PRODAT — EDIFACT Product Data Message (D.21B)

The PRODAT message conveys technical master data of a product between manufacturer, distributor and sector catalogues: physical and technical characteristics, classification, dimensions, packaging, applicable standards. It complements PRICAT, which focuses on price and availability. This page summarises the segment structure as published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.21B.

Purpose

The PRODAT message conveys technical master data of a product between manufacturer, distributor and sector catalogues: physical and technical characteristics, classification, dimensions, packaging, applicable standards. It complements PRICAT, which focuses on price and availability.

This page focuses on the structure published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.21B. The segments listed, their status (M / C), position and repetition factor are extracted from the official file prodat_c.htm hosted on service.unece.org.

Segment structure

The PRODAT D.21B message has 36 header entries, 86 detail entries and 0 summary entries (segments and groups combined). Groups are shown in bold and their members are indented by actual nesting depth.

Header

Detail

Summary

No segment in this section.

Changes vs D.96A

The PRODAT message is not published in directory D.96A. No "D.96A → D.21B" comparison line can therefore be produced — see the block below for details.

This message is not published in directory D.96A: it was introduced into the standard after that release and therefore has no historical baseline for comparison. The first directory indexed on ediverse.io sets the reference; later changes are then documented from one release to the next in subsequent directories.

Structural example

Minimal example of an PRODAT D.21B message with mandatory segments only. The goal is to show the exact version declared in UNH (PRODAT:D:21B:UN) — not to replicate a full business case.

UNB+UNOC:3+5410000000123:14+5410000000456:14+260514:1430+CTRL021001'
UNH+1+PRODAT:D:21B:UN'
BGM+94+PRODAT-2026-MD-0042+9'
DTM+137:20260514:102'
ALI+FR'
IMD+F++:::Acoustic guitar, mahogany finish, dreadnought body'
FTX+PRD+++HS code 9202.90, weight 2.8 kg, dimensions 105x40x12 cm'
CUX+2:EUR:9'
UNT+8+1'
UNZ+1+CTRL021001'

Common errors

• Misaligned UNH tokens — The UNH+...+PRODAT:D:21B:UN token must reflect exactly the directory in use — a mismatch between the UNH release and the release agreed with the partner is rejected by every strict validator.
• Wrong UNT segment count — The value after UNT+ must include UNH and UNT themselves. By far the most common sender-side error, regardless of the directory in use.
• Stale code lists — Between D.96A and D.21B, several code lists received new qualifiers (DTM status, RFF qualifier, NAD codes…). Reusing an older directory’s code tables triggers warnings or even rejections depending on the partner’s strict-conformance mode.

Related messages

Other versions of this message available on ediverse.io: PRODAT D.10A, PRODAT D.16B, PRODAT D.24A.

X12 functional equivalent: X12 888.

← All EDIFACT versions