Most lists of TRADACOMS file types are a bare table of codes. That is no help when a retailer's onboarding pack says "we will send ORDHDR and expect INVFIL and CREHDR back" and you need to know what each one is, whether you have to support it, and what it maps to in your system.
This page covers every file type you are likely to see listed, in plain English, grouped by what it does in the trading cycle. Where a type has no public specification we say so rather than guess. If TRADACOMS itself is new to you, start with TRADACOMS explained.
How to read a TRADACOMS file type
A TRADACOMS file type is a business document, such as an order or an invoice, sent as a file of messages: a header message, one or more detail messages, and a trailer message. The file type takes its name from the header, which is why an order file is called ORDHDR even though each individual order inside it is an ORDERS message.
Take the invoice file as an example:
| Message | Role | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
INVFIL | File header: supplier, customer, file generation number | First |
INVOIC | One invoice, with its lines | One message per invoice |
VATTLR | VAT summary by VAT rate | After the invoices |
INVTLR | File trailer: totals for the whole file | Last |
Each message is wrapped in MHD (message header) and MTR (message trailer) segments, and the whole transmission is wrapped in STX and END. The header names the file type in the last element of STX, so the first line of a file tells you what you are dealing with:
STX=ANA:1+5012345000008:HARBOUR LANE STORES+5098765000002:KESTREL VALLEY+261012:0915+000451++ORDHDR'
Three things trip people up when matching a code to a file type:
- Some lists name the detail message, not the header. The stock snapshot file is
SNPHDRin the ANA layout, but most lists show it asSNPSTS, its detail message. The payment order file isPAYHDRwithPAYINFdetails, yet lists such as OpenText's showPAYORD. - The 25 core files are not the whole story. The ANA, now GS1 UK, defined the core retail set. The book trade, maintained by BIC, and other industries added their own files with the same syntax.
- No new files have been added since the 1990s. GS1 UK ended support for TRADACOMS in 2017. What exists now is what you will see.
The five you will actually meet
A UK supplier trading with a grocer or high street retailer over TRADACOMS usually exchanges these five files and nothing else. Get them right and you have covered the order-to-cash cycle.
| File | What it is | Direction | You need to |
|---|---|---|---|
ORDHDR | Order | Retailer to you | Read it and load it into your ERP |
DELHDR | Delivery notification | You to retailer | Send it before the goods arrive, if the retailer asks for it |
DLCHDR | Delivery confirmation | Retailer to you | Check it against what you shipped before you invoice |
INVFIL | Invoice | You to retailer | Send it with VAT broken down by rate |
CREHDR | Credit note | You to retailer | Send it for returns, shortages and price corrections |
Some partners add an ACKHDR order acknowledgement or send an SRMHDR remittance, and a few still exchange PRIHDR price files. Everything else on this page is specialist, sector-specific or effectively retired. The Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Co-op pages cover what each retailer asks for.
Every TRADACOMS file type
Grouped by business flow. "Rarely used" means a type that is retired, sector-specific or has no public specification. If a partner asks for one of those, ask them for their implementation guide before you quote for the work.
Ordering
The buyer tells you what it wants, and you confirm what you can supply.
The order file: an ORDHDR header, one ORDERS message per order and an ORDTLR trailer. Each order names the delivery location (CLO), the order reference (ORD) and one OLD segment per line.
The supplier's response to orders received: ACKHDR header, ACKMNT detail messages, ACKTLR trailer. Not every UK retailer asks for it, so check your partner's specification.
An order file for orders with multi-level delivery structures: CORHDR header, CORDER detail messages, CORTLR trailer. Most UK retail ordering uses the plain ORDHDR file.
The book trade's order file, one of the TRADACOMS-based messages maintained for the UK book industry by BIC (Book Industry Communication). Booksellers send orders to publishers and distributors with it.
An order file from TRADACOMS's home shopping variant, outside the 25 core ANA files. We found no public specification; if a partner asks for it, ask for their implementation guide.
Delivery
What is on the lorry, and what actually arrived at the depot.
Tells the customer what is being delivered against which orders before it arrives: DELHDR header, DELIVR detail messages, DELTLR trailer. The TRADACOMS equivalent of an ASN.
The customer confirms what it received, line by line, including any differences: DLCHDR header, DLCDET detail messages, DLCTLR trailer. Check it before invoicing.
Tells a warehouse what to pick for which orders and delivery points: PICHDR header, PICKER detail messages, PICTLR trailer.
An instruction to collect goods from a location: UPLHDR header, UPLIFT detail messages, UPLTLR trailer. In UK retail, uplift means collection rather than delivery.
Confirms what was actually collected against an uplift instruction: UCNHDR header, UCNDET detail messages, UCNTLR trailer.
Invoicing
Invoices, credit notes, and the VAT detail that goes with them.
The invoice file: an INVFIL header, one INVOIC message per invoice, VATTLR VAT summaries and an INVTLR trailer. UK VAT is built in, with totals broken down by VAT rate.
Credits for returns, shortages and price corrections: CREHDR header, CREDIT messages, VATTLR VAT summaries and a CRETLR trailer. In EDIFACT the same job is done by INVOIC with document code 381.
Bills for electricity, gas, water or telecoms: UTLHDR header, UTLBIL detail messages, a UVATLR VAT summary and a UTLTLR trailer. You only meet it if you buy or supply utilities over EDI.
Payment and remittance
What the customer is paying, and which invoices the payment covers.
A statement of account or a remittance advice listing the invoices and credits being settled: SRMHDR header, SRMINF detail messages, SRMTLR trailer.
A customer instructs its bank to pay suppliers, with supplier bank details per line. In the ANA layout the file is PAYHDR, PAYINF and PAYTLR; lists such as OpenText's show it as PAYORD.
One of the original banking files: DRAHDR header, DRAINF detail messages, DRATLR trailer. Its layout (customer and bank in the header, supplier and bank details per line) is a bank's advice of amounts debited.
The mirror of the debit advice: CRAHDR header, CRAINF detail messages, CRATLR trailer, with the supplier and bank in the header and a line per customer payment credited.
The fourth original banking file (EXCHDR, EXCINF, EXCTLR), reporting exception conditions against payments. It is in the ANA's list of 25 files but missing from many vendor lists.
Product, price, and party data
Master data shared before anything is ordered: products, prices, and the locations you trade with.
Price lists and price changes from supplier to customer: PRIHDR header, PRIINF detail messages, PRITLR trailer.
Master product data such as codes, descriptions and pack details from supplier to customer: PROHDR header, PROINF detail messages, PROTLR trailer.
The customer's location master data, including delivery points, so the location codes in its orders resolve to real addresses: CUSHDR header, CUSINF detail messages, CUSTLR trailer.
Publishers and distributors tell booksellers about price and availability changes, using BIC's price and availability codes (code list 54, last revised in October 2021).
Not one of the 25 core ANA files and we found no public specification. Treat it as a bespoke industry variant and ask your partner for their guide.
Listed as "Retail B, 1-4 Retailer Database", a variant of RDAHDR. We found no public specification describing its content.
Planning, stock, and sales
Forecasts, stock positions, and sell-through data that drive replenishment.
A point-in-time report of stock levels. In the ANA layout the header is SNPHDR, with SNPSTS detail messages and an SNPTLR trailer, which is why lists often show it as SNPSTS.
Notifies adjustments to stock records: SADHDR header, SADDET detail messages, SADTLR trailer.
Reports product availability: AVLHDR header, AVLDET detail messages, AVLTLR trailer.
Planning and forecast figures organised by product: PPRHDR header, PPRDET detail messages, PPRTLR trailer.
The same kind of planning figures as PPRHDR, organised by location instead of by product: LPRHDR header, LPRDET detail messages, LPRTLR trailer.
One of the book trade's additional TRADACOMS transactions, alongside orders and price and availability updates. Public detail is thin; BIC holds the current book trade specifications.
Not one of the 25 core ANA files, and we found no public specification. Ask your partner which industry variant it comes from before mapping it.
Returns and claims
Goods coming back, and disputes over what was delivered or charged.
A claims file from outside the 25 core ANA files. We found no public specification, so treat any request for it as bespoke and ask for the partner's guide.
The acknowledgement that pairs with CLAHDR claims. Like CLAHDR, it has no public specification we could find.
Line-level supply and returns figures. Not one of the 25 core ANA files and we found no public specification. Sale-or-return trades such as newspapers and magazines settle this way, and TRADACOMS had a news trade variant, but no source we found confirms the link.
The summary-level counterpart to SORDET, listed under two codes: SRSHDR and SORDAY. No public specification found.
Other
Specialist and general-purpose messages.
Free-format text between trading partners, outside any structured document: GENHDR header, GENRAL text messages, GENTLR trailer.
TRADACOMS had industry variants for textiles and the name suggests this file belongs there, but we found no public specification.
TRADACOMS, EANCOM and X12 side by side
If you trade with retailers in more than one standard, this is how the common flows line up. EANCOM is the GS1 subset of EDIFACT that UK retail is gradually moving to; X12 is the North American standard.
| Business document | TRADACOMS | EANCOM (EDIFACT) | X12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase order | ORDHDR | ORDERS | 850 |
| Order acknowledgement | ACKHDR | ORDRSP | 855 |
| Ship notice (ASN) | DELHDR | DESADV | 856 |
| Receipt confirmation | DLCHDR | RECADV | 861 |
| Invoice | INVFIL | INVOIC | 810 |
| Credit note | CREHDR | INVOIC with document code 381 | 810 or 812, depending on the partner |
| Remittance | SRMHDR | REMADV | 820 |
| Price list | PRIHDR | PRICAT | 832 |
| Stock report | SNPSTS | INVRPT | 846 |
| Location master data | CUSHDR | PARTIN | No common equivalent |
| Free text | GENHDR | GENRAL | No common equivalent |
The mapping is by business purpose, not field for field. TRADACOMS assumes sterling and UK VAT and splits header data out into its own message, so converting a TRADACOMS invoice into an EANCOM one is a remap, not a rename.
Order to cash in TRADACOMS
Here is how the core files fit together for one order from a UK retailer:
- The retailer sends an
ORDHDRfile. It can hold many orders, oneORDERSmessage each, often for different stores or depots identified by location code. - You confirm the order, if asked. Some retailers want an
ACKHDRback; many do not. - You ship and send a
DELHDR. It tells the depot what is arriving against which orders. - The retailer sends a
DLCHDR. This is what it says it received. Differences here are the usual cause of invoice queries later. - You invoice with an
INVFIL. Invoice what the retailer will accept: if the delivery confirmation shows a shortage, invoice the received quantity or expect to raise a credit. - You credit with a
CREHDRwhere needed. Returns, shortages and price corrections all go here. - The retailer pays and may send an
SRMHDR. It lists which invoices and credits the payment covers.
The same cycle in EDIFACT is ORDERS, ORDRSP, DESADV, RECADV, INVOIC and REMADV. See EDIFACT message types for the full EANCOM list.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many TRADACOMS file types are there?
The core ANA standard defines 25 transaction files, from Product Information to Utility Bill. Vendor lists usually show more, around 37, because they add the book trade files maintained by BIC and other industry variants such as home shopping and textiles.
What is the difference between ORDHDR and ORDERS?
ORDHDR is the header message of the order file and the name of the file type. ORDERS is the detail message inside it, one per order. A file with ten orders has one ORDHDR, ten ORDERS messages and one ORDTLR trailer.
Which TRADACOMS files does a UK supplier need?
Usually ORDHDR in, and INVFIL and CREHDR out. Many retailers also want a DELHDR delivery notification and send a DLCHDR delivery confirmation. Your retailer's EDI specification is the final word, so check it before building anything else.
Is TRADACOMS the same as EANCOM?
No. Both use similar separators, but TRADACOMS is a UK-only standard from 1982 that groups messages into files, while EANCOM is the GS1 subset of the international EDIFACT standard with self-contained messages. GS1 UK now recommends EANCOM or GS1 XML for new implementations.
Why can't I find a specification for SORDET, RIFHDR or DYEHDR?
They are not in the core ANA standard. They come from industry variants that were documented for their own sectors and never widely published. If a partner asks for one, ask them for their file layout.
Is SNPSTS the same as SNPHDR?
They belong to the same file. In the ANA layout the stock snapshot file starts with an SNPHDR header, followed by SNPSTS detail messages and an SNPTLR trailer. Lists that show SNPSTS are naming the detail message.
Can I convert TRADACOMS to EDIFACT or X12?
Yes, by mapping each file to its business equivalent, as in the table above. It is a remap rather than a rename: headers, VAT handling and location codes differ. OrderSync reads TRADACOMS, EDIFACT and X12 and maps them all into the same order record in your ERP.
Related guides
- TRADACOMS explained: syntax, envelope and an annotated order file
- EDIFACT message types: the full EANCOM message list
- EDIFACT explained: the international standard replacing TRADACOMS
- UK retailer requirements: Morrisons, Waitrose, Ocado, Marks & Spencer, Boots
Sources
- TRADACOMS, Wikipedia: the 25 core transaction files and industry variants
- Ending support for TRADACOMS, GS1 UK
- Tradacoms EDI document standard, EDI Basics (OpenText): the application reference list
- EDI implementation for the book trade, BIC
- TRADACOMS EDI Connector, MuleSoft: supported file and detail message names
- TRADACOMS messages list, CData Arc
Check any TRADACOMS or EDIFACT file in the free EDIFACT inspector. If you are taking on a UK retailer and want TRADACOMS orders flowing into your ERP without a translator in between, book an intro call.