Using literals for required values

Literals are symbols or abbreviations that are entered when the value is missing in the record. Literals can be either be a prefix or suffix of a column.

If the input records do not include critical entries, you can insert the required values as a literal, which appears in the output. You insert the literal when adding columns.

For example, the input records lack a state entry because all records are for the state of Vermont. To include the state in the standardized records, you would insert the literal VT between the city name and the postal code.

If input records have an apartment number column containing only an apartment number, you could insert a # (pound sign) literal between the unit type and the unit value.

Literals cannot contain any spaces and must be inserted between columns. You cannot include two contiguous literals for a rule set.

The only special characters that you can use in a literal are:

#

pound sign

%

percentage

^

caret

&

ampersand

<>

angle brackets

/

slash

For domain preprocessor rule sets, you must insert column delimiters using literals.