Mapping Settings

Learn how to configure your mappings.

Overview

Ensure users see the correct data when using Visier by correctly configuring your mappings. Choosing the right mapping configuration depends on how your data is structured and how you want to load your data on an ongoing basis.

Data file type

Data file type determines how Visier treats your file uploads. For example, you can configure your mapping to treat each file upload as a snapshot of all your data at a point-in-time or an incremental update that only includes new and updated data.

Temporal

Choose temporal when taking the snapshot approach and uploading files that contain all your data at a point-in-time.

Transactional profile

Choose transactional profile when you plan to upload files that only contain new or changed records.

Transactional log

Choose transactional log when you plan to upload files that are structured to be tall rather than wide and where each row represents a single property value change.

Validity range

Choose validity range for data that has a known start and end date.

Data file types by mapping type

The available data file types change with the selected mapping type. The following table shows the data file types that can be used per mapping type.

Mapping type	Data file types
Regular	Temporal, transaction log, transactional profile, validity range
Auxiliary	Temporal, transaction log, transactional profile
Lookup	Temporal, transactional log, transactional profile, static map
Correction	Various

The following table describes data types for lookup mappings.

Data file type	Description
Temporal	Temporal data is snapshot-style data comprising a set of records at a point in time. This data is "wide" and includes all the columns in the schema for each record. Typically, temporal data is loaded period-to-period. The loader compares the incoming data and infers if members of the subject need a system event (conception or termination). The loader needs few rules to move the records into the platform.
Transactional log	Transactional log is journal-style data comprising changes to data over an interval. This data is "tall" and lists only the changed attributes with the new attribute value. Each line includes a time associated with the change. This data file type makes it simpler to find changed values and fewer records are moved. Changes are not inferred but taken from the log. The loader needs additional extraction rules to move the data into the platform.
Transactional profile	Transactional profile is a hybrid of temporal and transactional log types. The data excludes any unchanged records and includes each changed record in its entirety. The data is "wide", where each row is included if one or more attributes have changed. The time associated with the change is included in the record. Transactional data, both log and profile types, are less verbose than temporal data and require more data business rules to create system events.
Static map	Static map is a special transactional profile data for lookup mappings that do not require business rules to augment the data. Static maps are useful when a lookup is used in mapping formulas.

The following table describes the data file types for event mappings. Each data type has a key for the record that includes the key of the associated member of a subject and a timestamp.

Data file type	Description
Regular events	Regular events are journal-style data types where each record is an occurrence of an event—anything that happens to a subject.
Conception events	Conception events are journal-style data types where each record is the start of the validity interval for a member of a subject. For example, employment start is event data that indicates the start of an employee profile (a profile conception event).
Termination events	Termination events are journal-style data types where each record is the end of the validity interval for a member of a subject. For example, employee exit is event data that indicates the end of an employee's profile (a profile termination event).

Mapping type

Mapping type is how you load and combine data from multiple sources. For example, you can populate an employee object in Visier with data that is stored in one or more files.

Regular

Choose a regular mapping type when loading primary data that you consider to be the source of truth for a selected target. Regular mapping types create and remove objects in Visier based on the records that exist in the selected data source.

Auxiliary

Choose an auxiliary mapping type when you want to augment existing data with data loaded from a different source.

Lookup

Choose a lookup mapping type when you want to augment existing data with data loaded from a different source.

Override behavior

Override behavior is how you specify which records to load when loading data on an ongoing basis. For example, let's say you load incorrect employee data for January 2024, you can re-upload the correct employee data for January 2024 and configure the override behavior to load the correct employee data and ignore the incorrect employee data.

In Visier, override behavior serves the following purposes:

• Restate data at any point in time without manually excluding previously-uploaded files.
• Group data flexibly.
• Configure override behavior once and never have to configure it again.

Visier determines whether a data file is newer or older using snapshot time. By default, snapshot time is the file's upload time, but you can set a different snapshot time in the global workspace in Data > Sources > Uploaded Files. For more information about snapshot time, see How Time Is Represented in a Source.

In each mapping, choose one of the following override behaviors:

• Event date
• Event date and subject member ID
• Record period date
• Record period date and subject member ID

Event date

Choose event date when you want to ignore records from previous file uploads that have an event date that matches the event date of a record in a newer file upload.

Event date and subject member ID

Choose event date and subject member ID when you want to ignore records from previous file uploads that have an event date and subject member ID that matches the event date and subject member ID of a record in a newer file upload.

Record period date

Choose record period date when you want to ignore records from previous file uploads that have a record period date that matches the record period date of a record in a newer file upload.

Record period date and subject member ID

Choose record period date and subject member ID when you want to ignore records from previous file uploads that have a record period date and subject member ID that matches the record period date and subject member ID of a record in a newer file upload.

Target group

An optional label that groups mappings together. Use target groups to update a selection of mappings for a target. The job compares changes within the same target group, so that data in other mappings is not considered missing or terminated.