rfc1865.txt
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Network Working Group W. Houser
Request for Comments: 1865 Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Category: Informational J. Griffin
Athena Associates
C. Hage
C. Hage Associates
January 1996
EDI Meets the Internet
Frequently Asked Questions about
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) on the Internet
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
This memo is targeted towards the EDI community that is unfamiliar
with the Internet, including EDI software developers, users, and
service providers. The memo introduces the Internet and assumes a
basic knowledge of EDI.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................ 4
1.1. What is this document .................................... 4
1.2. What do you mean by electronic data interchange (EDI) ? . 4
1.3. What are the X12 Standards that I should be aware of ? .. 4
1.4. To whom do I send comments and suggestions ? ............. 5
1.5. How can I get a copy of this document? ................... 5
2. General Information ......................................... 6
2.1. What is the Internet ? .................................. 6
2.2. Is there a difference between EDI and
electronic commerce (EC) ? ............................... 6
2.3. What makes the Internet useful for EDI ? ................ 6
2.4. Does this means we will now have to coordinate our
EC/EDI activities with the Internet? .................... 7
2.5. How do I find the addresses of other Trading partners
on the Internet if I don't have to coordinate my EDI
activities with a central organization or VAN? .......... 7
2.6. How fast is the Internet? ............................... 7
2.7. What about reliability of the Internet? ................. 7
2.8. What are RFCs and where can I get them ? ................ 8
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RFC 1865 EDI Meets the Internet January 1996
2.9. Where can I get general information about the Internet? . 8
3. Getting Connected To The Internet ........................... 9
3.1. What do I need to get to use the Internet? .............. 9
3.2. What software is used to support electronic mail? ....... 9
3.3. What types of client-server or server-server
protocols exist on the Internet? ........................ 10
3.4. What methods exist to broadcast information across
the Internet? ........................................... 12
3.5. What are the ways to connect to the Internet ? .......... 13
4. Organizational Issues ....................................... 15
4.1. Why is the way we currently do EDI so limiting to its
growth? .................................................. 15
4.2. My organization has an internal automated system for
processing requisitions and issuing purchase orders, but it
does not create the X12 formatted EDI transactions; what
should we do ? ........................................... 16
4.3. My organization already has a dial-in bulletin board
service (BBS) where we post transactions; should we
keep it? .................................................. 16
4.4. My organization currently has a Trading Partner
Agreement with each trading partner we're currently
doing business with. Can we keep them ? .................. 16
4.5. It would be nice to get more trading partners and/or
more competition, but I'm worried about getting too many
transactions to be able to handle them. Has this been a
problem ? ................................................ 17
4.6. Does this mean that I'll receive more messages ? ......... 17
4.7. If we see a transaction posted on VAN, how do we
respond in electronic format ? ........................... 18
4.8. My organization has an established bilateral
relationship (such as an existing contract. Can we
send these transactions via the Internet ? ............... 18
5. The Role Of Value Added Networks ............................ 18
5.1. What is a VAN? ................... ....................... 18
5.2. What is an Internet Service Provider (ISP)? .............. 19
5.3. How might an ISP be used for EDI? ........................ 19
5.4. Doesn't EDI presume the services of companies called
Value Added Networks (VANs)? ............................. 19
5.5. If I can use X12 protocol and my VAN to send
transactions, what is the benefit of using
the Internet? ............................................ 20
5.6. Can we expect VANs to offer connections to other VANs
via the Internet? ........................................ 20
5.7. How can I use the Internet directly for exchanging EDI
messages without going through a VAN? .................... 20
5.8. Can the ISA 06 or 08 identify any entity other than the
'end' Trading Partners (i.e. a routing entity) ? ......... 21
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RFC 1865 EDI Meets the Internet January 1996
5.9. Can we specify both the recipient's address and their
VAN address in the ISA ? ................................ 22
5.10. Are there other options for routing EDI X12
messages ? ............................................... 22
6. US Federal Involvement ...................................... 22
6.1. What is the commitment of the US Federal Government
to EDI ? ................................................ 22
6.2. What is the timetable for the Federal effort ? .......... 23
6.3. Will the US Government use the Internet to send
EDI transactions ? ...................................... 23
6.4. I heard the US Government prohibited commercial use
of the Internet? ........................................ 24
6.5. The US Government is using both Internet and OSI
E-mail protocols. What should one consider when
choosing which to use ? ................................. 24
6.6. How is the US Government using VANs to distribute
business opportunities? ................................. 25
6.7. How would use of the Internet for Federal procurement
change this RFQ process? ................................ 25
7. EDI Resources On The Internet ............................... 26
7.1. Are EDI Standards available on the Internet ? ........... 26
7.2. Are EDIFACT Standards available on the Internet ? ....... 28
7.3. The EDI X12 standards are quite complex. How do we
decide what X12 transactions to implement and how ? ..... 29
7.4. What Implementation Conventions (ICs) are available
over the Internet ? ..................................... 29
7.5. How can a trading partner keep up with all these
implementation conventions (ICs) and revisions in
X12 and EDIFACT? ......................................... 31
7.6 Where can I get information on EDI translation
software ? ............................................... 31
7.7. How do I keep in touch with others pursuing EDI and
Electronic Commerce on the Internet ? .................... 32
7.8. Can I get messages that have been previously posted
to the EDI mailing lists ? ............................... 35
7.9. How do I make EDI related material available
to the Internet community ? .............................. 35
7.10. Where are EDI Archives on the Internet ? ................. 35
8. Security Considerations ..................................... 36
8.1. What security measures are needed to connect to the
Internet ? ............................................... 36
8.2. How do we go about protecting our system ? ............... 36
8.3. Is there good publicly available software I can use? ..... 37
8.4. How good are electronic or digital signatures ?
Can they be used in court ? .............................. 38
8.5. Are there other US government standards publications
I should be aware of? .................................... 38
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RFC 1865 EDI Meets the Internet January 1996
9. References .................................................. 39
10. Credits .................................................... 40
11. Authors' Addresses ......................................... 41
1. Introduction
1.1. What is this document
This document is informational in nature and attempts to answer
frequently asked questions concerning the use of the Internet for
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The primary audience is the EDI
community that is unfamiliar with the Internet, including software
developers, users, and service providers. The reader needs some
understanding of EDI. Informational RFCs are prepared by the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to improve understanding and
effectiveness in the use of the Internet.
1.2. What do you mean by electronic data interchange (EDI) ?
Except as noted, the document refers to EDI as the use of the
1) X12 standard developed by the ANSI Accredited Standards
Committee X12 or
2) EDIFACT[1] standard United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UN/ECE), Working Party for the Facilitation of
International Trade Procedures (WP.4).
The differences between these standards is beyond the scope of this
FAQ. Both standards activities are managed in the US by:
Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc,
1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 200
Alexandria, Virginia, 22314-2852
Voice: 703-548-7005
FAX: 703-548-5738
There are numerous other standards one could use for EDI, but
discussion of them is not in the scope of this document.
1.3. What are the X12 Standards that I should be aware of ?
ACCREDITED STANDARDS COMMITTEE (ASC) X12 Standards are available from
DISA at the address specified in Question 1. The following is a good
starting set of X12 standards.
1. ASC X12S/94-172, An Introduction to Electronic
Data Interchange, DISA 1994 Publications Catalog
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RFC 1865 EDI Meets the Internet January 1996
2. ASC X12.3 Data Element Dictionary
3. ASC X12.5 Interchange Control Structure
4. ASC X12.6 Application Control Structure
5. ASC X12.22 Segment Directory
6. ASC X12.58 Security Structures
1.4. To whom do I send comments and suggestions ?
Readers are invited to add questions; please include an answer if you
know or want to suggest one. Of course corrections and comments are
welcome; send them to the IETF-EDI mail list by subscribing as
described in question 7.6. Or a send your comment to
houser.walt@forum.va.gov.
1.5. How can I get a copy of this document?
Request for Comments documents (RFC) are available by anonymous FTP.
Login with the username "anonymous" and a password of your e-mail
address. After logging in, type "cd rfc" and then
"get rfc1865.txt".
A Web address for the RFC is:
ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1865.txt
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