Input Field Properties
Use the tables provided below to edit the properties of an input field (i.e. a non-calculated field that is extracted by a template).
General tab
Field |
Description |
Name |
Accepts a name for the field. If you have not named a field it is indicated by the prefix "eg_" and the sample data from the first record encountered. Field names may be up to 62 characters in length and may contain uppercase and lowercase characters, spaces and punctuation except for period (.), exclamation point (!), accent grave (`) and brackets ([ ]). Names may begin with any character, except for an underscore or space. If a name is entered with leading spaces, the name is accepted but the leading spaces are ignored. Note If you elect to enforce DBF field naming rules, field names must adhere to the dBASE III field naming convention:
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Template Width |
Displays a field’s template width (the number of characters extracted from a report). This value is blank for calculated fields and for fields imported from an external database. You can modify the template width by clicking on its cell and typing a new value. You should use caution, however, when changing this value, as it has implications for how data is extracted from a report. Typically, you would change this value to adjust the width of a field to match a change in the structure of a report. For example, when dealing with Y2K, an IT department might have modified the structure of a report to accommodate years expressed in four digit format. This change would cause date fields in a report to grow by two characters, so you might need to increase the template width to accommodate this change. |
Type |
Displays the field’s type. The drop-down list contains all available field types: text, date/time, numeric, and memo. Monarch Data Prep Studio initially sets the field type according to the data it finds in the field. |
Decimals |
Accepts a value representing the number of decimal places of accuracy that will be calculated for a numeric field. This value is grayed out for character, date, and memo fields. Note that the data length value must be large enough to accommodate both the integer portion and the decimal portion of the largest number that the field definition is likely to produce. Monarch Data Prep Studio rounds all values in the field to accommodate the specified number of decimal places. Use the drop-down provided to set a number of decimal places of accuracy. Selecting a number from 0 to 9 rounds to the decimal precision specified and limits the numeric data range to 15 digits. Selecting "Floating" sets the precision to the full numeric range (i.e., ± 5.1 × 10^-324 to ± 1.7 × 10^308). Selecting the Set All button applies the decimal precision specified to all numeric fields in the current Report Design session. |
Format |
Displays the selected format for the field. The drop-down list contains all available formats for the field type. For text fields, the only format available is General. For numeric fields, the formats are:
Note that the E (i.e., exponential) format string is applied to numbers when the decimal precision is set to Floating and the numeric format selected is General. If the decimal precision is set to Floating and the format selected is Thousands and Currency, numbers in the N (i.e., number) and C (i.e., currency) format strings are respectively returned. For date/time fields, the formats are:
Selecting the Set All button applies the format specified to all numeric or date/time fields in the current Report Design session. |
Copy values from previous record |
Ticking this box instructs Monarch Data Prep Studio to copy and use the value of the cell directly above it when a cell with a blank value is encountered. |
Verify (non-calculated fields only) |
Displays, and allows the specifying of, the current field verification settings. The selected settings are used when verifying field boundaries.
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Advanced tab
Use the Advanced tab to capture multiple line fields. A multiple line field may have a fixed number of lines or a variable number of lines. Select one of the Start Field On options to indicate the location of the first line of the field, then select one of the End Field On options to indicate the location of the last line of the field.
Field |
Description |
Start Field On options: |
Select one of the following options to indicate where the selected field begins:
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End Field On options: |
Select one of the following options to indicate the height of the field:
Monarch Data Prep Studio will also terminate a multiple line field after it extends two pages. The field will be terminated on the second page where the page break character (character code 12) is encountered. This prevents a field from continuing without end if the selected End Field On action is not appropriate to end the field. Note: The Any Template Hit behavior is always enforced by Monarch Data Prep Studio, even when the Any Template Hit option is not selected. Select this option only when none of the other options would apply. Using a dummy template to terminate a multiple line field - If none of the other End Field On options can be used to terminate a multiple line field and you don't have an appropriate template already defined that can be used to terminate the field, consider creating a dummy template specifically for this purpose. By creating a template, you have available to you all of Monarch Data Prep Studio's sophisticated trapping techniques. |