Using properties in the UserArea

If your custom data can be organized in name-value pairs, you can use the standard 'Property' structure to include this data in the UserArea. In that case customize the application that sends a BOD so that it includes the required properties. Customize the application that receives the BOD so it can handle the data.

This code is an example of a UserArea containing data using the standard Property structure: 

<UserArea> 
   <Property>
      <NameValue name="AcmeCustomNote" type="StringType">My note</NameValue>
   </Property>
   <Property>
      <NameValue name="AcmeCustomQuantity" type="NumericType">10.00</NameValue>
   </Property>
</UserArea>
Note: To avoid name clashes with properties that may already be used by some applications, we recommend that you use a prefix, such as your company name.

This table shows some of the types that you can use:

Type Examples of Values
StringType This is a string
NumericType 10.00
IntegerNumericType 1234
DateTimeType 2004-12-31T12:32:14.123Z
IndicatorType true, false Two possible values

To use UserArea properties in ION, no changes are required in the Data Catalog. If you use a BOD that has a UserArea, you can select your properties in an event monitor or an activation policy.

Note: You cannot select your properties in ION Connect (content-based routing and filtering).

To select a UserArea property:

  1. In the attribute selection window, find the location of the User Area and expand the User Area.
    For example, the window can contain this code: 
    Contract
	ContractHeader
		…
		UserArea
			Property
				NameValue
  2. Select the NameValue attribute.
  3. Specify the data type for the attribute.
    Normally the data type is retrieved from the Data Catalog but when using a UserArea Property you must specify the data type, because properties can have different data types.
  4. For the selected NameValue attribute, define an attribute filter on the name to select the specific property you are interested in.
    For example:

    Contract/ContractHeader/UserArea/Property/@name = "AcmeCustomQuantity"

    Note: If you use multiple properties from the same user area in an event monitor or workflow activation policy, you must define the filter for the first property before you can select the next property. Otherwise two selected attributes will have the same XPath, which is not accepted in ION.