ProductsMapForceData Mapping

MapForce® 2010 includes an array of features that help developers design and implement data mappings quickly and easily. MapForce supports mapping data to/from virtually any format including XML, databases, flat files, EDI, Excel 2007+, XBRL, and Web services.

MapForce is optimized with user-friendly and time-saving features designed to simplify data mapping projects and accelerate the development of high-quality applications. Just a few of these are detailed below.

Data Mapping Overview Window

MapForce includes a data mapping overview window that allows you to visualize an entire data mapping project and zoom in on specific areas as required. In addition, while scrolling through the project itself, the overview window indicates your position within the map. This feature helps you navigate even the largest data mapping project with ease.

Function Libraries Pane

MapForce provides an extensible library of data processing functions, which are available in the library pane of the design window. The library pane displays the currently available libraries, as well as the individual functions of each library, in a hierarchical tree structure that you can expand and collapse. To add a function to your mapping, simply drag it from the library into the data mapping design window.

For quick reference when working with data processing functions, the “show library name” button allows you to display or hide the name of the library that contains each function used in your data mapping, as shown below.

Refer to the data processing page for more information.

Refactoring Existing Data Mappings

The pace at which business evolves today necessitates the evolution of critical data structures as well. To help manage your data mappings when data structures are updated, MapForce detects when a source or target XML Schema, FlexText configuration, EDI configuration file, Excel 2007+ document, XBRL taxonomy, or Web service is changed in an external application. MapForce immediately alerts you of the change, and you can ignore the message or reload the data structure to see what has changed in your mapping.

For instance, in the screenshot below, the Amount element in the ShortPO.xsd file has been deleted outside of MapForce, and a new element called Total has been added. After reloading the schema, MapForce indicates the change with an icon and highlights the involved connections in orange, allowing you to refactor the mapping with a few simple clicks. Once you have refactored the mapping, MapForce removes any icons and highlighted connections to indicate that your data mapping structures are in sync.

Displaying Datatypes

The "show types" button displays the schema datatypes for each element or attribute in your data mapping project.

Connecting Matching Children

While you are designing a data mapping, MapForce connects matching child elements as you drag connecting lines between the elements of the source and target by default. This feature saves a significant amount of time, especially when developing large mappings containing structures containing elements with multiple children. This function is completely customizable through the Connect Matching Children dialog.

MapForce also checks for all matching descendent elements and connects all of these based on one user-defined connection.

Very often, a data mapping project will involve XML content models that contain fragments of XML that need to be copied to the target schema without being modified; for example, fragments of HTML are often embedded in other schemas for documentation purposes. This feature allows you to simply map the entire XML fragment from the source to the target schema, and all children can be mapped automatically with their entire structure intact.

In addition, if you need to make some changes to your mapping along the way - to accommodate for underlying schema changes, for instance - MapForce offers a variety of automation features that help ease this process. For example, when you re-map a parent element, you will be asked if you would like to automatically reassign child elements or any other descendent connections accordingly.

Find Dialog

Data sources and targets can often be very large and complex, making particular nodes difficult to find. Because of this, MapForce includes a find dialog so that you can instantly navigate to the specific node(s) you need to transform in your data mapping. This is particularly useful when working with long and complex data formats like EDI and XBRL.

Schema Generation

If your do not have an associated schema for your XML instance, MapForce is able to generate a sample XML Schema behind-the-scenes for use as a content model component for your data mapping. This option will appear when you attempt to open or load an XML document in MapForce.

Editing XML Schemas

In addition to the robust XML mapping capabilities of MapForce, you now have the option to edit the actual schema definition of any XML Schema loaded in MapForce using Altova XMLSpy®. Simply right click on any XML Schema in the MapForce design window and select “Edit Schema Definition in XMLSpy.”

To take advantage of this feature, you must have XMLSpy installed on your computer. XMLSpy is included in Altova’s specially-priced product bundle, the MissionKit®, which offers up to eight Altova products for less than the price of two. Learn about the features supported by the entire suite of Altova tools here.

Discover how MapForce® 2010 can simplify and accelerate your next data mapping projects. Download a free 30-day trial of MapForce.

* Pricing comparison is edition-specific and based on Altova MissionKit vs. two individual licenses of XMLSpy and MapForce.