Mapping Guidelines For the HL Segment EDI 856 Advance Shipping Notice
The HL segment marks the beginning of a detail loop. A clear understanding of how the HL segment works is a critical factor in the successful generation and receipt of the Ship Notice/Manifest transaction.
There are three data elements in the HL segment which are defined for use within retail industry implementations. These elements include:
- Hierarchical ID Number,
- Parent ID Number, and
- Hierarchical Level Code.
The Hierarchical ID Number (HL01) is a sequential number beginning with 1 for each transaction set and incremented by one for each occurrence of the HL segment within the transaction set.
The Hierarchical Parent ID Number (HL02) relates the current level of detail to its parent level or “points” to its parent (e.g., the Order level is related to the Shipment level through the Parent ID Number). The Parent ID Number is omitted for the first occurrence of the HL segment (Shipment level) in the transaction since it has no parent.
The Hierarchical Level Code (HL03) identifies the level of detail information contained in the segments within that HL loop (e.g., Shipment, Order, Tare, Pack, Item).
The following example illustrates the component elements of the HL segment in a Pick and Pack structure. The arrows show how the HL segments relate to one another.
HL Segment marks the beginning of a detail loop
- (HL ID#) is a sequential number beginning with 1 and incremented by one for each occurrence of the HL segment within the transaction set
- (Parent ID) “points” to its parent (the Shipment level has no parent)
- (Level Code) identifies the level of detail information
Reporting Sequence
When generating the data, each detail loop (hierarchical level) is reported using a top-down/left-right order. The shipment is always the highest level, and is reported first. Then, the first order is reported. And depending on the structure, packaging and items are reported for the first order. Additional orders within the shipment follow the same sequence. In the diagram which follows, the number in the upper left corner is the Hierarchical ID Number (HL01). The number in the top right corner is the Parent ID Number for that HL loop (HL02).
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