One must be very careful about making claims on EDI that are merely the
X12 manner of doing things that other systems do in different ways.
The Looooong lines in EDI are the result of distinct segment
terminators. These can easily be accomodated within the X21 standards
and eliminated with <cr><lf> instered wherever one wishes.
The "BIN" segment in EDI is an attempt to insert a "BOLB" - Binary Large
Object - at a particular point in a trasnaction. This can be
accomplished by existing X.400 body parts or other system's body parts.
Lets not attribute scary features to EDI that were placed there
specifically to avoid the very problems that are being discussed.
Peace Tom Jones - Lemcom