How to Link Records Automatically

The BizTalk Mapper provides you with just-in-time assistance, through a shortcut menu, when you create links between two record elements of source and destination schemas. This topic provides information about how to use the shortcut menu to perform the linking operations.

You can create record-to-record links automatically in the following ways:

• Direct Link. Using this technique, the BizTalk Mapper links the record from source schema to the selected record in the destination schema.

• Link by Structure. Using this technique, the BizTalk Mapper attempts to match the Record and Field nodes within the Record nodes being linked according to the structures of those Record nodes, regardless of names of the corresponding nodes within those structures.

• Link By Name. Using this technique, the BizTalk Mapper attempts to match the Record and Field nodes within the Record nodes being linked according to the names of the corresponding nodes, regardless of their structure, within the Record nodes being linked.

• Mass Copy. The Mass Copy functoid enables your maps to use schemas that include any and anyAttribute elements. For information about the functoids available in BizTalk Mapper, see Using Functoids to Create More Complex Mappings.

  To use the shortcut menu, a link must originate from a sub-hierarchy parent node and must end on another sub-hierarchy parent node. The shortcut menu assists in what type of links should be created between the two schema nodes. The following is a list of options available on the shortcut menu.

Map from	Map to	Link Behavior
Field	Field	Direct link
Record	Field	Direct link
Field	Record	Direct link
Record	Record	Shortcut menu appears

Prerequisites

These operations require that the BizTalk Mapper is running.

To link the record elements directly

1. Drag the mouse from a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema, and then drop it to the sub-hierarchy parent node in the target schema.

2. On the shortcut menu, click Direct Link. The following figure shows a direct link appearing from the selected source node to the target node.

   

   Important

   You can place a direct link from a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema to a non-sub-hierarchy parent node in target schema. The following figure shows a direct link from “Root” that is a parent node in source schema to “Record1” that is a child to “Root” in target schema.

   

To link the record elements by structure

1. Drag the mouse from a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema, and then drop it to the sub-hierarchy parent node in the target schema.

2. On the shortcut menu, click Link by Structure. The BizTalk Mapper matches the Record and Field nodes within the Record nodes being linked according to the structure of those Record nodes, regardless of names of the corresponding nodes within those structures.

   

   Important

   When you try to link a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema to a non-sub-hierarchy parent node in target schema, by structure, the BizTalk Mapper maps the children of the source parent node to the children of the target parent node, respectively. The following figure shows the linking by structure.

   

To link the record elements by name

1. Drag the mouse from a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema, and then drop it to the sub-hierarchy parent node in the target schema.

2. On the shortcut menu, click Link by Name. The BizTalk Mapper attempts to match the Record and Field nodes within the Record nodes being linked according to the names of the corresponding nodes, regardless of their structure, within the Record nodes to which you are linking.

   

   Important

   You can link a sub-hierarchy parent node in source schema to a non-sub-hierarchy parent node in target schema, by name. The BizTalk Mapper matches the names of the children of source node with the children of target node. If it finds identical children, then a link is established between the respective children. The following figure explains this concept.

To link using a mass copy functoid

The Mass Copy functoid enables your maps to use schemas that include any and anyAttribute elements. These elements are, in essence, wildcards provided in the XML Schema definition language to match unknown structures or attributes.

In addition to handling data with unknown structure, the Mass Copy functoid enables you to simplify schema development: only the portions of a schema that will be processed need to be specified in detail.

For more information about the Mass Copy functoid, see Mass Copy Functoid.

See Also

Using Links to Specify Record and Field Mappings
How to Add Mass Copy Functoids to a Map