The Loader supports the NLF format to support backwards compatibility and an external load format where UIDs are unknown. During pre-processing, load files in NLF format are sent to the server and parsed. The software determines the UIDs of the object and constructs an XML load file. The XML generated from the NLF file is then submitted to the same methods as XML load files, making sure that all load operations parse through the same code. Because the NLF format requires this extra step to parse the data, the operation takes slightly longer than submitting XML directly.
The following load file example creates tag CW501 in NLF format and relates it to document DocABC:
.DEVTag
..Name|CW501
..Description|NLF Tag Create
..DEVTagCategory|Process equipment
..DEVTagType|Process vessel
..DEVOverallHeight|900|mm
..DEVOverallWidth|3.2|m
..DEVOverallLength|4.1|m
.DEVDocumentTag
..Name1|DocABC
..Name2|CW501
Format |
Description |
Example |
---|---|---|
.Class_Type |
Defines the class definition of the object. |
. DEVTag |
..Name|Value |
Defines the name of the object instance in the database. |
..Name|CW501 |
..UID|Value |
Defines the UID of the object instance in the database. |
..UID|UID-U101 |
..Description|Value |
Defines the description of the business object instance in the database. |
..Description|NLF Tag Create |
..PropertDef|value|UOM|Type |
Defines the value of the given property name. If the property is of type UoMListType, the third field includes the name of UOM. |
..DEVOverallLength|10|m |
..ClassDef|Value|ReldefName |
Defines the internal name of the related object such as Area, Discipline, or System. Argument 1 is used to define the name of the object while argument 2 names the edge relationship definition. A relationship edge is the name of the relationship definition with either "_12" or "_21" appended to the name depending on the direction from the defined object. |
..SPFTemplateRevision|DocABCD|DEVDocumentTag_21 |
..InterfaceDef|Value |
Allows an option interface to be added to the object |
..IDEVEquip |
..Action|Value(s) |
See NLF load format for documents for details. |
Alternatively, the generation of the object and the relationship to the deliverable can be done at the same time:
.DEVTag
..Name|CW501
..Description|NLF Tag Create
..DEVTagCategory|Process equipment
..DEVTagType|Process vessel
..DEVOverallHeight|900|mm
..DEVOverallWidth|3.2|m
..DEVOverallLength|4.1|m
..SPFTemplateRevision|DocABC|DEVDocumentTag_21
The | character in NLF is converted into a space in XML. If you want to pass the | character through to XML, you must preface it with the \ character. For example, the string Arg1|Arg2 will be converted to Arg1 Arg2, whereas Arg1\|Arg2 will be converted to Arg1|Arg2.