11 Group Detail Window

This chapter provides a user interface reference for the Format Builder group detail window.

Defines the groups contained in the message format. Groups are collections of fields, comments, and other groups or references that are related in some way (for example, the fields PAYDATE, HOURS, and RATE could be part of the PAYINFO group). You can create a group as a child of the message format item, as a child of another group, or as a sibling of a group or field.

Table 11-1 Groups in Message Format – Group Description

Field Description

Name

The name of the group. This name must comply with XML element naming conventions (see Section 9.6, "Valid Names" for more information).

Optional

Choose Optional if this is an optional group.

Choice of Children

Choose Choice of Children if only one of the items in the group will be included in the message format.

Table 11-2 Groups in Message Format – Group Occurrence

Field Description

Occurrence

Choose one of the following to indicate how often this group appears in the message format:

  • Once — Indicates the group appears only once.

  • Repeat Delimiter — Indicates the group will repeat until the specified delimiter is encountered.

  • Repeat Field — Indicates that the value of the repeat field at runtime is the number of times the field will repeat.

  • Repeat Number — Indicates the group will repeat the specified number of times.

  • Unlimited — Indicates the group will repeat an unlimited number of times.

Note: Unless a group is defined as Optional, all groups occur at least once.

Table 11-3 Groups in Message Format – Group Attributes

Field Description

Group is Tagged

Select this option if this is a tagged group. If tagged, a literal precedes the data, indicating that the data is present.

If you selected the Group is Tagged option, enter the tag in the text box to the right of the check box.

Table 11-4 Groups in Message Format – Group Delimiter

Field Description

None

Select this option if the group has no delimiter.

Delimited

Groups can have their termination point specified by a delimiter. A delimiter is a string of characters that marks the end of the group of fields. The group continues until the delimiter characters are encountered.

Select this option if the end of the group is marked with a delimiter.

Value — Enter the delimiter that marks the end of the group of fields.

Note: Normally, groups are not delimited. They are usually parsed by content (the group ends when all child objects have been parsed).

Delimiter Is Not Optional

Indicates whether the binary data contains the delimiter even if the group is not present.

Delimiter Field

Groups can have their termination point specified by a field that contains a delimiter character string. A delimiter is a string of characters that mark the end of the group. The group continues until the delimiter character string contained in the specified field is encountered.

  • Field — Select the field that contains the delimiter character string. A list of valid fields will be presented in a list.

  • Default — Enter the default delimiter character that will be used if the above field is not present in the data. This value is required.

For more information on delimiters, see Section 19.12, "Character Delimiters."

Delimiter is Shared

Indicates that the delimiter marks both the end of the group of data, and the end of the last field of the group. The delimiter is shared among the group, and the last field of the group, to delimit the end of the data.

Table 11-5 Groups in Message Format – Group Update Buttons

Field Description

Apply

Saves your changes to the message format document.

Duplicate

Makes a copy of the group currently displayed. The duplicate group contains the same values as the original group. The name of the duplicate group is the same as the original group name, with the word "New" inserted before the original name. For example, duplicating a group called "Group1" results in a group with the name "NewGroup1".

When you duplicate an item with a numeric value in its name, the new item name contains the next sequential number. For example, duplicating "NewGroup1" results in a group named "NewGroup2".

Reset

Discards your changes to the detail window and resets all fields to the last saved values.

Help

Displays online help information for this detail window.

Note:

The Apply and Reset buttons are only enabled once changes are made to the detail panel's components.