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How to Request Guideline Changes When Your Trading Partner Controls Field Requirements

How do I get mandatory fields changed to optional in my trading partner's guidelines?

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Written by Ashwath Kirthyvasan
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Audience: EDI developers, B2B integration teams, trading partner technical contacts

When your transactions fail validation due to guideline mismatches, you need to request a guideline change. The most common triggers are:

  • A field is marked as mandatory in Orderful's guidelines but your trading partner says it should be optional (or vice versa)

  • A qualifier code you are sending is not included in the guideline's allowed values

This article covers the specific scenario where you are the Follower sending transactions and your trading partner is the Leader on an unclaimed (Orderful-managed) relationship — meaning Orderful maintains the guidelines on the Leader's behalf. In this case, you cannot edit the guidelines yourself and must request changes through Orderful Support.

Note: Validation errors can also appear in other configurations — for example, on the Leader sender side when the Leader is a claimed organization, or on the Follower receiver side when the Follower has an optional guideline. Those scenarios are not covered here.

What Trading Partner Guidelines Are and Who Controls Them

In Orderful, every trading relationship has a leader and follower structure. The leader sets the EDI field requirements (called guidelines) that control validation rules for the relationship. The follower cannot directly edit these guidelines.

To check your role:

  1. Go to the Relationships page in Orderful

  2. Use the filters to find your outbound relationship

  3. Click on the row to open the side panel configuration

  4. Check the Guideline section — if the field is greyed out, you are the Follower and the guideline was assigned by your trading partner. If the field is editable, you are the Leader

If you are the Follower, your trading partner controls:

  • Which fields are mandatory or optional

  • Allowed values for coded fields (like qualifier codes)

  • Conditional requirements based on transaction content

As a Follower, you cannot modify these guidelines directly in Orderful.

Who Can Update the Guidelines

Because your trading partner's relationship is unclaimed, Orderful manages the Leader-side guidelines on their behalf. This means Orderful Support is the only path to get guidelines updated — your trading partner does not have direct access to modify them in Orderful either.

To request a change, you need confirmation from your trading partner that the change is correct, then Orderful Support will apply it.

When You Need Guideline Changes

Guideline mismatches can occur for several reasons — regardless of the specific error type:

  • Your partner published a new version of their specs that Orderful hasn't received yet

  • Your partner uses a different spec for a specific business case not known to Orderful (e.g., food and random weight guidelines, truckload vs. less-than-truckload)

  • Orderful made a digitization error or misinterpreted the source guideline

  • The source guideline itself is ambiguous

The most common error types are:

Mandatory field mismatches — Orderful marks a field as required but your trading partner confirms it should be optional. For example, the PO4 segment showing as mandatory for ASNs when your partner doesn't require it.

Missing qualifier codes — Your transaction uses a valid qualifier code (like REF*AO or AT701 with value X1) that isn't included in the current guideline's allowed values.

Optional field mismatch — A field is marked as optional in the guideline but your partner's system rejects it when present. This typically means the field is not used by your partner and should not be sent.

In all cases, the reconciliation process below applies — compare the PDF against the digitized version to determine the root cause before contacting anyone.

Before Contacting Orderful — Verify the Guideline

Before requesting a change, confirm whether the issue is a digitization error in Orderful or an actual discrepancy in your trading partner's requirements:

  1. Open the failed transaction in Orderful and go to the Rules Editor tab

  2. Click View Leader Guideline to open the digitized guideline

  3. Download the PDF of your trading partner's EDI specifications — note the version of the PDF

  4. Confirm with your trading partner that the PDF version Orderful is using is the correct and current one

  5. Reconcile the PDF against the digitized guideline in Orderful

If the digitized guideline doesn't match the PDF — this is a digitization error on Orderful's side. Contact [email protected] to correct it, and include the PDF and the specific field or segment that differs.

If the digitized guideline matches the PDF — the requirement exists in your partner's specs as written. Contact your trading partner to ask for clarification and confirmation. If they agree the requirement should be different:

  • Ask them for an updated PDF if one exists

  • Contact [email protected] with their written confirmation and the new PDF to request the guideline update

Full guideline review: When a digitization error is confirmed or a new PDF version is provided, Orderful's network team will perform a full review of the guideline to ensure there are no other missing or incorrect requirements — not just the field you reported.

Partner exemptions: In rare cases, a trading partner may agree to make an exception for your specific relationship — accepting or ignoring a field they wouldn't normally — without issuing a new PDF. If this happens, provide Orderful Support with the written exemption (email confirmation from your partner is sufficient) so the guideline can be updated for your relationship specifically.

How to Request Guideline Updates from Orderful Support

Step 1 — Confirm the change with your trading partner

Before contacting Orderful, confirm with your trading partner that:

  • The field should indeed be optional/mandatory/allowed

  • The qualifier code or value you need is valid per their EDI specifications

  • Any other details for more complex requirements (e.g., conditionals)

Step 2 — Contact Orderful Support

Email [email protected] with a clear subject line: Guideline Update Request — [Partner Name] [Transaction Type]

Step 3 — Revalidate affected transactions

Once Orderful Support confirms the guideline has been updated, here's how to revalidate affected transactions depending on your situation:

  • Recent invalid transactions (less than 7 days old, up to 100 transactions) — Orderful will automatically re-run validation. No action needed.

  • Older transactions — Force revalidation by adding a harmless rule in the Rules Editor on the element you want to target, then deleting it. For example, on the transactionSetIdentifierCode element write SET($transactionSets.*.transactionSetHeader.*.transactionSetIdentifierCode) — this returns the existing value unchanged and triggers revalidation. Delete the rule once done.

  • Manually created transactions — Edit and save the transaction to trigger revalidation.

  • Create a new transaction — If you are the Follower sender, you can also create a new transaction or copy the failed one. Note that if your trading partner flagged the issue asynchronously (e.g., via email or an 824/864) rather than through Orderful validation, Orderful did not catch it — creating a new corrected transaction is your only option in that case.

What to Send Orderful Support

When requesting guideline changes, email [email protected] with:

  • Sender and receiver ISA IDs (visible in your transaction details or relationship settings)

  • Transaction type and version (e.g., "856 ASN version 004010")

  • Specific X12 field or segment names that need changes

  • Exact qualifier codes or values to add/remove from allowed lists

  • Requested change (make mandatory, make optional, add allowed value, etc.)

  • Link to a failed transaction showing the validation error (if applicable)

  • Confirmation from your trading partner that they approve the change

  • Updated PDF if Orderful has the wrong version or wrong document — include the version number

  • Priority level based on business impact

Example: "Please update the Acme Retail 856 guideline to make the PO4 segment optional. Partner confirmed this data is not required for their ASNs. Failed transaction: https://ui.orderful.com/transactions/827831412"

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I edit the guidelines myself if I'm sending the transactions?
Because your trading partner's relationship is unclaimed, Orderful manages the guidelines on the Leader's behalf. Neither you nor your trading partner can edit them directly — changes must go through Orderful Support.

My trading partner says the field is optional but Orderful still marks it as mandatory. What's happening?
Orderful's guideline may not reflect your partner's current EDI specifications. This happens when partners update their requirements but don't notify Orderful. Request a guideline update with partner confirmation of the change.

How long does it take for guideline changes to take effect?
Response times vary by priority level — see Orderful Support Response Times for the full breakdown. Once the change is applied, it takes effect immediately. Recent transactions will re-validate automatically. For older transactions, you can force revalidation by adding and deleting a harmless rule in the Rules Editor, or by editing and saving the transaction if it was manually created.

Can I request multiple changes in one ticket?
Yes — include all related changes for the same trading partner and transaction type in one request. This is more efficient than submitting separate tickets for each field.

My trading partner agreed to an exception for my relationship but won't provide a new PDF — can Orderful still update the guideline?
Yes. Provide Orderful Support with a written exemption from your trading partner — an email confirmation is sufficient. Orderful can update the guideline for your specific relationship without a new PDF.

I'm migrating to Orderful and seeing validation errors I didn't have before — is this normal?
Yes. Your previous EDI provider may have been less strict or silently dropping non-compliant fields. Migration is the right time to fix these issues. Most are easily resolved with rules or by Orderful auto-dropping unused fields. If a validation error affects an important business field, follow the verification steps above and contact your trading partner for guidance on how to best comply with their guideline during the migration.

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