Flat File Adapter Reference

This page explains the Flat File Adapter in Bridge context. If you were looking for the same information regarding the PAS Designer, refer to Flat File Adapter in the Designer guide.

Tagged Values

Class <<FlatFile>>

This is the root record of the flat file declaration. This class cannot have any attributes, only associations to <<FlatFileRecord>> classes and <<FlatFileGroup>> classes are allowed.

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
escapeCharacter	Defines the character used for escaping when a reserved character is used within a field value.	any character		`/`
fillCharacter	Defines a dummy character to fill non-existent values (results in NULL). Used for fixed attribute layout only.	any character		`0`
quoteCharacter	The quoteCharacter will be ignored by reading field value.	any character		`/`
recordSeparator	Separator of the different records, normally line feed and carriage return. For serialized files, any other character can be defined.	any character or one of		`<newline>`
		`<esc>`
		`<newline>`	parses correctly on Unix and Windows platforms
		`<space>`
		`<tab>` `<tabulator>`
		`<unixnewline>`	composes newline
		`<windowsnewline>`	composes newline and carriage return
reservedCharacters	Defines a list of characters to be escaped automatically when the file is composed.	any character		`{"/", "%", "&", "(", ")"}`

Class <<FlatFileRecord>>

This class describes the attributes of a record. A record is one "line" in a file and can consist of multiple attributes.

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
attributeLayout	Defines the attribute layout (fixed or separated) of the flat file record. Fixed: For attribute values that are shorter than the maximum length of the field, the field is filled with a fill character. As per default, this is blank space, but you can change the fill character in tagged value fillCharacter of the <<FlatFile>> class (see Tagged Values of Class <<FlatFile>>). Separated: If separated is used, specify the separator using attributeSeparator (see below).	fixed	fixed attribute layout
attributeLayout		separated	separated attribute layout
attributeSeparator	Defines the attribute/field separator.	any character	use this character as attribute separator
attributeSeparator	Defines the attribute/field separator.	<Tab>	use tabulator as attribute separator
attributePattern	A RegEx pattern to parse the record content into the attributes using capture groups.	a valid regular expression		`^(.?)(://)([A-Za-z0-9.])(:[0-9])(/.)$`
evaluationOrder	Defines the order in which the association of the classes starting on same parent class must be processed, see Flat File Adapter Parsing Process.	any integer
ignoreEmptyRecords	Boolean value for ignoring empty records. If set to true, no item will be generated, if none of the defined attributes or sub records have any content. Note, that a record containing only empty Strings is not empty – in opposition to a record composed from `NULL`s. See ignoreEmptyStrings below to skip processing of records containing only empty Strings.	true	ignore empty records
ignoreEmptyRecords		false (default)	process empty records
ignoreEmptyStrings	Boolean value for ignoring empty string attributes. If set to true, empty string values will be processed to `NULL`. Use this tag in combination with ignoreEmptyRecords to skip processing of records containing only empty Strings.	true	ignore empty string values
ignoreEmptyStrings		false (default)	preserve empty string values
lineNumber	Specifies the number of a record in the file. The first record is lineNumber=1, the second lineNumber=2, etc.	any integer
pattern	A pattern to identify the record. The pattern is checked before the fields are separated. If no pattern is defined, all records will be parsed.	any character
pattern		a valid regular expression		`^Pattern.*`
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping. If suppressEscaping on a <<FlatFileRecord>> is true, <<FlatFileComplexAttribute>> that are part of this record will inherit this setting.	true	attribute values of this record will not be un-escaped (parser) or escaped (composer)
suppressEscaping		false	escaping/un-escaping is not suppressed
parseMacro	A macro that is executed while parsing/composing a file or complex field. This macro can contain multiple commands separated by commas or spaces. Macros on classes are executed before the processing of its attributes or associations. The ID represents a counter. The following counters are available: eight automatic counters with ID `AUTO0` .. `AUTO7` two automatic line counters with ID `LINE0` and `LINE1` (parsing only) unlimited custom counters with ID `CUSTOM0` .. `CUSTOMx` Automatic counters are increased by 1 for each processed record. Custom counters have to be increased manually using the increase macro. All counters have the initial value of 0 when they process the first record. For more details on macro commands see Macro Expressions .	any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(AUTO0)`
composeMacro		any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(AUTO0)`

Class <<FlatFileGroup>>

This class is used to group multiple records into one (virtual) structure. A group does not have a representation in the flat file itself.

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
pattern	A pattern to identify the record. The pattern is checked before the fields are separated. If no pattern is defined, all records will be parsed.	any character		`^Pattern.*`
pattern		a valid regular expression		`^Pattern.*`

Class <<FlatFileSubRecord>>

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values	Example
condition	A condition that must evaluate true if the record exists. The condition can refer to a self object which represents the current state of the parent.	any valid conditional expression	`self.UNS.exists()`
evaluationOrder	Defines the order in which the associations starting on same parent class must be processed, see Flat File Adapter Parsing Process.	any integer
offset	Define the position of this record in the flat file, starting with 0 for the first record and always relative to the parent element.	any integer

Attribute <<FlatFileAttribute>>

Fixed Layout

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
decimals	Replaced by format.
externalLength	Number of characters of the field (only for fixed length records relevant).	any integer
format	Pattern for formatting numeric and date & time values. For details see Number Formatting respectively Date and Time Formatting.	any valid number or dateTime pattern		`S9G999G990D00` `%Y.%m.%d-%H:%M:%`
nativeTyp deprecated	Replaced by format.
order	The evaluation order of the attributes. If offset is not used, order reflects the field number within the record.	any integer
offset	The character position of this field within the record.	any integer
padding	Defines the padding rule for the field. When parsing, the characters on the left or right side are ignored up to the first different character. When composing, the field is filled on the left or right side with the specified character.	left("<any character>")		`left("0")`
padding		right("<any character>")		`right(" ")`
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping.	true	attribute values of this attribute will not be un-escaped (parser) or escaped (composer)
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping.	false	escaping/un-escaping is not suppressed
parseMacro	A macro that is executed while parsing/composing a file or complex field. This macro can contain multiple commands separated by commas or spaces. Macros on classes are executed before the processing of its attributes or associations. The ID represents a counter. The following counters are available: eight automatic counters with ID `AUTO0` .. `AUTO7` two automatic line counters with ID `LINE0` and `LINE1` (parsing only) unlimited custom counters with ID `CUSTOM0` .. `CUSTOMx` Automatic counters are increased by 1 for each processed record. Custom counters have to be increased manually using the increase macro. All counters have the initial value of 0 when they process the first record. For more details on macro commands see Macro Expressions .	any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`
composeMacro		any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`

Separated Layout

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
format	Pattern for formatting numeric and date & time values. For details see Number Formatting respectively Date and Time Formatting.
order	The evaluation order of the attributes. If offset is not used, order reflects the field number within the record.		any integer
offset	The relative position of the field in respect of the other fields in the record, e.g. field number 3 has offset = 2.	any integer
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping.
parseMacro	A macro that is executed while parsing/composing a file or complex field. This macro can contain multiple commands separated by commas or spaces. Macros on classes are executed before the processing of its attributes or associations. The ID represents a counter. The following counters are available: eight automatic counters with ID `AUTO0` .. `AUTO7` two automatic line counters with ID `LINE0` and `LINE1` (parsing only) unlimited custom counters with ID `CUSTOM0` .. `CUSTOMx` Automatic counters are increased by 1 for each processed record. Custom counters have to be increased manually using the increase macro. All counters have the initial value of 0 when they process the first record. For more details on macro commands see Macro Expressions .	any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`
composeMacro		any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`

Attribute <<FlatFileComplexAttribute>>

This class is used to divide fields into sub-fields. You can think of this like a <<FlatFileRecord>> placed within a single field.

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values		Example
attributeLayout	Defines the attribute layout (fixed or separated) of the complex attribute. Fixed: For attribute values that are shorter than the maximum length of the field, the field is filled with a fill character. As per default, this is blank space, but you can change the the fill character in tagged value fillCharacter of the <<FlatFile>> class (see Tagged Values of Class <<FlatFile>>). Separated: If separated is used, specify the separator using attributeSeparator (see below).	fixed	fixed attribute layout
attributeLayout		separated	separated attribute layout
attributeSeparator	Defines the attribute/field separator.	any character	use this character as attribute separator
attributeSeparator	Defines the attribute/field separator.	<Tab>	use tabulator as attribute separator
attributePattern	A RegEx pattern to parse the field content into a complex structure using capture groups.	a valid regular expression	`^(.?)(://)([A-Za-z0-9.])(:[0-9])(/.)$`
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping.	true	attribute values of this attribute will not be un-escaped (parser) or escaped (composer)
suppressEscaping	Boolean value to suppress escaping.	false	escaping/un-escaping is not suppressed
parseMacro	A macro that is executed while parsing/composing a file or complex field. This macro can contain multiple commands separated by commas or spaces. Macros on classes are executed before the processing of its attributes or associations. The ID represents a counter. The following counters are available: eight automatic counters with ID `AUTO0` .. `AUTO7` two automatic line counters with ID `LINE0` and `LINE1` (parsing only) unlimited custom counters with ID `CUSTOM0` .. `CUSTOMx` Automatic counters are increased by 1 for each processed record. Custom counters have to be increased manually using the increase macro. All counters have the initial value of 0 when they process the first record. For more details on macro commands see Macro Expressions .	any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`
composeMacro		any valid macro expression (see Macro Expressions)		`GetCounter(0)`

Action "parse"

Tagged Value	Description	Allowed Values
resource	Instead of specifying parameters name or data for the parse flat file action (see section Flat File Adapter Reference#Parameters below), you can import the file to be parsed as a resource to your Builder project (see Importing File Resources). Specify the name of this resource here. Tagged value resource takes precedence over both parameters name and data. When a resource is specified, the service will only try to parse the file specified via the resource. Values that have been provided through parameters will be omitted. The resource can be replaced changing the resource path in the Flat File Parser/Composer settings of the xUML service. See xUML Service Settings for more information on changing the settings of a service.	any valid imported file resource added to the component diagram

Parameters

Action "compose"

Name	Type	Direction	Mandatory	Description	Allowed Values		Example
<any>	<<FlatFile>> class	in		Provide an object containing the flat file data. The class defining the type of this object should have stereotype <<FlatFile>> and should depict the structure of the file.
encoding	String	in		Provide the encoding of the file to be composed as specified in the Charset Definitions appendix.	any valid encoding (see Charset Definitions)		`UTF-8`
encoding	String	in			default	`ISO-8859-1` (Latin1)
locale	NumbersLocale	in		Specify how number values will be treated, when written to the flat file (decimal point, currency symbol, ...). You can overwrite the system locales here. Refer to Number Formatting for more information.	default	system locales
name	String	in	()	Specify a full path to the flat file, if you want to write the <<FlatFile>> object to the file system. Alternatively, you can compose the flat file to a Blob object (see parameter data). Note, that the name parameter takes priority over data.			`tmp/myFlatFile.txt`
data	Blob	out	()	If you want to compose the <<FlatFile>> object to a Blob object, use this parameter as output of the compose action. Alternatively, you can write the composed flat file directly to the file system (see parameter name). Note, that the name parameter takes priority over data.

If you provide both parameters, name and data, the <<FlatFile>> object will be written to the file system.

Action "parse"

Name	Type	Direction	Mandatory	Description	Allowed Values		Example
data	Blob	in	()	Provide the flat file data to be parsed. Alternatively, you can specify a path to a flat file in the file system (see parameter name). Note, that the name parameter takes priority over data.
name	String	in	()	Specify a full path to the flat file to be parsed. Alternatively, you can parse the flat file from a Blob object (see parameter data). Note, that the name parameter takes priority over data.			`tmp/myFile.txt`
encoding	String	in		Provide the encoding of the file to be parsed as specified in the Charset Definitions appendix.	any valid encoding (see Charset Definitions)		`UTF-8`
encoding	String	in			default	`ISO-8859-1` (Latin1)	`UTF-8`
locale	NumbersLocale	in		Specify how number values will be treated, when parsed from the flat file (decimal point, currency symbol, ...). You can overwrite the system locales here, if the file was written with divergent locales. Refer to Number Formatting for more information.
<any>	<<FlatFile>> class	out		The adapter returns a parsed flat file object. The class defining the type of this object should have stereotype <<FlatFile>> and should depict the structure of the file.

If you provide both parameters, name and data, the <<FlatFile>> object will be parsed from the file system. If you specified tagged value resource (see section Flat File Adapter Reference#Tagged Values), the file will only be parsed from the resource.

Parameter Types

Class	Attribute	Type	Description
NumbersLocale	negativeSign	String	Characters used to signify negative values. Usually '`-`'.
	positiveSign	String	Characters used to signify positive values. Usually '`+`'.
	thousandsSeparator	String	Characters used to separate units of thousand, e.g. '`,`'.
	decimalPoint	String	e.g. '`.`'
	currencySymbol	String	e.g. '`$`'

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