Data mappings and the rule engine

The Central Designer rule engine handles forms and items that have been mapped to a data mapping the same as study objects that have not been mapped to a data mapping—the rule engine follows the data mappings to access the data in the original items. There is no physical representation of the data mapping in the InForm application.

The Central Designer application determines the data that is in a data mapping and uses the information to analyze rule dependencies. In some situations, more triggers (ATTACHRULESET objects) might be created for rules that use data mappings in comparison to rules that do not use data mappings.

Keep in mind the following when brainstorming different ways to use data mappings:

• The data in the data mapping comes from the standard InForm data model, and the Central Designer rule engine refers to the InForm database for study objects that are in a data mapping.
• The InForm application allows you to work with data for a single subject at a time, and data mappings provide the same functionality. You cannot use data mappings to access site information or information from other subjects.