Connections
A connection is a line that connects a source to a target. Connections visually represent how data is mapped from one node to another. The subsections below describe different connection-related actions you can perform.
Create, copy, delete a connection
To create a connection between two items, press and hold the output connector of a source node and drag it to a target node. An input connector accepts only one connection. If you try to add a second connection to the same input, MapForce will ask if you want to replace the connection with a new one or duplicate the target item. An output connector can have several connections, each to a different input.
To copy a connection to a different item, press and hold the thick section at the end of the connection (see screenshot in Move a connection) and drag it to the selected destination while holding the Ctrl key.
To delete a connection, click the connection and press the Delete key. Alternatively, right-click the connection and click Delete in the context menu.
To help you in the mapping process, MapForce highlights mandatory inputs in orange in target components. The example below shows that when you connect the book element of the Books component to the publication element of the BookOutput component, the connectors of the mandatory nodes of the BooksOutput component will be highlighted. If you do not connect mandatory inputs, the respective nodes will not be mapped to the target, and the mapping will be invalid.
Missing parent connections
When you manually create connections between source and target nodes, MapForce analyzes possible mapping outcomes. If you connect two child nodes without connecting their parent nodes, you will see a notification message that suggests connecting the parent of the source node with the parent of the target node. This notification message helps you prevent situations where a single child node is displayed in the Output pane.
To disable such notifications, take the following steps:
1.Go to the Tools menu and click Options.
2.Open the Messages group.
3.Clear the check box When creating a connection, suggest connecting ancestor items.
Move a connection
To move a connection to a different node, press and hold the thick section at the end of the connection (see screenshot below) and drag it to the selected destination.
See connection tooltips
Connection tooltips allow you to see the names of nodes to which data is mapped and nodes from which data is mapped.
To be able to see tips, press the 
toolbar button (Show tips).
To see the names of nodes to which data is mapped, point the cursor at the thick section of a connection near the output connector (see screenshot below).
To see the name of a node from which data is mapped, point the cursor at the thick section of a connection near the input connector.
If multiple connections have been defined from the same output, a maximum of ten item names will be displayed in the tooltip.
In the example below, the target node to which the data from the book element is mapped is called publication.
Change connection settings
To change the connection settings, do one of the following:
•Select a connection. Then go to the Connection menu and click Properties.
•Double-click the connection.
•Right-click the connection and click Properties.
For more information, see Connection Settings.
Highlight connections selectively
MapForce allows you to selectively highlight connections in a mapping. This feature may be useful when your mapping has many components with multiple connections. Highlighting connections makes it easier to check whether the nodes of the selected component are mapped correctly. See the available options below.
 | Show selected component connectors (only direct connections) |
 | Show connectors from source to target (direct and indirect connections) |
Only direct connections
When the Direct Connections button is not pressed, all connections are displayed in black. When the Direct Connections button is pressed, only connections related to the currently selected component are displayed in black. Other connections are displayed in light gray.
Direct and indirect connections
The Direct/Indirect Connections button becomes available only when the Direct Connections button is pressed. When enabled, it highlights the connections of the selected component and traces them through connected components up to the source and target components.
To understand how these two options work, see the example below.
Example
In the mapping below, we have pressed the Direct Connections button and clicked the header of the concat component. However, we have not yet pressed the Direct/Indirect Connections button. Therefore, only the direct connections from the concat function to the "-" constant, substring, position, and Contacts components are displayed in black. The other connections in the mapping are displayed in light gray.
The next step is to press the Direct/Indirect Connections button. The screenshot below reflects the changes:
With the Direct/Indirect Connections button pressed, some other connections are displayed in black:
•The connections of the substring function to the 1 constant and the PersonList component
•The connection of the position function to the PersonList component
However, the connections between the PersonList component and its preceding component remain light gray. Thus, when you press the Direct/Indirect Connections button and click on a component, you can trace the component's direct connections.
In this section
This section gives an overview of connections and is organized into the following topics:
•Keep Connections after Deleting Components