XML - Introduction 54 Essential elements of EDI the use of an electronic transmission medium (originally a value-added network, but increasingly the open, public Internet) rather than the despatch of physical storage media such as magnetic tapes and disks; the use of structured, formatted messages based on agreed standards (such that messages can be translated, interpreted and checked for compliance with an explicit set of rules); relatively fast delivery of electronic documents from sender to receiver (generally implying receipt within hours, or even minutes); and direct communication between applications (rather than merely between computers).
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