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Reference Guide
This guide describes conceptual information about data design environment components when you want to use the data fabrication feature in HCL OneTest™ Server.
Schema design
A schema is a graphical data dictionary that contains metadata definitions of the structure of a document to generate test data. Schema provides visual cues for understanding the structure and complete definition of an object.
Type properties
The properties of a type define the characteristics of the data objects of that type.
Group properties
Explicit format
Explicit delimited syntax

Reference Guide
This guide describes conceptual information about data design environment components when you want to use the data fabrication feature in HCL OneTest™ Server.
- Files
  You add a file to a project to use it as input in the project. You can upload a file from your local file system to a project from the Files tab to generate test data. Alternatively, you can upload it when you define an action.
- Connections
  A connection defines the properties that are required to connect to an external resource. An action uses a connection to provide source data to a project or write data from a source to a target. Multiple actions can use the same connection. You can define both connections and actions at the project level.
- Schema design
  A schema is a graphical data dictionary that contains metadata definitions of the structure of a document to generate test data. Schema provides visual cues for understanding the structure and complete definition of an object.
  - Introduction to schema design
    Use the Schemas tab to define, modify, and view schemas. A schema describes the syntax, structure, and semantics of your data.
  - Type properties
    The properties of a type define the characteristics of the data objects of that type.
    - Defining type properties
    - Basic type properties
    - Item properties
    - Group properties
      - Group subclass
      - Sequence group formats
      - Explicit format
        Track
        Fixed syntax
        Explicit delimited syntax
        Delimiter
      - Implicit format
      - Specifying a delimiter
      - Defining exclude characters
        During the run time, the data validation process uses the Exclude Character List group property to define a set of characters that are not allowed to exist in the data stream as data content.
      - Escaping an excluded character in the data content
        Select Release Exclude Characters when you configure the exclude character list to enable the release character to escape excluded characters. When enabled, a release character that precedes an excluded character in data content escapes the excluded character, and the data content passes validation.
    - XML properties in the schema
  - Item restrictions
    Item restrictions are an optional feature you can use to specify valid or invalid data objects for an item type. Item restrictions are grouped into three categories: Value, Character, and Range.
  - Components
  - Partitioning
  - Type inheritance
  - Schema analyzer
  - Distinguishable objects
  - Functions and expressions

Explicit delimited syntax

An explicit-format group with a delimited syntax is one whose components are separated by a delimiter and the delimiter appears as a placeholder even when a component has no content.

About delimiters and explicit-format groups:

The only time a delimiter can be missing is when all components following the delimiter are optional and there is no data for the optional components.
A delimiter is a character or series of characters that separates data objects.
A delimiter cannot be longer than 500 bytes.
The delimiter of a group appears inside the group, separating its components. When a group is delimited, that indicates something about the components of the group. The delimiter inside a group is delimiting the components.

Example

The group Employee has an explicit-delimited format because a comma delimiter appears between Employee's components, the items that make up the Employee object. In addition, the delimiter is displayed when a component is missing and there is data for components following it.

The components of Employee are the items ID#, Name, Department, Address, and Age.