Yes. If either dfdl:initiator or dfdl:terminator is not empty string, meaning there will be an initiator or terminator in the data, then dfdl:emptyValueDelimiterPolicy must be specified to describe whether they are present, in case the element appears in the data as 'empty', meaning content is zero-length. Whether an element can actually appear in the data as empty depends on how it is modelled. In COBOL data where everything is dfdl:lengthKind 'explicit', the data content can never be empty otherwise the format breaks. But in CSV data, the data content can be omitted entirely without breaking the format. Regards Steve Hanson Architect, IBM Data Format Description Language (DFDL) Co-Chair, OGF DFDL Working Group IBM SWG, Hursley, UK smh@uk.ibm.com tel:+44-1962-815848 From: "Garriss Jr., James P." <jgarriss@mitre.org> To: "dfdl-wg@ogf.org" <dfdl-wg@ogf.org>, Date: 30/05/2013 20:37 Subject: [DFDL-WG] emptyValueDelimiterPolicy clarification Sent by: dfdl-wg-bounces@ogf.org This property specifies whether the initiator/terminator must be present if the element is empty. But the mere presence of this property does not specify that the element can be empty, right? IOW, I still have to describe that the element can be empty. That right?-- dfdl-wg mailing list dfdl-wg@ogf.org https://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/dfdl-wg Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU