Data Transformation Engine Type Designer Reference Guide

Type Designer Reference Guide
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Chapter 8 - Components
This chapter discusses the concept of components and how to define them. A
component represents a data object that is part of another data object.
Components are Required for Group Types
Categories and groups can have components. Components of group and category
types display in the group and category windows. Item types do not have
components.
Group types represent actual data objects, so groups must have components. The
one exception is a partitioned group which is explained in Chapter 9 - Partitioning.
By contrast, a category is used for organizing types and for type property
inheritance reasons. Categories do not define actual data objects in detail. A
category does not need components. For more information about using categories
for type property inheritance, see Chapter 10 - Type Inheritance.
Note Each group must have at least one component, unless it is partitioned.
Components Must Be in the Same Type Tree
A component must be a type in the same type tree as the type that contains the
component.
You cannot define the components of a type by opening up a different type tree
and dragging components from that tree. You can, however, copy types from one
type tree to another. For more information on copying types, see
Chapter 11 - Managing Types.
Importance of Component Order
Components are listed from top to bottom in the group window in the order they
appear in the data stream. The component in the first cell appears first in the data
stream. The component in the second cell appears next, and so on.
Component Range
The range defines the number of consecutive occurrences of that component. A
component range can be specified for any component. A component range defines