Mapping Module

A mapping rule is a set of conditions for matching a data item from a source taxonomy with a data item from a target taxonomy. As a result of the matching, we get the source data item mapped to the target data item. Product descriptions can be enriched and delivered to the endpoint if only the source and target taxonomies are synchronized.

Within the data mapping, a framework of changes is created that will be made to source data before merging into the target structure. To synchronize the data of the two taxonomies, the user sets the mapping rules that determine the relationship between the source data items and the target data items.

Following the implemented requirements of global and local eCommerce platforms and web-shops, the mapping UI module has been developed and shaped in a way to make data mapping a breeze for a person possessing basic knowledge and hands-on experience in product content mapping and taxonomy. The UI will lead the user through the flow of mapping the source data structure to the target taxonomy, without requiring any knowledge of coding from the user.

The mapping rules created by the user will be saved to the database and available to the user for editing, adding new rules, and deleting. As an option, the module will offer the feature of mapping rules versioning enabling the user to see the history of changes. If required, users can roll back to the previous version.

To speed up and facilitate for a taxonomy-inexperienced user the process of data mapping in the UI, the platform’s Back Office enables taxonomists to create and manage mapping templates, with the templates further delivered to the Front Office for the final filling-in. The platform imports the client’s taxonomy data in an Excel file, based on which the taxonomy engineer creates a data model template by synchronizing the target and source data configurations in the Back Office UI.

The module supports simple and complex mappings. The simple or 1-to-1 value matching provides for mapping a value of an external taxonomy feature to one value of a content provider feature (value-to-value). For example, a provider’s category “laptops” is mapped to the client’s category “notebooks” to have the client’s product description correctly enriched and syndicated. Further, within the simple mapping measurement units are converted and synchronized using the module’s UoM library. Complex mapping is composed of one or more conditions for mapping a client’s data item to a provider’s data item. For example, a client’s feature “dimensions“ is mapped to the provider’s three features “length“, “width“, and “height“ to have the values tagged to the product description.