About Custom FSM–Based Data Types and Variants

Creating a custom FSM data type or variant for the Master Index Standardization Engine requires defining the processing logic for the data type in an XML file. No Java coding is required in order to incorporate the comparators into a master index application. The processing logic is based in the files described in Finite State Machine Framework Configuration.

You define the following information for each data type or variant you create.

• The state model that defines each state, its input and output symbols, and transitions

• Any preprocessing, matching, or postprocessing logic for input and output symbols

• Any cleansing rules to be applied to the data prior to parsing

• Optionally, lists of non-standard values and the standard values to which they should be converted (such as a nickname table)

• Optionally, lists of possible values for a field component that helps the standardization engine identify and parse the component

After you create the package, you can import the custom data type or variant into NetBeans using the easy import function of Sun Master Index. You can then define standardization and normalization structures for the master index using the new data type or variant.