Record Count Functoid

The Record Count functoid counts records in the input instance message.

The Record Count functoid has one input and one output. The input is a link from a looping record in the source schema. The output of the Record Count functoid is the count of the looping record in an actual input instance message.

Looping records correspond to elements that repeat an unpredictable number of times in an input instance message. For example, in a purchase order, the Item element might occur many times. And, the Item element might include products, descriptions, prices, and quantities. The following code is a simplified example of such a purchase order.

<ns0:PurchaseOrder xmlns:ns0="http://RecordFunctoid.PurchaseOrder">  
    <From>Kevin F. Browne</From>  
    <To>Northwind Traders</To>  
    <LineItems>  
        <Item>  
            <Product>Laptop Computer</Product>  
            <Description>Thin profile laptop</Description>  
            <Price>1999.95</Price>  
            <Quantity>1</Quantity>  
        </Item>  
        <Item>  
            <Product>Monitor Swipes</Product>  
            <Description>Disposable monitor swipes</Description>  
            <Price>3.95</Price>  
            <Quantity>10</Quantity>  
        </Item>  
    </LineItems>  
</ns0:PurchaseOrder>  

The Max Occurs property for the Item record is set as unbounded. This indicates that the Item record loops, and BizTalk Mapper compiles this record as a loop.

Suppose you want to find the total number of Item elements in the purchase order input instance message and place the result in a field in the output instance message.

The following figure shows a Record Count functoid that counts the number of items in an incoming purchase order and puts that value in the ItemCount field in the SummedPO output instance message.

Record Count Functoid Map

Notice that the Max Occurs property for the Item record would be unbounded. This indicates that the Item record loops, and BizTalk Mapper compiles this record as a loop.

For the preceding sample purchase order instance message, which contained two Item elements, the value of the ItemCount field will be set to 2.

<ns0:SummedPO xmlns:ns0="http://RecordCountFunctoid.SummedPO">  
    <From>Kevin F. Browne</From>  
    <To>Northwind Traders</To>  
    <POTotal>2039.45</POTotal>  
    <ItemCount>2</ItemCount>  
</ns0:SummedPO>  

Note

You can also use the Record Count functoid to count repeating field elements. It is not restricted to records.

See Also

How to Add Record Count Functoids to a Map
Advanced Functoids
Index Functoid
Iteration Functoid
Looping Functoid