Block Properties Fields Tab
When configuring Block Properties on a Block in a Map, the Fields tab shows the source and target fields. The source side displays the fields from the entity selected in the Query Block, operation results from prior Blocks, and fields from child entities if the Query Block includes Hierarchical data. The target side displays the fields from the Entity selected in the Block Properties General tab for this Block. When working with Hierarchical Data you may see additional fields.
Use the Fields tab to:
- Create links between source and target data fields.
- Autolink one or more source and target fields.
- Clear one or more target fields.
- Create simple or complex formulas to transform target data.
- View detailed information about any field in your source or target.
Note: When you first open the Fields tab, the icon displays and the Errors/ Warnings tab indicates that there are Errors. This is expected behavior. Errors and warnings display for the Fields tab until all required data is entered. See Block And Map Errors And Warnings.
Fields Tab
Icons And Fonts
On the Fields tab, some fields contain either icons or different fonts to help you determine important fields.
Icon | Definition |
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Source Pane |
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Select fields — Selects all fields for an entity in the Source Pane. Click the Deselect All link to clear selected fields for all entities. |
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Clear Selected fields — When all fields for an entity are selected, this icon clears the selections for that entity in the Source Pane. Click the Deselect All link to clear selected fields for all entities. |
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Primary key — One or more fields that uniquely identify each record in the source Entity. |
Target Pane |
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Select fields — Selects all fields for an entity in the Target Pane. Click the Deselect All link to clear selected fields for all entities. |
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Clear Selected fields — When all fields for an entity are selected, this icon clears the selections for that entity in the Target Pane. Click the Deselect All link to clear selected fields for all entities. |
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Primary key — One or more fields that uniquely identify each record in the target Entity. |
Bold Text |
Required field — Fields that display in bold must have links. A warning displays until you create a link for this field. |
Italics Text |
Read-only field — Fields that display in italics should not be used with any formula or link that attempts to write to the field. However, you can use read-only source fields as a reference in formulas. A warning displays if you create a link on a read-only field. |
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Link error — An error exists that causes this Map to be incomplete. When the Solution runs, TIBCO Scribe® Online skips this Map. |
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Link warning — An error exists that may cause errors when the Map runs. |
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Formula Icon — Opens the Formula Editor. |
Target Pane - Conditional Field Mapping |
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Skip Null Icon — Enables the Skip Null option for the field. If the field mapping results in a NULL value, the NULL is not written to the target field. |
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Skip Null Enabled Icon — Indicates that the Skip Null option is enabled for this field. |
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IsFieldSet Icon — Enables the ISFIELDSET function for this field. In some cases, when a Connector encounters a source field that has no value, it does not send the field at all. For example, if an address record were missing City, the Connector would send Street, State, Zipcode but would leave City out of the data set sent to the Map. Default behavior when a field is completely missing from the source and IsFieldSet is not enabled, is to write a NULL to the target database for that field. When IsFieldSet is enabled, if the field name is not included in the results from the source, nothing is written to the target for this field. If the field name is returned but has no associated value, it is written to the target as a blank or NULL. Note: This option can only be enabled for fields that are mapped with a field name. If the field contains a formula, this option cannot be selected. If a formula is entered after the option is set, a warning is displayed on the Errors and Warnings tab. |
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IsFieldSet Enabled Icon — Indicates that the IsFieldSet option is enabled for this field. |
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Functional Condition Icon — Enables the Functional Condition option for this field and opens the Mapping Condition Editor where you can enter the associated formula. The formula must resolve to a boolean. If the formula resolves to true, the source value is written to the target. If the formula resolves to false, the source value is not written to the target. For example, if you enter the following:
IF(Source.City="Boston","False","True")
Using this formula, if the value of Source.City is Boston, the formula returns False and nothing is written to the target. If the value of the Source.City field is anything else, the formula returns True and the value of Source.City is written to the target. In this scenario, all cities except Boston would be written to the target.
If you enter the following:
IF(Source.City="Boston","True","False")
Using this formula, if the value of Source.City is Boston, the formula returns True and Boston is written to the target. If the value of the Source.City field is anything else, the formula returns False and the value of Source.City is not written to the target. In this scenario, only Boston would ever be written to the target. Note: The Mapping Condition dialog is very similar to the Formula Editor dialog. Make sure the title of the dialog says Mapping Condition. For information on using the fields on this dialog, see Formula Editor. |
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Functional Condition Enabled Icon — Indicates that the Functional Condition option is enabled for this field. |
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Clear Condition Icon — Indicates that the Functional Condition option is enabled for this field. Clears any conditional settings on the selected fields including: • Skip Null • IsFieldSet • Functional Condition |
See Conditional Field Mapping for additional information.
Target Pane Toolbar
The Target pane toolbar contains the following options to help you easily manage links and formulas.
- Select/Deselect All — From the toolbar only; select all fields in the Target or clear all selections. Use Select All and Autolink to create links for all fields that match between your source and target data stores.
- Clear — Deletes the entire link including any formulas for the selected row or rows. To clear all fields, first use Select All then use Clear. The entire row must be selected, not just the Formula field.
- Autolink — Select one or more fields in the target and link them to selected source fields with the same name. Source and target fields must have the same name, a compatible data type, and not be read-only to be autolinked. See Autolinking.
- Skip Mapping If Null — If this option is enabled, when a mapped field or formula results in a NULL value, the NULL value is not written to the target. If all mapped fields result in NULL values, no updates are made and a record error similar to the following is generated:
Operation returned no results - Error in calling operation update
See Conditional Field Mapping for additional information.
Creating Data Links
When you create a data link between a source and target field, TIBCO Scribe® Online integrates the data from that source to the target field when the Solution runs.
Tip: When you create links between fields of different data types, TIBCO Scribe® Online tries to automatically convert the source data type. See Data Conversion and Mapping Custom Data Types for more information.
When you are working with hierarchical data, source parent and child entities are available for mapping as long as there is a one-to-one relationship. If there is a one-to-many relationship or a collection, such as a Contact with several Addresses, you must use a For Each Child Block and an Add Block to access and write the children. See Hierarchical Data and Mapping Hierarchical Data Fields.
- Select the Source Entity Fields you want to link.
- Drag the source field to the target field.
- Unless there is a Data Type Mismatch or other problem, the source and target fields are now linked.
- The linked Source field, with its entity name, displays in the Formula column of the Target pane.
When you run your Solution, TIBCO Scribe® Online performs the requested operation on this data.
Note: When you first open the Fields tab, the Matching Criteria tab, or the Lookup Criteria tab TIBCO displays an error. To correct the error, create a match field.
Note: Field or entity names that contain special characters may display in TIBCO Scribe® Online differently than in the original data. A special character is any character other than A-Z, a-z, 0-9, or underscore. If you use these fields or entities in Maps or in formulas, you need to use the names as they appear in TIBCO Scribe® Online.
Formula Editor
Transform your data as it is integrated into the target by using the functions, operators, and constants in the Formula Editor. You can type a simple formula in the target field or use the Formula Editor for more complex formulas.
To open the Formula Editor, select a field and then select the Formula Editor icon . For details about creating and editing formulas, see Formula Editor.
Note: As you create data links and formulas in the Fields tab, TIBCO Scribe® Online validates your formula and may cause the error () or warning (
) icon to appear in the Formulas column as you enter information. You can ignore these as you are typing; when the formula is done, select the Validate button, and they should disappear. If they do not, check the Block And Map Errors And Warnings for information.
Viewing Field Properties
To access additional field information, select the Info icon for that field. Details displayed vary depending on the type of field selected but may include any of the following information.
Field | Definition |
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Allow Nulls |
Displays Yes or No to indicate whether or not NULL values are accepted. |
Primary Key |
Displays Yes or No to indicate whether or not the field is a Primary Key in the Source or Target datastore. Uniquely identifies the record in the datastore. |
Description |
Displays the native data type with any additional information available through the metadata, such as acceptable values for picklists, or if the field is an Id lookup field. Data types include: • Boolean • Currency • Date • Double • Id • Int • Phone • Picklist • Reference • String • Textarea • URL |
Original Name |
Displays the original name of a field when the field name shown in TIBCO Scribe® Online is different than the original field name from the datastore. |
Troubleshooting Field Links
If TIBCO Scribe® Online finds target fields that do not process correctly when the Solution runs:
- On the Fields tab, TIBCO Scribe® Online displays error (
) and warning (
) icons for target fields that need to be addressed.
- The Errors/Warnings tab becomes available to provide detailed information about these fields. See Block And Map Errors And Warnings.
Note: When you first open the Fields tab, you may see errors or warnings. In general, these are for fields for which links are required.
Correcting Errors And Warnings
- If your target Connection requires a Match field, create a link from your source data to the Match field.
- If your target Connection has any required fields, create links for them.
- If you have invalid data in a field, place the cursor in the field, press CTRL and A to select the entire field, then backspace to clear the field. When the field is clear, either leave it blank or map it to a valid source field.
If there are other errors or warnings, see the Block And Map Errors And Warnings for information.
Related Topics
Mapping Hierarchical Data Fields