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AnyToAny

Use this field level rule to have the system format the data when it maps it to a field. This rule uses XDD (Extract Data Dictionary) format as the source format and whatever you specify as the target field format for the output.

Compared with prior mapping rules, using this rule reduces development effort as the data for a given field in the extract file only requires one instance in the XDD, regardless of its output formatting requirements. Using this rule also enhances performance because data for each field only has to be loaded once, rather than multiple times if multiple output formats are needed.

For example, in version 11.5 you must define two fields in the XDD if you want to display a date as both MM/DD/YYYY and Month Day, Year in the MRL. In version 12.0 and later, you can use this rule to handle both formats. This lets you define the Date field once in the XDD, describing the format of the data found in the extract. Any field used on a section that uses the AnyToAny rule and maps from this single XDD member is then formatted based on what you specified as the format of the field.

Note

When you use this rule, the system uses the locale of the destination field. For instance, if you have a date field that specifies a locale of CAD (French Canadian), the resulting text will be in French. If the destination field has a locale of EUR and a currency symbol is needed, the system uses the Euro (€).

If you are using a Flat extract file, specify 8 in the Mask field if the extract data for this field is stored in UTF-8 format. UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8-bit encoding form) is a format for writing Unicode data in text files. See Using Unicode section of Unicode Reference Guide for more information.

If you are using XML extract file, you can either specify a mask of 8 or set Search Mask is an XPath to Yes.

Syntax

AnyToAny ()

There are no parameters for this rule.

You can use this rule several ways. For instance, you can...

●

Create a field using the AnyToAny rule and specify the XDD member to link to using the Source Name field.

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Use the XDD rule and then set the Rule field in the XDD member to AnyToAny.

Regardless of how you use the AnyToAny rule, it must be linked to an XDD member. The XDD member must then contain the mapping information, data type, and format.

Using Unicode Input Data

The AnyToAny rule supports Unicode (UTF-8 format) input data.

To enable Unicode input data support

if you are using a flat extract file: add the number 8 to the Format property of the XDD field
if you are using an XML extract file: the XPath indicator on the XDD field automatically enables Unicode support; no changes are required

Input Date and Destination Fields

The rule maps data as shown in this table. The top row represents the input data type defined in the XDD while the first column shows the destination field type.

Destination Field Type	Input Data Type
Destination Field Type	Alphanumeric	Numeric	Date	Time
Alphabetic	Removes non-alphabetic characters	Not supported1
Alphanumeric	Mapped without changes
Numeric	Changes to numeric, omits non-numeric characters.	Converts to the format specified for the field.	Not supported1
Numeric/text	Accepts numbers or text. If the field value is numeric, then the numeric format will be applied, otherwise the text will be unchanged. For example, with a format of $ZZ9.99, the value 10 would appear as $10.00, but a text value of N/A would appear unchanged by the format.		Not recommended. Dates and times could be incorrectly formatted as amounts.
(Y)es (N)o	The Yes and No values are mapped, other values are ignored.	0 (zero) = No, anything else = Yes. Can only have numeric characters in the input data. Only looks at the first character of input data.	Not supported1
Bar code	The input data must match the selected bar code type.		Not supported1
Date	The input data must match the destination format.		Converts to the format specified for the field.	Not supported1
Int'l alphabetic	Removes non-alphabetic characters	Not supported1
Int'l alphanumeric	Mapped without changes
Int'l alphabetic uppercase	Removes non-alphabetic characters and uppercases the alphabetic characters.	Not supported1
Int'l alphanumeric uppercase	Uppercases the alphabetic characters	Mapped without changes	Uppercases the alphabetic characters	Mapped without changes
Multiline	Mapped without changes
Table only	Checks the input value against those defined for the table.		Not supported1
Time	The input data must match destination format.		Not supported1	Converts to the format specified for the field.
Upper alphabetic	Removes non-alphabetic characters and uppercases the alphabetic characters.	Not supported1
Upper alphanumeric	Uppercases the alphabetic characters	Mapped without changes	Uppercases the alphabetic characters	Mapped without changes
X or Space	The X and Space values are mapped. All other values are ignored.	0 (zero) = Space, anything else = X. Can only have numeric characters in the input data. Only looks at the first character of input data.	Not supported1
Custom	Not supported1
1Use another rule to map the field. If you use the AnyToAny rule in this scenario, the field will be blank and you will get a warning message.

Example