EDIFACT is the abbreviation for Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. This is a global set of rules defined by the UN for the inter-company electronic data exchange (EDI) between two or more business partners via EDI.
Like any language, the EDIFACT rules are based on a character set to be used, the vocabulary (data elements) and grammar (syntax).
Based on the data elements, data element groups / segments of the syntax and the guidelines for the development of message types, globally applicable uniform messages are created. The syntax contains rules according to which the messages exchanged between the communication partners can be structured uniformly, i.e. equally well understandable for all participants, regardless of the hardware and software used. In addition, the syntax allows the user to optimise the transfer files so that only the content actually required is transferred.
