MDMI_ — Handling a multiplicity greater than one for a Node class

The Node class is the core abstract class of a Message Syntax Model. The current specification only allows a multiplicity of one for these classes. Given the fact that syntactic groups, especially complex datatypes can be repeated, mapping will be simplified if the Node class is redefined to take care of a multiplicity greater then one.

Two attributes are added to the abstract class Node, minOccurs and maxOccurs. If MinOccurs is zero, it indicates that this node is optional. If maxOccurs is greater than one, it indicates that the message format allows up to maxOccurs instances of this Node. The attribute "isOptional" is deleted, as it is now redundant.