To create a mapping variant

A mapping variant is an alternative mapping for a given business object. There are several situations where you might use a variant:

To allow a business object to draw attribute values from more than one data source. In this case, there would be a variant for each data source.

To allow a business object to use both a table mapping and a stored procedure mapping.

To allow some methods to act through different mappings than others.

Do any of the following:
- Create a new mapping for a business object that already has at least one mapping defined (see Working on business object mappings).
- Create a copy of an existing mapping (see Working on business object mappings).
Change the variant name.

When you configure methods for the business object you must identify the mapping used by each stage of the method pipeline. In this way you are able, for example, to use one stage to fill attributes from one data source and a second stage to fill the remaining attributes from a second data source. Similarly, you could execute a stored procedure from one stage and then load a result set from the same data source with a second stage. For details about how to establish method pipelines and how to assign mappings to pipeline stages, see Establishing business object methods.

Mapping attributes to primary table fields

Each of the table mappings listed in the Business Object Mappings window connects a business object to its primary database table. To finish the mapping, you must match individual business object attributes to specific database fields. For complete details about how to do this, please see Mapping business object attributes to database fields.