ASCII String

An ASCII String is represented as a stop bit encoded entity. The entity value is interpreted as a sequence of 7-bit ASCII characters.
The stop bit decoding of these fields is executed as follows:

1. Determine the byte count of the String value using the stop bit algorithm.
2. In the final byte, change the stop bit value from "1" to "0".
3. The resultant byte array is the output string value.

An example of this decoding process is shown below.

Picture 3.22 - "String value stop bit decoding"

Decoding code sample for mandatory string fields: public int processStringDecoding(byte[] buffer, int offset,                                  TemplateFieldValue fieldValue) {     // Handle empty string     if(buffer[offset] == (byte)0x80) {         fieldValue.setFieldValue("");         return (offset+1);     }     // Extract the bytes from the buffer until a stop bit is encountered     StringBuffer value = new StringBuffer();     while(!PresenceMap.isBitOnPositionSet(buffer[offset], STOP_BIT_POSTION)) {             value.append((char)(buffer[offset++]));     }     // Extract the last byte and get rid of the stop bit     value.append((char)((buffer[offset++] & Byte.MAX_VALUE)));     fieldValue.setFieldValue(value);     return offset; }
Note:

• Field value represented by byte equals to 0x80 implies the empty String - "" of decoded String value.

Decoding code sample for nullable string fields:public int processStringDecoding(byte[] buffer, int offset,                                   TemplateFieldValue fieldValue) {     // Handle null value     if(buffer[offset] == (byte)0x80) {         fieldValue.setFieldValue(null);         return (offset+1);     }     // Handle empty string value     if(buffer[offset] == 0x00 && buffer[offset+1] == (byte)0x80) {         fieldValue.setFieldValue("");         return (offset+2);     }     // Extract the bytes from the buffer until a stop bit is encountered     StringBuffer value = new StringBuffer();     while(!PresenceMap.isBitOnPositionSet(buffer[offset], STOP_BIT_POSTION)) {             value.append((char)(buffer[offset++]));     }     // Extract the last byte and get rid of the stop bit     value.append((char)((buffer[offset++] & Byte.MAX_VALUE)));     fieldValue.setFieldValue(value);     return (offset); }

Note:

• Field value represented by 0x80 byte implies the NULL decoded String value (not "" as above).
• Field value represented by 0x00 0x80 bytes implies the empty String - "" of decoded String value.