Book and CD-ROM. Most of today's mid-size to large business enterprises and governmental agencies use electronic data interchange, or EDI, to interact with one another. EDI is a highly structured data communications system that is used to exchange commercial documents including purchase orders, invoices, electronic catalogues, and bid documents. This book is for two distinct audiences: those without a deep technical knowledge who want to know more about EDI and how it works, and those who may have some background in EDI implementation, transactions, and systems who wish to know more about EDI software for Windows-based desktop and network-connected PCs. The book is organised into three parts: Part 1 presents an overview for those who are unfamiliar with EDI. It shows readers how EDI works; examines EDI system requirements, features, and benefits; and provides information on EDI system evaluation. Part 2 provides hands-on experience with a working EDI system by stepping through the setup, configuration, and operation of Trading Partner Desktop, a full-featured Windows-based EDI application contained on the companion CD.The appendices in Part 3 contain detailed examples of transaction set guidelines and a glossary of EDI terms.