Root node properties

When a root node is selected in the Schema Layout tab, the following two sections of properties are available in the pane: Basic Properties and Delimiters.

Basic Properties

The Basic Properties of the root node are defined in the following table:
Property Definition
Name Specifies the name assigned to this Flat File Schema. When you create a Flat File Schema in the Project tab the name entered for the Flat File Schema is the default name of the root node.
Attention: The root node name for a Flat File Schema must be a valid node name.
Type Optional: Specifies to record type used as a basis for the root node.
Attention: Selecting a new type might reset some of the existing properties of the record with the new settings.
Reset Resets properties that were set locally for this record to the values for the selected type.  Reset is only active if a record type has been selected from the Type list.
Structure
  • Select Delimited from the list if the outermost level of structure in the data is determined by delimiters.
  • Select Positional from the list if the outermost level of the structure in the data is determined by their position.
Write Line Ends as CRLF Specifies how the Integration Appliance should write end of line characters when a Write Flat File activity creates outgoing data.  If the receiving system for this data is a Windows platform, the Integration Appliance must write Line End characters as carriage return, line feed (CRLF). The default is to write Line End characters as a line feed (LF), the default for UNIX.  The Integration Appliance accepts both line end characters (LF and CRLF) when parsing data.
Document Ends with EOS (end of stream) Specifies that the end of the data is delimited with an end-of-stream (EOS) character for parsing incoming Flat File data in the Read Flat File activity or when producing Flat File data in the Write Flat File activity.  End-of-stream might need to be specified for data where the transport mechanism treats the data as a stream rather than a file.

Delimiters

If the Delimited option is selected for the Structure property for the root node, the following root node delimiter properties are active:
  • Child Delimiter
  • Include Trailing Delimiters for Empty Data
  • Child Delimiter Position
  • Repeat Delimiter
Child Delimiters

The Child property defines the character that delimits children of the root node. This character is commonly called the record delimiter, segment delimiter, or line delimiter.

Specify the type of child delimiter by selecting one type from the three options listed in the following table:

Option Definition
Character Specifies the character for the child delimiter. If the Character option is selected for the Child Delimiter, you must enter a single character using one of the following actions:
  • Type in the character.
  • Type in the Unicode value of the character. For example, enter /u0020 for the space character.
  • Click [...] to browse for a character. The Character Selection dialog box opens listing the valid character choices for delimiters. In the Display column, the character or a mnemonic representing the character is displayed. In addition, the corresponding hexadecimal value and Unicode code point for the character is displayed.

    Select a character and click OK.  If the selected character does not have a visual symbol, a mnemonic or the Unicode value might show for this character.

    For more information about any of these characters, see the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement character sets at:  http://www.unicode.org/charts/.

Line End Specifies that the child delimiter is the end of the line, either a LF (line feed) or CRLF (carriage return, line feed). If the children are delimited with just a CR (carriage return), select the Character option and specify a CR (carriage return) character as the delimiter. The Integration Appliance accepts both line end characters (LF and CRLF) when parsing data. When writing data, the character used for line ends is determined by the Write Line Ends As CRLF property.
Dynamic Position Specifies that the character used as the child delimiter is defined dynamically within the data. Dynamic delimiters must show at a specific position within the first record of the data, such as in EDI or HL7 data. How the character is used by the Integration Appliance depends if the Flat File data is incoming or outgoing:
  • While parsing incoming Flat File data in the Read Flat File activity, the Integration Appliance reads the character is the specified position of the first record and uses it as a child delimiter to parse the rest of the data. The Write Default text field is not used when incoming Flat File data is read.
  • While writing outgoing Flat File data in the Write Flat File activity, the Integration Appliance uses the character specified in the Write Default text field to delimit the children of the root node. In addition, the specified character is written at the specified position of the first record in the outgoing data.
Write Default Specifies the character that should be used as the child delimiter when the Integration Appliance writes outgoing data in the Write Flat File activity of the root node. In addition, the specified character is written at the specified position of the first record in the outgoing data. The character specified in this field is not used when incoming Flat File data is read in the Read Flat File activity.
In the Write Default text field of the pane, enter a single character using one of the following actions:
  • Type in the character.
  • Type if the Unicode value of the character. For example, enter /u0020 for the space character.
  • Click [...] to browse for a character. The Character Selection dialog box opens listing the valid character choices for delimiters. In the Display column, the character or a mnemonic representing the character is displayed. In addition, the corresponding hexadecimal value and Unicode code point for the character is displayed. Select a character and click OK.  If the selected character does not have a visual symbol, a mnemonic or the Unicode value might display for this character. For more information about any of these characters, see the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement character sets at:  http://www.unicode.org/charts/

Include Trailing Delimiters for Empty Data

Select the Include Trailing Delimiters for Empty Data check box to specify that delimiters for empty optional children must be present at the end of the record or field when the Integration Appliance writes outgoing Flat File data in the Write Flat File activity.

Clear this check box, if delimiters for empty optional children may be omitted.

This check box does not affect how the Integration Appliance reads incoming data because when reading data the Integration Appliance accepts either the absence or presence of delimiters with empty data.

Child Delimiter Position
This property defines the position of record delimiters for data. Select one option from the following table:
Position Definition
After Specifies that the child delimiter marks the end of a child, including the last child in the data, as shown in the following example where the comma delimiter is shown after the fields: field1,field2,field3,

After is the most common position for record delimiters.

Before Specifies that the child delimiter indicates the beginning of a child. The end of the last child is marked by the parent's delimiter as shown in the following example where the exclamation point delimiter is shown in Figure 1.
In between Specifies that delimiters are placed between children but do not show at either the beginning of the first child nor the end of the last child as shown in the following example, where the comma delimiter show in between the fields:

field1,field2,field3

Figure 1. Exclamation point delimiter in the Before position
!field1of1stRecord!field2of1stRecord!field3of1stRecord 
!field1of2ndRecord!field1of2ndRecord!field1of2ndRecord
For an example with all three types of child delimiter positions, see Mixed positional and delimited example.
Repeat Delimiter
This property determines the delimiter used between repeated occurrences of one record in the Flat File data. Select one option from the following table:
Header Header
Character Specifies the character for the repeat delimiter. If the Character option is selected for the Repeat Delimiter, you must enter a single character using one of the following actions:
  • Type in the character.
  • Type in the Unicode value of the character. For example, enter /u0020 for the space character.
  • Click [...] to browse for a character. The Character Selection dialog box opens listing the valid character choices for delimiters. In the Display column, the character or a mnemonic representing the character is displayed. In addition, the corresponding hexadecimal value and Unicode code point for the character is displayed.

    Select a character and click OK.  If the selected character does not have a visual symbol, a mnemonic or the Unicode value might show for this character.

    For more information about any of these characters, see the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement character sets at:  http://www.unicode.org/charts/.

Line End Specifies that the repeat delimiter is the end of the line, either a LF (line feed) or CRLF (carriage return, line feed).  If the children are delimited with just a CR (carriage return), select the Character option and specify a CR (carriage return) character as the delimiter. The Integration Appliance accepts both line end characters (LF and CRLF) when parsing data. When writing data, the character used for line ends is determined by the Write Line Ends As CRLF property.
Dynamic Position Specifies that the character used as the repeat delimiter is defined dynamically within the data. Dynamic delimiters must show at a specific position within the first record of the data, such as in EDI or HL7 data. How the character is used by the Integration Appliance depends if the Flat File data is incoming or outgoing:
  • While parsing incoming Flat File data in the Read Flat File activity, the Integration Appliance reads the character is the specified position of the first record and uses it as a repeat delimiter to parse the rest of the data. The Write Default text field is not used when incoming Flat File data is read.
  • While writing outgoing Flat File data in the Write Flat File activity, the Integration Appliance uses the character specified in the Write Default text field to delimit the repeating children of the root node. In addition, the specified character is written at the specified position of the first record in the outgoing data.
Write Default Specifies the character that should be used as the child delimiter when the Integration Appliance writes outgoing data in the Write Flat File activity of the root node. In addition, the specified character is written at the specified position of the first record in the outgoing data. The character specified in this field is not used when incoming Flat File data is read in the Read Flat File activity.
In the Write Default text field of the pane, enter a single character using one of the following actions:
  • Type in the character.
  • Type if the Unicode value of the character. For example, enter /u0020 for the space character.
  • Click [...] to browse for a character. The Character Selection dialog box opens listing the valid character choices for delimiters. In the Display column, the character or a mnemonic representing the character is displayed. In addition, the corresponding hexadecimal value and Unicode code point for the character is displayed. Select a character and click OK.  If the selected character does not have a visual symbol, a mnemonic or the Unicode value might display for this character. For more information on any of these characters, see the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement character sets at:  http://www.unicode.org/charts/



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Timestamp icon Last updated: Tuesday, 27 September 2016


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