IMan Data Concepts

IMan has extensive functionality for manipulating or transforming data. In this section, the key concepts necessary for these transformations are explored.

Anatomy of an http Request & response

Describes the fundamentals of an http request and response and their constituent parts; required knowledge for those wishing to use the webservices functionality or WebAPI module.

Application Connectivity

The API process used by IMan to access external applications.

Audit Report, Auditing, and Log Keys

The auditing log records the results of each transform (e.g. reporting as successful, or highlighting errors), which can be configured using the Email task transform to be sent to the relevant end-user in summary form

The Log Keys defines the fields that will be used to identify a record in the Summary should an error arise, directing the user to the location of the problem.

Data Processing Pattern

IMan processes data in a specific pattern, which can effect the result of parent or child records that are dependent on other transactions.

Destination Defined Data Structure

Some applications require data to be in a certain structure in order to receive them correctly.

Pay attention to Destination Defined Data Structure when exporting to system applications.

Expando Fields

An expando field is a statement using VBScript that references a particular segment of information within a dataset (e.g. item codes for an 'Orders' dataset, which when expanded show the individual entries for that section of data).

In the case of the Audit Log, Expando Fields could be configured to pull details of specific transform results.

Field Types

Whether it is text, decimal or Boolean, the field type assigned to data tells IMan how to treat it.

Correct Field Types are important for avoiding erroneous results.

Formula Evaluation

IMan uses formulae in a number of situations, to create field names and evaluate values.

These formulae are written using VBScript syntax.

Hierarchical Data

Hierarchical data is comprised of repeating parent and child transactions. IMan is able to read, create and flatten this structure.

IMan Integration

The process of importing, transforming/manipulating, and writing or exporting data.

The type and complexity of an integration can vary greatly, due to the flexibility of the IMan platform.

Transform Execution & Data Flow

Transforms execute in a specific sequence, where the resultant data from the initial transform will become the input data for the following transform in the sequence. Hence data 'flowing' from one transform to the next.

Wildcards

A wildcard is a character used to refer to one or more undefined characters in a search.