This section provides an overview of the dictionary components that are supported in Transformer and also describes how to navigate Dictionary Builder.

Overview

A data dictionary is an iWay representation of e-business metadata that describes the layout and grammar of a transaction or a document. The layout and grammar are stored in one or more files that contain dictionary components, such as headers or structures.

Dictionaries are required when the input or output data is not structural, such as for EDI or SWIFT formats. Most dictionaries are converted into XML from the specifications of particular message types, which are managed and published by organizations. iWay Transformer supports the following dictionary component types:

• Header - Provides the envelope details for the message, such as trading partner information and message layout.
• Structure - Contains the layout and grammar of the document contained in the message, such as a transaction set of the EDI message.
• Message - Represents a structural definition of an HL7 transaction set in XML format. Messages consist of segments and segment groups in sequential order.
• Segment - Represents a business entity, for example, Patient Identifier, in an HL7 message. Segments consist of fields in sequential order, and are contained within the message component.
• Field - Represents a basic building block of an HL7 message. A field consists of syntax or data type.
• Datatype - Represents a syntax rule for a field, for example, "ASCII String".

The following table lists the component types that are supported for each data format:

Format	Header	Structure	Message	Segment	Datatype	Field
EDIFACT	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
EDI HIPAA	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
EDI X12	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Fixed Width	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
IDOC	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
SWIFT	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
HL7	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CSV	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
XML	No	Yes	No	No	No	No

In Transformer, dictionaries are typically used as a starting point to design your mapping. For more information, see Using Mapping Builder.

You can build, browse, and edit dictionary components using the Dictionary Builder interface.

Navigating the Dictionary Builder Interface

You can access the workspace environment of the Dictionary Builder interface in three different ways:

• Select an Ebix Entry project name or any of its components in the Project Navigator pane, as shown on the left in the following image.
• Select a Transform project's input or output dictionary or any of the components inside (for example, header or structure) in the Project Navigator pane, as shown in the following image on the right.

  The data format of the dictionary must be supported by the Metadata Management Facility. For more information, see Metadata Management Facility.

  

  Located on the left side of the Transformer window in the default view, the Project Navigator pane displays the references to Ebix Entry and Transform projects that are currently open. Transform projects that are currently open can be found in the Transforms category. When an Ebix Entry project is open, an Ebix Entry category is created per each data format. For example, in the above image, all open EDI X12 Ebix Entry projects will be located in the X12 Ebix Entries subfolder.

  However, if you open a SWIFT Ebix Entry, the new project category (SWIFT Ebix Entries) will appear in the Project Navigator, containing the references to your SWIFT Ebix Entry project.

  The Ebix Entry project’s name is displayed as a compilation of the data name format being used, the format version it belongs to, and the message name which it describes. This notation provides quick and easy resource organization, which is especially useful when working with multiple Ebix Entry projects at once.

  For example, the EDI X12 Ebix Entry project referenced in the image on the previous page is displayed by Dictionary Builder interface as:

  X12_4010.4010.850

  where:

  X12_4010

  Is the naming convention for a standard Ebix that begins with Data FormatName_Version.

  4010

  Is the name for a standard version within that data format.

  850

  Is the message type (Purchase Order) represented by the dictionary.

• Navigate to the project’s Dictionary tab in the project workspace pane, as shown in the following image.

  

The Dictionary Builder view consists of three panes:

• Layout pane
• Library pane
• Item Properties pane

Layout pane

The Layout pane is the core working area used by the Dictionary Builder interface. Each dictionary component displayed on its own tab, such as the Header or Structure. Dictionary components are graphically presented in Transformer as tree structures of the lesser structure units that comprise the dictionary, such as segments and loops.

Note: Item descriptions are provided in square brackets next to each EDI dictionary structure segment. For example, the ISA segment node in the above image (EDI X12 Version 2001 Message Type 830) includes the following description:

[Interchange Control Header] 

Similarly, the 01 element node includes the following description:

[Authorization Information Qualifier]

These descriptions allow you to map and identify EDI segments more efficiently.

To quickly delete a dictionary component from the Layout pane, you can select the item and press Delete. When the Confirm dialog box opens, press Enter or click Yes.

The tree structure of the dictionary metadata on the Layout pane is easy to navigate. The manipulations that are performed to the data on the Layout pane drive the editing and processing of the dictionary data in the Item Properties pane, which displays the set of properties that belong to the item highlighted in the Layout pane.

If your dictionary has more than one component (for example, EDI X12 dictionary that consists of header and structure components), you can toggle between the tabs that are labeled by component name (for example, Header and Structure) and located at the bottom of the Layout pane. You can also select the respective component references from the Dictionary category in the Project Navigator pane, as shown in the following image.

Note: The data format’s type, such as EDI, typically serves as the root of the component structure. This feature can be used to lookup the standard properties for this project from the Item Properties pane when the root element of the dictionary component tree is highlighted on the Layout pane, as shown in the following image.

Library pane

The Library pane provides the view for e-business metadata storage systems. It displays the collections of the building blocks for the data dictionaries using a tabbed view. Each tab represents the library for a specific version of the particular data format, such as 4010 of EDI X12. When a dictionary is opened in Dictionary Builder view, you can add any of its components to your custom library for future reuse. In addition to the Custom and System Library tabs, the Library pane is subdivided into categories corresponding to each of the structural unit types of the dictionary in the particular data format, such as Loop Library, Segment Library, and Transaction Set Library for EDIX 12.

Note: By default, Transformer is installed with an empty custom library, which you can populate. It is located on the Default subtab, on the Custom Library tab of the Library pane. The System Library tab is disabled until you install a system library using the Library Manager Facility.

The Dictionary Builder interface also features drag and drop support between the Library pane and Layout pane. For example, you can drag a structural unit, such as segment, from the Library pane and drop it into the dictionary component tree of the currently opened dictionary on the Layout pane to insert it into its structure. Or, vise versa, you can drag the segment from the Layout Pane onto the Library pane to store it in your custom Library for the future reuse. For more information, see Using Library Manager.

Item Properties pane

The default location of the Item Properties pane is at the bottom of the Dictionary Builder workspace. It displays the set of properties for a structural item that is currently highlighted in the Layout pane. You can edit item properties by double-clicking on the value of the property, as shown in the image above. For more information, see Working With Ebix Archives.

|_A
      |_B
            |_eb1 [mapped]
            |_eb2 [mapped]
            |_eb3 [mapped]