Define Destination Fields and Their Structure

Here you will define the field structure of your destination data set.

Fields can be added all at once using the Import button or manually using the Add button. When using a Dayforce Report as the source, you can click Autofill from Reportin Step 3 to populate the name, description, and data type of each field from the report in the same order as the report. If you add manually, a pop-up opens where you can define the appropriate field settings. See the table below for a list of the potential fields in this pop-up. Child fields can also be added by clicking the Action icon on a parent field and clickingAdd.

If you import, a pop-up opens, allowing you to select a file or JSON payload that mirrors the final structure that you want Integration Studio to create when the integration runs. During the import, Integration Studio reads the file structure and content and automatically populates as many settings as possible. These settings can include data type, data format, and relationships between fields (such as parent-child in XML and JSON).

When you select XML File as the output type, you also have the option to import an XSD file that defines the destination fields and their structure. This reduces the time spent on manual set-up and configuration. When you import an XSD file, the Required Field checkbox in the Add Element dialog box and the Include Null/Empty Values in the Output toggle that is available when your integration is not configured to use the Character-Separated Values/Delmited Text File output type, are updated by the MinOccurs field and the Nillable field in the XSD file.

Fields are designated as required and null or empty fields are included in the output file when the MinOccurs field is greater than 0 and the Nillable field is set to false. In addition, fields are not designated as required and do not include null or empty fields when the value for the MinOccurs field is set to 0 and the value for the Nillable field is set to true. Otherwise, fields are not marked as required. However, null or empty fields are included in the output file.

Note: When you are importing a sample file, Integration Studio processes the values true, false, 1, and 0 as boolean values.

When you are importing fields, Integration Studio sets the Source to <Source Vendor> field for outbound integrations and <Vendor> Field for inbound integrations by default. Make sure to review these settings, because the defaulted settings might not be right for every integration.

Important: When using the Import for a character-separated/delimited text output, make sure the delimiter in the sample file you are importing is the same as the delimiter you configured in the Output Format in Step 2.

Each field has an action icon (three vertical dots) at the far-right side of the field name. If you want to edit field settings such as Display Name, or you want or to modify existing parent-child relationships, click, the action icon, and then click Edit in the menu that opens.

Important: Fields that share a parent element that is designated as an array are repeated in the output file. For example, to return all direct deposit records, all of the destination fields that are mapped to the Direct Deposit collection in Dayforce must have the same parent, and the parent must have the Is Array box selected. Use the filtering options in the Choose Record for <Field Name> dialog box to return a single record.

Configurable field settings
Field	Description
Type	`Data` or `Parent`. Required field for all output types. `Data` is selected by default. `Attribute` is shown as an option for integrations that are configured to use the XML file output type.
Field Name	Name of the export field as it is shown in the output. If no Display Name is entered, the Field Name is shown in Dayforce. Required field. Note: The Field Name field has a limit of 250 characters.
Display Name	Name of the export field as it is shown in Dayforce.
Description	Comments or notes for user reference. The contents of this field don’t impact the generated file.
Configure Expression on Parent	This checkbox, available for the Parent type, becomes active when you have added at least one child element to the parent element you created. This checkbox is available for all output types. The parent field can be edited in the Parent Expression editor, which includes the IDL Expression and IDL Schema tabs.
Data Type	The data type expected by the vendor, such as String, Number, Date/Time, or Boolean. Required field.
Data Format	Formatting options when the Data Type is set to `Number` or `Date/Time`. Required field.
Custom Format	Customize the data format when you select `Custom` from the Data Format drop-down list or `String` from the Data Type drop-down list.
Required Field	True or False. If `true`, (checkbox selected), the integration will fail at runtime if this field is blank or empty.
Use Display Name in Output	Select this checkbox to use non-unique headers in your CSV files. This checkbox is only shown when the Character-Separated Values/Delimited Text File format is selected in the Output Type field from the Output Format section in the Define the parameters of this integration step. If you select the Use Display Name in Output checkbox and you leave the Display Name field empty, the name entered in the Field Name field is used as the header in your output. For more information on working with expressions, see the Expressions section in the topic Field Configuration.
Maximum Width	Enter a number to define the maximum width of the field. Required for Fixed Width Text Files and Segmented Fixed Width Files. If included for other input types, data populating the field will be truncated if the source data exceeds the maximum width value defined here.
Minimum Width	Enter a number to define the minimum width of the field. when the output length id less than this value, the integration run fails.
Padding Character	Select the character to be used for padding when the total for the characters in the source is less than the total set for the Width. Required for Fixed Width Text files and Segmented Fixed Width Files.
Custom Padding Character	Enter the custom padding character to be used when padding blanks. This field is shown when you select `Custom` from the Padding Character drop-down list.
Padding Alignment	Define the location of the padding, left or right, relative to the source data.
Group Fields by Key	Group fields to apply context to data obtained from a flat data source such as, a Dayforce Report. This toggle can be used when you configure a parent array field that has at least one child under it.
Parent	List of fields marked as `Parent` for Type. Required for XML and JSON.

If fields need to be rearranged, drag and drop them to the appropriate location within the same parent. You can also change the parent field of a child field, if needed. This can be done by clicking the Action icon beside a field and thenEdit. In the Edit <Field Name> Element dialog box that opens, select a parent field from the Parent drop-down list. You cannot move a field under a parent field that already has a child field with the same name.

You can also set a field to read-only so that other users who are working in your integration cannot make changes to a field. The Integrations > Integration Studio > Connector Tools feature in the Features tab in System Admin > Rolesmust be enabled for your user role to enable or disable fields. To enable or disable a field, click the Action icon beside a field and then clickEnable Read-Only to make a field a read-only field, or click Disable Read-Only to disable the read-only field designation.

Create a Custom Format

Integration Studio provides you with the ability to define a custom format for fields that are configured to use the String, Date/Time, or Number data types.

Strings

Data such as phone numbers, ZIP Codes, and national IDs are often stored as strings and might require formatting to be properly interpreted between systems. For example, some legacy target systems store a phone number and extension in the same field, while others keep them separate. You must define a custom format string using the hash symbol (#) to represent a character from the computed destination value and any other character for formatting. The following are examples of valid format strings:

Phone: ###-###-#### Ext: ####
+## (##) #### ####
###-##-####
### ###

If the length of the unformatted value is more or less than the length of the format string, the unformatted value is returned. The length of the value is the count of all alpha-numeric characters—whitespace and special characters such as the percentage symbol (%) aren’t included. The format string length is the count of hash symbols.

For example, if the unformatted value is 123456789, 123 45 6789, or 12345-6789 and the format string is ###-##-####, 123-45-6789 is returned. Similarly, the same unformatted value is returned when you use ###-###-#### as the format string. This is because the length of the unformatted value is 9 and the length of the format string is 10.

To define a custom format for a string:

Click the Action icon beside a field.
Click Edit.
In the Edit <FieldName> element dialog box that opens, enter your custom alpha-numeric format in the Custom Format field.
Click Save.

Date/Time

Custom dates and times must conform to .Net specifications. The following are examples of valid Date/Time format strings:

MMM dd yy
“Month”: MMM

Number

Custom numbers mainly conform to .Net specifications with an additional option to omit the separator while defining decimal precision. For example, you can return a number value that has up to seven digits and contains three decimals but doesn’t have a separator, by using the following string format: #######V###. You can return the same value but with a separator by using the following format string: #######.###. The following are examples of valid Numeric format strings:

#####v###
#,###,####,#####
## “years”

To define a custom format for Date/Time and Number data types:

Click the Action icon beside a field.
Click Edit.
Select Custom from the Data Format drop-down list.
Enter your custom alpha-numeric format in the Custom Format field.
Click Save.