Generate a Guideline PDF
Create a printable implementation guide from a guideline and save it as the guideline's source file.
Guidelines you build in Orderful don't come with a source document, so there's nothing to hand to a trading partner who asks for your EDI spec — and the Download action has nothing to serve.
Generate PDF solves this. Orderful renders your guideline into a print-style EDI implementation guide and saves it as that guideline's source file, so from then on Download (and the guideline's API download link) return the generated document.
Before You Start
- You need permission to upload guideline sources in your organization. If you can see Upload New in the Guideline Source menu, you can generate a PDF.
- Save any pending edits first. The PDF is built from the guideline as it's currently saved. If you have unsaved changes, Orderful asks you to save before generating so the stored document can't drift from the guideline itself.
- This is available on your own guidelines. Guidelines shared with you by a trading partner are read-only, so the option doesn't appear.
Generate the PDF
- Sign in to your Orderful account:
- Orderful US: https://ui.orderful.com
- Orderful EU: https://ui-eu.orderful.com
- From the left navigation menu, click Guidelines, then open the guideline you want to export.
- Click Guideline Source ▾ in the guideline header.
- Click Generate PDF.
What happens next depends on whether the guideline already has a source file:
- No source file yet — the PDF is generated and saved as the source right away.
- A source file already exists — Orderful asks you to confirm. Choosing Replace source file overwrites the existing source with the generated PDF, and the previous file is no longer available for download.
When it finishes, you'll see a confirmation that the PDF was saved as the guideline source. Use Guideline Source ▾ → Download to retrieve it.
Generating a PDF replaces the guideline's existing source file. If you uploaded a partner-provided spec as the source and still need it, download a copy before generating.
What's in the Generated Document
The PDF is built from the same schema-ordered structure the guideline editor shows on screen, so it always matches what you see. It works for both X12 and EDIFACT guidelines, and anything marked Not Used — along with everything nested inside a not-used loop — is left out.
The document has three parts:
- Title page — guideline set name, transaction type, standard and version, status, EDI account, guideline set ID, and the date it was generated.
- Structure overview — every loop and segment in the guideline, indented to show nesting, with its requirement and max use/loop.
- Segment details — a table per segment listing each element with its requirement, min/max length, data type, allowed codes, and notes.
Elements with a very large number of allowed codes are capped at the first 30 in the printed tables to keep the document readable. The full list always remains in the guideline itself.
Keeping the PDF Current
The generated PDF is a snapshot, not a live view. If you change the guideline after generating, run Generate PDF again to refresh the stored source so partners download the current requirements.
Because publishing makes a guideline read-only, a good habit is to generate the PDF right after you publish a version — the document then matches exactly what you're validating against.
Updated about 6 hours ago