About delimited data
Delimited data is a collection of records or fields with variable lengths. Delimiters are used to signal the beginning or end of the record or field as shown in the following figure:

Records can also have identifying codes, known as records IDs. In the data in Figure 2, each record begins with a record ID and ends with a delimiter.

As shown in Figure 2, records can repeat individually; the end of the repetition is marked by the record ID of the next record. Records can also repeat as a set of records; the end of the repetition is marked by the record ID of the next record that is not in the set.
Records contain fields; each field begins with a field delimiter. Fields end with either the delimiter beginning in the next field or with the end of the record.
Fields can be complex, containing components that are delimited with a component delimiter. Fields can also contain multiple data values - they repeat and use a repeat delimiter between values as shown with the phone1 and phone2 fields.
Flat File Characteristic | Flat File Schema Implementation |
---|---|
Delimited format for the highest level of structure in the data | For the root node set the Structure property to Delimited |
Record delimiter | For the root node or a record node set the child delimiter |
Record IDs |
|
Repeating records | For record nodes, set the maximum occurrence property to unbounded or to a specific value |
Repeating sets of records | Create a group node for each set and make the records in the set the content of the group |
Field delimiter | Record nodes, set the child delimiter property |
Repeating fields | Record nodes, set the repeat delimiter property |
Complex fields | Define each as a subrecord that is child to the record containing the field |
Components within complex fields | Define as field children in the subrecord |
Component delimiter | Record node for the complex field, set the child delimiter property |