EDIFACT message format

Before approaching any UN/EDIFACT message, it's necessary to have a look at the basic EDIFACT message structure.

Message contains a hierarchical structure of data, from the (bottom) Simple Data Element to the full Interchange, which can contain multiple messages:

Interchange (Highest Level)
|
Functional Groups
|
Message
|
Segment Groups
|
Segment
|
Composite Element
|
Simple Data Element (Lowest Level)

In the next post we will try to locate, in a real UN/EDIFACT message sample, each mentionned item.