EDI-TRANSLATOR

EDI Translator. The legacy name for an EDI converter, inherited from 1980s products.

Definition

An EDI Translator is synonymous with a converter in legacy vocabulary. The term derives directly from the commercial name of early products, notably Sterling EDI Translator (1983) and TRW's ASCII to EDIFACT Translator. Today both terms coexist: "converter" in web and cloud ecosystems, "translator" in ERPs and legacy B2B gateways (IBM Sterling Translator, Axway Translator, GIS Translator).

Origin

The term "translator" reflects the linguistic metaphor prevailing in the 1980s: translating a document from one language (X12) to another (EDIFACT). The term "converter" emerged in the 2000s with the arrival of XML formats, where the notion of "structural conversion" replaced the linguistic metaphor. Both designate strictly the same technical function.

Example in context

In IBM Sterling B2B Integrator, the legacy component in charge of transcoding is called Sterling EDI Translator. It performs the same functions as a modern converter: read the source message, apply the mapping, generate the target message, syntactic validation. Its configuration uses Sterling's MAP language, itself inherited from Gentran (1983). Many SAP, Oracle and JD Edwards ERPs integrate an EDI Translator licensed from one of these vendors.

Related terms

• Converter — the modern equivalent term.
• Mapping — transformation applied by an EDI Translator.
• B2B gateway — product that typically includes an EDI Translator.