• 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
  • Working with Fields
    • Naming Fields
    • Defining Fields
    • Component and Sub-Component 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 > Component and Sub-Component Fields

Component and Sub-Component Fields

Some file formats - many EDI variants, for example - allow fields to be subdivided into arrays, sub-fields, or composite fields. Collectively, these fields are referred to as component fields in Convert to XML. Typically, the headers of these files contain information about the character used to specify component fields. Convert to XML uses this information to set the default value for the Field Component Separator property and render XML output accordingly.

Consider the following input file, which uses a semi-colon (;) to specify component fields:

Make;Model;Year;Color;Seat
               
BMW;R1150RS;2004;grey,metallic;black,vinyl
               
MZ;Scorpion;1995;green,clearcoat;black,vinyl
               
Ducati;ST2;1997;red,clearcoat;black,leather
               

            

Using the first row to supply the field names and default Component Element Name ( component), the Convert to XML creates the following XML output (first two elements shown for brevity):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
               
<root>
               
	<row>
               
		<Make>BMW</Make>
               
		<Model>R1150RS</Model>
               
		<Year>2004</Year>
               
		<Color>
               
			<component>grey</component>
               
			<component>metallic</component>
               
		</Color>
               
		<Seat>
               
			<component>black</component>
               
			<component>vinyl</component>
               
		</Seat>
               
	</row>
               
	<row>
               
		<Make>MZ</Make>
               
		<Model>Scorpion</Model>
               
		<Year>1995</Year>
               
		<Color>
               
			<component>green</component>
               
			<component>clearcoat</component>
               
		</Color>
               
		<Seat>
               
			<component>black</component>
               
			<component>vinyl</component>
               
		</Seat>
               
	</row>
               
...
               

            

The <component> elements are created as subelements of the <Color> and <Seat> elements.

For line-oriented regions in files containing component fields, you can change the default Field Component Separator property, and the Component Element Name and Component Element Name properties, that is, the name you want to use for the component fields' container elements.