Data Transformation Engine Type Designer Reference Guide

Chapter 8 - Components Required and Optional Data
Another example is a middle name field. Some people do not have a middle name,
so the middle name field might be optional.
The Type Designer needs to know what data is optional. This is evident from the
component range. The range minimum tells how many occurrences of that object
must be present in the data. These are the required occurrences. Optional
occurrences are the ones that are not required.
For example, for the following component, the range minimum is zero. No
occurrences must be present. It is optional data:
DateField (0:1)
Suppose the component looks like this:
DateField (1:5)
The range is between one and five occurrences. This means that one occurrence of
DateField is required and the remaining four occurrences are optional.
The following tables lists examples of components and explanations of their
status.
Component Status Reason
LineItem (1:s) 1 occurrence required Range minimum is 1
Note Field (5:5) 5 occurrences required Range minimum is 5
RecordID 1 occurrence required Range minimum is 1
ShipTo (0:1) 0 occurrences required (Optional) Range minimum is 0
OrderRecord (s) 0 occurrences required (Optional) Range minimum is 0
The Significance of Required Data
If you define an occurrence of a component as required, you are saying that, for
the data containing the component to be valid, this component must exist. If it
does not exist, the data is invalid. For example, if you define Record as having
the component Field (3:3), you are saying that there must be three Fields in the
Record. If there are not three Fields, then either it is a Record in error or it is
not a Record.
There are other factors, besides the existence of all required components that
make data valid. The existence of required components is necessary, but not
sufficient, for data to be valid.