Custom Mapping: ODBC

ODBC Source

An ODBC Data Source may be used as a Source of information to update any LDAP directory. This allows syncing with just about any database.

Create a new connection. On the connection creation pop-up window, select Source Map Template type ODBC and Source Sync Engine type ODBC.

See Importing from a Source Database via ODBC Data Source for details on how to create an ODBC Data Source for use with your UnitySync connection.

See ODBC Source Tab Configuration for details on how to configure your Source tab options.

Default mapping for an ODBC Source connection is limited to Name and Email address. This is because your Source columns are unique to your environment and therefore our default map file can not include the specific mappings required.

You must define the custom mapping to identify your Source columns and how they should map to the Destination attributes. To get started, create a custom object map file.

When your connection has an ODBC Source, your custom map file entries are in the following format:

DestinationAttribute=^Column-Name^

IMPORTANT NOTE: When a column header contains a space character, the space is converted to a dash character for the purpose of attribute definition and mapping. If the Source header is Last Name or Last_Name, you must reference this column by specifying Last-Name as that is what the attribute name will be in the ldif.txt file. In fact, the allowed character set of column header values are limited to:

a-z A-Z 0-9 and - (dash)

In a Source ODBC column header, any characters outside this set are converted to - (dash). This applies to field definitions on the Source tab as well as mappings in your custom object map or custom list map file.

The initial map file generated for you upon creation of your connection will include a few standard mappings which may need to be modified. However, if you fill in the Source tab correctly, you may leave the default mappings that utilize internal variables (denoted by tildes ~ as in ~mail~). The remainder of the mappings are commented out with a # character at the beginning of the line. To incorporate these mappings, remove the preceding # character and customize the column name as instructed above.

ODBC Destination

An ODBC Data Source may be used as a Destination. This allows syncing with just about any database type.

Create on new connection. On the connection creation pop-up window, select the Destination Map Template type ODBC as well as the Sync Engine type ODBC.

See ODBC Destination Tab Configuration for details on how to configure your Destination tab.

Attribute mapping for an ODBC Destination connection requires customization. The default mappings provided should be considered placeholders and must be modified to meet your attribute mapping needs. This is because all ODBC Destinations are unique. UnitySync has no way of knowing what columns appear on your Destination.

You must define the custom mappings to identify your Destination columns and how they should map from the Source attributes.

Once you create your custom object map, you’ll need to edit the mappings using the following format:

ODBCColumnName=^SourceAttribute^

Change the field names on the left of the expression to match those of your ODBC column headers.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When a column header contains a space character, the space is converted to a dash character for the purpose of attribute definition and mapping. If the Source header is Last Name or Last_Name, you must reference this column by specifying Last-Name as that is what the attribute name will be in the ldif.txt file. In fact, the allowed character set of column header values are limited to:

a-z A-Z 0-9 and - (dash)

In a Destination ODBC column header, any characters outside this set are converted to - (dash). This applies to field definitions on the Source tab as well as mappings in your custom object map or custom list map file.