Hi Folks, An input document -- a data format -- consists of a series of "fields".
A field may be fixed length or variable length. A field may be nillable or not nillable. A field may consist of parts, aka, a composite field. A field may have a choice of values or not. So there are 4 variables: length, nillability, parts, and choice. Each variable has two possibilities (e.g., "length" is either fixed or variable). If I remember math/statistics correctly, the total number of permutations of 4 variables, each with 2 values, are: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16 There are 16 categories of fields. I list the categories below. Have I missed any category? /Roger 1. Fixed length, nillable, one part, no choice 2. Fixed length, nillable, one part, choice 3. Fixed length, nillable, multiple parts, no choice 4. Fixed length, nillable, multiple parts, choice 5. Fixed length, not nillable, one part, no choice 6. Fixed length, not nillable, one part, choice 7. Fixed length, not nillable, multiple parts, no choice 8. Fixed length, not nillable, multiple parts, choice 9. Variable length, nillable, one part, no choice 10. Variable length, nillable, one part, choice 11. Variable length, nillable, multiple parts, no choice 12. Variable length, nillable, multiple parts, choice 13. Variable length, not nillable, one part, no choice 14. Variable length, not nillable, one part, choice 15. Variable length, not nillable, multiple parts, no choice 16. Variable length, not nillable, multiple parts, choice
