0. INTRODUCTION
1. SCOPE
   1. Functional definition
   2. Field of application
   3. Principles
2. REFERENCES
3. TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
   1. Standard terms and definitions
4. MESSAGE DEFINITION
   1. Segment clarification
   2. Segment index (alphabetical sequence by tag)
   3. Message structure
      1. Segment table

This specification provides the definition of the General purpose message (GENRAL) to be used in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in administration, commerce and transport.

A message to enable the transmission of textual information.

The General purpose message may be used for both national and international applications. It is based on universal practice related to administration, commerce and transport, and is not dependent on the type of business or industry.

This message:

• may be used to send general application support information to one or multiple addresses.
• may be used to send required data for which there is no specific standard message.
• MUST not be used as a substitute for an existing UNSM under development, under trial or at approved status. Nor should it be used to avoid the development of a more specific application message.
• is not designed or intended to be used as a replacement for existing electronic mail systems.

The GENRAL message was designed primarily to

. facilitate early transmission testing between new EDI partners;

. broadcasting of known problem areas to EDI partners;

. transmission of text (preferably structured or coded) to supplement or further clarify previously transmitted EDI standard messages, e.g. to stress that provision data is for test purposes only contains known errors to test out error routines.

. transmission of small amounts of structured text where no existing messages exist, e.g. computer listings.

See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 1.

See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 2.

This section should be read in conjunction with the segment table which indicates mandatory, conditional and repeating requirements.

The following guidelines and principles apply to the whole message and are intended to facilitate the understanding and implementation of the message:

All specified dates/times should be in the format 'yymmdd'/'hhmm' unless all parties involved in the transaction agree that there is a functional requirement for an alternative format. Periods should be specified as whole numbers representing the required period as indicated in the format qualifier (weeks, months, etc.)

Where a choice of code or text is given only the code element should be used wherever possible.

Conditional data that is not required in the message should not be included.

Care must be taken to ensure that the segment qualifier in dependent segments do not conflict with the segment qualifier of the trigger segment of a group.

Free text information within the message should be avoided as this inhibits automatic processing.

0010 UNH, Message header

A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message. The message type code for the General purpose message is GENRAL.

Note: General purpose messages conforming to this document must contain the following data in segment UNH, composite S009:

0020 BGM, Beginning of message

A segment to indicate the type and function of the GENRAL message and to transmit its unique identifying number.

0030 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment specifying general dates, and when relevant, times related to the whole message.

0040 Segment Group 1: RFF-DTM

A group of segments giving references where necessary, their dates relating to the whole message, e.g. despatch advice, contract number.

0050 RFF, Reference

A segment for referencing documents relating to the whole message, e.g. despatch advice, purchase orders, delivery instructions.

0060 DTM, Date/time/period

Date/time/period as applied to the referenced document.

0070 Segment Group 2: NAD-LOC-SG3-SG4

A group of segments identifying names, addresses and locations, and referred documents relevant for the whole message.

0080 NAD, Name and address

A segment for identifying name and addresses of a party and their functions relevant for the whole message. Identification of the sender and receiver parties are mandatory for the message. It is recommended that where possible only the coded form of the party ID should be specified.

0090 LOC, Place/location identification

A segment indicating more details regarding specific place/location related to the party specified in the NAD segment, e.g. internal site/building number.

0100 Segment Group 3: RFF-DTM

A group of segments giving references only relevant to the specified party rather than to the whole message.

0110 RFF, Reference

A segment for referencing documents relating to the party specified by the NAD segment.

0120 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment for date/time/period as related to the referred document.

0130 Segment Group 4: CTA-COM

A group of segments giving contact details of the specific person or department within the party identified in the NAD segment.

0140 CTA, Contact information

A segment to identify the person, function, department to whom communication should be directed.

0150 COM, Communication contact

A segment to identify communication types and numbers for person, function, department identified in CTA.

0160 Segment Group 5: FTX-SG6

A group of segments enabling the specification of the text and optionally, the identification of other parties or locations to whom the information should be directed.

0170 FTX, Free text

A segment to identify the text type and reason, and to specify the relevant agreed information.

0180 Segment Group 6: NAD-LOC-SG7-SG8

A group of segments allowing the specification of the name and address of a party, within the receiving party identified in the heading section, to whom the preceding text should be distributed. It also allows to specify the name and address of a party advised as copyreader of this text.

0190 NAD, Name and address

A segment for identifying names and addresses. It is recommended that where possible the coded form of the party identification should be specified.

0200 LOC, Place/location identification

A segment indicating more details regarding specific place/location related to the party specified in the NAD segment, e.g. internal site/building number.

0210 Segment Group 7: RFF-DTM

A group of segments giving references only relevant to the specified party rather than the whole message.

0220 RFF, Reference

A segment for referencing documents relating to the party specified by the NAD segment.

0230 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment for date/time/period as related to the referenced document.

0240 Segment Group 8: CTA-COM

A group of segments giving contact details of the specific person or department within the party identified in the NAD segment.

0250 CTA, Contact information

A segment to identify person, function, department to whom communication should be directed.

0260 COM, Communication contact

A segment to identify communication types and numbers for person, function, department identified in CTA.

0270 UNT, Message trailer

A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of segments in the message (including the UNH & UNT) and the control reference number of the message.