Creating Positional Fields using the Positional Field Editor

Use this procedure to create positional fields for a record.

  1. Right-click the positional segment and select Edit Fields.

    The system displays the Positional Field Editor dialog box.

  2. If this is the first field in the record, click New. Otherwise, highlight the field that precedes the field you are creating in the record layout and click New.
    Note: You need to fill in the field values in the Field Details section.
  3. Type the field name.
    Note:
    • Each application field must have a unique name. It is useful to tag the end of the fields that occur in multiple records with a suffix that identifies the record that contains it.
    • Do not use spaces or dashes (-) in the field name. You can use the underscore (_) to separate words.
  4. If required, select Mandatory.
  5. Type a description of the field.
  6. Select the data type for field.
  7. Select the field format.
    Note: The choices for this field depend on the type of field you selected from the Data Type list. If you choose Number or Date/Time in the Data Type box, you can select the data format from the Format list. If you selected String from the Data Type box, you should type a syntax token to indicate that this field must be formatted as the specified syntax token dictates. (The default syntax token is X.)

    See Field Format Values for more information on selecting your data format.

  8. To indicate the exact position of the field in the record, type the starting position of the field.
    Note: You want to specify field start positions if, for example, you are using only a few fields but you want them positioned exactly in the record. The alternative to specifying the start position of each field is to add the fields sequentially in the record and then use the Auto Position function.
  9. Type the minimum number of characters that is acceptable for this field.
  10. Type the maximum length of the field.
  11. Click New.

    The system adds the field and creates a new field with blank values ready for you to identify.

  12. Create the rest of the fields according to your record layout.
    Note: Click Delete to stop adding fields.
  13. After adding the last field, if you want the system to automatically position the fields in the record, click Auto Position.

    This option automatically calculates the start position in the record of each field. The system bases the start positions on the assumption that each field is positioned directly after the previous field and is of the length specified in the Max Length box. Click Yes to acknowledge the warning message that fields are sequenced in order.

    Important: Use the Auto Position function only if you define a record tag, and if you define every field in the record in the sequence that each field occurs. See the IBM® Sterling Gentran:Server® for Microsoft Windows Application Integration User Guide for more information on defining record tags.
  14. When you are finished adding fields to the record, click Close.

    Repeat this procedure to add fields to the other records you defined.