An ISA (Interchange Control Header) segment is part of the EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) X12 format, and it serves as the beginning or header of an interchange. If there's something wrong with an ISA segment, it can cause the entire EDI interchange to be rejected or unreadable.
To route through the ECGrid network, the EDI envelope must be complete and valid. If the ISA or UNB segment is invalid, the file will not process successfully.
Common Problems with an ISA segment:
- Incorrect or invalid segment delimiter or element separator
- Incorrect field lengths, (often related to the version designated in the ISA12)
- Improper use of spaces (unused characters should be space-padded, not omitted)
- Invalid or missing control numbers
- Date/time format errors, (often related to the version designated in the ISA12)
- Incorrect version (ISA12)
- Mismatch between the ISA and IEA control numbers
- Wrong repetition separator, (ISA11)
- Extra or missing characters, (the ISA segment should be exactly 106 characters)
Example of a valid ISA segment:
ISA*00* *00* *ZZ*SENDERID *ZZ*RECEIVERID *250819*1200*U*00401*000000001*0*T*>~
Recommended Action: Review the envelope ISA/UNB segment. When debugging an ISA segment, it's often helpful to count the characters and check each field against the EDI standard (e.g., X12 4010 or 5010) and your trading partner’s specs. Correct and resend.