Output View

MapForce® 2008 allows you to view program code and output for XML/database/flat file/EDI/Excel 2007 mappings.

When designing a mapping project, the built-in MapForce Engine allows you to perform data transformations on-the-fly and view the output with just one click. Executing data transformations with the MapForce Engine greatly simplifies the process of testing and perfecting complex mappings, saving time and increasing productivity.

MapForce provides several helpful features to assist with the development of XSLT 1.0/2.0 stylesheets for XML-to-XML transformations. As you are visually designing data mappings, MapForce is generating an XSLT stylesheet for you behind the scenes. At any time, you can preview the XSLT stylesheet code by clicking on the XSLT tab at the bottom of the main design window.

In addition, when you insert a new XML Schema or DTD into MapForce, you can optionally supply a sample XML instance document to accompany it. If you choose to provide sample data, MapForce allows you to easily preview the results of a sample transformation as you are working by clicking on the Output tab at the bottom of the main design window. This helps to ensure that your data mapping achieves the desired result.

Viewing output in MapForce

Demo viewing data mapping output View a Flash demo of the MapForce output features

In addition to previewing the XSLT 1.0/2.0 stylesheets and transformations described above, MapForce allows you to preview program code and output for XML, database, flat file, EDI, and Excel 2007 data mappings.

Previously, viewing the output of a mapping was a time consuming process of generating program code, compiling it, and then viewing the results. The built-in MapForce Engine allows you to execute mapping transformations, then immediately view and save the result of a mapping as it would be generated in XQuery, Java, C++, or C# - all in one intuitive window.

The output tab will display an XML file if the target of the mapping is an XML Schema. Mappings to flat files have output in CSV or text files, mappings to EDI targets produce EDIFACT messages or X12 transaction sets, and mappings to Excel 2007 produce Office Open XML (OOXML) markup. When mapping to a database, the output preview displays the SQL commands that would be executed against the database as a result of your mapping. The output view is interactive, providing flexible support for insert/update/delete database commands. The MapForce Engine also allows you to actually run the SQL script to execute the transformation and make the changes to the database. A sample output preview of a mapping to a database is shown below.

Previewing SQL statements for database output

The screenshot below is an example of the output preview when mapping to a flat file.

Previewing flat file output

Below is an example of previewing output to EDI.

Previewing EDI output

An output preview from an Excel 2007 mapping appears below.

Previewing Excel 2007 output

With the powerful MapForce Engine, you can test your mapping code directly within MapForce - saving considerable time when designing and troubleshooting intricate mappings.

Experience the power of MapForce® 2008 and the MapForce Engine for simplifying data integration development cycles – download a free trial today!