Tips to master Boomi mapping skills
One of the foundational functions of a middleware is translation of data formats to connect applications. Boomi provides a powerful and easy-to-use visual mapping editor to convert source to destination formats. Below are the tips to master Boomi mapping skills.
Clear understanding of loops
Loops are present in all document formats. EDI document has loops of segment groups, JSON has array of objects, XML has element loops and flat file has sub records. The document format can be ranging from very simple data structures with few elements to more advanced nested loops with parent/child/grandchild relationships. Boomi maps perform automatic looping based on the loop settings in source and destination profiles. To perform accurate and faster mapping, it is important to clearly understand the start/end of loops, the nesting hierarchies, and the profile loop settings. Mapping without understanding how the document data is organized, the loop associations between source/destination data structures and the profile loop settings would often result in more troubleshooting and consequently increased development time.
Familiarize on Profile and element options
Profiles are most often imported from a connection operation or sample file. For EDI standards, the profile can be imported from Boomi provided built in templates. Profiles must be configured properly so that Boomi can parse the data accurately. Profiles also has options to define the element data type & format which helps in auto formatting dates/numbers during mapping. EDI profiles have exhaustive advanced options which when set properly would simplify development and avoid unnecessary custom code.
Make use of Instance Identifiers
Instance identifiers are extremely helpful option, and I can’t imagine EDI maps without them. Instance identifiers isolate a specific subset of data based on qualifiers or occurrence. It helps cherry-pick a specific instance in an array or loop. A thorough knowledge of instance identifiers will help you accelerate your development even in complex documents such as Retail 856 ASN or Healthcare 837 Claims. Only JSON, EDI, and XML profiles support Instance identifiers.
Leverage the power of Document Caches
Document cache is a very useful option when documents from more than one source need to be combined to create a target document. Document caches are also helpful in complex mappings where one can break the translation in to one or more intermediate maps, prepare and store simplified intermediate data in cache and then aggregate cached data in a main map to create the desired output. Multiple document cache can be added to the source profile in the map.
Be comfortable with Custom scripting
There will be occasions where mapping logic outside of Boomi native functionality needs to be written. String manipulation such as advanced parsing, conditional logic like nested if-else, switch-case requires custom scripts to be written. Being comfortable with groovy/JS will help build maps faster.
Handling runtime process parameters
Getting and setting Document Properties such as connector properties, Dynamic Document Properties and Dynamic process properties inside maps is inevitable in orchestration. Important values outside of the document content are usually captured as DDP, DPP and can be accessed inside the map to be mapped to the target format. Be thorough on the behaviour of different document properties available and options to capture them to be used inside the maps.
Find opportunities to create reusable mapping components
Profiles, Maps, Map functions, Map scripts are independent components and can be reused in other integration processes. If a specific functionality is foreseen to be used for future integrations, make it reusable and organize those mapping components in a common folder so that it is discoverable and leveraged by other developers. Be sure to check if there exists a reusable mapping component in a common folder for a functionality that is intended to be implemented.