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Example: Setting up trading partners with X12

Typically, you configure a Trading Partner step in a process with two trading partner components, one for your company and one for your trading partner. You must create a trading partner component for each partner with whom you want to communicate. In this example, we will set up a “My company” trading partner and one for another partner using the X12 standard. Boomi supports a number of different standards, including EDIFACT, HL7, ODETTE, Tradacoms, and RosettaNet, but X12 is the most common.

For more information, refer to EDI profile standards and options.

In this example, we will configure two trading partner components: My Company, and the partner that we want to trade with.

tip

Organization components store contact information in a reusable component. By using an organization, you can change or update names and addresses in one place rather than within multiple trading partners.

Understanding X12 documents

Before we begin, let's take a look at an example purchase order that we received from our trading partner.

ISA*00*          *00*          *01*2948837280    *01*0129837581   *250811*1200*U*00401*000000001*1*T*>
GS*PO*2948837280*0129837581*20250811*1200*1*X*004010
ST*850*0001
BEG*00*SA*PO123456**20250811
REF*DP*038
PER*BD*John Doe*TE*5551234567
N1*BY*ABC Company*92*12345
N3*123 Buyer Street
N4*Buyer City*CA*90210
N1*SE*XYZ Supplier*92*54321
N3*456 Supplier Avenue
N4*Supplier City*TX*73301
PO1*1*50*EA*15.00*PE*VN*A1001*UP*012345678905
PID*F****Widget Model A
PO1*2*20*EA*25.00*PE*VN*B2002*UP*098765432109
PID*F****Widget Model B
PO1*3*100*EA*5.00*PE*VN*C3003*UP*112233445566
PID*F****Widget Model C
CTT*3
SE*17*0001
GE*1*1
IEA*1*000000001

Each piece of data is a segment. Each segment has a number of elements, which are separated by asterisks (*). This example document includes the following segments:

  • ISA – Interchange Control Header; the beginning of the interchange
  • GS – Functional Group Header; groups similar transaction sets
  • ST – Transaction Set Header; starts the 850 (purchase order) document
  • BEG – Beginning Segment for Purchase Order; includes purpose, PO number, and date
  • N1/N3/N4 – Name, Address, and Location details for buyer/seller
  • PO1 – Line item; quantity, unit price, and product codes
  • PID - Product item and description
  • CTT – Transaction Totals; total number of line items
  • SE – Transaction Set Trailer; ends the 850 document
  • GE – Functional Group Trailer; ends the transaction group
  • IEA – Interchange Control Trailer; the end of the interchange

Configure "My Company" Trading Partner component

Now that we've looked at an example X12 document, let’s create a trading partner component for our company, Demo Co.

To get the information we need, let’s look again at the beginning of the X12 document:

ISA*00*          *00*          *01*2948837280    *01*0129837581   *250811*1200*U*00401*000000001*1*T*>

The ISA segment includes the following elements:

  • 01 - Authorization Information Qualifier
  • 02 - Authorization Information
  • 03 - Security Information Qualifier
  • 04 - Security Qualifier
  • 05 - Interchange ID Qualifier
  • 06 - Interchange Sender ID
  • 07 - Interchange ID Qualifier
  • 08 - Interchange Receiver ID
  • 09 - Date (YYMMDD)
  • 10 - Time (HHMM)
  • 11 - Interchange Standard ID
  • 12 - Interchange Control Version Number
  • 13 - Interchange Control Number
  • 14 - Acknowledgment Requested
  • 15 - Test Indicator
  • 16 - Sub-element Separator or Component Separator

We will use the information in these segments to configure the trading partner.

  1. On the Build page, click the plus icon in the sidebar to create a new component and select Trading Partner and “This is my company”.

  2. On the Overview tab, input an Identifier. This should be a unique value that you can use to look up the trading partner. For example, you can use a Properties function in a Map step to "Set Trading Partner" and one of the options is to lookup the partner by Identifier.

  3. On the X12 Standard tab, configure the following sections:

    a. ISA Identification Options

    The Authorization Information (ISA01/02) and Security Information (ISA03/04) segments aren’t typically used anymore, so, as in our example document, select OO-No Authorization Information Present and OO-No Security Information Present for these fields.

    This trading partner is for our company, Demo Co. We received this document from our partner, so we will need the ISA07 and ISA08 segments.

    For the Interchange ID, select 01 - Duns for the Qualifier, and enter 0129837581 for the ID.

    b. ISA Version / Control Options

    For this section, we will need the ISA11 - ISA16 segments. Using our example document, we can enter the following values:

    • Interchange Standard ID (ISA11): U
    • Interchange Version (ISA12): 00401
    • Interchange Ack. Requested (ISA14): The value is 1, so select the checkbox
    • Test Indicator (ISA15): T-Test
    • Component Separator (ISA16): >

    c. GS Version / Control Options

    For the GS version section, we need to look at the next line in the document:

    GS*PO*2948837280*0129837581*20250811*1200*1*X*004010

    We will need the Application Code (GS02/03), the Responsible Agency Code (GS07), and the GS Version (GS08). Because we are configuring our company, we’ll use the GS03 segment for the Application code. From the example, those values are:

    • 0129837581
    • X
    • 004010

  4. Click Save & Close

Configure "Partner that I trade with" Trading Partner component

To configure the trading partner for Example, Inc., we will use the same ISA and GS lines from the example document:

ISA*00*          *00*          *01*2948837280    *01*0129837581   *250811*1200*U*00401*000000001*1*T*>
GS*PO*2948837280*0129837581*20250811*1200*1*X*004010

This time, we will use ISA05/06 and GS02 for our trading partner.

  1. On the Build page, click the plus icon in the sidebar to create a new component and select Trading Partner and “This is a partner that I trade with”.

  2. On the Overview tab, input an Identifier. This should be a unique value that you can use to look up the trading partner. For example, you can use a Properties function in a Map step to "Set Trading Partner" and one of the options is to lookup the partner by Identifier.

  3. On the X12 Standard tab, configure the following sections:

    a. Basic X12 Options

    For more information about the options in this section, refer to Trading Partner - X12 Standard tab.

    In the example document, each element is separated by a star (*) and each line ends with a new line, so we will use those formats for the options.

    Configure the options as follows:

    • Functional Acknowledgment Options: Do Not Acknowledge
    • Document Envelope Options: Group By Interchange
    • Element Delimiter: Star Delimited
    • Segment Termination Character: New Line (No End Character)
    • Filter Functional Acknowledgments: Checked
    • Reject Duplicate ISA: Checked
    • Validated Outbound Interchanges: Unchecked
    • Outbound Validation Options: Not applicable

    b. ISA Identification Options

    The Authorization Information (ISA01/02) and Security Information (ISA03/04) segments aren’t typically used anymore, so, as in our example document, select OO-No Authorization Information Present and OO-No Security Information Present for these fields.

    This trading partner is for our trading partner, Example, Co., so we will need the ISA05 and ISA06 elements.

    For the Interchange ID, select 01 - Duns for the Qualifier, and enter 2948837280 for the ID.

    c. ISA Version / Control Options

    For this section, we will need the ISA11 - ISA16 segments. Using our example document, we can enter the following values:

    • Interchange Standard ID (ISA11): U
    • Interchange Version (ISA12): 00401
    • Interchange Ack. Requested (ISA14): The value is 1, so select the checkbox
    • Test Indicator (ISA15): T-Test
    • Component Separator (ISA16): >

    d. GS Version / Control Options

    For the GS version section, we need to look at the next line in the document:

    GS*PO*2948837280*0129837581*20250811*1200*1*X*004010

    We will need the Application Code (GS02/03), the Responsible Agency Code (GS07), and the GS Version (GS08). Because we are configuring our company, we’ll use the GS03 segment for the Application code. From the example, those values are:

    • 2948837280
    • X
    • 004010

  4. Click Save & Close

Next steps

After configuring trading partners, you should also configure a communication method. The communication method determines how documents are sent and received between trading partners. Boomi supports the following communcation methods:

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