Data Element Profile

Defines property overrides that customize the behavior of an inherited Data Element for a specific Content Type.

Remarks

A Data Element Profile enables you to override the properties of inherited Data Elements—such as fields, tables, columns, or sections—within a descendant Content Type. This allows you to tailor the visibility, appearance, extraction logic, or validation rules of data elements for specialized document types, without altering the parent configuration.

Overview

• Property overrides are used to adapt inherited data elements for specific use cases.
• Overridden property values are displayed in bold in the UI.
• You can reset an override to revert to the inherited value at any time.

How Property Overrides Work

When a Content Type inherits data elements from a parent, you may need to adjust certain properties to meet the requirements of the child type. For example, you might:

• Change the 'Required' property of a field to make it mandatory for one document type but optional for another.
• Override the 'Display Name' or extraction logic for a field or section.
• Adjust appearance or validation settings for a specific document type.

The Data Element Profile stores these overrides as a set of property-value pairs, keyed by the Data Element's unique identifier. At runtime, the overridden values are applied to the data element, ensuring the correct configuration is used for extraction, validation, and presentation.

Usage Guidance

• Use the Overrides tab in the Content Type editor to view and manage property overrides.
• Overridden properties are shown in bold; use the Reset command to remove an override and inherit the parent value.
• Only properties that differ from the parent are stored in the profile; all others are inherited automatically.

Example Scenario

Suppose you have a parent Data Model for invoices with a Data Field called "Purchase Order Number" (optional by default). For a specific child Content Type called "Government Invoice", you override the 'Required' property to make "Purchase Order Number" mandatory. All other invoice types continue to inherit the original (optional) setting.

Related Concepts

• Data Element: The base class for all extractable data elements.
• Content Type: The document type to which overrides are applied.
• Data Model: The root container for data elements in a content type.
• Extract Activity: Executes extraction logic using the effective property values (including overrides).