| Version: | D |
|---|---|
| Release: | 01C |
| Contr. Agency: | UN |
| Revision: | 3 |
| Date: | 2001-11-07 |
| SOURCE: | D2 Purchasing (SWG) |
|
For general information on UN standard message types see UN Trade Data Interchange Directory, UNTDID, Part 4, Section 2.3, UN/ECE UNSM General Introduction |
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This message also occurs in the following versions of this standard: D96A, D96B, D97A, D97B, D98A, D98B, D99A, D99B, D00A, D00B, D01A, D01B, D01C, D02A, D02B, D03A, D03B, D04A, D04B |
This specification provides the definition of the General purpose message (GENRAL) to be used in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in administration, commerce and transport.
A message to enable the transmission of textual information.
The General purpose message may be used for both national and international applications. It is based on universal practice related to administration, commerce and transport, and is not dependent on the type of business or industry.
This message:
The GENRAL message was designed primarily to
. facilitate early transmission testing between new EDI partners;
. broadcasting of known problem areas to EDI partners;
. transmission of text (preferably structured or coded) to supplement or further clarify previously transmitted EDI standard messages, e.g. to stress that provision data is for test purposes only contains known errors to test out error routines.
. transmission of small amounts of structured text where no existing messages exist, e.g. computer listings.
See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 1.
See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 2.
This section should be read in conjunction with the segment table which indicates mandatory, conditional and repeating requirements.
The following guidelines and principles apply to the whole message and are intended to facilitate the understanding and implementation of the message:
All specified dates/times should be in the format 'yymmdd'/'hhmm' unless all parties involved in the transaction agree that there is a functional requirement for an alternative format. Periods should be specified as whole numbers representing the required period as indicated in the format qualifier (weeks, months, etc.)
Where a choice of code or text is given only the code element should be used wherever possible.
Conditional data that is not required in the message should not be included.
Care must be taken to ensure that the segment qualifier in dependent segments do not conflict with the segment qualifier of the trigger segment of a group.
Free text information within the message should be avoided as this inhibits automatic processing.
A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message. The message type code for the General purpose message is GENRAL.
Note: General purpose messages conforming to this document must contain the following data in segment UNH, composite S009:
| Data element | 0065 | GENRAL |
| 0052 | D | |
| 0054 | 01C | |
| 0051 | UN |
A segment to indicate the type and function of the GENRAL message and to transmit its unique identifying number.
A segment specifying general dates, and when relevant, times related to the whole message.
A group of segments giving references where necessary, their dates relating to the whole message, e.g. despatch advice, contract number.
A segment for referencing documents relating to the whole message, e.g. despatch advice, purchase orders, delivery instructions.
Date/time/period as applied to the referenced document.
A group of segments identifying names, addresses and locations, and referred documents relevant for the whole message.
A segment for identifying name and addresses of a party and their functions relevant for the whole message. Identification of the sender and receiver parties are mandatory for the message. It is recommended that where possible only the coded form of the party ID should be specified.
A segment indicating more details regarding specific place/location related to the party specified in the NAD segment, e.g. internal site/building number.
A group of segments giving references only relevant to the specified party rather than to the whole message.
A segment for referencing documents relating to the party specified by the NAD segment.
A segment for date/time/period as related to the referred document.
A group of segments giving contact details of the specific person or department within the party identified in the NAD segment.
A segment to identify the person, function, department to whom communication should be directed.
A segment to identify communication types and numbers for person, function, department identified in CTA.
A group of segments enabling the specification of the text and optionally, the identification of other parties or locations to whom the information should be directed.
A segment to identify the text type and reason, and to specify the relevant agreed information.
A group of segments allowing the specification of the name and address of a party, within the receiving party identified in the heading section, to whom the preceding text should be distributed. It also allows to specify the name and address of a party advised as copyreader of this text.
A segment for identifying names and addresses. It is recommended that where possible the coded form of the party identification should be specified.
A segment indicating more details regarding specific place/location related to the party specified in the NAD segment, e.g. internal site/building number.
A group of segments giving references only relevant to the specified party rather than the whole message.
A segment for referencing documents relating to the party specified by the NAD segment.
A segment for date/time/period as related to the referenced document.
A group of segments giving contact details of the specific person or department within the party identified in the NAD segment.
A segment to identify person, function, department to whom communication should be directed.
A segment to identify communication types and numbers for person, function, department identified in CTA.
A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of segments in the message (including the UNH & UNT) and the control reference number of the message.
| BGM | Beginning of message | |
| COM | Communication contact | |
| CTA | Contact information | |
| DTM | Date/time/period | |
| FTX | Free text | |
| LOC | Place/location identification | |
| NAD | Name and address | |
| RFF | Reference | |
| UNH | Message header | |
| UNT | Message trailer |
| ├─UNH Message header | ×1 | (M) |
| ├─BGM Beginning of message | ×1 | (M) |
| ├─DTM Date/time/period | ×1 | (C) |
| ├─Segment Group 1 | ×10 | (C) |
| │─├─RFF Reference | ×1 | (M) |
| │─└─DTM Date/time/period | ×10 | (C) |
| ├─Segment Group 2 | ×2 | (C) |
| │─├─NAD Name and address | ×1 | (M) |
| │─├─LOC Place/location identification | ×5 | (C) |
| │─├─Segment Group 3 | ×10 | (C) |
| │─│─├─RFF Reference | ×1 | (M) |
| │─│─└─DTM Date/time/period | ×10 | (C) |
| │─└─Segment Group 4 | ×5 | (C) |
| │───├─CTA Contact information | ×1 | (M) |
| │───└─COM Communication contact | ×9 | (C) |
| ├─Segment Group 5 | ×100 | (C) |
| │─├─FTX Free text | ×1 | (M) |
| │─└─Segment Group 6 | ×100 | (C) |
| │───├─NAD Name and address | ×1 | (M) |
| │───├─LOC Place/location identification | ×5 | (C) |
| │───├─Segment Group 7 | ×10 | (C) |
| │───│─├─RFF Reference | ×1 | (M) |
| │───│─└─DTM Date/time/period | ×10 | (C) |
| │───└─Segment Group 8 | ×5 | (C) |
| │─────├─CTA Contact information | ×1 | (M) |
| │─────└─COM Communication contact | ×5 | (C) |
| └─UNT Message trailer | ×1 | (M) |