Computing 205/406 & IT8

Tutorial #19

1. What is Electronic Data Interchange? How is it different to the Internet and Unix electronic mail facilities you have used?

2. Describe three (or more) advantages of using EDI compared to manual systems. Do any of these seem more important than others?

3. Describe the three key components of an EDI system. Are all three of these necessarily going to be required in every EDI implementation?

4. What is the significance of each of the X.12 and EDIFACT standards for EDI?

5. Comment on the EDIFACT message structure.

6. In slide 7 of today's lecture, some security concerns regarding EDI were presented. Are there simple answers to any of these? Discuss.

7. Virtually all small businesses now have a FAX machine. If such a business wishes to work with a larger (EDI-capable) organisation, can the FAX facility be utilised as a first step towards EDI? Does this represent any gain for the larger organisation over manual methods?

8. (Philosophical question) The emergence of the Internet has changed the way in which many businesses do their computer networking. Discuss the options for EDI in the Internet context. In particular, in what ways do you think encryption will need to be used? Also: are there likely to be cost benefits from using the Internet instead of a proprietory EDI service?

Practical exercises:

• Are you aware of any local businesses who use EDI on a regular basis? What have their experiences been? Is it worth the effort?

• Use the Web to try and find some more information on the EDIFACT standards. Can you discover more details of the EDIFACT message structure?

• What can you find out about EDICA using the Web?