General Concepts

An OpenGround mapping file is an XML file used to define the relationship between a previously used data format and OpenGround’s database. It is used to translate where data should go from the old system into OpenGround based on simple rules detailed in the file.

A user writing their own mapping files should be aware of the following general concepts;

• We recommend using a full text editor that has full xml validation to check that the files that you create are valid.
• All of the mapping of the data needs to be wrapped inside of an <inputs> tag.
• All source, destination and group names are case sensitive.
• An input group can only be used once.
• There can be more than one output group per input group.
• Each tag must have an open tag and a close tag. If you do not close the tag, then the mapping will be invalid.
• The expressions function the same way as they would within OpenGround Professional, therefore any OpenGround Professional function will work in the mapping. There are some additional expressions that only work in mapping files.
• In this guide, a function is a part of a command that is used to detail something that the file will do. An expression can be used as part of a function to retrieve a certain subset of data or calculation.
• Where the source data contains required values across multiple rows and a single destination row needs to be targeted, the ‘merge’ attribute can be used. This feature requires that the source rows have key fields which can be used to identify which destination row should be written to. If a matching row cannot be located, a new row will be created in the output row. Should you require that only existing rows are used, and new rows are never created, the ‘merge-only’ attribute can be used.
• ‘safe-merge’ can be used to ensure that previously-set fields in an output row are never overwritten.
• Prevent-Duplicates should be used when multiple input groups are going to the same output group, this function will explicitly stop any duplicate records being created and will force data onto the same line. A row is considered a duplicate if the key fields match those of an existing row.
• Every location that gets imported requires a location type. If the incoming data does not contain a location type, we recommend storing this as a constant value of ‘BH’ or similar.
• The order of the data being mapped is important. If you are importing child data, for example lab tests into samples, then import the samples first by making sure that the sample table is written before the mapping for the lab testing tables.

Video