Field Formats

Navigation Path: Settings > Company Setup > First Articles Setup > Field Formats

The Field Formats page allows Setup Administrators to define the character-level format requirements for specific FAIR fields. For each field, you can configure one or more accepted formats, specify length rules, and add character-by-character rules that entries must satisfy. These requirements are enforced on supplier FAIRs submitted to your company.

Only Setup Administrators can view and edit this page by default.

Field Selector

Use the Field drop-down menu at the top of the page to select the FAIR field you want to configure. The badge to the right of the drop-down indicates which form the selected field belongs to.

Each field stores its own format configuration independently. Switching between fields will display that field's current settings without affecting any other field.

Formats

Each field supports up to three formats. A format represents one acceptable pattern that an entry can match; for example, a field may accept entries in one format with a fixed four-character length, and a second format with a different character structure. An entry that satisfies any one of the configured formats will be considered valid.

Formats are mandatory on supplier FAIRs
When selected, supplier users will be required to enter a value that matches one of the configured formats before the FAIR can be submitted.

Formats are recommended on supplier FAIRs
When selected, the configured formats are presented to supplier users as guidance, but a non-matching entry will not block submission.

Use the Format 1, Format 2, and Format 3 tabs to switch between formats for the selected field. The active format tab is highlighted.

+ Add format
Adds a new format for the selected field. This button is hidden once three formats have been configured.

Clear Format 1
Removes all length requirements and character rules from Format 1, resetting it to a blank state. A confirmation prompt will appear before any data is cleared. This button appears only when Format 1 is selected.

Remove Format 2 / Remove Format 3
Permanently removes the selected format and all of its configured rules. A confirmation prompt will appear before the format is deleted. This button appears only when Format 2 or Format 3 is selected.

Length

The Length section defines how many characters a valid entry must contain for the selected format.

Exact length only
Optional. When this checkbox is selected, only one character count field is shown. Entries must be exactly the number of characters specified.

When Exact length only is not checked, two fields are shown:

Min
Optional. The minimum number of characters an entry must contain. Leave blank to apply no lower bound.

Max
Optional. The maximum number of characters an entry may contain. Leave blank to apply no upper bound.

At least one of Min or Max must be provided if you wish to enforce a length rule. If both are left blank, no length requirement is applied to the format.

Character Rules

Character rules define what type of character is allowed at specific positions within an entry. Each rule targets either a single character position or a range of consecutive positions.

Click + Add character rule to add a new rule. Multiple rules can be added to a single format. Rules are evaluated independently — each position specified must satisfy its rule for an entry to be considered valid under that format.

Each character rule contains the following settings:

Single Character / Character Range
Required when visible. Select Single Character to apply the rule to one position, or Character Range to apply it across a span of consecutive positions.

Char
Required when visible. The character position (or start and end positions, for a range) to which this rule applies. Positions are numbered from 1, starting at the leftmost character of the entry.

Character type
Required when visible. The type of character allowed at the specified position(s). The following options are available:

• any letter (A–Z) — Alphabetic characters only, upper or lower case.
• any numeral (0–9) — Numeric digits only.
• letter or numeral — Any alphabetic or numeric character.
• specific character(s) — One or more exact characters that you define. See below.
• any character — No restriction; any character is accepted at this position.

Allowed characters
Required when visible. This field appears only when specific character(s) is selected as the character type. Enter the character or characters that are permitted at this position. To allow more than one character, separate each with a comma — for example, 4,7 means either the digit 4 or the digit 7 is accepted; / means a literal forward slash.

OCR Label
Optional. Available only on fields that support optical character recognition (OCR) scanning. Select the label that corresponds to the data being captured at this character position. This helps the OCR system correctly interpret scanned values for this field.

To remove a character rule, click the ✕ button to the right of the rule.

Summary

The Summary section displays a real-time overview of all requirements configured for the active format, shown as a series of labeled chips. This gives a quick visual confirmation of the length and character rules that are currently in effect.

If no requirements have been configured, the summary will display no requirements set yet.

The Summary updates automatically as you make changes to the Length and Character Rules sections. No action is required to refresh it.

Test Input

The Test Input field lets you verify whether a sample entry satisfies the format requirements currently configured for the active format. This is useful for confirming that your rules behave as intended before saving.

Type an entry into the field. Validation runs automatically as you type — no button press is required. If the entry does not meet all requirements, one or more error messages will appear below the field describing which rules are not satisfied and why. If the entry satisfies all requirements, a confirmation message will appear instead.

No messages are shown when the field is empty.

The Test Input field does not save or submit any data. It is for testing purposes only.

Saving Changes

Click SAVE in the top-right corner of the page to save all changes across all fields and formats. Changes are not applied until the page is saved.

If any character rules contain validation errors — for example, a rule where the character range start position is greater than the end position, or a specific character(s) rule with no characters entered — the page will highlight the affected fields and prevent saving until the errors are resolved.