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Adding Comments to MapForce Options · View
Larry13
Posted: Friday, May 8, 2009 1:09:44 PM
Rank: Newbie

Joined: 3/26/2009
Posts: 8
Location: Hartland, WI
We are doing a series of very complex mapping and would like some way to comment our mappings from within MapForce. Our fear is that there will be a tremendous learning curve for someone coming in a year or so later ot fix or extend a mapping. We are trying to compartmentalize as much as possible by using 'user controls', but that only helps to a certain degree.

Thanks,

==Larry
vlad
Posted: Friday, May 8, 2009 9:23:23 PM
Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 12/13/2005
Posts: 2,856
Location: Mauritius
You can comment every connection already now. Right-mouse click on a connection => Properties => Annotation.
Larry13
Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:17:38 PM
Rank: Newbie

Joined: 3/26/2009
Posts: 8
Location: Hartland, WI
True, but not very user friendly with its tiny box for entry/view and then only for links.
StefanMisch
Posted: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 4:02:31 PM
Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 2/24/2004
Posts: 45
Location: DE
I second this wish!

Commenting just some lines IMHO is not enough.

What I would find "cool" is:
- group specific objects of a mapping
- allow user to enter a title and annotation for the group
- title is displayed in mapping as well as a rectanglar box arround the grouped objects
- the annotation gets displayed if you hover over the groups title (if option "show tips" is enabled)
- group, title and annotation are also used for generating documentation
- a group can be moved in the mapping as a single object, i.e. all grouped objects are moved
- it should be possible to hierarchically group objects, i.e. one group may contain "normal" objects as well as already grouped objects.

Thus i would be possible to
- make the structure of a mapping visually clearer
- provide a way to document even complex mappings

Stefan
K101
Posted: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:39:18 AM
Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 2/27/2009
Posts: 558
StefanMisch wrote:
…Commenting just some lines IMHO is not enough.

What I would find "cool" is:
- group specific objects of a mapping…


You can already use user-defined functions to group components and functions together to achieve a lot of this. In case you're unfamiliar with it, have a look at the documentation on this subject.
ejohann
Posted: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 2:29:39 PM
Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 11/2/2009
Posts: 38
Location: cinti, Ohio
These are all good suggestions and ideas. I'd like to suggest some sort of foreground/background feature on the mapping canvas display .

There can get to be just too many lines and function objects visible at once in the canvas, even with UDFs as suggested.

One thing that might help is to make lines and functions that are not 'active' (like parts of input or output trees that are not expanded) minimize or go into the background to make the active elements easier to see and work with.

Functions in the background might shrink into small icons on the line, then render fully when any the connected lines become 'active'.


Stevenson
Posted: Thursday, November 6, 2014 12:41:46 PM
Rank: Newbie

Joined: 11/6/2014
Posts: 3
Location: Dublin
The ability of adding comment in a simpler manner would be great for people who wants to present their project step by step (which is what I'm currently working on)
Thus, I second this wish too :)

Steve
JohnRaffy
Posted: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 4:17:42 PM
Rank: Newbie

Joined: 5/12/2014
Posts: 8
Location: Beaver Dam, WisCOWnsin
I also would like to see a more useful commenting tool. Existing Options, and why they fall short:

* Annotation "Description" on a link
** Short Text Box for entry
** Only Applies/Attaches to the Link
** Does not support multi-line comments (or not well)

* Add a disconnected "Constant" to the mapping as a Comment/Label
** Does not display well, other than for short comments
** Does not support Multi-Line Comments

* Add Annotations as outputs in the Mapping
** Target Schema must support it
** "Constant" display in the Mapping is weak (see above disconnect "Constant"

What would be ideal? I believe Two things (that might be able to be handled as one object):

* The ability to add a Label to the Mapping Display.
** Analogous to a .NET Label
** Selectable Font/Color, etc.
** Manually Placed

* The ability to add a multi-line Text Box (or label) to the Mapping Display
** This would be used for a more robust description of the mapping:
*** Descriptions/Notes on the purpose of the Mapping, and what the data "means"
** Traditional Programming/Development Notes
*** Notes about Techniques used, or why a particular method was chosen
*** Notes for "Future Work", Ideas for Enhancements, etc.
*** Revision Notes

MapForce is a powerful programming tool the supports complex development tasks. As such, I believe that we should expect it to have tools similar to other programming languages, including the ability to document the Mapping they way we do other types of source code. Just because we have a "Drag and Drop" interface does not mean the need for developers to document their work has been eliminated.

As a relatively new user involved in a fairly complex project, I've run into more than my share of "learning moments" and frustrations. Even with this in mind, the inability to Comment/Document Mappings and especially Library Functions is the most frustrating thing I have run into.
volker
Posted: Monday, April 27, 2020 12:43:56 PM
Rank: Newbie

Joined: 4/13/2020
Posts: 2
Location: Germany
Hi all,
here is another voice to that topic. All the assumptions above are fine. I won’t add confusion with more ones but...
... please also implement this in the automatic document generator.
cheers
Volker
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