Compiling a map

When it compiles a map, Map Designer Express generates a .class file from the .java file that holds Java code for the map's transformations. It generates this .java file from the transformation code stored as part of the map definition in the project.

Important:
To be able to compile a map, the Java compiler (javac) must exist on your system and its path must be on your PATH system variable. For more information, see "Setting up the development environment"..

From within Map Designer Express, you can initiate compilation of a map in several ways:

By default, Map Designer Express saves the map in the project before it begins the compile and generates the Java code in the .java file and .class file. If any message file is needed, Map Designer Express will also generate the message file.

Note:
You can specify whether Map Designer Express automatically saves a map to the project before compiling the map with the option Compile Map: save map before compile. By default, this option is enabled. You can change the setting of this option on the General tab of the Preferences dialog. For more information, see "Specifying General Preferences".

To compile, Map Designer Express calls the Java compiler on the map's Java source code ( .java file). The actions it then takes depend upon whether the compilation is successful.

System Manager also provides several ways to compile a map. You can do any of the following:

For more information on using System Manager to compile a map, see the User Guide for WebSphere Business Integration Express and Express Plus for Item Synchronization.

A successful map compilation

When the map successfully compiles, Map Designer Express takes the following steps:

An unsuccessful map compilation

If an error occurs during compilation, Map Designer Express generates error messages and displays them in the output window at the bottom of the screen. Unless an output window is already open, Map Designer Express opens one at the bottom of the Map tab to display these compilation messages.

When a compile error occurs, the output window displays the error message with the problematic attribute name and line number in blue. Click the hyperlink to navigate to the problematic area in the Java view in Activity Editor.

Tip: You can clear the output window of messages by choosing Clear Output from the View menu.

Some errors are easy to detect, while others are not.

Copyright IBM Corp. 2003