Content types

Use content type to define the format of data such as XML or JSON, handled by a flow service during input, output, or processing.

The following table identifies the content types that you can apply to String or String list variables. Each of these content types corresponds to a built-in simple type defined in the specification XML schema Part 2: Datatypes.

Content typesDescription
anyURIA Uniform Resource Identifier Reference. The value of anyURI is either absolute or relative. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern.
Note: The anyURI type indicates that the variable value plays the role of a URI and is defined like a URI. URI references are not validated because it is impractical for applications to check the validity of a URI reference.
base64BinaryBase64-encoded binary data. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern
BooleanTrue or false. Constraining Facets pattern Example true, 1, false, 0
byteA whole number whose value is greater than or equal to –128 but less than or equal to 127. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -128, -26, 0, 15, 125
dateA calendar dated from the Gregorian calendar. Values need to match the pattern CCYY-MM-DD. Where CC represents the century, YY the year, MM the month, DD the day. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 1997-08-09 (9 August 1997)
dateTimeA specific instant of time (a date and time of day). Values need to match the following pattern: CCYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sss Where CC represents the century, YY the year, MM the month, DD the day, T the date and time separator, hh the hour, mm the minutes, and ss the seconds. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 2000-06-29T17:30:00-05:00 represents 5:30 PM Eastern Standard time on June 29, 2000. (Eastern Standard Time is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time.)
decimalA number with an optional decimal point. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 8.01, 290, -47.24
doubleDouble-precision 64-bit floating point type. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 6.02E23, 3.14, -26, 1.25e-2
durationA length of time. This format PnYnMnDTnHnMnS is used to represent a period. Each letter stands for a time unit:
  • nY = number of years
  • nM = number of months
  • nD = number of days
  • T = separates the date and time parts
  • nH = number of hours
  • nM = number of minutes
  • nS = number of seconds

To show a negative duration, add a minus sign (–) at the beginning.

Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example P2Y10M20DT5H50M represents a duration of 2 years, 10 months, 20 days, 5 hours, and 50 minutes
ENTITIESSequence of White space-separated ENTITY values declared in the DTD. Represents the ENTITIES attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength
ENTITYName associated with an unparsed entity of the DTD. Represents the ENTITY attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
floatA number with a fractional part. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 8.01, 25, 6.02E23, -5.5
gDayA specific day that recurs every month. Values must match the pattern: DD , where DD represents the day. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 24 indicates the 24th day of each month
gMonthA Gregorian month that occurs every year. Values must match the pattern: MM. Where MM represents the month. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 11 represents November
gMonthDayA specific day and month that recurs every year in the Gregorian calendar. Values must match the pattern, MM-DD Where MM represents the month, and DD represents the day. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example --09-24 represents 24 September
gYearA specific year in the Gregorian calendar. Values must match the pattern: CCYY Where CC represents the century, and YY the year. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 2001 indicates the year 2001.
gYearMonthA specific month and year in the Gregorian calendar. Values must match the pattern, CCYY-MM Where CC represents the century, YY the year, and MM the month. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 2001-04 indicates April 2001.
hexBinaryHex-encoded binary data. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern
IDA name that uniquely identifies an individual element in an instance document. The value for ID needs to be a valid XML name. The ID data type represents the ID attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
IDREFA reference to an element with a unique ID. The value of IDREF is the same as the ID value. The IDREF data type represents the IDREF attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
IDREFSSequence of white space separated IDREFs used in an XML document. The IDREFS data type represents the IDREFS attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength
intA whole number with a value greater than or equal to -2147483647 but less than or equal to 2147483647. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -21474836, -55500, 0, 33123, 4271974
integerA positive or negative whole number. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -2500, -5, 0, 15, 365
languageLanguage identifiers used to indicate the language in which the content is written. Natural language identifiers are defined in IETF RFC 1766. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
longA whole number with a value greater than or equal to -9223372036854775808 but less than or equal to 9223372036854775807. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -55600, -23, 0, 256, 3211569432
NameXML names that match the Name production of XML 1.0 (Second Edition). Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
NCNameNoncolonized XML names. Set of all strings that match the NCName production of namespaces in XML. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
negativeIntegerAn integer with a value less than or equal to –1. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -255556, -354, -3, -1
NMTOKENAny mixture of name characters. Represents the NMTOKEN attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
NMTOKENSSequences of NMTOKENS. Represents the NMTOKENS attribute type from the XML 1.0 Recommendation. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength
nonNegativeIntegerAn integer with a value greater than or equal to 0. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 0, 15, 32123
nonPositiveIntegerAn integer with a value less than or equal to 0. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits, white space Example -256453, -357, -1, 0
normalizedStringRepresents white space normalized strings. Set of strings (sequence of UCS characters) that do not contain the carriage return (#xD), line feed (#xA), or tab (#x9) characters. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space Example MAB-0907
positiveIntegerAn integer with a value greater than or equal to 1. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 1, 1500, 23000
shortA whole number with a value greater than or equal to -32768 but less than or equal to 32767. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example -32000, -543, 0, 456, 3265
stringCharacter strings in XML. A sequence of UCS characters (ISO 10646 and Unicode). By default, all white space is preserved for variables with a string content constraint. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space Example MAB-0907
timeAn instant of time that occurs every day. Values must match the pattern. hh:mm:ss.sss Where hh indicates the hour, mm the minutes, and ss the seconds. The pattern can include a Z at the end to indicate Coordinated Universal Time or to indicate the difference between the time zone and Coordinated Universal Time. Constraining Facets enumeration, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern Example 18:10:00-05:00 (6:10 PM, Eastern Standard Time) Eastern Standard Time is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time.
tokenRepresents tokenized strings. Set of strings that do not contain the carriage return (#xD), line feed (#xA), or tab (#x9) characters, leading or trailing spaces (#x20), or sequences of two or more spaces. Constraining Facets enumeration, length, maxLength, minLength, pattern, white space
unsignedByteA whole number greater than or equal to 0, but less than or equal to 255. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 0, 112, 200
unsignedIntA whole number greater than or equal to 0, but less than or equal to 4294967295. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 0, 22335, 123223333
unsignedLongA whole number greater than or equal to 0, but less than or equal to 18446744073709551615. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 0, 2001, 3363124
unsignedShortA whole number greater than or equal to 0, but less than or equal to 65535. Constraining Facets enumeration, fractionDigits, maxExclusive, maxInclusive, minExclusive, minInclusive, pattern, totalDigits Example 0, 1000, 65000