This section explains the procedure for defining data mapping for chained processes.
Prerequisites:
You have specified User Defined Attributes (UDAs) that will be passed from the parent to the chained-process definition in the parent and in the chained-process definition.
The UDAs you want to pass have the same data type in the parent and the chained-process definition.
You have connected the parent and the chained-process definition.
When data is to flow between parent and chained-process, you map the UDA of the parent process definition to the corresponding UDA of the chained-process definition.
Auto data mapping for parent process definition and chained-process definition
When the pre-requisites mentioned above are fulfilled and you connect the parent process definition and the chained-process definition, data mapping between them is automatically completed. The UDAs of the parent process definition are mapped to the UDAs of the chained-process that have the same data types as that of the parent process definition. To view the automatically mapped UDAs, click the chained-process node of the parent process definition and select the Data Mapping tab. The mapped UDAs are displayed in All Data Mappings area along with their data flow directions.
Editing data mapping
To delete unwanted mappings, select them in All Data Mappings area and click the Delete button. You need to manually edit the UDA mappings in the following scenarios:
If the mappings that were automatically created after connecting the parent and chained-process definition were incorrect and need to be changed
If you add or edit UDAs in the parent process definition and the chained-process definition after connecting them
To manually edit UDA mappings
Select the Data Mapping tab of the chained-process node in the parent process definition.
To map a UDA:
From the Mapping Type drop-down list, select the data type of the UDA you want to map. This drop-down list displays all data types that occur in the parent process definition. The UDA in the parent process definition and UDA in the chained-process definition drop-down lists are populated with the UDAs of the same mapping type as selected in the Mapping Type drop-down list.
Select the UDA in the parent process definition and the corresponding UDA of the same type as that of the parent process definition UDA in the chained-process definition.
Click Add.
If the UDA type is XML then click in the corresponding XPath column field. A drop-down list is displayed. Select from the drop-down list, the XPath expression that specifies where the data can be found in the XML string of the UDA. This field is active only if you have selected a UDA of type XML. The XPath expressions related to the selected UDA are displayed in the XPath drop-down list.
Optional: If you want to edit the XPath expression that you selected in the XPath drop-down list, click the ellipsis (...) button that is displayed next to the XPath drop-down list. XPath Editor dialog box is displayed with the selected XPath expression in its editor area. You can edit this XPath expression and click OK to use the edited XPath expression.
Note
The edited XPath expression is displayed as the latest XPath in the XPath drop-down list.
Note
The XPath expressions related to the selected XML UDA are displayed in the XPath drop-down list. When XML Schema is defined in selected UDA, the XPath list that can be used with this XML Schema is displayed. When Initial value is defined in selected UDA, the XPath list that can be used with this Initial value is displayed. When both are defined, Xpath list of XML Schema is displayed.
Note
XPath Editor only validates the syntax of the XPath. It does not check if the edited XPath expression exists or not.
The data mapping is added to the All Data Mappings area.
Note
This indicates that the data value passes from the parent to the chained-process. As the chained-process operates independently from its parent once it has become active, no data values are passed back to the parent.
Figure 9.3 Defining Data Mappings
