JSON profile’s Data Elements tab
View and modify a JSON profile’s data structure in a tree view.
The JSON profile's Data Elements tab displays the structure of the JSON document in a tree structure. Every JSON profile has exactly one root element. All other elements are contained within this single root element. Elements can be nested within another element to establish parent/child relationships.
The icons in the tree structure on the Data Elements tab represent the following:
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A root element, object entry or array element with child elements
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An element without child elements
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An object with child elements
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An array with child elements
If you select an element, object, or array in the tree on the left, its settings appear on the right.
On the JSON profile's Data Elements tab you define the root element and its value type: Simple, Array (Repeating), Array (Absolute) or Object. The value type that you select determines whether you can add arrays, array elements, objects, object entries and/or instance identifiers. Use the Import Wizard to quickly create or update a JSON profile by importing data elements, objects or arrays from a JSON document.
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Root elements, arrays, array elements, objects and object entries in a JSON profile have the following configuration settings.
General Options
Value, Object or Array Name
Name of the selected root element, object, object entry, array or array element. Only object entry names must match the actual JSON name in the source or destination file. The other names are arbitrary names that you use in your business.
Array elements in an absolute array must have unique names.
Value Type
Used to select a JSON data type for the selected root element, object entry or array element. The options are:
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Simple — Used for a value.
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Array (Repeating) — Used for an array that contains a repeating element. Instance identifiers can be used with repeating arrays.
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Array (Absolute) — Used for an array that contains a set of different elements, rather than a repeating element.
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Object — Used for an unordered set of name/value pairs.
Looping Option
This option is available only for the root element.
- Unique — Only unique instances of a loop or segment will be written. If two (or more) loops or segments are identical, then only the first instance is written.
- Occurrence — All instances are written.
Required
(absolute array elements only) If the array element is being written, then any attributes of that array element marked as required are written out, even if the attribute is not mapped and/or contains no data.
When a required list is specified in an imported JSON schema file, the Required field is automatically turned on in the user interface for those array elements listed as required.
These settings determine how repeating array elements are handled in a JSON profile. Essentially, these settings are used to control how data is output when mapping to the profile.
Allow Empty This check box handles empty values in JSON profiles for string, array, and object types. It gets enabled only if the Required option is selected.
To process empty output values for string, array, or object types when the input is null or empty in a JSON profile at the element level, both the Required and Allow Empty options must be selected or set to true.
Allow Empty output usecase
| Type | Required | Allow Empty | Input | Current Behavior | Desired Output | Use case scenario |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| String | FALSE | FALSE | String (null) | no output | no output | |
| String | TRUE | FALSE | String (null) | null | null | |
| String | TRUE | TRUE | String (null) | Not handled | "" | |
| String | FALSE | FALSE | String ( “ “) | " " | " " | |
| String | TRUE | FALSE | String ( “ “) | " " | " " | |
| String | TRUE | TRUE | String ( “ “) | Not handled | " " | |
| String | FALSE | FALSE | String (“”) | no output | no output | |
| String | TRUE | FALSE | String (“”) | null | null | |
| String | TRUE | TRUE | String (“”) | Not handled | "" | |
| String | FALSE | FALSE | String (“Boomi”) | (“Boomi”) | (“Boomi”) | |
| String | TRUE | FALSE | String (“Boomi”) | (“Boomi”) | (“Boomi”) | |
| String | TRUE | TRUE | String (“Boomi”) | Not handled | (“Boomi”) | |
| number | FALSE | FALSE | Numeric ( 12 ) | 12 | 12 | |
| number | TRUE | FALSE | Numeric ( 12 ) | 12 | 12 | |
| number | TRUE | TRUE | Numeric ( 12 ) | Not handled | 12 | |
| number | FALSE | FALSE | Numeric (null) | no output | no output | |
| number | TRUE | FALSE | Numeric (null) | null | null | |
| number | TRUE | TRUE | Numeric (null) | Not handled | null | |
| Object | FALSE | FALSE | Empty Json Object () | no output | no output | |
| Object | TRUE | FALSE | Empty Json Object () | null | null | |
| Object | TRUE | TRUE | Empty Json Object () | Not handled | ||
| Object | FALSE | FALSE | Null Object (null) | no output | no output | |
| Object | TRUE | FALSE | Null Object (null) | null | null | if a parent element is a repeating array, and its elements are objects or arrays (whether absolute or repeating), the output for those elements are omitted. |
| Object | TRUE | TRUE | Null Object (null) | Not handled | if a parent element is a repeating array, and its elements are objects or arrays (whether absolute or repeating), the output for those elements are omitted. | |
| boolean | FALSE | FALSE | Boolean(true) | true | true | |
| boolean | TRUE | FALSE | Boolean(true) | true | true | |
| boolean | TRUE | TRUE | Boolean(true) | not handled | true | |
| boolean | FALSE | FALSE | Boolean(false) | false | false | |
| boolean | TRUE | FALSE | Boolean(false) | false | false | |
| boolean | TRUE | TRUE | Boolean(false) | not handled | false | |
| boolean | FALSE | FALSE | Boolean(null) | no output | no output | |
| boolean | TRUE | FALSE | Boolean(null) | null | null | |
| boolean | TRUE | TRUE | Boolean(null) | Not handled | null | |
| array | FALSE | FALSE | Empty Array ([]) | no output | no output | |
| array | TRUE | FALSE | Empty Array ([]) | null | null | |
| array | TRUE | TRUE | Empty Array ([]) | Not handled | [] | |
| array | FALSE | FALSE | Null Array (null) | no output | no output | |
| array | TRUE | FALSE | Null Array (null) | null | null | if a parent element is a repeating array, and its elements are objects or arrays (whether absolute or repeating), the output for those elements are omitted. |
| array | TRUE | TRUE | Null Array (null) | Not handled | [] | if a parent element is a repeating array, and its elements are objects or arrays (whether absolute or repeating), the output for those elements are omitted. |
Known Limitations:
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Even if a user sets Allow Empty to 'true' while Required is 'false' via component APIs, the runtime won't process empty values. This is because it still treats both Required and Allow Empty as 'false'.
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For the root Object and Array (absolute), if a source element's value is Null or empty, and both Required and Allow Empty are set to 'true', the output profile will not generate any 'Empty' outputs.
Min Occurs (Minimum Occurrences)
The minimum number of times the element can occur.
When minItems is set to a number greater than 0 in an imported JSON schema file, the JSON profile in the user interface translates the Min Occurs field to 1. Otherwise, the default is 0.
For example, if the JSON schema SwaggerStringArray.json specifies "minItems" : 2, the profile in the user interface translates this as Min Occurs = 1.
When the Required option is turned on for an array field, Min Occurs is automatically set to 1. When turned off, Min Occurs is set to 0.
Max Occurs (Maximum Occurrences)
The maximum number of times the element can occur.
When maxItems in the JSON schema file is set to a number greater than 1, the JSON profile in the user interface translates the Max Occurs to 1. Otherwise, the default is unbounded.
For example, if the imported JSON schema specifies "maxItems" : 1, the JSON profile in the user interface translates Max Occurs to 1. If the imported JSON schema specifies "maxItems" : 12, the JSON profile sets Max Occurs to -1(unbounded).
Here are some tips for using the Min/Max Occurs settings:
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For an optional element, set Min Occurs=0 and Max Occurs=1.
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For a mandatory element, set Min Occurs=1 and Max Occurs=1.
Field Size Options
If a root element, object entry or array element’s value type is set to Simple, then you can set the following field size options.
Name
Description
Field Length Validation
Determines whether data validation during runtime should occur on this root element, object entry or array element (mandatory, length, etc.).
Minimum Length
Defines the minimum allowable length of the root element, object entry or array element's value.
The Minimum Length field is automatically configured in the Data Elements tab, if minLength is specified in the JSON schema file. The Field Length Validation field is turned on by default when Minimum Length is populated in a JSON profile created via connector browsing or an API Service.
Maximum Length
Defines the maximum allowable length of the root element, object entry or array element's value.
The Maximum Length field is automatically configured in the Data Elements tab, if maxLength is specified in the JSON schema file. The Field Length Validation field is not turned on by default when Maximum Length is populated.
The Maximum Length field is automatically configured in the Data Elements tab, if maxLength is specified in the JSON schema file. The Field Length Validation field is turned on by default when Maximum Length is populated in a JSON profile created via connector browsing or an API Service.
Data Format Options
If a root element, object entry or array element’s value type is set to Simple, you can set the following data type and format options:
Name
Description
Data Type
Data type of the root element, object entry or array element. The available choices are Boolean, Character (default), Number, and Date/Time. Selection of Boolean, Number, or Date/Time may be necessary to satisfy an integration requirement.
Number Format
(Number Data Type only) A standard Java number formatting string specifying the format for the value.
Signed
(Number Data Type only) If selected, a byte in the value indicates whether the value is positive or negative.
Implied Decimals
(Number Data Type only) Often in fixed-length legacy files, numeric values do not have decimal points so the decimal precision can be determined only by an assumed number of decimal digits. The effect of this setting in a process on a given value is dependent upon the context in which the profile that contains the data element is used.
Date Format
(Date/Time Data Type only) The date/time format for the value. You can either type the format or select an existing one.
When a JSON profile is created via connector browsing or API Service and the JSON schema an attribute’s format is “date-time”, “date”, or “time”, the resulting profile element is configured as a Date/Time type with a respective Date Format in the user interface.
Comments
Optionally add details about the use of the selected element. The Comments field is automatically populated from an imported JSON schema Description attribute, if it is already specified through connector browsing or the API Service's Import external service file. Comments can be manually added after the initial JSON import.
Comments that are longer than 4,000 characters are truncated in the user interface.
For more information about formatting Number and Date elements, see Number data type and Date/Time data type topics.
Qualifiers
Text qualifiers can be added to a root element, object entry, or array element if its Value Type is set to Simple. Qualifiers identify values that can be used in instance identifiers. For each qualifier, the table shows the Value and Description. Clicking a value opens the Edit Qualifier dialog, which is used to edit the Value and Description.
The check boxes in the table are used with the Remove Selected and Remove All actions — see below. Clicking Remove 
initiates a request to remove the qualifier from the element. This action requires confirmation.
The Actions menu items are as follows:
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Add — opens the Add Qualifier dialog, which is used to add a qualifier value to the element. Value is required. A Description can optionally be included in the qualifier definition.
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Remove Selected — initiates a request to remove selected qualifiers from the element. In the confirmation dialog, clicking OK executes the request; clicking Cancel cancels the request.
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Remove All — initiates a request to remove all qualifiers from the element. In the confirmation dialog, clicking OK executes the request; clicking Cancel cancels the request.
