Create a New Composite Data Item

Composite field definitions are composed of predefined data items. Data Studio’s Data Privacy supplies packaged composite data items that are designed to accommodate most needs. You can edit these packaged composite data items as required or create new data items of your own.

To create a new, or edit an existing, data item:

1. Select and open the desired repository and project from the Data Privacy Explorer view.
2. Click the Composites tab for the open project. The Composites view appears. Existing data items are listed in the Data Items section on the upper right.
3. Click Add next to the Data Items section. The Create New Data Item dialog box appears. You can alternatively select an existing data item and click Edit to open it in the Edit Data Item dialog box.
   The Create New Data Item dialog box lists the creation steps on the left with fields for the data item parameters on the right.
4. Type a name for the data item in the Name field.
5. Type a shorter name in the Display Name field. This value serves as the label on a data item building block in the Composite Field Definition view.
6. Select a data item category from the Category drop-down list. For more information or to create a new category, see Create a New Data item Category.
7. Type an optional description of the data item in the Description field.
8. Check the Length box if the data item will have a fixed length or the Maximum Length box if the data item cannot exceed a particular length, then enter the desired value in the adjacent field.
9. Click Next. The List of Values appears. If the data item will have a specific value, click Add and enter the value in the Create new Value dialog box. You can alternatively select an existing value and click Edit to open it in the Edit Value view. An existing value can be removed from the list by selecting it and clicking the Delete button.
10. Check the Case sensitive box if the value(s) in the list are case sensitive, and check the Values available box if you want the listed values to be active in the data item when used to build composite definitions.
11. Click Next. The Patterns list appears. Click Add (or Edit for an existing pattern), then use regular expressions to enter the desired pattern in the Create new Pattern (or Edit Pattern) dialog box and click OK. For example, the pattern for a phone number might be (\d\d\d)\d\d\d-\d\d\d\d. An existing pattern can be removed from the list by selecting it and clicking the Delete button.
12. Check the Patterns available box if you want the listed patterns to be active in the data item when used to build composite definitions.
13. Click Next. The data item's Truncation Options appear. Select the radio button for the desired option. You can also enter one or more characters in the Append String field, for example to append a period to an abbreviated middle name. In most cases, Do not truncate should be selected. Other choices are:
    • As many characters as needed: truncates as required to fit available space.
    • One word at a time: truncates by individual words.
    • Truncate to a single character: truncates leaving only the first character.
    • Eliminate: Removes the data identified as this data item.

14. When you are satisfied with your new or edited composite data item, click Finish to save it to the list of Data Items and make it available to your project.