Request new feature - Data Mapper extraction should use proper name

OL Connect Professional Feedback & Feature Requests
1

Hello OL team

I would like to ask why when I am inserting new Extraction, it contains some dummy name like “Extraction n” where n - is amount of total extractions?

For example when I had project and need to map 300 fields (add 300 extractions) then I have to manually rename all of this fields, one by one, step by step using F2 button to rename.

I think one small enhancement would be to allow datamapper to automtically set proper name (based on extracted field name)

Thanks

Adam

2

Hi,

I’m sure an OL dev will respond but I have a few questions.

  1. Why do you make 300 Extract Steps when you can, depending on the data layout, have one Extract Step with 300 fields in it?
  2. Or is the job so big that you actually need or have to have 300 Extract Steps?)

Just curious is all and probably will be asked by OL too.

Regards,

S

3

Yes, my job is quite large and I had to have loads of various fields.

I just would like to propose some usefull feature:)

4

The default behavior for structured data (database, CSV, XML, etc) is to use the column header or node name as the extracted field name.

What sort of data were you working with? Also, what version of the software? It may be the case that this wasn’t the default behavior in some previous version, but it’s been this way since 1.7 at the earliest that I can remember. I recall it being this way in 1.6 too, but my memory is a bit fuzzy there.

5

Hi AlbertsN,

What OP is referring to is not field names but rather the name of the extract step containing the fields, if I’m not mistaken. I still don’t see how the extract step can inherit a name, in which he explains above, from a field especially when the extract step usually contains multiple field/field names. but perhaps when he responds he can clarify his request a bit more.

Regards,

S

6

Ah, good point. Yes, if we’re talking about the extraction step itself it wouldn’t make much sense to inherit the name of the field, as a single extraction step could be extracting hundreds of fields.

7

Yes, what I am trying to say, the OL Connect software should automatically rename Extraction steps with proper field name:

For example I am inserting new extraction of field, and name of this field will be “InvoiceNumber”. Then if You go to Data Mapper and Steps, You will see “Extraction1” name, but this steps should be related to “InvoiceNumber” name.

Now when I have 500 houndreds of extraction and I have to manually rename all of this extraction manually.

8

So, normally you’d be bundling up your extraction steps into groups. Just because you have 500 fields to extract doesn’t mean you’d have 500 extraction steps.

Take a common invoice as an example. There’s a “header” of information about the recipient, invoice number, etc. That can all go into a single extraction step.

Next, you’d have the details of that invoice. Maybe you have 5 columns to extract into different fields. Those all become a single extraction step that places values into 5 fields.

Finally, maybe there’s a footer that moves based on the end of the details. I can’t include that in the first extraction, so it becomes a third step that extracts a handful of other fields.

So even though I may be extracting 50+ fields, I’m doing it all in 3 extraction steps.

In short, a single extraction step was never meant to represent a single field. It’s meant for a batch of extractions. So it wouldn’t make sense to auto name them based on the fields extracted.

9

Thanks

Now I understand that a bit better.

Adam