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EDI Envelopes

Introduction

This section depicts the structure of X12 EDI ISA, GS, and ST envelope segments as tables, with the header row showing elements and delimiter characters (), and the first row the element's character width, or blank if unspecified.

Interchange Control Header/Trailer (ISA/IEA)

The ISA segment is a positional or fixed length record. The ISA/IEA envelope is called the ISA envelope or interchange envelope. One per transmission is required. The Interchange Control Number element in the ISA and IEA segments (highlighted below) must be the same.

ISA Qualifier Sender 00 Security Qualifier Sender ID Qualifier Receiver ID Date Time U Version Interchange Control Number Flag T/P
3 1 2 1 10 1 2 1 10 1 2 1 15 1 2 1 15 1 6 1 4 1 1 1 5 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 1
IEA Number of Groups Interchange Control Number
3 1 1 9

Functional Group Header/Trailer (GS/GE)

The GS/GE envelope is the group level, and groups documents by type and version. One is required per document type. There can be different groups in a single transmission. The Group Control Number element in the GS and GE segments (highlighted below) must be the same.

GS Document Type Sender ID Receiver ID Date (YYMMDD) Time (HHMM) Group Control Number Standard Version
2 1 2 1 1 1 6 1 4 1 1 1
GE Number of STs (Documents) Group Control Number
2 1 1

Transaction Set Header/Trailer (ST/SE)

The ST/SE envelope is at the transaction set level. One is required for each document. The Transaction Control Number element in the ST and SE segments (highlighted below) must be the same.

ST Document Number Transaction Control Number
2 1 3 1 Minimum 4
SE Number of Segments Including ST and SE Transaction Control Number
2 1 1 Minimum 4