Element `<item>`¶

Purpose: Define one selectable item shape within a list.

Why: Use it to declare one independently selectable shape inside a list.

Example¶

<item/>

Decision guide¶

Business value: Defines one independently selectable business shape inside a heterogeneous list.

Use when
- One list entry needs its own fields, source, count, or condition.
Choose another approach when
- The value is a standalone field or every list entry has the same structure.
Prerequisites
- Place it inside list and define the fields belonging to this entry form.
Alternatives
- Use nestedKey for repeated records with one common shape. (See: <nestedKey>)

Complete examples¶

Assemble nested objects, conditional lists, arrays, and branches

Use this shape when one deterministic product combines nested records, heterogeneous list entries, literal arrays, and mutually exclusive fields.

structured-profile/datamimic.xml
<setup rngSeed="42" numProcess="1">
    <generate name="profiles" count="3" target="LogExporter">
        <key name="id" generator="IncrementGenerator"/>
        <nestedKey name="address" type="dict">
            <key name="city" constant="Berlin"/>
            <key name="postal_code" constant="10115"/>
        </nestedKey>
        <list name="contacts" converter="RemoveNoneOrEmptyElement">
            <item>
                <key name="channel" constant="email"/>
                <key name="value" script="'customer-' + str(id) + '@example.test'"/>
            </item>
            <item condition="id % 2 == 0">
                <key name="channel" constant="sms"/>
                <key name="value" script="'+49-30-' + str(100000 + id)"/>
            </item>
        </list>
        <array name="roles" type="literal">
            <value constant="customer"/>
            <value constant="newsletter"/>
        </array>
        <condition>
            <if condition="id == 1">
                <key name="segment" constant="new"/>
            </if>
            <else-if condition="id == 2">
                <key name="segment" constant="active"/>
            </else-if>
            <else>
                <key name="segment" constant="loyal"/>
            </else>
        </condition>
    </generate>
</setup>

Rules and invalid combinations¶

An item type requires a source.

Attributes: type, source

Why: The type selects the record shape read from the configured source and has no standalone value.

Valid combination
<item source="data/items.ent.csv" type="dict"/>

Invalid combination
<item type="dict"/>

separator and sourceScripted require a source.

Attributes: source, separator, sourceScripted

Why: These options change source parsing and cannot affect a purely child-defined item.

Valid combination
<item source="data/items.ent.csv" separator="|"/>

Invalid combination
<item separator="|"/>

Allowed parents / Allowed children¶

Allowed parents: else, else-if, if, list, while

Allowed children:

array, element, id, key, list, nestedKey

Structured Data and Rule Pipelines — Shows how composite output shapes and the ordered source-filter, mapping, and target-filter pipeline work together without hiding phase boundaries.