Adding a Container to a Message Definition

Name

Enter a unique, descriptive name, for example, ShiptoAddress.

For more information, see Troubleshooting Message Definition Objects.

Optional

Select if this container must occur in each message:

True

This container can be present or absent from a message.

False

Each message has at least one of these containers.

Repeat Type

Select the rule that determines how many containers of this type are expected to occur in each message:

None

This container always occurs once and only once.

Unbounded

This container can occur any number of times or not at all.

Fixed Count

This container occurs X number of times in each message, where X = Instances.

Field Driven

This container appears X number of times, where X = the non-negative integer value of the field specified by Instance Count Field.

Range

This container may appear any number of times between and including X and Y, where X is the positive non-zero integer value of Min and Y is the positive non-zero integer value of Max.

Min

Max

Node Type

Select whether the node consists of data, a literal tag, or both, and if the data conforms to a specified length:

Container

In the wire format, the container is not identified by a tag.

TaggedContainer

The container is identified by a literal tag, for example, ZIP:.

Tag Value

Click . . . to define the tag that identifies this container.

Group Type

Select the option that describes how this container's fields are arranged:

Ordered

This container contains a set of fields that occur in the same order for every message. When you add fields to this container, the field order must match the actual field order in a message.

Alternative

This container contains two or more fields, but only one of the fields is expected to occur per message. Use this type of container group type to model a field that can be one of several types in any given message.

Termination Type

Define how the end of the container is identified:

None

The end of the container is not marked.

End of Container

The container accepts input until the beginning of the next field or container or until the end of the message.

Delimiter

The end of the container is marked by a literal character string or binary sequence.

For example, a semicolon ;

Delimiter Value

Click . . . to set up a delimiter to identify the end of the container.

Fixed Length

For all messages, the container length is defined by a consistent integer value.

Length

Enter the length of the container, for example, 255.

Unit

Select Character if Length is measured in characters or Byte if Length is measured in bytes.

Minimum Length & Delimiter

A minimum number of characters are read from the field, continuing until a delimiter is reached.

Delimiter Value

Click . . . to set up a delimiter to identify the end of the container.

Length

Enter the length of the container, for example, 255.

Unit

Select Character if Length denotes the number of characters or Byte if Length denotes the number of bytes.

Minimum Length & White Space

A minimum number of characters are read from the field, continuing until whitespace data is read, which may include spaces, carriage returns, line feeds, horizontal tabs, or vertical tabs.

Length

Enter the length of the container, for example, 255.

Unit

Select Character if Length is measured in characters or Byte if Length is measured in bytes.

White Space

The end of the container is marked by whitespace data, including spaces, carriage returns, line feeds, horizontal tabs, or vertical tabs.