Mappings File

The mappings file defines how the MTA maps input strings to output strings.

Many components of the MTA employ table lookup-oriented information. Generally speaking, this sort of table is used to transform (that is, map) an input string into an output string. Such tables, called mapping tables, are usually presented as two columns, the first (or left-hand) column giving the possible input strings and the second (or right-hand) column giving the resulting output string for the input it is associated with. Most of the MTA databases are instances of this type of mapping table. The MTA database files, however, do not provide wildcard-lookup facilities, owing to inherent inefficiencies in having to scan the entire database for wildcard matches.

The mappings file provides the MTA with facilities for supporting multiple mapping tables. Full wildcard facilities are provided, and multi-step and iterative mapping methods can be accommodated as well. This approach is more compute-intensive than using a database, especially when the number of entries is large. However, the attendant gain in flexibility may actually serve to eliminate the need for most of the entries in an equivalent database, and this may actually result in lower overhead overall.

You can test mapping tables with the imsimta test -mapping command. For more information about the syntax of the mappings file and the test -mapping command, see the Mappings File and theSun Java System Messaging Server 6 2005Q4 Administration Reference

After making changes to the mappings file, you must restart the MTA or issue the command imsimta reload.