Configuring Charset and Separators (EDIFACT)

In the partner agreement, you can specify the character set (UNA) that BizTalk Server will use to validate party properties when creating the envelope for an outgoing EDIFACT message. You can also specify what separators and terminators (UNB) will be used for the segments in the interchange.

In the UNA segment, you define how BizTalk Server generates the UNA segment for an EDIFACT-encoded interchange that it sends to the party. The UNA segment defines the characters that will be used as separators and indicators for an EDIFACT-encoded interchange. Use this segment only if the interchange contains non-standard separator characters.

In the UNB segment, you define the EDIFACT character set to be used.

Important

All the properties are disabled on this page if you cleared the Local BizTalk processes messages received by the party or supports sending messages from this party check box while creating the party for which you are creating the agreement.

The properties are disabled only on the one-way agreement tab that corresponds to the properties for interchanges being sent from the party. For example, if you create two parties Party A and Party B and for Party A, you cleared the check box, the above list of properties are disabled on the Party A->Party B one-way agreement tab.

Prerequisites

You must be logged on as a member of the BizTalk Server Administrators or BizTalk Server B2B Operators group.

To configure the character set and separators

1. Create an EDIFACT encoding agreement as described in Configuring General Settings (EDIFACT). To update an existing agreement, right-click the agreement in the Parties and Business Profiles page, and click Properties.

2. On a one-way agreement tab, under Interchange Settings section, click Charset and Separators.

3. In the Syntax (UNB1) section, do the following:

   1. For Identifier (UNB1.1), enter the EDIFACT character set to be applied on the outgoing interchange. This is a required field.

   2. For Version (UNB1.2), select a value between 1 and 4. This is an optional field.

4. In the Separators section, do the following:

   1. For Component data element separator (UNA1), enter a value for the component data element separator that separates simple data elements within composite data elements. Select Char for a character data element or Hex for a hexadecimal data element. The character you entered will automatically change if you change its format.

   2. For Data element separator (UNA2), enter a value for the data element separator that separates composite data elements consisting of two or more simple data elements or simple data elements that are not part of a composite. Select Char for a character data element or Hex for a hexadecimal data element. The character you entered will automatically change if you change its format.

   3. For Decimal notation (UNA3), select the decimal notation to be used in the outgoing interchange.

   4. For Release indicator (UNA4), enter a value for the release indicator that indicates that the following character is not a syntax separator, terminator, or release character, but is part of the original data. Select Char for a character data element or Hex for a hexadecimal data element. The character you entered will automatically change if you change its format.

   5. For Repetition separator (UNA5), enter a value for the repetition separator that is used to separate segments that repeat within a transaction set. Select Char for a character data element or Hex for a hexadecimal data element. The character you entered will automatically change if you change its format.

   6. For Segment terminator (UNA6), enter a value for the segment terminator that indicates the end of an EDI segment.

   7. For UNA6 Suffix, select the character that BizTalk Server will use with the Segment identifier, either None, CR (carriage return), LF (line feed), or CR LF (carriage return/line feed). If you designate a suffix, the segment terminator data element can be empty. If the segment terminator is left empty, you must designate a suffix. The combination of the segment terminator and suffix can be any of the following:

      • Segment terminator

      • Segment terminator + carriage return

      • Segment terminator + carriage return/line feed

      • Carriage return

      • Line feed

      • Carriage return/line feed

5. Click Apply to accept the changes before continuing with the configuration, or click OK to validate and accept the changes and then close the dialog box.

See Also

Configuring Interchange Settings (EDIFACT)