Defining position-based fields using the Template Flat View

You can define fields in the flat file definition using drag and drop as an alternative to right-clicking in the tree and selecting components to add from a menu. Use this procedure to define position-based fields in a flat file definition using the template flat view.

Open an existing position-based flat file.
In the Template Flat view, select a field to be defined and drag it to the Message Definition view.

Note:
It is not possible to drag and drop fields that span several records. Records have to be defined manually in the Message Definition View, one by one and in a correct order.
If this is the first field to be defined, drop the field on the record. Otherwise, drop the field on the previous field.

A field is created in the Message Definition view with the correct start position and field length.
If the tool cannot automatically calculate the start position, set the start position manually to -1.

Note:
If you attempt to set a start position and field length that would cause fields to overlap, a warning message is displayed and you must specify a new value.
After the structure is defined, set the metadata of the field such as Name and TagName and the other mandatory properties in the Properties view.

For more information on Setting properties and metadata, see Changing the message component property values.