> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.editran.onesait.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.editran.onesait.com/documentacion-editran/ibm-editran-v5.3-iseries-en/administracion-y-operacion/introduction.md).

# Introduction

Editran is a product that allows the transmission of information formatted and stored in files or databases called BUFFERS.

The information that is to be sent to a given Remote (destination of the information) will carry the identification of that destination. This identification is called the editran SESSION and is made up of the editran Installation Code of the Local site, the editran Installation Code of the Remote site, and an editran Application Code (which allows various types of information to be sent to the same destination). This identification forms part either of the name of the BUFFER file or of the records that contain the information.

Similarly, the information carries a Sequence Number so that it allows control of the sequence of the information and avoids losses. This Sequence Number, together with the Session, is the only information that editran requires in order to send information to another editran accessible over the communications network.

For the Local editran Installation to communicate with other Remote Installations, it is necessary to define a set of elements required for Communication.

Editran transmits files, with a specific structure, from a local end to a remote one. These files are called send and receive buffers.

To obtain send buffers from conventional application files and, conversely, to obtain these application files from receive buffers, it is necessary to use load and unload programs which, together, can be referred to as the application interface.

These interfaces can vary greatly in functionality and capabilities, ranging from the processing of a specific, defined file to that of any type of file. In the latter case, there would be a generic application interface.

The Generic Application Interface version 5.3.1 has been developed with the dual objective of greatly increasing the functionality of the existing interfaces, while at the same time being compatible with them, so that an entity that installs Editran 5.3.1 will be able to:

* Do away with the previous interfaces.
* Exchange data with entities that do not have Editran 5.3.1 but do have one of the older ones, in compatibility mode.
* Exchange data with entities that have Editran 5.3.1, both in compatibility mode (the same functionality as the previous interfaces with improvements in the process), and in native 5.3.1 mode (extended functionality).


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