Generally when adding a new element, the properties associated with is
are configured automatically and correctly, but you can edit them if needed.
General properties
Property
Description
Name
Name of the element. For XML structures, you can specify a namespace
prefix using the following syntax:
prefix:name.
Description
Short description of the element. This
description is displayed next to the element name in the editor.
Occurs
Min/Max
Minimum and maximum number of times the element can appear in a
document. For example, you can enter 1 in the
Min field to indicate an element is
mandatory. If the number is unlimited, enter
-1.
Size
Min/Max
Minimum and maximum number of characters in the element.
Group
Type
Indicates how the children of this element are grouped. The value can be:
None: this element contains text
only; it has no child elements that define additional
structure.
Sequence: all children must occur (if
they occur) in the order specified.
Choice: only one of the children can
occur. If the element loops, a different child element can
occur for each instance of the loop.
All: all of the elements must occur,
and they can occur in any order.
Data
Type
Type of text content for the element. The value can be:
String: character
string.
Byte (8): signed 8-bit
byte.
Character:
Short (16): signed
16-bit quantity.
Integer (32): signed
32-bit quantity.
Long (64): signed
64-bit quantity.
Unsigned Byte (8): unsigned 8-bit byte.
Unsigned Short (16): unsigned 16-bit quantity.
Unsigned Integer (32): unsigned 32-bit quantity.
Decimal:
Float (32): 32-bit
floating-point number.
Double (64): 64-bit
floating-point number.
Date/Time: date and
time value together. This includes the timezone information.
Date: date value.
Time: time value.
Boolean: either true
or false.
Duration: duration of
time. This is in the ISO 8601 format of PnYnMnDTnHnMnS. It must
begin with a P, and
the remaining capital letters identify the type of the
period. The capital letters can be omitted when the
corresponding period is not used. Examples: P4Y is 4 years; P6Y7M2D is 6 years, 7
months, and 2 days; P30S is 30 seconds.
Binary: binary value.
QName: qualified name
with an optional prefix and local name. The prefix must be
found in one of the XML Namespaces and Containers associated
with the structure. It is used only in the Constant function.
None:
Element
Type
Defines how this element is used in a document. This is mostly
relevant for XML documents. The value can be:
Standard: element with no special
treatment (e.g., a standard XML element). For XML documents,
the value of the element refers to the value of all text
included within the element, provided there are no child
elements. When you want to access mixed content, you must
use an element type of XML Text to access the text between
the child XML elements.
XML Attribute (XML documents only):
the element appears as an XML attribute. Child elements of
this type must be of type value.
XML Processing Instruction (XML
documents only): the element appears as an XML processing
instruction. Elements of this type cannot have child
elements.
XML Text (XML documents only): This
element accesses text values, which is necessary only when
accessing text values for mixed XML content, where text is
interleaved with XML elements. Elements of this type cannot
have child elements.
Value: this element's name is used to
match the text value of its enclosing element. This is used
to define possible code values for validation and mapping
purposes. An element will have a child element with element
type of Value for each possible code
value. Elements of this type cannot have child elements.
Any: the content of this element can
be any collection of elements, which are completely
unspecified. Elements of this type cannot have child
elements.
Data
Format
Describes how the data type is to be concretely manifested. The
options available depend on the Data
Type you selected. The Default option automatically selects the default
format for the data type standard. For example, the default format
for a DateTime element is ISO 8601.
Visible
Group
Indicates if this element is visible in the document.
Null
Indicates if this element can have a null value.
Flat structure properties
Property
Description
Initiator
Sequence of characters that signals the start of this element.
Terminator
Sequence of characters that signals the end of this element.
Include
Initiator?
Indicates if the initiator should be included as part of the text
value of the element.
Include
Terminator?
Indicates if the terminator should be included as part of the text
value of the element.
Start
Offset
Number of characters to skip before starting this element.
Column
Indicates the column where the element starts.
Quote
Handling
This provides pre-defined options for handling possible quotation
marks around elements. The value can be:
None: no special handling for quotation marks.
OptionalQuotes: double quotation marks may be present or absent
for this element. If they are present, they bound the
element, and they are not included in the data. If they are
absent, the element is bounded by the normal initiator or
terminator.
RequiredQuotes: double quotation marks must be present for each
element. If they are missing, an error occurs.
Release
Defines the single character that causes an initiator or terminator
not to be recognized. For example, if the terminator character is a
double quote, and you specify a backslash as the release character,
you can include a double quote within the value of the element by
preceding it with a backslash.
EDI Elem
Type
Defines the type of EDI element represented by this element. The value
can be:
None: this is not an
EDI element.
Transaction: the root
element of a transaction. This defines the transaction. The
name of this element is the name of the EDI transaction,
832 or PRICAT for example.
Segment: defines an
EDI segment. The name of this element is the segment and
must be less than or equal to three characters, DTM for example.
Element: defines an
EDI element. The name of this element is the name of the
enclosing segment and is followed by the two digit sequence
number of the segment, DTM02 for example.
Composite: defines an
EDI composite. If the parent of the composite is an EDI
segment, the name of the composite follows the same
convention as that for an EDI element. If the parent of the
composite is an EDI element, the name of the composite is
the name of the element followed by a hyphen and a two digit
sequence number, SEG05-01 for example.
Loop: defines an EDI
loop. The name of this element must start with Loop-.
Code Value Part: used
when a code value has two parts to it. One element defines
each of the parts of the code value.
EDI Elem
Ref
Defines the EDI data element reference number.
Inheritance properties
Property
Description
Inherits
From
Specifies the structure from which this element inherits.
Inherited
Root
Specifies how to reconcile the root element from the parent structure
with this element. The value can be:
Use Only Children:
only the properties from the child elements are included in
the child structure under this element. The properties of
the root element of the parent (inherited) structure are
ignored.
Use Everything: the
element properties of the current element are ignored, and
all of its properties are inherited from the root element of
the parent (inherited) structure.
Use All Except
Name/Occurs: all properties of the root
element of the parent (inherited) structure are inherited,
except for the name, description, and occurs properties.
These properties are defined by this element in the child
structure. This corresponds to the type of inheritance
defined in XML Schema by a particle.
Ignore Inherited
Adds?
Indicates if new elements added in the parent structure should be
propagated to this element.
Use Children
Of
For recursive elements, this property allows you to use the same
content as the parent element.
EDI properties
Property
Description
Syntax
Rules
For EDI elements, this property defines the valid combinations of
required elements for that segment
Sequence
Id
For EDI elements, this property defines the sequence number of this
element, in the nn format.
Other properties
Property
Description
XPath Name
Allows you to define the XPath corresponding to entries of this
element. You can use the following expressions:
A node name, item/price for example.
A node name with a predicate defining the
value of a child, item[price>1] for example.
A node name with a predicate defining the
value of an attribute, item[@status='available'].
A node name with a predicate using a
function, item[fn:position()>3] for example.
An axis, child::* for example.
If the structure has namespaces, they need to be added as a
prefix for each element.
If you are using this property
with a representation other than XML, you need to prefix each
element with the name of the representation,
JSON:item/JSON:price.
