Parse Delimited form - Completing the Parse Rules tab

Complete this tab to identify the input character that delimits fields in the input file, and to configure a mapping from parsed input data to the clipboard or to other destinations.

Field descriptions

Field Description
Field Format Select:
  • Comma Separated Values (CSV) — to indicate that the contents of the file are in CSV format (available as an export file option from Microsoft Excel). Field values are separated by a single comma. Field values that contain a comma are surrounded by a pair of double-quote characters.
  • Custom Definition — to indicate that the contents of the file use a character or character sequence to delimit fields, as defined on the next two fields of this tab.
Delimiter If you selected Custom Definition for the Field Format , enter the character that separates each field in the input record. Enter one of the following
  • A single character
  • An equals sign (=) followed by a property reference in the form pagename.propertyname, where this property contains the separator character at runtime
  • One of the two-character escape sequences \n for newline, \r for return, \f for form feed, \0 for the null character, or \t for a tab character.

You cannot enter an octal or hexadecimal character value here.
Escape Character Optional. If you selected Custom Definition for the Field Format , specify a character that, when it immediately precedes the delimiter character, causes that one delimiter character to be ignored and become part of the input data.

For example, if a comma is the delimiter character, and you enter a backward slash (\) in this field, input text containing:

parsley, sage, rosemary\, and thyme,

produces three parsed segments. The last segment contains a comma (and no backward slash):

parsley
sage
rosemary, and thyme

To define the escape character as the value of a property reference, enter an equals sign (=) followed by a property reference in the form pagename.propertyname, where this property contains the escape character at runtime.

If you leave this field blank, the system uses a backslash character as the escape character.

Processing method

Field Description
Processing Method  
Method
Indicate how this parse rule operates at runtime. Select one:
Use parse details Applies the parse details specified in this rule.
Build tag list Stores the output of this rule as the values of a single Value List mode property named pyTagList on a new clipboard page named Work.

Generates valid property names from the data in the file and records them in each value of the Value List property. (Only certain characters can appear in property names; hyphens and any other invalid characters found in the input are skipped.)

Use tag list Use a tag list property ( pyTagList on a clipboard page named Work) to store the elements in this record.
Build value list Store the output of this rule as the values of a single Value List property. Enter only one row in the Parsing Details array:
  • Select Clipboard as the Map To field value.
  • Enter the name of this Value List property in the Map To Key field.

For example, if the first record in an input file contains header information that identifies the values in all the later records, you can choose Build tag list in a first Parse Delimited rule, and Use tag list in a second Parse Delimited rule.

If you plan to validate the page that contains the imported rows and save it as an instance in the database, remember that the tags must identify existing, defined properties.
Drain Remaining Data When selected, at runtime the system ignores remaining data in the input record in the input data stream. If cleared, later processing can continue from the current position.

Parsing details

Field Description
Parsing Details Complete this array to define the processing for each input field. Enter rows in the order the data appear in the input file.
Required Select to mark an element as required. If the data on the input stream is exhausted but parse details marked Required remain, parsing halts. Data processed so far remains available on the clipboard.
Description Enter text to describe this parse step.
Map To

Enter the action to take in this parse step. Select:

  • Clipboard
  • XML Parse Rule
  • Delimited Parse Rule
  • A function rule in a MapTo library.
This is a required field if the Method field is set to build value list.
Map To Key
Identify the value of a key or value used in conjunction with the value you entered into the Map To field:
Clipboard Enter a property reference on the clipboard that is to receive the value.
XML Parse Rule Enter a Namespace value that is the first key part of that rule, a period, and a Record Type value for the Parse XML rule key. Or you can enter only a Record Type value to indicate that the Namespace of the Parse XML rule is the same as the Namespace of this rule.
Delimited Parse Rule Enter a Record Type value.
a function Identify a property reference to use as the third parameter of the function.
If the Method field is set to build value list, this field is required.