A random squirrel today made me wonder if there was a standard for digitally signing #EDIFACT messages and it turns out that the answer appears to be yes.

There is an AUTACK message, of which there is a maximum of one per exchange, summarising and signing all previous UNH-UNT delimited messages in the UNB batch.

It appears to have been introduced in syntax 4 version 1, December 1998 and updated in 2001. Which is a lot earlier than I imagined.

I don’t think I have ever seen it used in reality.

Do you guys know #edifact its a format for electronic business exchanges like invoices and stuff. In germany the market for energy is regulated and opened up for smaller players. I'm currently thinking about creating a tool in the open to exchange those edifact messages with bigger supliers. Do you think that this would be great? #energy #market #development

Ich entwickle mich immer mehr zum Menschen für besondere Fälle. Heute #EDIFACT.

Warum? Was hat man euch angetan? Und Warum?

So, as a corollary, who out there programs the “boring” side of life?

Surely I’m not the only #programmer here dealing with #billing and #accountancy software, and third party integrations?

Who can not only read a trial balance and chart of accounts, but can actually write software to produce them?

Anyone else out there who has had to deal with #EDIFACT and #PortLogistics and #customs integrations?

Be aware that #YouAreNotAlone, there are others who suffer your pain.