Property Element
For each database object, there are a number of properties; and these elements map the incoming details to the correct destination properties.
Each Property
element maps a column of source data to a single
property (or column) of an object in the central compliance database for
FlexNet Manager Suite. Each Property
also contains business
rules to manage the processing needed to convert from the data source to the
destination database.
Example
<Property
Name="Serial Number"
Type="serialnumber"
Update="Always"
Value="SerialNo"
ValueType="Field Value"
UseForMatching="True">
</Property>
Contains
No child elements: Property
is an empty XML element, using only its
attributes.
Contained by
Supported attributes
Attribute | Details |
---|---|
DataType |
Optional, but required when
IsCustomField=true . It declares
the data type of the custom property so that the data is correctly parsed.
Valid values are:
Tip: For standard (non-custom) properties, the data type,
format, and precision for each destination property is automatically
read from the compliance database schema.
|
FieldMask |
Identifies any constant prefix and/or suffix on values in the incoming property records that do not exist in the target database. When the Business Importer assesses incoming records for matches in the target database, it first augments the target key value with the additional data in the field mask, and then assesses the match. The formats for declaring this value
are:
Notes:
For example, suppose your source data includes location names with a constant
prefix
Locn- , so that the source data represents Australia
as Locn-Australia . However, in the target central operations databases, the locations do not have this superfluous prefix,
and there the location is simply called Australia . Without
some intervention, the source data could never update records in the target
database, because the values are not matched. To solve this,
declare: This mask
concatenates the fixed prefix with each value of the
groupcn column in the target database, and the
combination is tested against the incoming data. Therefore, the incoming
record Locn-Australia is matched by the evaluated
FieldMask of Locn-Australia , and the
Business Importer now knows to update the entry for the
Australia location in the target database. |
Format |
Declares the format of date/time values (when
DataType="date" ) and numeric values (when
DataType="numeric" ). These are formats identified for
the source data, allowing the Business Importer to convert to the
format required for storing in the target database. The following references
may assist:
|
IsCustomField |
Optional. Boolean:
DataType attribute. For more details on
these attributes, see Custom Properties.Note: The automatic creation of
custom properties defined in the adapter XML file is supported only
for on-premises implementations when the adapter is running on the
central application server (and not supported on inventory beacons where the adapter runs in disconnected
mode). However, once a custom property exists in the
operations databases, any adapter can add values to the custom
property.
Custom properties are only available for the
following objects in the compliance database:
For more about customization, see the FlexNet Manager Suite System Reference PDF. |
MatchingMask |
Supported only for on-premises implementations where the adapter is running
on the central application server (and specifically not permitted
for adapters running on inventory beacons). Except when
dealing with properties of enterprise groups, this is required when
The
MatchingMask attribute uses standard SQL syntax to
declare a pattern to match. The exact syntax varies, depending on the value
of the ValueType property. For example, to match a record
that ‘contains’ the incoming value (with other possible content), the two
syntax examples are:
|
MatchingMode |
Optional. Specifies how this property will be matched against the existing
data in the central compliance database. Available values:
|
Name |
Mandatory. This is the friendly name of the property. The attribute is
exclusively used in the adapter XML file, and need not match either incoming
or target columns names (for which see |
OnMissingFieldValue |
Optional. This attribute dictates the behavior of the Business Importer when this clash occurs:
For example, suppose you have the following
Property on a
location Object in your adapter XML
file: The
combination of ValueType="FieldValue" and
Value="Loaction" tell the Business Importer to
map input from the Loaction column into the target
database. However, if the source data does not share the same typographical
error, and instead has a column called Location , the
proposed column name cannot be found. Now
OnMissingFieldValue="Discard Object" means that no
locations will be imported, because the entire object is discarded based on
the failure to find the key field. The fix, of course, is to correct the
error in the adpater XML file. |
RegexOption |
Optional. Specifies the regex options applying to the
RegexString attribute. Supported values are:
|
RegexOrder |
Optional. May only be used with the
GroupCN property of
enterprise groups; and is used in conjunction with the
RegexSplit attribute. This RegexOrder
attribute declares whether the compound string of enterprise groups reads
from parent down to child (leaf node last), or from child up to parent (leaf
node first). It supports the following values:
|
RegexReplace |
Optional. Specifies one or more characters or strings in the incoming values
for the current
Property that are to be replaced by the
corresponding value(s) declared in the RegexReplaceBy
attribute. (The RegexReplace and
RegexReplaceBy attributes must be considered as a
pair.)
|
RegexReplaceBy |
Optional, but required when
RegexReplace is used. Specifies
one or more characters or strings used to replace the corresponding value(s)
declared in the RegexReplace attribute. (The
RegexReplace and RegexReplaceBy
attributes must be considered as a pair.)
When
you combine the examples given for both attributes in the processing of this
Property (such as the name of a vendor), all instances
of either “Microsoft Corp.” or “Microsoft Corporation” are standardized to
“Microsoft”, and all instances of “Adobe Inc.” are standardized to
“Adobe”. |
RegexSplit |
Optional. Specifies the character on which to split the incoming property
into separate values. May only be used with the
GroupCN
property of enterprise groups. The GroupCN values may
contain an entire path through the tree of enterprise groups in a single
column (imported as one Property ). For example, a location
may be specified as the following
path: The goal is to
spit this path into separate location entities, organized in parent/child
relationships to form a tree. The RegexSplit attribute
specifies the character separator (in this example, the forward slash) used
to split the GroupCN values into multiple database
entities. The above example value can be entered as separate locations in the
compliance database, with the correct parent-child linkages, using the
following
XML:
|
RegexString |
Optional. Sets the regular expression applied to incoming values of this
property. Matched data is extracted and included in the import, while those
parts of values that were unmatched are discarded. If there is no match
found in an incoming value of this property, the output is am empty string.
Processing of the regular expression may be modified by the value of
|
Type |
Mandatory. The type uniquely identifies the property within the object in the
compliance database, and must be an exact match for the name of
an existing database column. Details of the compliance database
schema are available in the FlexNet Manager Suite Schema Reference PDF file. Custom properties are supported on relevant objects
(see
IsCustomField ). Important: Do not set the
Type attribute equal to the database ID of the
enclosing object. (For example, if this is a property of an
Asset object, do not set the Type
attribute to AssetID .) Database IDs cannot be directly
referenced, set, or updated by the Business Importer. Pointing
this attribute to a database ID will produce erratic results and likely
crashes of the Business Importer. |
Update |
Optional. Sets the business rule for updating the property if there is
already a value in the central compliance database. Possible
settings:
Note: Most properties in the supplied adapter XML files (for both
disconnected mode on inventory beacons, and for
connected mode on the central application server of an
on-premises implementation) are set to
Do Not Blank to
prevent accidental removal of existing data when the adapter is used.
The exceptions to this general principle are:
|
UseForMatching |
Optional. Boolean:
Note: For most import objects, you cannot save an existing adapter or create
a new adapter without setting
UseForMatching="True" , or
if defining import rules for attributes/properties using the UI without
selecting the Use this property for matching existing
data check box. If using the UI and do not select the
check box but the chosen adapter requires it to be checked, then a
warning message is displayed and you will not be able to save the new
adapter until the issue is corrected. The only import objects that do
not require UseForMatching (or corresponding
UI Use this property for matching existing data
check box) are:
|
UseNullValue ForMatching |
Optional. Sets the business rule to apply when the value is empty or null and
UseForMatching=true . Note that this is not a Boolean.
Possible values are:
|
Value |
Mandatory. Defines the value of the property to be written into the
compliance database. Depending on the value of the
ValueType attribute, the Value may
be:
Note: If
ValueType="Field Value" and the
Value attribute is empty, the property is ignored
during the import. |
ValueType |
Optional. Determines how the
Value attribute for the
Property should be interpreted:
|
FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)
2024 R1