What is it?

The data mapping simulator is a tool that helps you debugging and providing insight into how a data mapping is executed by actually executing the data mapping. This makes development and maintenance faster since there is no need to test the data mapping though manually running and clicking through an application and referring to the runtime logging (although this remains possible). The simulator is fully integrated in the data mapping editor.

In fact, the simulator uses the runtime to:

  1. Run a data mapping using the specified profiles of the source and target module before mapping.
  2. Show which steps the runtime performed and in which order these steps are performed.
  3. Show the result of the mapping: the profile of the output after the mapping.

1. Specify the profiles before mapping

Presume we want to map a multiple instances of Person (source module) to multiple instances of Client (target module) using a direct mapping rule with the following configuration (click to enlarge):

We can use the simulator to test whether this mapping correctly maps profiles given the precondition, the match strategy, and the property mappings. 

To do this, we have to specify the profile in the source and target module before mapping. We start by adding instances to the source module.

We add 3 instances of person to the source module:

  1. person #1 who does not meet the precondition,
  2. person #2 who does meet the precondition and does not have a matching target,
  3. and person #3 who does meet the precondition and does have a matching target.

We add 1 instance of client to the target module, of which Client.SocialNumber matches Person.BSN.

2. Gain insight into the execution of a data mapping through the "Steps" section

Now it is time to run the mapping using the run button in the top of the editor. Four steps will come available after running the test:

#DescriptionExample
1

Link instances: shows which instances are mapped and which instances will be created. 

Note that since person #1 does not meet the precondition, no instance is created nor mapped. 

2Instance management: shows which new instances are actually created.

3Link values: shows which values will be used in the next step

4Set values: sets the values.

5Clear values: shows which values are cleared.

Note that the name of Client #5 has been cleared because the value in the source module was unknown

  1. Make your model valid
    Since the data mapping simulator uses the runtime to run the data mapping, the model needs to be valid. If a validation error exists, an extra tab will appear next to the steps and problems tabs. 
  2. Configure the datamapping-simulator bootstrap profile
    To be able to use the model mapping simulation functionality in the runtime, the datamapping-simulator profile has to be added to the bootstrap.properties file. 
  3. Establish a connection between Blueriq Encore and the runtime
    Make sure there is a Runtime running properly on the same domain as Encore.

3. View the result of the data mapping

The result of the data mapping is the output: the profile after mapping. After instances have been created during the execution of a mapping, the instances will be shown in the panel on the right. Instances can be selected here to view the values of attributes and relations of this instance. It is also possible to compare this output profile with an expected profile. This would be the unit test of a data mapping (rule). Read more about unit testing a data mapping here.