EDIFACT for Ticketing: Simplifying Electronic Data Exchange

What is EDIFACT message?

EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport) is an international standard developed by the United Nations for electronic data interchange (EDI) between trading partners. It standardizes the format and structure of messages for various business transactions, such as orders, invoices, and shipping notices.

EDIFACT Message Structure

Service String Advice UNA Conditional

_____ Interchange Header UNB Mandatory

| ___ Functional Group Header UNG Conditional

| | _ Message Header UNH Mandatory

| | | User Data Segments As required

| | |_ Message Trailer UNT Mandatory

| |___ Functional Group Trailer UNE Conditional

|_____ Interchange Trailer UNZ Mandatory

Key Components of an EDIFACT Message

An EDIFACT message consists of segments, each of which contains data elements. Segments are grouped into sections, and sections form the entire message. Here are the main components:

UNA (Service String Advice): Specifies the separators used in the message (optional).
UNB (Interchange Header): Identifies the start of the message interchange and includes sender/receiver information.
UNH (Message Header): Identifies the start of a message and contains message type and version.
BGM (Beginning of Message): Provides the type and purpose of the message.
DTM (Date/Time/Period): Specifies date and time information.
NAD (Name and Address): Contains information about the parties involved.
LIN (Line Item): Details about line items in the transaction.
QTY (Quantity): Specifies quantities related to line items.
UNS (Section Control): Separates logical sections within a message.
UNT (Message Trailer): Marks the end of a message and provides a control count.
UNZ (Interchange Trailer): Marks the end of an interchange.

An EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport) message for a ticket would typically be constructed using the Passenger Ticket Message (PAXLST) or Booking and Ticketing Message (RESMSG) standard. EDIFACT is used to structure data for electronic exchange between systems.

Here’s an example of a simplified EDIFACT message for issuing an airline ticket:

Example of EDIFACT Message for a Ticket

plaintext

UNA:+.? '

UNB+UNOC:3+SENDERID+RECEIVERID+230914:1200+123456'

UNH+1+PAXLST:D:05B:UN:IATA'

BGM+747+TKT1234567890+9'

DTM+137:20230914:102'

NAD+MS+1+DOE:JOHN+MR'

TDT+20+BA123+++AIR:172'

LOC+125+JFK'

LOC+87+LHR'

CPI+1+1234567890:001'

RFF+BT:PNR12345678'

CUX+2:USD:9'

MOA+66:450.00'

FTX+ZZZ++Economy Class Ticket'

UNT+12+1'

UNZ+1+123456'

Breakdown of the EDIFACT Message

Ø UNA: Service string advice (defines the characters used for separating elements). The ' is used to terminate segments, + to separate data elements, and : to separate composite data elements.

Ø UNB: Interchange header. This contains the message's sender and receiver details, date, time, and unique reference number.

ü SENDERID is the sender identifier, and RECEIVERID is the recipient identifier.

ü 230914:1200 indicates the date and time of transmission (September 14, 2023, at 12:00).

Ø UNH: Message header that begins the message. PAXLST indicates the Passenger List message type.

Ø BGM: Beginning of message. This segment provides the reference number for the ticket (e.g., TKT1234567890).

Ø DTM: Date and time. 137:20230914:102 represents the ticket issuance date (September 14, 2023).

Ø NAD: Name and address of the passenger.

ü MS specifies that it's the passenger segment.

ü DOE:JOHN+MR refers to the passenger, John Doe (Mr.).

Ø TDT: Transport details.

ü BA123 is the flight number (e.g., British Airways flight 123).

Ø LOC: Location segments.

ü 125+JFK indicates departure from JFK (John F. Kennedy Airport).

ü 87+LHR indicates arrival at LHR (London Heathrow).

Ø CPI: Carrier payment information.

ü 1234567890 is a reference number for the ticket payment.

Ø RFF: Reference segment, indicating the Passenger Name Record (PNR), PNR12345678.

Ø CUX: Currency details. USD indicates US dollars.

Ø MOA: Monetary amount for the ticket. 450.00 indicates a price of 450 USD.

Ø FTX: Free text. Economy Class Ticket indicates the ticket class.

Ø UNT: Message trailer, indicating the total number of segments and the message reference number.

Ø UNZ: Interchange trailer. It indicates the end of the message and includes the number of messages in the interchange (1 in this case) and the unique reference number.

Key Segments for Tickets:

Ø BGM: Contains the unique ticket number.

Ø NAD: Contains passenger information.

Ø TDT: Flight information (e.g., flight number, departure, and destination).

Ø MOA: Contains the total price of the ticket.

Ø LOC: Specifies the airport codes for departure and destination.

This example follows a simplified structure and would be more complex in a real-world scenario, depending on the ticketing system's requirements, additional services (like baggage, seat preferences), and fare rules.

Conclusion

EDIFACT is a structured and standardized format for EDI, used widely in various industries. Understanding its segments and data elements is crucial for correctly interpreting and processing EDIFACT messages. The provided example demonstrates how to parse an EDIFACT message in Java, serving as a starting point for more complex processing and integration tasks.

For more information: https://www.javatherapy.in/2017/01/stylus-studio-convert-edifact-message.html