0.    INTRODUCTION

       This specification provides the definition of the Product
       inquiry message (PROINQ) to be used in Electronic Data
       Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in
       administration, commerce and transport.

1.    SCOPE

1.1   Functional Definition

       A message enabling the sender to inquire on a product or a
       group of products from a master product catalog or file
       according to criteria defined in the message.

1.2   Field of Application

       The Product inquiry message may be used for both national and
       international applications. It is based on universal practice
       related to administration, commerce and transport, and is not
       dependent on the type of business or industry.

1.3   Principles

       The message usually relates to a manufacturer and/or a supplier
       of goods and a buyer, or their respective agents.
       
       The buyer may specify in the message the attributes of a
       product or group of products for which additional information
       is required. This will allow a manufacturer and/or supplier to
       send the requester only information for those products the
       requester is specifically interested in rather than the entire
       product catalogue.
       
       The Product inquiry message may request information in order
       to:
       
       - select a specific group or family or products from a supplier
       entire product catalogue, e.g. a buyer requesting a supplier of
       medical equipment all product information related to sterilized
       products.
       
       - select a product or group of products according to attributes
       or product characteristics as defined by the sender in the
       message, e.g. a retailer requesting a clothing manufacturer to
       send product information for all blue, white or stripped men's
       shirts, sizes medium to extra-large.
       
       - determine the availability, lead-time and/or general
       commercial and/or sales conditions for a specific product.
       
       The response to a product inquiry message will be either a
       Price/sales catalogue (PRICAT) or Product data message
       (PRODAT).
       
       PROINQ shall not be used to request a code.

2.    REFERENCES

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 1.

3.    TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

3.1   Standard terms and definitions

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 2.

4.    MESSAGE DEFINITION

4.1   Data Segment Clarification

       This section should be read in conjunction with the Segment
       Table which indicate mandatory, conditional and repeating
       requirements.
       
       The following guidelines and principles apply to the whole
       message and are intended to facilitate the understanding and
       implementation of the message:
       
       - All specified dates and/or times should be in the format
       'yymmdd'/'hhmm' unless all parties involved in the transaction
       agree that there is a functional requirement for an alternative
       format.
       
       - Periods should be specified as whole numbers representing the
       required period as indicated in the format qualifier (weeks,
       months, etc.).
       
       - Where a choice of code or text is given only the code element
       should be used wherever possible.
       
       - Conditional data that is not required in the message should
       not be included.
       
       - Care must be taken that the segment qualifier in dependent
       segments do not conflict with the segment qualifier of the
       trigger segment of a group.

4.1.1  Header section

       Information to be provided in the Header section:

0010   UNH, Message header
       A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message.
       The message type code for the Product inquiry message is
       PROINQ.
       
       Note: Product inquiry messages conforming to this document must
       contain the following data in segment UNH, composite S009:

       Data element  0065 PROINQ
                     0052 D
                     0054 97A
                     0051 UN

0020   BGM, Beginning of message
       A segment by which the sender must uniquely identify the
       Product inquiry message by means of its number.

0030   DTM, Date/time/period
       A segment specifying general dates and, when relevant, times
       related to the whole message. The Product Inquiry message
       preparation date must be specified using this segment.

0040   CUX, Currencies
       A segment identifying the currency in which all product prices
       are expressed in the Product inquiry message.


0050   Segment group 1: NAD-SG2
       A group of segments identifying the parties with associated
       information relevant to the whole Product inquiry message.

0060      NAD, Name and address
          A segment identifying names and addresses of the parties, in
          coded or clear form, and their functions relevant to the
          Product inquiry message. Identification of the requesting
          party and the party asked for information is mandatory for
          the Product inquiry message. It is recommended that where
          possible only the coded form of the party ID should be
          specified e.g. the sender and receiver of the report are
          known to each other, thus only the coded ID is required, but
          when a new address might have to be clearly specified, this
          should be done preferably in structured format.


0070      Segment group 2: CTA-COM
          A group of segments giving contact details of the specific
          person or department within the party identified in NAD
          segment.

0080         CTA, Contact information
             A segment to identify a person or department, and their
             function, to whom communications should be directed.

0090         COM, Communication contact
             A segment to identify a communications type and number
             for the contact specified in the CTA segment.


0100   Segment group 3: RFF-DTM
       A group of segments for giving references and where necessary,
       their dates, relating to the whole message e.g. contract
       number.

0110      RFF, Reference
          A segment identifying the reference by its number and where
          appropriate a line number within the document.

0120      DTM, Date/time/period
          A segment specifying the date and/or time related to the
          reference.

4.1.2  Detail section

       Information to be provided in the Detail section:


0130   Segment group 4: LIN-SG5-SG6
       A group of segments identifying the product or attributes of
       the product for which information is required.

0140      LIN, Line item
          A segment specifying the inquiry request line and if
          available, the identification of the product or service for
          which the inquiry is being made.


0150      Segment group 5: CCI-CAV-MEA
          A group of segments providing product characteristics and
          values or measurements associated with the characteristics.
          Repeating CCI segments provide additional characteristics
          e.g. colour, size, pattern (AND linkage).
          Repeating CCI segments provide a choice of characteristic
          values (OR linkage).

0160         CCI, Characteristic/class id
             A segment to identify a product characteristic and/or the
             characteristic name and characteristic relevance for the
             business process.

0170         CAV, Characteristic value
             A segment to specify product characteristic by value in
             either coded form or in free format.

0180         MEA, Measurements
             A segment indicating characteristic values being physical
             measurements (including measurable quantities and
             percentages) related to specific product characteristic
             (e.g. voltage, percentage of material contained) and
             where relevant measurement ranges.
             The MEA segment is repeatable to allow the indication of
             a number of applicable measurable values, for example one
             electric appliance may be suitable for different
             voltages: 110V, 220V, 240V and 380V.


0190      Segment group 6: IRQ-PIA-IMD-MEA-NAD-PGI-DTM-SG7
          A group of segments specifying the type of requested
          information and optionally product identification(s),
          measurements, parties related to the product, dates and
          price ranges.

0200         IRQ, Information required
             A segment specifying the type of information requested by
             the Product inquiry message, e.g. a price/sales
             catalogue, allowances and charges information, delivery
             lead times, etc.

0210         PIA, Additional product id
             A segment providing either additional identification to
             the product specified in the LIN segment or providing a
             substitute product identification.

0220         IMD, Item description
             A segment for describing the product or service inquired.
             This segment should be used for products that cannot be
             fully identified by an article number.

0230         MEA, Measurements
             A segment specifying the physical measurements for a
             product.

0240         NAD, Name and address
             A segment identifying the name and address of a party
             related to the product for which an inquiry is being
             made, e.g. supplier, ultimate customer, etc.

0250         PGI, Product group information
             A segment specifying product or price group information
             requested for the current product.

0260         DTM, Date/time/period
             A segment identifying relevant dates or periods for a
             product, e.g. availability date, lead time, delivery
             date, etc.


0270         Segment group 7: PRI-RNG
             A group of segments providing pricing information and
             price ranges for the product identified in the detail
             section.

0280            PRI, Price details
                A segment to specify the price type and amount, e.g.
                proposed purchase price, suggested retail price, etc.

0290            RNG, Range details
                A segment providing range information related to
                prices, e.g. price range between 1000 - 1500 BEF.

0300   UNT, Message trailer
       A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of
       segments in the message and the control reference number of the
       message.

4.2   Data segment index (Alphabetical sequence by tag)

          BGM Beginning of message
          CAV Characteristic value
          CCI Characteristic/class id
          COM Communication contact
          CTA Contact information
          CUX Currencies
          DTM Date/time/period
          IMD Item description
          IRQ Information required
          LIN Line item
          MEA Measurements
          NAD Name and address
          PGI Product group information
          PIA Additional product id
          PRI Price details
          RFF Reference
          RNG Range details
          UNH Message header
          UNT Message trailer

Contents of PROINQ