1. HCM Data Loading Business Objects
  2. Guidelines for Loading Name Formats

Guidelines for Loading Name Formats

A name format is a set of rules for combining individual name components, such as first name and last name, to form a complete person name. Name formats are specific to a legislation and name-format type.

The name-format types are display name, list name, order name, and full name. The predefined global format is used when no format exists for a format type and legislation. This topic describes how to load Name Format objects using HCM Data Loader.

Understanding Format Masks

A format mask is a string of codes used to construct a name format. The codes represent the required name components, symbols, and special characters. Use the codes shown in this table to identify the name components.

Code

Name Component

$FIR$

First Name

$LAS$

Last Name

$MID$

Middle Name

$PLN$

Previous Last Name

$KNA$

Known As

$HNS$

Honors

$PNA$

Prefix

$SUF$

Suffix

$TIT$

Title

$MLR$

Military Rank

$INF1$ through $INF30$

Name Information 1 through Name Information 30

Use the codes shown in this table for symbols and special characters.

Code

Description

Value

$SPA$

space

space character ( )

$COM$

comma

,

$OPE$

left parenthesis

(

$CLO$

right parenthesis

)

$QUO$

quotation mark

"

$DOT$

period

.

$SLA$

slash

/

$COL$

colon

:

$SEM$

semicolon

;

$ATT$

at sign

@

Constructing a Format Mask

The format mask must:

  • Start and end with a vertical bar (|).

  • Separate each name component with two vertical bars (||).

The vertical bar is the default delimiter for HCM Data Loader .dat files. If you haven't selected a different default delimiter, then you must prefix the vertical bar in the name-format mask with the HCM Data Loader escape character. The escape character ensures that HCM Data Loader ignores delimiters in the format mask. The default escape character is the backslash (\). For example, to provide a format mask for the name format Title Last Name, First Name (Known As), you supply the codes for each element of the name as shown in this table.

Element

Codes

Title space

$TIT$$SPA$

Last Name, space

$LAS$$COM$$SPA$

First Name space

$FIR$$SPA$

(Known As)

$OPE$$KNA$$CLO$

In the format mask, each name component must be delimited by two vertical bars:

$TIT$$SPA$\|\|$LAS$$COM$$SPA$\|\|$FIR$$SPA$\|\|$OPE$$KNA$$CLO$

In addition, the format mask must start and end with a single vertical bar:

\|$TIT$$SPA$\|\|$LAS$$COM$$SPA$\|\|$FIR$$SPA$\|\|$OPE$$KNA$$CLO$\|

Creating Name Formats

This example NameFormat.dat file creates a display name for France in the format Title First Name Last Name. The name format is identified by its source key.

METADATA|NameFormat|SourceSystemOwner|SourceSystemId|FormatName|LegislationCode|UserFormatChoice|FormatMask
MERGE|NameFormat|VISION|NF_FR_L_DISP|DISPLAY_NAME|FR|L|\|$TIT$$SPA$\|\|$FIR$$SPA$\|\|$LAS$\|

Deleting Name Formats

You can delete a Name Format object using HCM Data Loader, provided that the name format isn't being used. This example NameFormat.dat file deletes a name format. It identifies the name format by its source key.

METADATA|NameFormat|SourceSystemOwner|SourceSystemId
DELETE|NameFormat|VISION|NF_FR_L_DISP

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