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Documenting Maps

When we are creating mappings in SCRIBE its important that we document those maps.  This is a two stage process.  First, we want to do an export of the map and save the JSON file into the source control system.  This way we have a back up copy of it and we can reuse the map if we need it again, similar to what you would do with a template.  The second reason is so others can have an understanding of the process.

In projects that I have worked on in the past I have taken more of a manual approach to creating the supporting documentation for my integration and migration mappings.  This can be time consuming to say the least.  During one of these exercises, I found the SCRIBE Documentation Tool.  I walk through the steps they outlined and it auto generated the documentation for me.  This has greatly speed up my work and gives me an spreadsheet that is easy to understand.

To create this documentation you will need a Google account as it uses Google Docs.  Here is a link to the detailed step by step process provided by SCRIBE.  Here is the high level process:

1) Allow API access to your SCRIBE Online organization.
2) Access the Documentation Tool by clicking this link. (Opens Google Spreadsheet).
3) Save a copy.  This is an important step as you create more then one of these, this way you don't over write a previous map documentation.  Also doing this will allow "SCRIBE" to appear in the menu next to "Help".
4) Click SCRIBE -> Documentation Solution and follow the prompts.
5) Once the process starts, depending on the number of mappings in the solution it can run quickly or slowly.  Just wait for it to finish.

When the process is finished you will see the following:

  • Org Details - This contains info about your org.
  • Solution Details - Details about the solution.
  • All tabs after the first 2 are the individual mappings in the solution.
    • The top section of each mapping tab will contain the high level map info.
    • After that section we start with the beginning of the mapping.  each block is highlighted, so it is easy to navigate between them.  under each block is the information contained in that block and the attributes used with what they are linked to or the conversion code we have written.
I hope this has helped you with documenting your data mappings.  Please check out the full documentation at SCRIBE's website.  Also SCRIBE provides the source code if you want to modify this tool for your specific needs.


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