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Creating a Map
This scenario explains how to create a SmartsIntegrator
Map, and how to use that Map with a Port or Workflow.
(1) Creating a Map. You create a new Map by right clicking on the Maps node
in the SmartsIntegrator Explorer, and selecting New Map. This will bring
up the Map editor.
(2) Specify the Source and Destination Schemas. This done by clicking the
'Select Source Schema...' and 'Select Destination Schema...' links in the headers
of the Map editor. The default RAW schema is untyped, and can be used for
generic text or binary data. The Document Body of a RAW document can be treated
as a string, byte array or stream for the purposes of a functoid input or output.
In this way, maps based upon the RAW schema can be used to provide schema-independent
preprocessing, for example adding or removing a header block.
For our example, we must first create two Test Schemas. The first is the Person
schema, detailed in Step 2 of the 'Creating a Schema' scenario. Please create
and save this Schema if you haven't already done this.
For the second schema, please create a new schema, and paste the following into
the XSD box (that is, the large initially empty control taking up the upper middle
of the Schema editor window).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:element name="Employee">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="FirstName" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="Surname" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="Address1" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="Address2" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="City" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="Postcode" type="xs:string" />
<xs:element name="DateOfBirth" type="xs:dateTime" />
</xs:sequence>
<xs:attribute name="EmployeeId" type="xs:string" />
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
Save this schema with name Employee.
Assign Employee as the Source Schema, and Person as the Destination Schema.
That is, our test map will map from an Employee Message to a Person Message.
(3) Add parameters. You can add input and output parameters to the map by
clicking the appropriate 'Click to create...' tree item. Map parameters can
be specified explicitly in a Workflow, and will otherwise populate from Message
Context Properties. Output properties will be set in the Message Context.
Our test scenario will not use any parameters.
(4) Add required links. You can drag a link from any node in the source tree
to any node in the destination tree. A link says that, when the source node
is encountered in the source document, an instance of the linked destination node
should be created in the output document. Links can be selected by clicking
on them with the mouse, and have a LinkBehavior property that can be set in the
Properties pane (in the lower right of the Map editor window) to copy either the
name or value of the source element.
For our scenario, we'll create links for the fields which
can be copied over without any processing required.
Drag a link from Address1 in the source tree, to Line1 in the destination tree.
Drag a link from Address2 in the source tree, to Line2 in the destination tree.
Drag a link from City in the source tree, to City in the destination tree.
Drag a link from Postcide in the source tree, to Postcode in the destination tree.
(5) Add Functoids. A Functoid is a until of logic that can be dragged onto
the Map editor surface (from the functoid palette in the upper right of the Map
editor window). Input parameters to the Functoid are dragged and dropped on
to the left of it, and the output value can be dragged from the right of the functoid.
Functoids can be cascaded, that is the output of one Functoid can be the input of
another. SmartsIntegrator comes with over 100 predefined Functoids, for purposes
as diverse as adding numbers, querying databases, iterating sets and executing Visual
Studio for Application code. Consult the application
help file for further information.
We need to form a name field from separate FirstName and
Surname components. To do this we'll use a String Concatenate Functoid.
Drag a String Concatenate Functoid from the String Functoids section of the Functoid
palette onto the Map surface.
This Functoid will take three inputs, the first name, a space, and the surname.
We'll use a Constant Functoid to form the space (although this value could be bound
directly on the Functoid Properties Page). So drag a Constant Functoid from
the Constant Functoids section of the Functoid palette to a position just to the
left of the String Concatenate Functoid.
Double-click the Contant Functoid, and enter a space as the Constant value.
Drag a link from FirstName in the source tree to the left of the String Concatenate
Functoid (to specify an input value). Then drag from the right hand side of
the Contant Functoid (to get the output value) to the left of the String Concatenate
Functoid (to specify an input value). Then drag a link from SurName in the
source tree to the left of the String Concatenate Functoid (to specify an input
value). You may need to reposition the Contact Functoid slightly to be able
to do this easily.
Double click on the String Concatenate Functoid, and check the parameter values
for the first three parameters are as expected.
Finally drag from the right hand side of the String Concatenate Functoid to the
Name node of the destination tree.
This leaves us with one field to map - the date of birth from the Employee record
onto the Age field of the Person record. We could use a Date Difference Functoid
to do this, but instead we will use a Code Functoid to write custom code to do the
job. To do this, first drag a Code Functoid from the Advanced Functoid section
onto the Map surface.
Double click on the Code Functoid.
Type ConvertDOBToAge as the Functoid name and click 'Edit in VSTA...'
You may be asked to select a default VSTA language (this example uses Visual Basic),
and if this is the first time you have launched Visual Studio for Applications it
could take up to a minute to generate the templates.
You will see that Visual Studio for Applications is launched, and a function has
been generated for you to populate. Replace the implementation with that shown
in the following screenshot (or C# equivalent).
Now return to the Map editor. All we have to do is drag a link from the DateOfBirth
node of the source tree to the left (input) of the Code Functoid, and from the right
side (output) of the Code Functoid to the Age node of the destination tree, and
we're done!
(6) Map Pages and Scope. You'll see that the Map surface
contains a page control, that allows you to group links and Functoids onto separate
pages, primarily to keep related functionality together and make it easier to manage.
A page can also be a logical grouping of scope. A link can be dragged to the
Page Scope link at the top of a page, and in this case all links and Functoids on
the page will only execute if the value linked to the Page Scope is either boolean
true (i.e. the output of a conditional Functoid that has evaluated to true), or
an area of the source document that is currently being processed. The source
document is processed recursively from start to finish during execution of the Map.
For more information please consult the application help file.
(7) Testing and Debugging. To test the Map, use the menu
options in the Tools / Test Map menu group to test the map either
with a generated Employee instance or a specific file instance. The map will
then be executed, and any execution errors will be reported along with the input
and output data (and any flat-file mappings).
To debug the map code, you can use the Debug / Start menu item in Visual Studio
for Applications.
(8) Using the Map. A list of Maps can be specified on Ports
(on the Mapping tab), and these can be configured to execute sequentially (i.e.
always and in order) or as required (i.e. if a Message arrives at a Port in an unexpected
format, SmartsIntegrator will use the list of maps provided to try and convert the
message into the type expected). Maps can also be invoked explicitly using
the Workflow MapActivity.
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