Mapping Editor

Purpose

The Mapping editor is used for certain configured mapping e.g. of elements from a database model into elements in a conceptual model or vice versa.

Prerequisites

The following requirements must be met in order to be able to run the Mapping editor:

• The applied profiles of the model must include a corresponding action sequence with configured engineering actions. The action sequence must include at least one engineering action with the Mapping and Update tags. An appropriate Java installation is required for the execution of engineering actions.
• The user needs to have execution rights for the action sequence in their role.

Call

Calling a mapping process in the Extras>Map Model>Mapping submenu opens the Mapping editor with the same name as the selected mapping process.

• You can select individual elements, whole packages or the entire model for mapping. To do this, drag the appropriate elements from e.g. the model structure and drop them in the list of selection elements.

• You can check which elements will actually be mapped. If e.g. the list only contains one package, all elements in the package which correspond to the mapping are mapped. The list of selection elements may also contain elements which do not affect the mapping. Click on the Determine Source Elements button to show the elements which will actually be mapped.

• You can carry out the mapping.

Structure

The Mapping editor has the associated Mapping tab with the Map Model group and includes two areas arranged next to each other in the editor for the Selection elements and the Target model of the mapping.

• Mapping tab with the Map Model group

  • The Presets command opens a dialog you can load, store and delete presets for the source and target element of the mapping process.

    The current time is suggested as the identifier when adding a preset. A default is deleted without double-checking.

  • Configuration: opens the configuration interface for mapping.

    Once you have saved the customer modifications you have made, you need to move the file from the $INOHOME to the $INODIR directory so that it is available for the mapping.

    The engineering action needed to do this has the Configuration tag.

  • Determine Source Elements:Elements that are actually mapped in the target model are calculated using the selection elements. These are shown in a dialog.

    The engineering action required for this has the Extend tag.

  • Preview: The elements which would be changed or created in the target model are calculated.

    The respective elements are highlighted in the target model tree.

    If you hover the mouse over the icon of the elements shown in blue, a tool tip appears which tells you what exactly would be changed.

    To cancel the preview, click on Preview again. The button is shown as "normal" again and no elements are highlighted in the target model.

    The engineering action needed to do this has the Simulate tag.

  • Execute: The mapping is executed. As with the preview, the modified and newly-created elements are highlighted.

    The engineering action required for this has the Update tag.

  • Interconnect: The mapping is executed. No model elements are modified or newly created. Only associated elements are linked with a mapping dependency and shown in color.

    The engineering action needed to do this has the Interconnect tag.

  • Show All: The button is only shown if a preview is shown or if the mapping was executed. You can set whether the elements which aren't affected by the mapping should also be shown in the target element tree or not.

• Mapping Editor

  • The Selection elements list is on the left.

    This is not shown until a mapping is selected. If the list is empty, a text is shown that tells you that you should drag the select elements there.

    This text disappears once you have dragged the first element there and the respective element is shown instead.

    You can drag further elements into the list. Use the context menu to remove the selected elements from the list.

    You can drag all possible elements into the list. The element is not checked to see whether it is a good idea to use for the selected mapping to save time. Use the Determine Source Elements button to carry out a similar check yourself.

    Note

    For the commands Determine Source Elements, Preview and Execute, it is irrelevant which selection elements are selected in the list. All of the elements in the list are always taken into consideration.

  • The Target model area is on the right.

    This is not shown until a mapping is selected. The target model needs to be set first. The drop-down list contains all submodels. The corresponding part of the model structure is shown once you select the submodel you want.

    To restrict the list of models using the stereotype name, set the filter on the engineering action with the Update tag with the "Filter=<Name of stereotype>" tag .

    The model elements are highlighted in color in the structure of the target model.

    Font Color	Meaning
    Cyan	Linked model elements The existing target element has been linked with the source element using a mapping dependency and has not otherwise been changed.
    Blue	Modified model elements The existing target element has been modified and linked with the source element using a mapping dependency.
    Green	Newly-created model elements A new model element has been created in the target, the properties have been set according to the rules and it has been linked to the source element using a mapping dependency.
    Red	Model elements which can be deleted Model elements that can be deleted. The model elements are not deleted automatically. You can verify and delete them here.
    Black	Unmodified model elements

Navigating

The context menu for the list of selection elements and for the target model tree contains extra menu items as well as the usual items. These menu items only appear if the selected element has already been affected by the mapping. A menu item exists for each element linked via a mapping.

Supported Procedures in the Mapping Editor

• Mapping Between the Database Schema and Conceptual Model

• Mapping Between the Multidimensional Model and Database Schema

• Mapping Between the Conceptual and Object-Oriented Submodel