Generating X12

Stupidedi has a simple interface for generating X12 documents. Once you have defined a transaction set or implementation guide (see Defining) , you can generate well-formed documents using BuilderDsl.

Configuration

Minimal configuration is needed so Stupidedi can load the correct definitions and ensure well-formedness. The configuration below links interchange version 00501 to an instance of InterchangeDef, the functional group version 005010 to an instance of FunctionalGroupDef and links the transaction set (identified by three elements) to an instance of TransactionSetDef.

config = Stupidedi::Config.new

# Link the "00501" value in ISA12 element to the 5010 interchange definition
config.interchange.register("00501") do
  Stupidedi::Versions::Interchanges::FiveOhOne::InterchangeDef
end

# Link the "005010" value in GS08 to the 5010 functional group definition
config.functional_group.register("005010") do
  Stupidedi::Versions::FunctionalGroups::FiftyTen::FunctionalGroupDef
end

# Link "005010X222" in GS08 or ST03, "HC" in GS01, and "837"
# in ST01 to the implementation guide definition
config.transaction_set.register("005010X222", "HC", "837") do
  Stupidedi::Guides::FiftyTen::X222::HC837P
end

# Instantiate a new BuilderDsl
b = Stupidedi::Builder::BuilderDsl.build(config)

InterchangeDef specifies which segments can occur directly in the interchange envelope (e.g. ISA and ISE), the order in which they can occur, and the definition of those segments.

FunctionalGroupDef specifies which segments can occur directly in the functional group envelope (e.g. GS and GE), the order in which they occur, and the definition of every segment that can occur inside the envelope.

TransactionSetDef specifies the structure of an X12 message, including groupings of segments (e.g. tables and loops), and the order in which segments and groups of segments may occur. The definition of each segment is given by the parent FunctionalGroupDef.

Generating a Segment

The BuilderDsl API uses method_missing to dynamically respond to method calls. If the method name matches the format of a segment identifier, a segment is constructed and added to the parse tree. The arguments to the method call should be the elements of the segment.

b.ISA("00", "",             # authorization information
      "00", "",             # authentication information
      "ZZ", "SUBMITTER ID", # submitter identification
      "ZZ", "RECEIVER ID",  # recipient identification
      Time.now.utc,         # date
      Time.now.utc,         # time
      "^",                  # repetition separator
      "00501",              # interchange version
      "333666999",          # control number
      "1",                  # acknowledgement request
      "T",                  # usage indicator
      ":")                  # component separator

Note: The repetition separator "ˆ" and component separator ":" have no special meaning when generating X12. These elements are only meaningful to Stupidedi when parsing X12 from an input stream (see Parsing X12).

Alternatively, the #segment! method can be used to avoid the method lookup overhead incurred by method_missing.

Simple Elements

Simple elements of any type can be constructed from Strings (this is how X12 is parsed from a file), but certain element types can be constructed from other types of Ruby values.

The description of each element type below pertains to the FiftyTen functional group definition. The SimpleElementDef and SimpleElementVal classes define the minimal interfaces that are extended by subclasses like AN and StringVal. See the FiftyTen::ElementTypes namespace for more examples.

Strings

String elements (declared with type AN) can be constructed from any value that responds to #to_s. The constructed element is a StringVal.

Identifiers

Identifier elements (declared with type ID) can be constructed from any value that responds to #to_s. The constructed element is an IdentifierVal.

Dates

Date elements (declared with type DT) can be constructed from a String of either six or eight characters, and from any value that responds to #year, #month, and #day. This includes the Date, Time, and DateTime classes included with the standard Ruby libraries. The constructed element is a DateVal.

Times

Time elements (declared with type TM) can be constructed from a String of either two, four, six, or more than six characters, and from the Time and DateTime value types. The constructed element is a TimeVal.

Numbers

Numeric and decimal elements (declared with type Nn and R, respectively) can be constructed from any value that responds to #to_d. The constructed element is a FixnumVal or FloatVal.

Composite Elements

Composite elements are constructed with the #composite method. The constructed element is a CompositeElementVal. Arguments to the method call should be the component elements. For instance, to generate an HI segment with three composite elements:

b.HI(b.composite("ABK", "7868"),
     b.composite("ABF", "052"),
     b.composite("ABF", "E9283"))

Repeated Elements

Repeated elements are constructed using the #repeated method. The constructed element is a RepeatedElementVal. The arguments to the method call should be either all simple elements or all composite elements, according to the element definition.

b.AK9(b.repeated("R", "X", "E"), 1, 1, 0)

b.IK4(b.repeated(
        b.composite(3, 1),
        b.composite(4)),
      1068, 7, "B")

Element Placeholders

Because BuilderDsl builds a parse tree as segments are generated, it can infer and validate certain information about the elements in a segment.

Blank Elements

Blank elements (simple, composite, and repeated) can be generated from a nil argument, but you can improve readability by using #blank, and no-argument calls to #composite and #repeated. These are arguably more self-documenting.

b.AK9(nil, 1, 1, 0)
b.AK9(b.repeated, 1, 1, 0)

b.HI(nil, b.composite(b.blank, "052"))
b.HI(b.composite, b.composite(b.blank, "052"))

Also, if fewer than the defined number of elements are given as arguments, the missing arguments generate blank elements. For example, the following statements both generate the same segment.

b.ST("835", "1234")
b.ST("835", "1234", b.blank)

Default Elements

Certain elements are declared with a single value in #allowed_values. These are usually qualifier elements, like NM103, whose value adds little readability. These values can be inferred by BuilderDsl when the #default placeholder is used. For example, when generating the X222 837P the following statements generate the same segment.

b.BHT("0019", "00", control_number, Time.now.utc, Time.now.utc, "CH")

b.BHT(b.default, "00", control_number, Time.now.utc, Time.now.utc, "CH")

When a default value cannot be inferred, a ParseError is thrown. Note that repeated and composite elements can only be generated by #default, when they are declared NOT USED.

Unused Elements

For elements that are declared to never be sent, nil or #blank will generate the empty element; however using #not_used is arguably more self-documenting. If BuilderDsl determines that the element is not declared as such, it will raise a ParseError. For example the X221 835 document declares ST03 with NOT USED:

b.ST("835", "1234", b.not_used)

Syntax Validation

The parse tree that BuilderDsl maintains is used to ensure only well-formed X12 is generated. This means segments occur in the correct order and have the correct number and type of elements.

Segment Order

The order in which segments may occur is defined by the active TransactionSetDef, FunctionalGroupDef, and InterchangeDef. Internally, an instance of StateMachine is used to both incrementally build the parse tree and keep track of which segments can occur from the given state. The #successors method will return one or more InstructionTable values which enumerate the segments that may occur in the current state:

pp b.successors

[InstructionTable(
  1: Instruction[REF: Subscriber Secon..](pop: 0, drop: 0),
  2: Instruction[REF: Property and Cas..](pop: 0, drop: 0),
  3: Instruction[PER: Property and Cas..](pop: 0, drop: 3),
  4: Instruction[NM1: Subscriber Name   ](pop: 1, drop: 0, push: LoopState),
  5: Instruction[NM1: Payer Name        ](pop: 1, drop: 0, push: LoopState),
  6: Instruction[CLM: Claim Informatio..](pop: 1, drop: 2, push: LoopState),
  7: Instruction[ HL: Subscriber Hiera..](pop: 2, drop: 0, push: LoopState),
  8: Instruction[ HL: Billing Provider..](pop: 3, drop: 0, push: TableState),
  9: Instruction[ HL: Subscriber Hiera..](pop: 3, drop: 0, push: TableState),
 10: Instruction[ HL: Patient Hierachi..](pop: 3, drop: 0, push: TableState),
 11: Instruction[ SE: Transaction Set ..](pop: 3, drop: 4, push: TableState),
 12: Instruction[ ST](pop: 4, drop: 0, push: TransactionSetState),
 13: Instruction[ GE: Functional Group..](pop: 4, drop: 2),
 14: Instruction[ GS](pop: 5, drop: 0, push: FunctionalGroupState),
 15: Instruction[IEA: Interchange Cont..](pop: 5, drop: 2),
 16: Instruction[ISA](pop: 6, drop: 0, push: InterchangeState))]

The above output pertains to the X222 837 implementation guide. The output shows a single active InstructionTable and the segments it is able to accept. For more information about how the parser works, see Parser Design. Attempting to generate a segment that is not a member of at least one of the instruction tables will cause a ParseError to be raised.

b.N3("SUITE 111", "1234 OCEAN BLVD")
  #=> Segment N3 cannot occur here (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

Element Types

The InterchangeDef and TransactionSetDef classes both respond to #segment_dict, which allows looking up a SegmentDef by segment its identifier. The SegmentDef indicates the number of elements and their types (composite, repeated, simple). This information allows BuilderDsl to raise a ParseError on the following conditions:

Generating a composite element where a simple or repeated element is defined:

b.NM1(b.composite(nil, "B"), nil)
  #=> NM101 is a simple element (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

Generating a simple element where a repeated or composite element is defined:

b.REF(nil, nil, nil, "D")
  #=> REF04 is a composite element (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

b.DMG(nil, nil, nil, nli, "E")
  #=> DMG05 is a repeatable element (Stupiedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

b.DMG(nil, nil, nil, nil, b.repeated("E"))
  #=> DMG05 is a composite element (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

Generating a repeated element where a non-repeated element is defined:

b.NM1(b.repeated("A", "B"))
  #=> NM101 is a simple element (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

Generating more than the defined number of elements:

b.N3(nil, nil, nil)
  #=> N3 has only 4 elements (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)

b.REF(nil, nil, nil, b.composite("A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G"))
  #=> REF04 has only 6 components (Stupidedi::Exceptions::ParseError)