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Writing EDI Data (Configuration)

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Michael Edgar edited this page Sep 12, 2020 · 5 revisions

This article assumes the reader has basic knowledge of EDI structures and terminology

EDIStreamWriter Configuration

The EDIStreamWriter can be configured using several properties (set on the EDIOutputFactory) to modify the writers's behavior.

// (1) Create an EDIOutputFactory
EDIOutputFactory factory = EDIOutputFactory.newFactory();

// (2) Optionally specify delimiters - here the given values are the same as default
factory.setProperty(EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.SEGMENT, '~');
factory.setProperty(EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.DATA_ELEMENT, '*');

// Write each segment on a new line
factory.setProperty(EDIOutputFactory.PRETTY_PRINT, true);

// (3) Create an EDIStreamWriter. Any OutputStream may be used - here we are writing to the console
EDIStreamWriter writer = factory.createEDIStreamWriter(System.out);

// Continue processing with the writer...
  1. PRETTY_PRINT
  2. TRUNCATE_EMPTY_ELEMENTS
  3. Delimiters
  4. FORMAT_ELEMENTS

Pretty Print

Default: false
Setting this value to true will configure the writer to output a line separate string (as determined by the line.separator system property).

Truncate Empty Elements

Default: false
Setting this value to true indicates to the writer that trailing empty elements should not be written to the output.

For example, the following two segments are the same, with the exception that the first example has trailing empty segments present in the ouput. When false: SEG*E1*****~ When true : SEG*E1~

Delimiters

The delimiters used in the output may be configured using the following configuration keys:

  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.SEGMENT
  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.DATA_ELEMENT
  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.COMPONENT_ELEMENT
  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.REPETITION (when supported by interchange version)
  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.DECIMAL (EDIFACT only)
  • EDIStreamConstants.Delimiters.RELEASE (when supported by interchange version)

Note, when writing EDIFACT data and any of the delimiters have been specified, the writer will automatically output a UNA segment with the configured delimiters (or the default values for those that have not been configured).

Format Elements

Since: 1.11
Default: false
Setting this value to true will configure the writer to format element values to meet minimum length requirements. Use of this configuration option is dependent upon the use of a schema. Depending on which segment is being written, either the control schema (EDIStreamWriter#setControlSchema) or the transaction schema (EDIStreamWriter#setTransactionSchema) will be consulted for the type and length requirements. Padding occurs before the minimum length is validated using the same schema.

For example, if an element has a minimum length of 10 and an application writes the value "VALUE", the string actually written to the output EDI stream will be padded to "VALUE ", which has 5 trailing spaces.

Alternate Character Encoding

By default, StAEDI will write EDI output using the UTF-8 standard character set. The character set may be overridden by creating an instance of EDIStreamWriter (via EDIOutputFactory) with the name of an alternate Charset. Names of Charsets that return true for a call to Charset#isSupported may be used.

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