Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Defining a native format schema
Invoking the
Native Format Builder
wizard brings up an initial start screen that
leads on to the first step in the wizard, choosing the type of format, as shown in
the following screenshot:
This allows us to identify the overall record structure. If we have an existing schema
document that describes the record structure, then we can point to that. Usually,
we will need to determine the type of structure of the file ourselves. The choices
available are:
•
Delimited
: These are files such as
CSV
files (
Comma Separated Values
),
records with spaces, or '+' signs for separators.
Fixed Length
: These are files whose records consist of fixed length fields. Be
careful not to confuse these with space-separated files, as if a value does not
fill the entire field, it will usually be padded with spaces.
Complex Type
: These files may include nested records like a master detail
type structure.
DTD to be converted to XSD
: These are XML Data Type Definition XML
files that will be mapped onto an XML Schema description of the file content.
Cobol Copybook to be converted to native
format
: These are files that
have usually been produced by a COBOL system, often originating from
a mainframe.
•
•
•
•
We will look at a delimited file, as it is one of the most common formats.
