Fixed length message generation tool

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a non-transitory memory;
• a plurality of parser definition (PDEF) files stored in the non-transitory memory, where each PDEF file defines a fixed length message format of a different application programming interface (API);
• and
• a message generation application stored in the non-transitory memory that, when executed by the processor:
• presents a list of APIs in a user interface, where each listed API corresponds to one of the PDEF files,
• receives a selection of one of the listed APIs,
• presents a fixed length message creation screen in the user interface, wherein the fixed length message creation screen is dynamically generated based on a PDEF file associated with the selected API,
• truncates data input to a first field of the fixed length message creation screen, where the data input to the first field exceeds a fixed length of the first field defined by the PDEF file associated with the selected API,
• pads data input to a second field of the fixed length message creation screen, where the data input to the second field is shorter than a fixed length of the second field defined by the PDEF file associated with the selected API, and
• creates a fixed length message based on the truncated data in the first field, on the padded data in the second field, and on data in other fields of the fixed length message creation screen.

A method of building a fixed length electronic communication message by a software tool, comprising:

• presenting a list of application programming interfaces (APIs) in a user interface by a software tool executing on a computer, where each listed API corresponds to one of a plurality of parser definition (PDEF) files, where each PDEF file defines a fixed length message format of a different application API;
• receiving a selection of one of the listed APIs by the software tool;
• presenting a fixed length message creation screen by the software tool in the user interface based on a PDEF file associated with the selected API;
• receiving a selection of a sequence button presented in the fixed length message creation screen by the software tool;
• in response to receiving the selection of the sequence button, presenting a plurality of add element screens by the software tool in the user interface;
• receiving data input into each of the add element screens by the software tool;
• creating a fixed length message by the software tool based on the data input into each of the add element screens and on data in other fields of the fixed length message creation screen;
• presenting the fixed length message on the user interface by the software tool;
• presenting a fixed length message parser screen by the software tool in the user interface;
• copying the fixed length message presented on the user interface and pasting the fixed length message into an input field of the fixed length message parser screen;
• parsing the fixed length message by the software tool into a plurality of fields;
• based on parsing the fixed length message, presenting data in the plurality of fields on the user interface by the software tool;
• and
• transmitting the created fixed length message to a messaging server.