QuickMap Legacy v1

QuickMap is a Visual Data Mapper that allows source data to be easily transformed into a desired shape.

*This article is about QuickMap up to version 3.0.0.1. For the current version, see *QuickMap article.

Properties

SourceXml

Type: Xml Input
Provides the source XML that will be transformed.

MappingXml

Type: Xml Input
Holds the internal mapping data that QuickMap uses to render an XSL transform. Clicking this property will open the Visual Data Mapper UI.

Type: Xml Output
Contains the XSL transform that was generated from the visual mapping at time of execution. If required, this transform can be used directly in XSLT Transform where more control is desired over the transformation.

TransformedXml

Type: Xml Output
Contains the transformed XML.

Remarks

QuickMap provides a fast, visual technique for mapping between source and target XML documents. No knowledge of transform language such as XSL is required (although the rendered XSL transform is available via the XslTransform property).

Use of QuickMap involves two steps - providing schemas and mapping between them.

Providing Schemas

QuickMap must be aware of the source and target document schemas to present a mapping UI. An XML schema describes the shape of a document, including its fields and their hierarchies.

Schemas must be provided for the source and the target document and can be provided either as XML documents or directly as XML schemas. If an XML document is provided, an XML schema will be inferred whereas, if an XML schema is provided, it will be used directly.

Add an XML schema document directly on the Schema tab in the Property editor, or select an appropriate Node Sample. Most Node Samples set an XML schema or at least a sample XML document.

Provide a schema for the SourceXml Property by:

providing sample XML directly on the Property or
placing an XML schema in the Property using the Schema tab in the Property editor, or
connecting the SourceXml Property to a Property on another Node which has an XML Document or XML schema set on it.

Similarly, provide a schema for the TransformedXml Property by:

providing sample XML directly on the Property or
placing an XML schema in the Property using the Schema tab in the Property editor, or
connecting the TransformedXml Property to a Property on another Node which has an XML Document or XML schema set on it.

In this example,SourceXmlandTransformedXmlProperties have been wired into their respective sources and targets enabling QuickMap to obtain the schema set on those Properties

Mapping Data

After providing the schemas, click edit mappings on the Mapping Xml Property to open the mapping editor.

To create a mapping, either:

drag from a source field on the left-hand side to a target field on the right-hand side or
click a source field on the left-hand side and then click a target field on the right-hand side.

An example of a number of source/target field mappings. Note that by mapping the container field (mapped with a light blue line), the correct hierarchy of the child fields is ensured.

Where more complex mapping is required, a mapping expression can be specified using the mapping expression textbox displayed to the right of each target field.

For any target field that contains child fields, the mapping expression, may contain any XSL expression that is valid for the XSL for-each attribute. For any target field that does not contain child fields, the mapping expression may contain any XSL expression that is valid for the XSL value-ofattribute.

Additionally, it is possible to reference a mapped field as a token which will be expanded into an XPath. This is useful where you need to apply a function, such as removing white space or trimming text but can also be used to combine multiple fields together.

For example, if two source fields CustomerCode and CustomerName are mapped to a single target field, the mapping expression could be populated with this function:

concat({FirstName}, ' ', {LastName})

In this example, a first name and surname are concatenated together in the target field.

This example shows how multiple source fields can be mapped to a single target field using a mapping expression.

Examples

See Sample Workflow for an example.