Message mapping: cardinality

Message mapping cardinality describes the relationship between associated elements at both ends of a relationship link, in this case the source and target elements in a message mapping.

Message mapping elements can be associated in different ways, such as one-to-one or many-to-one. These associations are unidirectional; that is, both the source and the target are clearly defined. For each cardinality, a specific type of transformation occurs. In some cases, the association requires a condition that you must specify, and that must be met before the transformation can occur. Message mappings containing conditions are sometimes known as case mappings.

The following table contains a definition for each type of cardinality:

Cardinality Relationship
One-to-one Associates a single source with a single target
One-sided Associates a value with a target
One-to-many Associates a single source with multiple targets
Many-to-one Associates multiple sources with a single target
Many-to-many Associates multiple sources with multiple targets
Related concepts
Mappings
Related tasks
Developing mappings