Data Transformation Engine Map Designer Reference Guide
Chapter 9 - Functional Map Wizard  Referring to the Current Output in a Map Rule 
Map Designer Reference Guide 
163 
Referring to the Current Output in a Map Rule 
A map rule can include the name of the output object to which it applies. For 
example, to use the 
INDEX function on LineItem, the map rule on LineItem will 
include LineItem. Instead of using the entire object name for LineItem, use the 
dollar sign shorthand symbol 
$. The dollar sign $ refers to the object to which the 
expression applies. 
A map rule can also reference other output objects that appear above the map 
rule. 
In the functional map, you can create an additional input card to represent the 
index of the desired item. This is one case in which the type of an input card in a 
functional map has been chosen from the output. In fact, any numeric item may 
be chosen for that card’s type. 
Using a Functional Map to Re-order Data 
Use a functional map to arrange data in a different order. For example, you are 
growing some flowers and tracking their progress. You have some data for the 
measurements you took: height, number of leaves, water intake, and so on. 
These ProgressReadings are in no particular order in your input data. For 
example, the readings for daisy are scattered throughout the input data. 
Shown below is some input data: 
Apr-06,Alstromeria,24.14,15,7,32.5 
Mar-20,Daisy,15.3,13,12,3.67 
May-02,Lily,10.4,7,13,2.5 
Apr-22,Daisy,22.4,8,12,2.6 
Mar-09,Snapdragon,10.2,7,10,3.2 
May-11,Alstromeria,26.8,18,11,3.12 
Apr-06,Iris,5.89,5,6,2.7 
Apr-10,Daisy,18.4,8,13,4.1 
You want to generate an output that consists of reports, one for each flower type. 
You want a report for alstromeria, one for daisies, one for snapdragons, and so 
on. Use a functional map called MakeReport, to produce one report per flower 
type. 
To create a report for each flower type, you need to determine the different kinds 
of flowers in the input data. To do this, use the 
UNIQUE function. The UNIQUE 
function looks at all of the values for a given data object and returns the unique 
values. 










