33 Understanding Mappings

One of the greatest strengths of TopLink is its ability to transform data between an object representation and a representation specific to a data source. This transformation is called mapping and it is the core of a TopLink project.

A mapping corresponds to a single data member of a domain object. It associates the object data member with its data source representation and defines the means of performing the two-way conversion between object and data source.

This chapter includes information on the following

• Mapping Types

• Mapping Concepts

• Understanding the Mapping API