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Testing a Map

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You can test a map in an EDI project at design time. To do so, you use the XML Tool extensions to BizTalk Server in the Visual Studio environment. This topic describes how to set up and use the Test Map feature of the XML Tool extension.

You test a map by specifying a source document and specifying a folder where BizTalk Server will save a generated instance (with fictitious data). You need to set the delimiters that BizTalk Server will use to process the source document and generate the destination document according to EDI schemas. This is true for all values of the TestMap input property in the map's property pages: Generate Instance, XML, or Native. It is true for Generate Instance because BizTalk Server needs to know what delimiters to use to generate the instance. It is true for XML or Native because BizTalk Server needs to know how to interpret the native flat file or the XML file. You also need to set the delimiters that BizTalk Server will use when generating the output file.

Prerequisites

You must be logged on as a member of the BizTalk Server Administrators group.

To test a map

  1. In Visual Studio, add the map that you want to test to a project, and add the source and destination schemas for that map to the project.

    Note

    You do not have to build the project to test the map.

  2. Right-click the map and click Properties.

  3. In the Properties window, set Validate TestMap Input to True if you want to validate the input file against the source schema. Set Validate TestMap Output to True if you want to validate the output file against the destination schema.

    Note

    If you test a map with the TestMap Input property set to Native and the Validate TestMap Input and Validate TestMap Output properties set to False, validation will still be performed. This occurs because the native-formatted input file will be converted into XML format, and BizTalk Server will validate the XML against the schema. If there are validation issues in the input instance, the validation mechanism will post errors, even though the Validate TestMap Input and Validate TestMap Output properties are set to False.

  4. Set TestMap Input to Native for an input file that has an .edi extension. Set it to XML if it has an .xml extension. Set TestMap Input to Generate Instance to have BizTalk Server generate an input instance, rather than you designating an input instance manually.

  5. Set TestMap Output to Native for an output file that has an .edi extension. Set it to XML if it has an .xml extension.

  6. For TestMap Input Instance, browse to the input instance that you want to be used to test the map, select it, and then Open. If you want to leave this property blank, set TestMap Input to Generate Instance.

    Note

    You have to either designate an input instance for TestMap Input Instance or set TestMap Input to Generate Instance. If not, BizTalk Server will generate an error.

  7. For TestMap Output Instance, browse to the location you want to save the output instance at, enter a name for the output instance, and then click Save.

    Note

    If you do not designate an output instance, BizTalk Server will create an output file, place the output file into a folder, and indicate the file name and path.

  8. Right-click the map you are testing, and then click Test Map.

  9. In the X12 EDI Instance Properties dialog box, make sure that all properties are consistent with the settings for the input and output instances.

    Note

    BizTalk Server will display the EDI Instance Properties dialog box twice during the TestMap process: once for interpreting the input message instance and once for generating the output message instance. However, BizTalk Server may display the dialog box more than just twice and may display the dialog box for non-EDI schema. If so, click OK to close the dialog box.

  10. Click OK.

See Also

Using Design-Time XML Tools