Designing and Configuring Value Mappings
If senders and receivers know the same objects under different names, value transformations are required.
For example, a customer is identified in a sender system by a customer number, whereas in a receiver system the customer is identified by a name.
There are several options for performing value mappings:
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Using standard function FixValues
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Using standard function Value mapping
Using Standard Function FixValues
This is the easiest way to define a value mapping. In the target field mapping, you assign the standard function FixValues from the Conversions function group. Using this function, you can define value pairs. However, the value mapping defined by such a pair can only be used in the corresponding message mapping. Furthermore, this is a rather "static" option for defining a value mapping, since the value pairs have to be known at design time.
Using Value Mapping Tables from Configuration
A more flexible and “dynamic” way to define a value mapping is to use the standard function Value mapping (Conversions function group area). Using this standard function, you can refer to value pairs that are defined at a later point in time during configuration. To define the value pairs from configuration time, you use a value mapping group in the Integration Directory.
The advantages of this approach are that value mappings can be reused within different message mappings and values can be specified later at configuration time.
In many cases, the names of objects are not known prior to configuration time.
To refer to the values (that are not already known at design time) in the message mapping, in the function Value mapping you use the key fields Agency and Schema .
If you refer to a value mapping table created manually in the Integration Directory, you have to select http://sap.com/xi/XI as Value Mapping Context . The value mapping context identifies the source of the value pairs.
At configuration time, you define the actual values of the objects by creating value mapping groups. A value mapping group is a configuration object in the Integration Directory and contains different representations of the same object. To enter the values that identify the objects in different frames of reference, you use the key fields Agency and Schema .
Agency and scheme set a frame of reference within which an object can be uniquely identified. For more information, see Identifiers .
As an alternative to the manual creation and editing of value mapping groups, you can replicate value pairs from external data sources using a special interface. The interface objects are available as part of SAP predefined content in the software component SAP BASIS. For more information, see Value Mapping Replication .
More information: Value Mapping