How to insert spaces in elements in message mapping

Question

Hi All,
         I have scenario, where in the incoming data is put into a file, but if there is no incoming data for any element it should insert spaces equivalent to the lenght of the field. how can this be done?
XIer

Answer 1

Xier,
your problem is that the MapWithDefault function will fill only the fields which have no value, for example, if that tag is like <field2/>. When you have <field2></field2>, you have a value, even though this value is an empty string.
To test your scenario properly, change your input xml to:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ns0:MT_Countresult xmlns:ns0="urn:sce.com:xi:FI:TestProjectStructureUpload">
     <record>
          <field1>a</field1>
          <field2/>
          <field3>b</field3>
     </record>
</ns0:MT_Countresult>
If your requirement is to insert spaces when you have empty string as the input (<field2></field2> case), then you can't use MapWithDefault. In this case, you have to use an if logic: if input = "" (empty string) then output = "    " (4 blankspaces), else output = input.
If you don't know how the input will come, best scenario would be to combine the MapWithDefault + If logic, in order to solve both cases (no input or empty string input).
Regards,
Henrique.