• Chapter 1: Getting Started with Stylus Studio®
• Chapter 2: Editing and Querying XML
• Chapter 3: Converting Non-XML Files to XML
  • Overview of Convert to XML
  • Choosing an Input File
  • The Convert to XML Editor
  • Parts of an Input File
  • Working with Regions
    • Converting the Region Type
      • How to Convert a Region Type
    • Adjusting Fixed-Width Regions
    • Defining and Joining Regions
    • Controlling Region Output
  • Working with Fields
  • Controlling XML Output
  • Creating an Adapter
  • Using Adapters in Stylus Studio
  • More About Converting EDI
  • Invoking an Adapter Programmatically
  • User-Defined Adapter Properties Reference
• Chapter 4: Working with XSLT
• Chapter 5: Creating XSLT Using the XSLT Mapper
• Chapter 6: Debugging Stylesheets
• Chapter 7: Defining XML Schemas
• Chapter 8: Defining Document Type Definitions
• Chapter 9: Writing XPath Expressions
• Chapter 10: Working with XQuery in Stylus Studio
• Chapter 11: Composing Web Service Calls
• Chapter 12: Accessing Relational Data as XML
• Chapter 13: Integrating with Third-Party File Systems
• Chapter 14: Extending Stylus Studio
• Chapter 15: Stylus Studio GUI Reference

Home > Online Product Documentation > Table of Contents > Converting the Region Type

Converting the Region Type

The Region Type field in the Properties window displays information about the type of region Stylus Studio inferred when the file was first read. Its value is either Fixed-Width, Line-Oriented, or Unknown.

Stylus Studio's Convert to XML interprets regions with CR/LF control characters as line-oriented regions. There might be occasions, however, when you want to change the region type from line-oriented to fixed-width, or vice versa. This section describes the tools you can use to change a region from one type to another.

Consider the following file fixed-width file:

Make        Model    Year    Mileage
               
BMW         R1150RS  2004    14274  
               
Kawasaki    GPz1100  1996    60234  
               
Ducati      ST2      1997    24000  
               
MotoGuzzi   LeMans   2001    12393  
               
BMW         R1150R   2002    17439  
               
Ducati      Monster  2000    15682  
               
Aprilia     Futura   2001    17320 
               

            

It is a simple .txt file with fields ( Make, Model, and so on) that have been created using spaces. Each new row was created using the Enter key in the text editor, resulting in CR/LF control characters at the end of each line that cause Convert to XML to interpret the file as a single line-oriented region, like this:

Figure 178. Fields are Aligned by Default

For display purposes, we can remove the spaces Stylus Studio has inserted for readability (the cells with the light blue shading) by clicking the Align Fields ( ) button. This results in a display that resembles the source ( Figure 179), but Stylus Studio still considers the region to be line-oriented.

Figure 179. Turning Off Align Fields Can Aid Readability

When you convert a line-oriented region to a fixed-width region, Convert to XML removes spaces it added for readability and depicts only the spaces in the original input file used to create the fields and the field values themselves, as show in Figure 180.

Figure 180. Line-Oriented Regions Converted to Fixed-Width

By default, Stylus Studio displays fixed-width files using an 80-character row. This accounts for the input files appearance when it is first displayed as a fixed-width file - if you scan the document, you can see that all of the file's original information, including the CR/LF control characters has been retained, but that the formatting differs - the original input file had eight rows; now it has four rows of 80 characters.

How to Convert a Region Type

To convert a region type:

2. Click the Convert to Fixed-Width Region ( ) or Convert to Line-Oriented Region ( ) button. These actions are also accessible from the ConvertToXML menu and the shortcut menu in the Convert to XML Editor.