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Global Mapping and Subscript-Level Mapping

You can map globals and routines from one database to another on the same or different systems. This allows simple references to data which can exist anywhere and is the primary feature of a namespace. You can map whole globals or pieces of globals; mapping a piece of a global (or a subscript) is known as subscript-level mapping (SLM).

You can map globals and routines from one database to another on the same or different systems. Because you can map global subscripts, data can easily span disks.

To configure this type of mapping, see Add Global, Routine, and Package Mapping to a Namespace.

Simple Example of Subscript-Level Mapping

Global mapping is applied hierarchically. For example, if the NSX namespace has an associated DBX database, but maps the ^x global to the DBY database and ^x(1) to the DBZ database, then any subscripted form of the ^x global — except those that are part of the ^x(1) hierarchy — is mapped to DBY; those globals that are part of the ^x(1) hierarchy are mapped to DBZ. The following diagram illustrates this hierarchy:

In this diagram, the globals and their hierarchy appear in gray, and the databases to which they are mapped appear in black.

More Complex Example of Subscript-Level Mapping

It is also possible to map part of a mapped, subscripted global to another database, or even back to the database to which the initial global is mapped. Suppose that the previous example had the additional mapping of the ^x(1,2) global back to the DBY database. This would appear as follows:

Again, the globals and their hierarchy appear in gray, and the databases to which they are mapped appear in black.

Once you have mapped a global from one namespace to another, you can reference the mapped global as if it were in the current namespace — with a simple reference, such as ^ORDER or ^X(1).

Important:

When establishing subscript-level mapping ranges, the behavior of string subscripts differs from that of integer subscripts. For strings, the first character determines the range, while the range for integers uses numeric values. For example, a subscript range of ("A"):("C") contains not only AA but also AC and ABCDEF; by contrast, a subscript range of (1):(2) does not contain 11.

Key Principles

Using Distinct Ranges of Globals and Subscripts

Each of a namespace’s mappings must refer to distinct ranges of globals or subscripts. Mapping validation prevents the establishment of any kind of overlap. For example, if you attempt to use the Management Portal to create a new mapping that overlaps with an existing mapping, the Portal prevents this from occurring and displays an error message.

Logging Changes

Successful changes to the mappings through the Portal are also logged in messages.log; unsuccessful changes are not logged. Any failed attempts to establish mappings by hand-editing the configuration parameter (CPF) file are logged in messages.log; for details on editing the CPF, see Editing the Active CPF.

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