Positional Field Editor

The following list describes the properties for the Positional Field Editor dialog box, which enables you to quickly and easily edit the most common attributes of each field in the record, and add or delete fields from the record:

Record
Displays the record name, tag, and tag position.
Name
Name of the field.
Mandatory
Indicates that the field is required.
Description
Description of the field.
Data Type
Type of data for this map component. Valid values are:
  • String - Alphanumeric
  • Number - Numeric, real, overpunched, or packed (for Positional only)
  • Date/time - Date or time
  • Bin Data - binary data (only available if you select “Binary” on the Special tab of the EDI Segment Properties dialog box)
  • Bin Length - length of binary data (only available if you select “Binary” on the Special tab of the EDI Segment Properties dialog box)
Note: If you select “Binary,” you must define an element of data-type “Bin Length” and another element of data-type “Bin Data.” The “Bin Length” element must precede the “Bin Data” element.
Format
How the data in the map component will be formatted. Depending on the data type you selected, you can either:
  • For the String data-type, select a syntax token to denote that this map component must be formatted as the syntax token dictates.
Note: Free Format indicates that any characters are acceptable in the field. The translator does not check the characters for compliance.
  • For Number or Date/Time data-type, select the data format from a list.
Start Pos
Starting position of the field in the record.
Min Length
Minimum number of characters in the field.
Max Length
Maximum number of characters in the field.
Fields
Displays each field in the record, in sequence. The information that is displayed in this list is the field name, whether it is mandatory or conditional (M or C), the field type, the starting position, and the positional length of each field.
New
Adds a new field to the record directly after the selected field.
Note: You need to complete the Field Details for the new field.
Delete
Deletes the selected field.
Auto Position
Activates the Auto Position function, in which the system automatically positions the fields in the record. The criteria used is that each field is positioned directly after the previous field and is of the length specified in the Maximum box on the Field Properties dialog. Click Yes to acknowledge the warning message that fields will be sequenced in order.
Note: It is only valid to use the Auto Position function if you define each field in the record in the sequence in which the field will occur in the data.