About Data Mapping

Data Mapping

Linking Events

Linking Resources

Linking Tasks

XML Templates

XML Elements

XML Functions

Adapter Types

Adapters are categorized as Events, Tasks and Resources, according to how they can be linked together.

Linking Events monitor data sources, initiate the solution process and pass data to one or more Tasks.

Linking Resources provide static data to Tasks. For example, an XML Document can be a lookup table for codes.

Linking Tasks parse and generate data from Events, Resources or other Tasks. Data mapping controls the translation process.

Purpose

Tasks vary widely in their function, but all perform some kind of data transformation. For that reason, every Task has the same visual mapping process that makes it easy to learn once and apply to all solutions.

Internally, all Tasks consume and generate XML using XML Elements and the XPath Language. Most mapping solutions can be achieved with only the drag and drop process, with no XML knowledge required. However, some mapping requirements require te flexibility of hand-coding XSLT and XPath. This is done via the Advanced Mapping Panel.

Terminology

The following is a list of commonly used terms in XML and XSLT. Designers are encouraged to learn these terms as they are found throughout this document.

Term	Explanation and Purpose
Stylesheet	A set of templates that defines each Task's transformation. See XML Templates.
Template	A rule that defines a single element. See XML Elements.
Function	A language for referencing parts of an XML document. See XML Functions.
Model	The hierarchal structure of an XML document composed of Elements and Attrbutes.
Source	The structure of the input (left side) of the Data Mapping Panel, and is based on all the Task's input resources (Events, Resources and other Tasks).
Target	The structure of the output (right side) of the Data Mapping Panel is based on the schema of the current Task as defined in the Task's Properties Panel.
Element	An individual node in an Source or Target Model. Elements can contain child Elements or Attributes.
Attribute	A type of node belonging to an Element. Attributes cannot have child Attributes or Elements.
Parent	The element immeditately above the current element (one only).
Child	An element immeditately below the current element (one or more).
Ancestor	Any element above the current node, such a parent, grand-parent etc.
Descendant	Any element below the current node, such as a child, grand-child etc.

Guidelines

Only Tasks require Data Mapping. Events and Resources provide input to Tasks, but do not require mapping themselves and so the Mapping panel is disabled.
Every Task in a solution must be mapped. If a Task is not mapped, an error occurs when the solution is run.
Before starting Data Mapping, do the following:
- Set the Task Properties, since they may affect the structure of the output model.
- Ensure all Tasks, Events or Resources linked to the Task are defined first (tip: start with Events and work downwards)
The target root node (first element at the top of the tree) must be mapped before all others.
Not all nodes must be mapped, but for every node that is mapped, at least one child node must be mapped. If not, all child nodes will get concatenated together.
If a node is mapped before its parent(s), the parent node(s) will get mapped automatically.
A target node may not be mapped if any of the following are true:
- The root node is not yet mapped;
- The node is already mapped;
- The source node has an unmapped ancestor with a cardinality greater than 1 (map it first);
- The total cardinality of the source node and all ancestors is greater than the total cardinality of the target node and all ancestors.
The XSL Template can be customized to reference multiple input elements and perform calculations (see XML Elements).
If the input document does not contain the source node, the template is not matched and no output will be generated.
If any of the Tasks linked to a Task change (for example, a node name changes) then the mapping of downstream Task(s) should be checked.

Next: Linking Events

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