# Fields tab

![Fields tab in the PDI XML Output transformation step properties](/files/68g5z4m3QNRaD2lGqr7L)

Use the **Fields** tab to define the properties for the fields exported to the output XML file.

| Column           | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Fieldname**    | The name of the field.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **Element name** | The name of the element in the XML file to use.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Content type** | The type of data in the contents of the element.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Type**         | The type of the field, either **String**, **Date**, or **Number**. Format masking conversion is used for numeric data. See [Number Formats](/pdia-data-integration/10.2-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview/common-formats/number-formats.md) for a complete description of format specifiers.                                                                                                                             |
| **Format**       | The format mask (number type). See [Common Formats](/pdia-data-integration/10.2-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview/common-formats.md) for information on common valid date and numeric formats you can use in this step.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| **Length**       | <p>The length of the field, which depends on the following field type:- <strong>Number</strong>: Total number of significant figures in a number.</p><ul><li><strong>String</strong>: Total length of string.</li><li><strong>Date</strong>: Total length of printed output of the string. For example, <code>4</code> only returns the year.</li></ul><p><strong>Note:</strong> The output string is padded to this length if it is specified.</p> |
| **Precision**    | The number of floating point digits for number-type fields.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **Currency**     | The symbol used to represent currencies (for example, `$10,000.00` or `€5.000,00`)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| **Decimal**      | The symbol used to represent a decimal point, either a period (`.`) as in `10,000.00` or it can be a comma (`,`) as in `5.000,00`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **Group**        | The method used to separate units of thousands in numbers of four digits or larger, either a comma (`,`) as in `10,000.00` or (`.`) as in `5.000,00`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **Null**         | The string to insert into the output XML file when the value of the field is null                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |

Select \*\*Get Fields\*\* to retrieve a list of fields from the incoming PDI data stream.

Select **Minimal Width** to minimize the field length by removing unnecessary characters. If selected, string fields are no longer padded to their specified length.


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