Data Transformation Engine Introduction to the Design Studio

Chapter 3 - Type Designer Data Objects
Introduction to the Design Studio
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Component Ranges
The component range specifies the number of consecutive occurrences of that
component that may appear at that point in the data stream. The component
range appears after the component name in parenthesis and is specified as two
numbers separated by a colon (min:max). The group window can be configured to
display component ranges in a separate column.
A component range of (1:1) specifies a minimum of one occurrence and a
maximum of one occurrence. A component range of (0:3) specifies a minimum of
zero occurrences and a maximum of three occurrences. A component range with a
minimum of 0 distinguishes optional components.
The first number (min) is the minimum number of consecutive occurrences of that
component. Specifying the min value is optional. If this minimum value is not
specified, it is interpreted as a minimum of 0. The second number (max) is the
maximum number of consecutive occurrences of that component. An unknown
number of occurrences of components are specified with the component range
of (s), which stands for "none to some unknown number".
Note A component range specified with no min value and a max value other than (s)
will appear in the group window as (0:max). A component range of (s) is the
same as (0:s).
Data File
A data file is a simple example of data. A data file may consist of records. Each
record consists of fields. In the example below, three kinds of data objects exist in
the data file: a file, a record, and a field. In a file of records, think of the data in
terms of the three data objects: