title: EDI X12 version 4010 message - can non-composite elements contain sub-element separator character?
body: <p>Version 4010 x12 messages support segments with composite elements (like REF04) which contain sub-elements that are separated by sub-element separators.
  Here is an example of a segment which uses ; [semicolon] as a segment separator, * as an element separator and : [colon] as a sub-element separator:<br>
  REF*ACT*12345678901234*ACCOUNTING CODE*3X:SUB CONTRACT NUMBER 1234567;</p>
  
  <p>My question is this: If there is another segment in the message (for example N1) which is not a composite element and it happens to contain a sub-element separator, should the message be:
  a.) Accepted, which means the sub-element separator in N102 (see example) gets ignored and treated as a regular character that is part of the element data
  b.) Rejected, because sub-element separators can only appear inside composite elements, therefore it cannot be present in a N1 segment.</p>
  
  <p>Example (with same separators as above - note that a colon appears in N102 as part of the data):
  N1*PE*TEST:PARTY ONE;</p>
  
  <p>Any input would be helpful.</p>