Overview of Source Property Mapping

The property mapper is a pipeline component used to map properties on the records in your source data to Endeca properties and/or dimensions to make them navigable, displayable, both, or neither. The property mapper is a key component in developing a pipeline, so it is important to understand its functions well.

About source property mapping
Source property mappings dictate which dimension values are tagged to each record and which property information is available for record search, sort, and display.
About using a single property mapper
You should use a single property mapper to map all of your source properties to both Endeca properties or dimensions. Although there are rare cases where multiple property mappers may be used, Endeca strongly recommends that you use only one property mapper in any given pipeline.
About using explicit mapping
When you specify a source property and a target Endeca property or dimension to map to, you are creating an explicit mapping. In general, explicit mapping is the type of mapping Endeca recommends you use.
Minimum configuration
At a minimum, a property mapper requires both a record source and a dimension source to define the components that will supply it with record and dimension data.
About mapping unwanted properties
Mapping properties that do not add value to the application is wasteful in terms of processing time and resources. Endeca recommends, therefore, that you only create mappings for those source properties you intend to use in your final application.
About removing source properties after mapping
After mapping, source properties still exist as part of the Endeca record. You can remove them and create a record that consists exclusively of Endeca properties and dimension values by enabling the Filter Unknown Properties setting in your pipeline's indexer adapter.
Types of source property mapping
There are four types of source property mappings:
About adding a property mapper
This section provides a quick overview to adding a property mapper to the pipeline, including:
The Mappings editor
The Mappings editor is where you create your source property mappings. You access this editor from the Property Mapper editor by clicking the Mappings button.