<column> (Index of Column Being Mapped)

This element specifies the zero-based index of the column within a given external data source which shall be mapped to the local name of a specific MERGEFIELD field (§2.16.5.42) specified by the parent field mapping data. The @val attribute specifies this index value, which is used to look up the appropriate column in the data source.

If this element is omitted, or its value exceeds the number of columns in the associated data source, then the index of the referenced column shall be assumed to be 0.

example: 
<w:fieldMapData>
  …
  <w:name w:val="first" />
  <w:column w:val="0" />
</w:fieldMapData>
<w:fieldMapData>
  …
  <w:name w:val="middle" />
  <w:column w:val="1" />
</w:fieldMapData>
<w:fieldMapData>
  …
  <w:name w:val="last" />
  <w:column w:val="2" />
</w:fieldMapData>

The WordprocessingML above demonstrates that the column titled first shall be associated with the first column in the external database by specifying a <column> element with its @val attribute equal to 0. In addition, the column titled middle shall be associated with the second column in the external database by specifying a <column> element with its @val attribute equal to 1. Finally, the column titled last shall be associated with the third column in the external database by specifying a <column> element with its @val attribute equal to 2. ]

It is important to realize that the <name> element's values are a cache of the last time the document was connected to the database, and the indices specified shall be used to connect the field mappings with the columns in the data source. ]

Parent Elements

<fieldMapData> (§2.14.15)

Attributes

Description

<val> (Decimal Number Value)

Specifies that the contents of this attribute will contain a decimal number.

The contents of this decimal number are interpreted based on the context of the parent XML element.

<w:… w:val="1512645511" />

The value of the @val attribute is a decimal number whose value must be interpreted in the context of the parent element. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_DecimalNumber simple type (§2.18.16).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

<complexType name="CT_DecimalNumber">
	<attribute name="val" type="ST_DecimalNumber" use="required"/>
</complexType>