Input Field Properties

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:

• Names may be up to ten characters long and may contain any letter or number and the underscore character (_).

• The first character must be a letter.

• Spaces and punctuation are not allowed.

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:

• General

• Thousands

• Currency

• Percentage

• Time Span

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:

• General

• Short Date

• Long Date

• Short Date and Time

• Long Data and Time

• Time

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.

• Left side: Select to verify the field’s left boundary.

• Right side: Select to verify the field’s right boundary.

• Type: Select to verify the field’s type.

Start Field On options:

Select one of the following options to indicate where the selected field begins:

• Line Number: Select this option to indicate that the first line of the field begins at an absolute offset from the top of the template. The line number represented by this setting is determined by the position of the field highlight in the template sample. For example, if you highlighted the field on the second line of the template sample, this option would be represented as Line Number 2.

• String [string] anywhere In Previous Line: Indicates that the defined field will exist only if the specified string is found anywhere on the previous line, so the field will start on the following line from where the string is found. This option is typically used to assist in the trapping of HTML data.

• Preceding String [string] in current line:  Select this option to indicate that the first line of the field begins immediately to the right of a string, such as a label. Enter the string in the adjacent box. The maximum length of the string is n-1 where n is the column starting position of the field. For example, if the field starts in column 15 you may enter a string of up to 14 characters (i.e., the entire search string must fit to the left of the field). This option is typically used to locate a field based upon the presence of a label to its left.

• After Last Defined Field in Template: Select this option to indicate that the first line of the field begins two lines below the last line of a multiple line field which is also extracted by the template. This option can be used to capture a field that falls immediately after a variable line field, in which case the starting position of the second field may vary relative to the top of the template but falls at an absolute offset relative to the end of a variable line field. This option can be used to capture a multiple line field or a normal [single line] field. To capture a normal field, select the "Line Count: 1" End Field On option.

End Field On options:

Select one of the following options to indicate the height of the field:

• Line Count: Select this option to terminate the field after a fixed number of lines. This option should be used whenever all instances of the field have the same number of lines. Use the spin box to indicate the field's height, in lines.

• Nonblank Preceding String of n Characters: Select this option to terminate the field when a line is encountered that contains a nonblank string to the left of the field. The maximum length of the string is n-1 where n is the column starting position of the field. For example, if the field starts in column 15 you may specify up to 14 as the length of the nonblank string (i.e., the entire string must fit to the left of the field). This option is typically used to terminate a field based upon the presence of a subsequent field or field label that appears below and to its left. Note: Use this option only if the number of lines in each instance of the field varies. If the field always contains the same number of lines, use the Line Count option, described above.

• Blank Field Values: Select this option to terminate the field when a blank line or series of blank lines is encountered. It is important to note that Monarch Data Prep Studio does not require the entire line to be blank, only the column positions occupied by the field. Use the spin box to indicate the number of blank field values required to terminate the field. Note: Use this option only if the number of lines in each instance of the field varies. If the field always contains the same number of lines, use the Line Count option, described above.

• End of Left Justification: Select this option to terminate the field when Monarch Data Prep Studio encounters a line with a blank in the first column position of the field or any nonblank character in the column immediately preceding the field. Either of these conditions indicate that left justification has ended. This option is useful for capturing left aligned text blocks. However, if the text block contains a blank line, such as that found between paragraphs, Monarch Data Prep Studio will consider the blank line an end to left justification and will therefore terminate the field. For multiple paragraph blocks, use either the Nonblank Preceding String option, the Blank Fields option or the Trap By Any Other Template option. Note: Use this option only if the number of lines in each instance of the field varies. If the field always contains the same number of lines, use the Line Count option, described above.

• Any Template Hit: Select this option to terminate the field when Monarch Data Prep Studio encounters another template, including another instance of this template. The field will also be terminated if an HTML markup line is encountered. Note that a multiple line field will not terminate if it encounters a Postal line template. In this case, the Postal line template is ignored and the multiple line field continues. The Postal line template will not be affected (the address fields will be extracted both by the Postal line template and the multiple line 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.