An inbound BOOKING EDI message, such as IFTMCS or 301, describes a Booking including the booking number, outbound vessel visit, load port, discharge port, shipper, and consignee. For each Booking, the EDI message includes a list of equipment types specifying the number of containers for each type and any commodity or reefer requirements. In addition, the EDI message can include an optional list of pre-advised containers for each equipment type.
For domestic bookings, the BOOKING EDI message must contain the booking category.
When you post a BOOKING EDI message, N4 validates the information provided in the EDI message against the current data. N4 displays an error message if any of the following is true:
The container operator in the EDI message does not exist.
The Facility in the EDI message does not exist.
The POL and POD1 in the EDI message are not in the itinerary for the vessel visit.
The Origin in the EDI message is not in the itinerary for the vessel visit.
N4 cannot find or create a new trucking company using the details in the EDI message.
The Hazard Flash Point unit in the EDI message is other than C (Celsius) or F (Fahrenheit) as per the Navis standard schema.
The ISO code for the order or the order item in the EDI message does not exist.
The container ID is null (not specified) in the EDI message.
The Dispatch Reserved value in the EDI message is other than FIRST or ONLY as per the Navis standard schema.
N4 finds more than one vessel visit using the information in the EDI message.
The vessel visit in the EDI message is in the wrong visit phase.
If a temperature value exists in the EDI message, then equipment type must be a reefer equipment type.
N4 also displays an error when pre-advising a container with an ISO group that does not match the ISO group specified for the booking in the EDI message.
The header of the BOOKING EDI message contains an action code also known as the message function, indicating whether the line operator sent the EDI message to create a new booking, add details, delete details or change header in an existing booking.
The most consistently used codes for the possible set of UN/EDIFACT message function codes are:
O: Creates a new booking.
A: Add details to an existing booking.
E: Delete details from an existing booking.
U: Change header in an existing booking.
X: Replace the entire existing booking.
R or D: Cancel the entire existing booking.
For information the EDI message functions supported by BOOKING, see Supported EDI message functions (on page 1).
Depending on the action codes your EDI trading partner sends, you may need to map the msgFunction attribute in your mapping file to an action code that Navis N4 recognizes, such as a D for a cancel action.
Because these action codes are typically inconsistent between line operators, N4 determines the appropriate action based on the existing booking data.
If booking numbers are always unique for a line operator, N4processes the action code as follows:
New or update: If the booking does not exist already, N4 creates a new booking, otherwise updates the existing booking. An Update message is typically used to update the booking and item details. Any equipment in an Update message should already be linked to the booking. If not, N4 displays the error message "Equipment order does not exist for the unit" and does not process the message further.
Add details: If the booking already exists, N4 adds details to the existing booking.
Delete: If no empty, export, or domestic containers are associated with the booking, N4 deletes the existing booking. This includes empty containers delivered against a booking and export or domestic containers pre-advised but not yet received against the booking.
Change: If the booking already exists, N4 changes the header (for example, ,vessel/voyage) or item / container details (For example, temp setting, OOG).
Replace: If the booking already exists, N4 compares the booking items in the inbound EDI message with the booking items in N4 and replaces the booking item quantity and preadvised units as follows:
|
Booking Qty in Booking Item form
|
Pre-advised units in Booking Item form
|
Booking Qty in Replace EDI message
|
Units in Replace EDI message (<edi:ediBookingEquipment>)
|
Results after posting Booking Replace EDI message (Message Function 'X') |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Booking Qty |
Preadvised Units |
||||
|
10 |
5 |
8 |
None |
8 |
None |
|
10 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
|
10 |
5 |
8 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
N4 removes all the existing hazards information and adds the hazards information specified in the message at the booking and order item level.
If a line operator can reuse booking numbers, then booking numbers are not unique for that line operator. To update an existing booking the line operator must send a delete action code before a new or update action code. N4 processes the action code as follows:
New or update: If preceded by a delete action code, N4 updates the existing Booking; otherwise, it creates a new Booking.
If Booking with the same booking number for the same line operator already exists and the line operator does not send a delete action code first, N4 creates a new Booking with the same booking number.
Delete: If no empty, export, or domestic containers are associated with the Booking in N4, it deletes the existing Booking.
This includes empty containers delivered against the Booking and export or domestic containers pre-advised but not yet received against the Booking.
To determine if booking numbers are unique for a line operator, N4 checks the Booking Unique setting on the Booking Rules tab in the Line Operator form.
When successful, N4 creates, updates, or deletes the Booking per the EDI message. To make sure the booking data in N4 matches the line operator data, N4 always updates the Booking regardless of the phase of the associated vessel visit. But N4 may or may not update the containers associated with the Booking if a vessel visit is past cutoff or has a departed phase. This depends on the configuration of the Booking Rules tab for the line operator. For more information, see Roll a booking in the online help.
When required to replace an existing booking item with a new one, N4 deletes the existing booking item before creating the new one. However, if the existing booking item has units or truck transactions against it, then N4 does not delete it. It instead updates the existing booking item quantity to zero and then creates a new booking item. In this case, during the ingate stage, N4 displays two booking items with one record having the quantity as 0. This scenario is applicable only if you have selected the Order Item Not Unique option in the Booking Rules tab of the Line Operator form.
N4 records a UNIT_ROLL event when updating the booking for a pre-advised unit via the Configurable Pre-advise form or EDI.
When you update a booking, to add more than one booking item for the same booking, make sure the booking items with subsequent sequence numbers contain the edi:msgFunction="A" attribute in the edi:bookingTransaction node. The ‘booking.xsd’ file contains the element bkgItemEquipmentSeqNbr.You can map the bkgItemEquipmentSeqNbr element to the booking item sequence number in the mapping file and set the ‘Order Item Not Unique’ option to ‘True’ on the Booking Rules tab of the Line Operator form. By doing this, N4 links the units to their corresponding equipment order items when you post an EDI message with sequence numbers.
If a line operator includes a list of containers in the BOOKING EDI message, you can configure N4 to create these pre-advised containers and update these containers per the EDI message, or to ignore the containers in the EDI message. For more information, see ARGOBOOKING002 (on page 1). For information on other BOOKING EDI settings, see Inbound BOOKING EDI settings (on page 1).
If a BOOKING EDI message contains trucking company information, N4 performs the following actions to try to determine the trucking company:
N4 searches for an existing trucking company with an ID or SCAC that matches either the trucking company name or SCAC code in the EDI message.
If N4 is unable to find an existing trucking company and both the name and SCAC are included in the EDI message, N4 tries to create the trucking company using the name as the trucking company name and the SCAC as the trucking company ID and SCAC code.
When successful, N4 records the trucking company for the associated export booking. The trucking company ID displays in the Booking form. In addition, new trucking companies display in the Trucking Companies view. When unsuccessful, N4 produces a warning message and continues to post the EDI file.
If the line operator's voyage number provided in the TDT segment for a line sharing a vessel visit is different than the vessel visit voyage number in N4, you can update your mapping file to use the outOperatorVoyageNbr attribute in the baseMapping.xsd schema to map the operator voyage number from the EDI message to the appropriate vessel visit in N4.
In N4, a booking EDI message can specify the following information:
Whether Owned Only or Leased Only containers must be used for the booking
The requested equipment grade and equipment feature for each booking item
To use the Owned Only/Leased Only feature, you must set up the equipment prefixes to accurately show the owner of the containers with a specific prefix. XPS uses this information to construct container ranges, which it then uses to select an empty container.
The current standard booking maps for IFTMBC, COPARN, and ANSI301 to not support this feature. Since specifying OWNED or LEASED containers is not a part of the common EDI standards, it is usually implemented using the free text segment. Therefore, a custom map is required to transform the free text segment into the Owned only or Leased only indicators in the Navis standard XML.