Choosing a transform to concatenate input data

In the Graphical Data Mapping editor, you can use a Concat transform, a Custom XPath transform, or an XPath function to define a mapping operation that sets the value of an output element by concatenating input data.

Procedure

Choose one of the following transforms to concatenate multiple input values and set the value of an output element:

  • If your input elements are simple non-repeatable elements, and you want to create an output element that is the result of concatenating these input elements with a common delimiter, use the Concat transform. The delimiter is optional.

    The Concat transform concatenates two or more simple non-repeatable elements from the input into a single string value in the output. You can specify a constant to define a prefix, a suffix, and multiple delimiters.

    For more information, see Concat.

    This figure shows the Concat transform between simple input type elements.

  • If your input elements are simple non-repeating elements, and you want to create an output element that is the result of concatenating these input elements by using an XPath expression with different delimiters, use the fn:concat transform. The delimiters are optional.

    For more information, see fn:concat.

    This figure shows the fn:concat transform between simple input type elements within a complex structure.

  • If the input is a repeatable simple element, and you want to create an output element that is the result of concatenating the sequence of input elements with a delimiter as optional, use the fn:string-join transform.

    For more information, see fn:string-join.

    The following figure shows the fn:string-join transform:

    This figure shows the fn:string-join transform between repeating simple input type elements within a repeating structure.

  • Use the Custom XPath transform to define an XPath expression that concatenates multiple input elements into a simple output type.

    The following figure shows a Custom XPath transform that concatenates some input elements in the array into a string element:

    This figure shows the Custom XPath transform that concatenates some input elements in the array into a string element.

  • If you need to specify the matching criteria for joining or filtering input elements, use the Join transform. Then, define transforms between the input and output elements in the nested map associated to the Join transform.

    For more information, see Join.

    This figure shows the Join transform.