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Defining Fields

A field represents a single element of data in a record. Follow these steps to define a field in your print image file:

1. In the Print Image File Panel, click and drag to highlight text or spaces. When dragging, a highlighter icon appears..
2. If the highlighted text exists within a defined record, Analyzer displays the Field Definition dialog.
3. Enter a name in the Name edit box and, if necessary, change the data type in the Type drop-down menu. To specify additional attributes for your field, click [Advanced Options] and choose from the available options. For more information, see Advanced Options.
4. If the highlighted text is not located within a defined record, Analyzer first displays the Specify Record Type dialog.
• To include the field in an existing record, select either Existing Record “Detail” directly above the field or Existing Record “Detail” directly below the field and click [OK] (If different, the name of the record appears in place of “Detail”).
• If you do not wish to include the field in an existing record, select New Record and click [OK].
• Analyzer then displays the Field Definition dialog (shown in the previous step). Enter a name in the Name edit box and, if necessary, change the data type in the Type drop-down menu.
5. Click [OK]. Analyzer returns to the Print Image File Definition panel and does one of the following:
• Analyzer prompts you to define the new record by selecting more text. Continue with the steps described in Defining Records.
• Analyzer extends the specified existing record (if necessary) and highlights your field.
6. Continue defining fields and records as necessary. Once you have finished, follow the steps described in Flattening a Print Image File.

Multiple-Line Character Fields

A multiple-line character field spans more than one line of data. You can control how multiple-line character fields are processed in Advanced Options.

By default, Analyzer processes a multiple-line character field as a series of individual fields. For example, if you select a three-line address block and name the field “Address”, Analyzer converts the three lines into three fields: Address01, Address02 and Address03. The three fields have the same properties.

You can override this default behavior and process multiple-line character fields as a single concatenated field. This option is useful for processing multi-line comments in a report, such as the following:

Expenses incurred by

Janet Perkins

By checking the Convert To Single Field checkbox, you create the following single field:

Expenses incurred by Janet Perkins

Analyzer automatically inserts a space between lines before concatenating them.

Variable-Height Fields

By default, Analyzer assigns a field height based on the text you select in the Print Image File Definition panel. The assigned height may not be appropriate for all occurrences of your field.

You can control how variable-height fields are processed in Advanced Options in the following ways:

• By adjusting the number of lines in the Field Height edit box
• By checking the Ends on Blank Line checkbox. If you check this box, Analyzer will not expand the field height if the next line is blank

Advanced Options

Advanced Options let you determine the characteristics of your fields.

Analyzer provides default settings, but you can edit some of them:

• “Starts on Line” edit box to indicate the line start position within a record
• “Starts in Column” edit box to indicate the starting position of a field
• “Field Width” edit box to indicate the length of a field
• “Field Height” edit box to indicate the height of a field
• “Decimals” edit box to indicate the number of decimal places in a number
• “Format” combination box to specify either date input formats or numeric output formats
• “Width” edit box to specify the column width in reports
• “Alternate Column Title” edit box to specify a column title for reports
• “Suppress Totals” and “Control Total” checkboxes for numeric fields. For more information, see Numeric Fields.
• “Convert to Single Field” checkbox to specify that a multiple-line character field is to be processed as a single concatenated field. For more information, see Multiple-Line Character Fields.
• “Fill if Blank” checkbox to specify that data is to be copied from the preceding record into subsequent blank records in the new, flattened data file.
• “Ends on Blank Line” checkbox to exclude trailing blank lines from a variable-height field definition. For more information, see Variable-Height Fields.