS1 EDI set of standards are predominant. In brief, EDI allows companies to communicate business and commercial information quickly and efficiently.
Read: What is EDI? (A technical introduction to EDI)
Understanding XML
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language that allows to standardize the data, in the form of text easily understood by users and computers. In other words, XML is a simple and flexible text format designed to meet the needs of electronic publishing.
XML has two main tasks:
- Provide a description of the data structure.
- Provide a common syntax for all other specifications.
Thus, XML does not specify how to display a document, it only describes its structure and content.
XML created in 1996 by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium); it is a subclass of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). XML was conceived to be a flexible format, at the same time as a formal metalanguage for use on the Internet. One of XML’s primary applications was in handling B2B and B2C data interchange.
From the beginning of XML implementation, its advantages over EDI were obvious. Simple and self-descriptive, structured, support of multi-lingual and Unicode (very important for international EDI transaction).
What is EDI2XML?
EDI2XML is a technology to transform incoming EDI documents (X12 EDI files) into XML. At the same time, converting an XML document to EDI X12 format. This process of converting edi to xml is due to the fact that our company took the time to create predefined xml schemas (xsd files) that respond to the business needs of almost 100 % of EDI consumers.
Read: How does EDI2XML work?
EDI2XML converter
The fact that we have over 20 years of experience in converting X12 EDI to XML gives us a competitive advantage over other EDI developers. We have already successfully implemented this converter in many companies of different sizes from various industries. We also helped IT consultants use EDI2XML in their EDI integration projects.
EDI2XML as a Service is our popular translation and communication service. All conversions of EDI files are done on our end, leaving customers with no on-site installation of software or hardware and an EDI project that is on time and within budget.
Read: EDI Integration of B2B e-commerce for small companies
If you would like to know more about the plans offered for EDI2XML (Free EDI Consultation), or would like to see it in action (live Demo), please do not hesitate to contact us.
