1.7

Connect 1.7.1 DataMapping Enhancements
and Fixes
DataMapper can now fetch or update data from remote sources
New in PlanetPress Connect 1.7.1 is the ability to create an XMLHTTPRequest object (aka
XHR) in DataMapper scripts in order to issue REST/AJAX calls to external servers. This feature
allows the datamapping process to complement the extraction process with external data,
including data that could be provided by a HTTP process in Workflow.
For instance, the DataMapper could issue calls to a Workflow process that retrieves certain
values from the Workflow’s Data Repository.
Also, one could imagine a DataMapper postprocessor that writes the results of the extraction
process to a file and then uploads that file to a Workflow process. (SHARED-43502)
Tip
As always with powerful features like this one, you need to be careful how you design
your solution. For example it is possible to create an endless circular process, whereby a
Workflow process calls a data mapping process, which in turn calls the same Workflow
process, which calls the DataMapper again, and so on.
Skip over Source Data Records
Another very important new feature implemented in the DataMapper is the ability to skip over
some of the source data records without writing anything to the database. This allows you to
quickly filter out some records from the data source without having to extract them to the
database first, while still extracting others. (SHARED-24548)
Let’s say for instance that your data source contains postal addresses from many countries, but
you only want to extract the data for Portugal. You can now create a condition that examines
the country field to determine if the source record is for a country other than Portugal. If the
condition is False (i.e. the country IS indeed Portugal), you can extract the data as per usual.
But in the True branch of the condition (i.e. the country is anything but Portugal), you can now
Page 905