Envelopes

Envelopes serve as data wrappers that encapsulate transaction messages. They carry transaction-related information that:

• helps identify the sender and the receiver,
• indicates the number of included items to ensure that no data is lost,
• specifies the set of delimiters required to interpret messages correctly, and more.

The envelopes' structure is composed of several nested levels. For example, in an X12 document, they are (from the highest to the lowest):

• Interchange
• Functional Group
• Transaction Set

To define the start and the end of a level, each envelope consists of a header and a trailer segment (for example, ISA Interchange Control Header and IEA Interchange Control Trailer).

When you create envelopes, you:

• ensure efficient information exchange and the integrity of your data,
• avoid validation errors in data analysis,
• standardize the structure of your guideline documents.

In Cloud Repository, you can insert envelopes into a guideline from several sources: from the Standards database or from your custom guideline document. You can also compose envelopes from several guideline documents. This option is useful when you want to match the structure of the envelope guidelines to that used by the run-time engine where Interchange and Functional Group guidelines are stored in separate .ecs files.

To add or replace envelopes to/in a guideline:

1. In the Cloud Repository, open the required guideline document.
2. In the Guideline Editor, on the toolbar, click . The Envelopes dialog appears.
3. The following options are available:
• Database: Navigate to the envelopes' set that corresponds to your transaction.
• Cloud: Navigate to the .ecs file(s) located in your Cloud Repository.
• Drive: Navigate to the .ecs file(s) located on your local drive.
• Empty: Select to drop envelopes from a currently open guideline.
4. Click Save.

If you upload a guideline with envelopes to the Cloud Repository, the envelopes are saved separately from the transaction information and the file is stored in two versions. If you want to retrieve the original copy of the file from the repository, in the History dialog, right-click the first version and select Download.