2018.1

Data format settings
By default the data type of extracted data is a String, but each field in the Data Model can be set
to contain another data type (see "Data types" on page219). When that data type is Date,
Number or Currency, the DataMapper will expect the data in the data source to be formatted in
a certain way, depending on the settings.
The default format for dates, numbers and currencies can be set in three places: in the user
preferences, in the data source settings, and per field in the Data Model.
By default, the user preferences are set to the system preferences. These user preferences
become the default format values for any newly created data mapping configuration. To change
these preferences, select Window > Preferences > DataMapper > DataMapper default
format (see "Datamapper preferences" on page777).
Data format settings defined for a data source apply to any new extraction made in the current
data mapping configuration. These settings are made on the Settings pane; see "Settings
pane" on page255.
Settings for a field that contains extracted data are made via the properties of the Extract step
that the field belongs to (see "Setting the data type" on page210). Any format settings specified
per field are always used, regardless of the user preferences or data source settings.
Note
Data format settings tell the DataMapper how certain types of data are formatted in the data
source. They don't determine how these data are formatted in the Data Model or in a template. In
the Data Model, data are converted to the native data type. Dates, for example, are converted to a
DateTime object in the Data Model, and will always be shown as "year-month-day" plus the time
stamp, for example: 2012-04-11 12.00 AM.
Extracting data
Data are extracted via Extraction steps into fields in the Data Model. This topic explains how to
do that. Fields can also be filled with other data: the result of a JavaScript or the value of a
property. To learn how to do that, see "Fields" on page206.
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