Editing data dictionaries

Follow these instructions to edit a data dictionary for use with a Snapshot process. A data dictionary defines the format of data in a fixed-width ASCII flat file to ensure that any fixed-width output files that you create adhere to a specific structure.

Procedure

  1. Find the data dictionary you want, then open it using Notepad or any other text editor.
  2. Change information as needed in the file, making sure that the data that will be stored in the associated table can use the parameters you are setting.
  3. To apply changes to the data dictionary, you must save, close, and reopen the flowchart.

Results

A data dictionary file looks similar to the following example:

CellID, ASCII string, 32, 0, Unknown, 
MBRSHP, ASCII string, 12, 0, Unknown, 
MP, ASCII Numeric, 16, 0, Unknown, 
GST_PROF, ASCII Numeric, 16, 0, Unknown, 
ID, ASCII Numeric, 10, 0, Descriptive/Names, 
Response, ASCII Numeric, 10, 0, Flag, 
AcctAge, ASCII Numeric, 10, 0, Quantity, 
acct_id, ASCII string, 15, 0, Unknown, 
src_extract_dt, ASCII string, 50, 0, Unknown, 
extract_typ_cd, ASCII string, 3, 0, Unknown,