X12 Node Path Syntax¶

The Accredited Standards Committee X12 (also known as ASC X12) develops and maintains EDI and CICA standards along with XML schemas which drive business processes globally. An X12 node path is used to reference segments and fields in an X12 message. The X12 node path syntax conforms to the following pattern.

Node paths in this section can be used with getNode, getAllNodes, and other QIE functions that accept a nodePath parameter. See How Node Paths Resolve for behavior details and the Node Path Lookup Dialog to build and validate them interactively against a sample message.

**Segment ID [ Instance ] /Sub-Segment Node Path – Field**
Element	Required	Description
Segment ID	Required *	The 2 or 3-character X12 segment identifier (e.g. ISA or GS or BPR)
Instance	Optional	The instance (number) of the segment in the message (1 or 2 or 3), or An at sign (@) followed by a field/component identifier for the given segment and the expected value (@2=MR123 or @5.2=John), or The forward slash (/) followed by an HPath value for a sub-segment and field and the expected value (/OBX-3=HPV)
Sub-Segment Node Path	Optional	A Sub-Segment Node Path value can be appended to the Segment ID and Instance which identifies a sub-segment and field to select where the parent segment matches the Segment and Instance ID specified (TRN[@1=2]/N1[@3=XX]-4)
Field	Optional	The field index associated with the segment (1 or 2 or 3)

* Segment ID is not required when specifying the root node identifier (/) as the node path

The partial X12 message below is used with the X12 node path examples that follow. The default X12 segment delimiter (~) is shown explicitly at the end of each segment.

ISA*00* *00* *ZZ*ABCCOM *ZZ*99999999 *040315*1005*U*00401*004075123*0*P*:~
GS*HP*ABCCOM*01017*20110315*1005*1*X*004010X091A1~
ST*835*07504123~
BPR*H*5.75*C*NON***********20110315~
TRN*1*A04B001017.07504*1346000128~
DTM*405*20110308~
N1*PR*ASHTABULA COUNTY ADAMH BD*XX*6457839886~
N3*4817 STATE ROAD SUITE 203~
N4*ASHTABULA*OH*44004~
N1*PE*LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER *FI*346608640~
N3*2801 C. COURT~
N4*ASHTABULA*OR*97004~

X12 Node Path	Description
/	Returns the entire X12 message
ST	Returns the ST segment: ST83507504123
N4[1]	Returns the first N4 segment: N4ASHTABULAOH*44004
N4-2	Returns the second field of the first N4 segment: OH
N4[2]-2	Returns the second field of the second N4 segment: OR
N1[@1=PR]-3	Returns the third field of the first N1 segment where field-1 = PR: XX

Filter Operators and Predicates¶

X12 segment filters support the same comparison operators (=, !=, >, <), predicate functions (contains, starts-with, ends-with, equals), group filters (group=), and two-filter compound syntax (;) as HL7 HPath. See Filter Operators and Predicates under the HL7 section for full descriptions and function signatures. The optional caseSensitive argument defaults to false (case-insensitive).

The examples below use the X12 sample message shown above.

X12 Node Path	Returns
`N1[@1=PE]-2`	Equals, the 2^nd field of the first N1 where field-1 = PE: `LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER`
`N1[@1!=PR]-2`	Not equals: `LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER`
`N4[@3>50000]-2`	Greater than (numeric), the 2^nd field of the first N4 where field-3 (ZIP) is greater than 50000: `OR`
`N4[@3<50000]-2`	Less than (numeric): `OH`
`N1[contains(@2, 'CENTER')]-2`	Contains: `LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER`
`N1[starts-with(@2, 'LAKE')]-2`	Starts with: `LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER`
`N1[ends-with(@2, 'BD')]-2`	Ends with: `ASHTABULA COUNTY ADAMH BD`
`N1[equals(@1, 'pe')]-2`	Equals function form (case-insensitive by default, matches `PE`): `LAKE AREA RECOVERY CENTER`
`N1[1;group=N3,N4]`	The first N1 grouped with its following N3 and N4 segments (the payer loop)
`N1[@1=PE;group=N3,N4]`	Compound filter, the N1 where field-1 = PE, grouped with its following N3 and N4 segments (the payee loop)