Property
Properties hold the real content of MDDL across the full range of market data. MDDL specifies many properties that relate to a particular type of financial instrument, and MDDL defines the hierarchical relationship between the properties, thus defining a market data product. MDDL properties may be further enhanced by other properties to clarify the implications of the parent property.
All elements below the construct or product delineation are considered properties whether they are descriptors or modifiers of those descriptors. Each property is assigned a base type (or no type) as well as a classification to clue the recipient as to how the data should be processed or stored.
Properties support the features of inheritance and shorthand. The inheritance feature is implemented to avoid redundant inclusion of properties, thus simplifying documents. But this feature should not be used to an extent that it leads to the generation of meaningless documents.
Shorthand is also known as tag suppression. This feature also simplifies documents. Shorthand usually involves exclusion of the base type tags and specifying the element directly in the named element.
Click here to view an example showing inheritance and shorthand.