Field Attribute Node Properties

 

When you select a Field Attribute node in BizTalk Editor, you can examine and set its associated properties in the Visual Studio Properties window. These properties are divided into the following categories:

• Advanced. This category contains properties that correspond to XSD concepts that can be categorized as advanced, such as data type derivations.

• BizTalk. This category contains properties that are related to usability and annotation features that are specific to Microsoft BizTalk Server.

• General. This category contains properties that correspond to XSD concepts that can be categorized as basic, such as setting the data type of the corresponding element or attribute.

• Restricted. This category contains properties that correspond to XSD concepts related to type derivations through restriction.

When you insert a Field Attribute node, the name of the node as displayed in the schema tree, and which corresponds to its Node Name property, is immediately made available for editing within the schema tree. Your choice of a name for this node is important because it defines the name of the corresponding XML attribute in the instance messages that this schema defines.

Many of the properties associated with Field Attribute nodes correspond directly to the semantics of XML Schema definition language (XSD) constructs. For links to information about XSD concepts and specifications, see XSD Resources on the Web.

Note

Some Field Attribute node properties are automatically enabled or disabled, or shown or hidden, depending on the values of other node properties.

The following table shows the properties associated with Field Attribute nodes that are available in all schemas.

Property name	Category	Description
Base Data Type	Advanced	Specifies the base data type from which the type for the selected Field Attribute node is derived.
CodeList	BizTalk	Specifies the reference number for the code list to use with the selected Field Attribute node and provides access to the CodeList dialog box.
Data Type	General	Specifies the name of an existing data type for the selected Field Attribute node or specifies a name for this data type that can be used elsewhere.
Default Value	General	Specifies the default value for the selected Field Attribute node.
Derived By	Advanced	Specifies how the underlying simple type of this Field Attribute node is derived from its base type (by Restriction, List, or Union).
Enumeration	Restricted	Limits any data in an instance message corresponding to the selected Field Attribute node to a specific set of values.
Field Type	General	Identifies the selected Field Attribute node as a Field Attribute node as opposed to a Field Element node.
Final	Advanced	Specifies derivation restrictions for the data type defined for the selected Field Attribute node.
Fixed	Advanced	Specifies a fixed value for the attribute(s) in an instance message that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node, if the data is present.
Form	Advanced	Specifies whether local attributes in instance messages must be qualified with a namespace identifier.
Instance XPath	General	Displays the location within instance messages of the attribute that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Item Type	Advanced	Specifies the data type of the corresponding attribute(s) in instance messages when the Derived By property is set to List.
Length	Restricted	Specifies the fixed length of the data corresponding to the selected Field Attribute node in instance messages.
MaxFacet Type	Restricted	Specifies whether the upper bound of the ordered value for any data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node, as specified by the MaxFacet Value property, is inclusive or exclusive.
MaxFacet Value	Restricted	Specifies the maximum value (inclusive or exclusive, as specified by the MaxFacet Type property) for any data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Maximum Length	Restricted	Specifies the maximum length for data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Member Types	Advanced	Specifies the list of valid data types for the corresponding attribute(s) in instance messages when the Derived By property is set to Union.
MinFacet Type	Restricted	Specifies whether the lower bound of the ordered value for any data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node, as specified by the MaxFacet Value property, is inclusive or exclusive.
MinFacet Value	Restricted	Specifies the minimum value (inclusive or exclusive, as specified by the MinFacet Type property) for any data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Minimum Length	Restricted	Specifies the minimum length for data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Namespace	General	Displays the namespace for the selected Field Attribute node.
Node Name	General	Specifies the name of the selected Field Attribute node as it appears in the schema tree view.
Notes	BizTalk	Specifies notes about the selected Field Attribute node.
Pattern	Restricted	Limits any data in an instance message corresponding to the selected Field Attribute node to a specific pattern, as specified by one or more regular expressions.
Use Requirement	General	Specifies whether the attribute that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node is required in an instance message.

When you select a Field Attribute node in BizTalk Editor and you have enabled the Flat File Extension using the Schema Editor Extensions property, you can examine and set additional properties in the Visual Studio Properties window. These properties are divided into the existing category Reference and the new category Flat File, the latter of which contains those properties related to parsing flat files in equivalent XML files and serializing XML files back into flat files.

The following table shows the supplemental properties that are available for Field Attribute nodes when the Flat File Extension is enabled.

Flat file property name	Category	Description
Custom Date/Time Format	Flat File	Specifies the format for your custom date/time type when the selected Field Element node is set to one of the following XSD data types or a simple type derived from one of them: Note: xs:date, xs:dateTime, xs:time, xs:gYearMonth, xs:gYear, xs:gMonthDay, xs:gDay, or xs:gMonth
Justification	Flat File	Specifies the left or right justification of the contents of the field(s) that correspond to the selected Field Attribute node.
Minimum Length with Pad Character	Flat File	Specifies how a serializer pads the data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Pad Character	Flat File	Specifies the pad character to be used for data in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Pad Character Type	Flat File	Specifies how an alternative pad character will be expressed in the Pad Character property and in the underlying XSD representation.
Positional Length	Reference	Specifies the length, from the previous sibling or delimiter, of the field in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Positional Offset	Reference	Specifies the starting offset, relative to the previous sibling or delimiter, of the field in instance messages that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node.
Wrap Character	Flat File	Specifies a character to be used as the wrap character for the field(s) in an instance message that corresponds to the selected Field Attribute node. Wrap characters cause the characters that occur between them to be interpreted as simple data, and to not have the special meaning otherwise associated with it.
Wrap Character Type	Flat File	Specifies how an alternative wrap character will be expressed in the Wrap Character property and in the underlying XSD representation.

See Also

Node Properties - By Node Type
Node Properties - Alphabetical Listings