I’m in the middle of an EDI segue at work. When people talk about EDI, it usually carries a connotation of bisynchronous modems and arcane data formats. The modems are mostly gone, but the arcane data formats have a lot of life left in them.

If you’re going to be working with the arcane data formats, then you’re going to need a good editor. I’m an Emacs devotee at heart, but I recommend Softshare’s free EDI Notepad for anyone who needs to work with EDI formats. EDI Notepad understands the EDI data structure, keeping your data file legal. And when you’re all done, EDI Notepad can display your data in a people friendly HTML view.

You may not need it if you know your EDI data format inside and out. But if you’re a EDI neophyte like myself, then you need to download EDI Notepad.