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Foreign Key Mapping Object Type

Each Foreign Key Mapping object definition identifies a foreign key column in the destination table that is to be populated from the interface table. Because foreign key values are stored as numeric row ID values in data tables, to populate one from an interface table it is necessary to map from the interface column to a combination of user key columns in the destination table, rather than directly to the foreign key column.

A foreign key mapping is not a one-to-one column mapping from interface table to destination table, as occurs with non-foreign key columns. The numeric foreign key does not even exist in the interface table, so it cannot be mapped. Instead, a combination of attribute columns in the destination table of the foreign key is used to access the desired row, and the foreign key value can be obtained from that row. These relationships are illustrated in Figure 23.

Figure 23.  Foreign Key Mapping Configuration