Object request formats with manual mapping

Format

The format can have these request formats with manual mapping:

  • application/json: Define a JSON Conventional request in the Request Body field and use path expressions to get values from the input document.
  • application/xml: Define an XML request in the Request Body field and use path expressions to get values from the input document.
  • text/plain: Define a static text request in the Request Body field.
Name
The name of the parameter of type body that was defined in the API metadata.
Description
The description of the parameter of type body that was defined in the API metadata.
Body

If the Map input document to API request check box is selected, the Body field is enabled. Define a request body using the selected request format.

When Respect source schema is enabled, the available JSON elements shown during mapping correspond to the structure defined in the source BOD schema. Collections are exposed consistently as arrays, which simplifies field mapping for downstream APIs.

If the model schema is described in the API metadata, you can generate an example body. To specify the request body with a sample, click EXAMPLE.

You can use the path expressions from the input document to define values for the request body. To identify a path expression in the body structure, you can use elements.

For an application/json request content type, use "IonApiRef".

For an application/xml request content type, use <IonApiRef>.

The value of these elements must be XPath or JSONPath, depending on the input document type. If the input document is of type ANY, the path type and body content must match the request format.

For more information about path expressions, see Specifying a path for mapping. For information about schema-aware JSON generation, see the JSON from BOD section.

At runtime, the path expression is replaced with the value from the input document.

JSON from BOD

When Respect source schema is selected:

  • The generated JSON reflects the structure of the source BOD schema.
  • Collections defined in the BOD schema are always represented as JSON arrays.
  • Empty collections are represented as empty arrays ([]).
  • Mapping definitions can use a consistent schema regardless of the number of collection members.

When Respect source schema is cleared:

  • Standard JSON conversion behavior is used.
  • Collections containing a single item might be represented as objects instead of arrays.
  • Existing integrations continue to use legacy behavior for backward compatibility.

Schema-aware JSON generation

When the Respect source schema option is enabled, JSON generation uses the BOD schema definition rather than relying solely on instance content.

Collection elements defined in the schema are emitted as JSON arrays regardless of cardinality.

Example:

Legacy behavior:

"Line": {
        ...
        }

Schema-aware behavior:

"Line": [
        {
        ...
        }
        ]

Empty collections are emitted as:

[]

rather than being omitted or represented as null.