How to complete data mapping for SOAP and dotNet connectors

Data mapping defines the relationship between parameter-value pairs in external systems and property-value pairs in PRPC. SOAP and dotNET connector forms have two tabs for data mapping:

• Request — Use this tab to specify how the connector rule maps arguments for the SOAP request messages from properties on the clipboard (Map From).
• Response — Use this tab to specify how the connector rule maps the reply message from the external service to properties on the clipboard (Map To).

For SOAP and dotNet connectors, PRPC supports all primitive data types supported by the World Wide Web Consortium standard at http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2.

Simple data types

Because XML is text-based, any XSD data type can be mapped into a Single Value property of type Text. However, when possible, a more restrictive mapping is better — for example, the XSD type float corresponds to the PRPC type of Double. In specific situations, you may be aware of values and format that allow even more restrictive mappings than listed below.

When an incoming or outgoing message contains scalar arguments that match PRPC properties or activity parameters and the data is to be treated as a single value, create simple argument-property mappings. The following table lists the XSD data types that appear in the Data Type selection list and suggest the typical PRPC property type to map the value to or from.

XSD Data Type	Type	Notes and XSD examples
string	Text	Also used for User Name and Password.
Boolean	True or False	True
double	Double
float	Double	XSD represents single-precision values (originally 32 bits) only. -1E4, 12687.433E12, 12, INF (infinity)
int	Integer	Same as Java
long	Integer	Same as Java
short	Integer	Same as Java
byte	Integer	Same as Java
base64Binary	Text	Encoded binary value as characters
hexBinary	Text	Encoded binary value as characters
dateTime	DateTime
date	Date	1999-10-26
decimal	Decimal	3.14159
integer	Integer	-7, 43
QName	Identifier	Rare
duration	Text	P1Y2M3DT10H30M
time	DateTime	UTC zone (Zulu) only. 2004-03-04T21:15:00Z
gYear	Identifier	1999
gYearMonth	Identifier	1999-05
gMonth	Identifier	05
gMonthDay	Identifier	05-31
gDay	Identifier	31
negativeInteger	Integer	-7
positiveInteger	Integer	7
nonNegativeInteger	Integer	7
nonPositiveInteger	Integer	0
unsignedInt	Integer	555
unsignedShort	Integer	32
unsignedLong	Integer	235262343
unsignedByte	Integer	254
normalizedString	Text	Contains no carriage return, tab, or line feed characters.
token	Identifier	A normalizedString that contains no leading or trailing spaces, and no sequences of two or more spaces.
anyURI	Identifier	http://www.pega.com
Name	Identifier	Rare
NCName	Identifier	Rare
NMTOKEN	Text	Rare

Complex data types

To map complex data types, assess the data that will be transmitted in the SOAP messages. Consider whether the message contains a string parameter with XML code embedded in the value or the message contains an XML object:

• If the message contains scalar arguments, the data in the argument is XML, and the SOAP operation style is RPC-encoded. Identify the data type as String and map the data from XML Stream rules and to Parse XML rules. Typically, the XML provides values from or for a complex PRPC property.
• If the message contains an XML object and you use the Connector and Metadata accelerator to generate the rules, the data is mapped to and from the data transforms specified on the XML Page tab and the data type is specified as XML Page. Typically, but not always, it means the SOAP operation style is document-literal.

For information about using Parse XML rules, XML Stream rules, and data transforms (previously known as model rules) for data mapping, see Data Mapping XML, a document on the Integration area of the PDN.

About Connect dotNet rules Data type conversions in expressions

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