User-Specified Formats

You can specify your own input formats to stipulate different column positions and different lengths from the defaults. You can also specify the delimiter to separate fields, removing the restriction of the fixed field format.

To define a format:

1. From the Conduct menu, select Batch Data Load, then select Batch Load Formats.
2. Enter the name of the format in the Name field.
   STANDARD is the name of the format mask provided by Oracle.
3. Specify a delimiter if you are creating a delimited mask or leave the Delimiter field blank if you are creating a positional mask.
4. The Valid box is not enterable. See Step 9.
5. Press Enter or Tab. The system enters values under Format Components: Seq, Field Name, Mandatory, and Field Length.
6. Start indicates the start column for this field in the data file. An entry of zero means the field is not provided, so the field is ignored. This field is filled automatically with a number and the delimiter if the entry is not zero.
7. Default Value is not used by the system.
8. Change the status of the format if you want, and if Valid=Y. The default is P for provisional.
9. Save. The system runs a check on your format definition. If it is valid, the system checks the Valid box. If the format definition is not valid, the system does not check the Valid box and the format does not appear in the LOV for Format Mask in the Batch Data Load window.

Table 7-2 Batch Load Format Fields: Upper Part

Name	Description	Size; Data Type
Name	Name of the format.	16; free text
Status	Status of the format. The default is P for provisional. Other possibilities are A for active, and R for retired.	1; CHAR
Delimiter	Special symbol you choose to mark the position of a format in the database column if you do not choose STANDARD.	1; CHAR
Valid	Whether the mask is valid; checked denotes validity.	box

Table 7-3 Batch Load Format Fields: Format Components

Name	Description
Seq	Sequence of the format components in the database table. This order is automatically provided by the system. You can change order, which is particularly useful for delimited masks.
Field Name	Name of the field to which the format applies; system-provided.
Mandatory	A box to indicate whether the field is required. The information is automatically provided by the system.
Start	Indicates the position in the database where the field to which you are applying the format will start. You can either choose a delimiter in the upper part of this window to indicate position, or, if the Delimiter field is zero, enter the position here. If you leave this field blank, it remains null. A zero means the field is not used, because a delimiter exists.
Field Length	Number of characters or digits allowed for the field to which you are applying the format. The defaults are entered automatically and cannot be changed.
Default Value	The system does not use the value in this field.