As I understand it,

$templateformat is a list of fieldname<fieldtype> records. It defines the record format to which the data will adhere. As such, one shouldn't hardcode b, w, etc.

The goal is to parse format strings such as $templateformat and use the info obtained to extract the values from records such as $inputexample.

I had to take some guesses at what NM (number), CH (appears numerical??) and SW (switch) matches, but it can easily be changed.

My solution.