EDIFACT Adapter

The EDIFACT adapter allows MorphQL to parse and serialize UN/EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport) messages. This format is widely used in B2B transactions, logistics, and finance.

Usage

You can use the edifact format in your from and to clauses.

from edifact to json
transform
  set invoiceNumber = BGM[0][1]
  set date = DTM[0][0][1]

Data Structure

When parsing, the EDIFACT adapter converts the message into a JavaScript object where keys are Segment Tags (e.g., UNB, UNH, BGM) and values are arrays of segments (to handle repeating segments).

Each segment is represented as an array of Data Elements. Data elements can be simple strings or arrays of Component Elements.

Example Mapping

EDIFACT: BGM+745+987654321+9'

Parsed Result:

{
  "BGM": [["745", "987654321", "9"]]
}

EDIFACT with components: DTM+137:20240101:102'

Parsed Result:

{
  "DTM": [[["137", "20240101", "102"]]]
}

Options

Delimiters and UNA

The adapter automatically detects delimiters if a UNA segment is present at the beginning of the message. You can also override delimiters manually via options:

Option	Default	Description
segmentTerminator	'	Character that ends a segment
elementSeparator	+	Character that separates data elements
componentSeparator	:	Character that separates component elements
releaseChar	?	Character used for escaping

Serialization Options

Option	Default	Description
includeUNA	false	Whether to include a UNA segment in the output

Escaping

The adapter handles escaping using the releaseChar (defaulting to ?). If a separator character appears within the data, it is automatically escaped during serialization and unescaped during parsing.

// Serializing data with reserved characters
from object to edifact
transform
  set MSG = "Value with + plus"
// Result: MSG+Value with ?+ plus'