Framework EDI Reference. SEFManager Utility
.ELMS Section

The .ELMS section lists all the data elements in the version of the EDI standard from which the implementation guideline is based.  The list does not have to be in alphabetical order.  A data element is the fundamental unit of information in EDI and represents the actual value in the document.  The data element definition basically describes the properties of the value of the data element.

There are 3 properties that define the data element in this section, and must be in the following order:

1. The data type.
2. The minimum length of the value.
3. The maximum length of the value.

For example,

531=AN,1,12

where the data element ID is "531", and has a data type "AN", and has a value that  is equal to or longer than 1 but must not be longer than 12.