MRM TDS format: Fixed-length separation types

For fixed-length separation types, each data value is a fixed length.

For fixed-length data element separation types, all textual elements have a length or length reference, and are padded out to their full length in the bit stream. No tags or delimiters are used, and each data value directly follows the preceding data value.

For example:

data1data200data30

The first element is length 5, the second is length 7, and the third is length 6. The padding character is "0".

For non-textual elements, the length is determined by the Physical Type of the element. See MRM TDS format: Determining the length of simple data values.

Fixed-length type

In fixed-length type, all textual elements must have a length or length reference, and must be written out to that full length. The elements must be presented in the correct order, and all elements must be written in the bit stream. This includes all repeats of any repeating element (that is, the Maximum Occurrences must be written out for each element).

For non-textual elements, the length is determined by the Physical Type of the element. See MRM TDS format: Determining the length of simple data values.

For example:

data10data2data2data2data300

The first element is length 6, the second is length 5, and repeats three times, and the third element is length 7. The padding character is "0".

Applicable parameters for Fixed-length type

The main parameters for this format are the Length or Length Reference of the element. All fields must be padded out to their full length for the bit stream to be correctly specified to the parser.

Tag and delimiter parameters are ignored. Group indicators and terminators are observed, because they are of fixed length.

Default values are required for each field that might not be set, because then every field can be produced as output, even if it is not filled with data from the message.

Fixed-length AL3 type (Deprecated)

This separation type has been deprecated. ACORD AL3 support will be provided by a different method in a future release, at which time this separation type will be removed from service.

Fixed-length AL3 types are similar to fixed-length types, but follow extra rules that are specified by the ACORD AL3 format regarding truncation and missing elements. If elements are missing from the end of an AL3 type, they can be truncated. They cannot be omitted from the middle of a bit stream. If a field is missing from the middle of the bit stream, that field is produced for output as the appropriate length string of the "?" character.

Applicable parameters for Fixed-length AL3 type (Deprecated)

The main parameters for this format are the Length or Length Reference of the element. All fields must be padded out to their full length for the bit stream to be correctly specified to a parser.

Tag and delimiter parameters are ignored. Group Indicators and Terminators are observed, because they are of fixed length.