5.3.4 Drawing mapping lines (connecting Guide parts and Plugin Parts)

This subsection describes how to draw mapping lines to connect Guide Parts and Plugin Parts. You do not need to do this for Plugin Parts that do not have input or output parameters.

You can only view and work with mapping lines when the guide area of the Operational Content Editing Window is in mapping mode. Mapping lines do not appear in the Operational Content Execution Window.

If the Plugin Part has input parameters, draw a mapping line by clicking and dragging from the port () of the input-source Guide Part to an input parameter of the Plugin Part (the port on the left of the Plugin part).

The value of the Guide Part will be passed to the plugin as an input parameter.
If the Plugin Part has output parameters, draw a mapping line by clicking and dragging from an output parameter of the Plugin Part (the port to the right of the Plugin Part) to the output-destination Guide Part.

The value of the plugin will be passed to the Guide Part as an output parameter.

Supplementary note:

Mapping lines appear as colored arrows as shown in the figure below. Because each mapping line has a different color, you can easily identify which line is which even if they cross over.
You can draw mapping lines to multiple input parameters from one Guide Part. You can also draw mapping lines to multiple Guide Parts from one output parameter.
You cannot draw mapping lines from multiple output parameters to one Guide Part.
It is not mandatory that you draw mapping lines to the ports of a Plugin Part.
When you have placed a Plugin Part, the plugin processing is invoked when a transition takes place in the Operational Content Editing Window between nodes that incorporate the plugin, even if no mapping lines are drawn to or from the Plugin Parts.

Notes on values of Guide Parts

The values users enter in the guide area are shared between Guide Parts of the same type. When the Operational Flow includes a Branching node, if a Process Node that has already been displayed is displayed again via another route, the value input when the Process Node was first displayed is used.

In a User Plugin, you can have the cached value change according to certain conditions. For details about how to develop a plugin in which the cached value changes conditionally, see the manual JP1/Navigation Platform Development Guide.

Notes on associating Plugin Parts with drop-down parts in a parent-child relationship

When you associate Plugin Parts with drop-down parts that are configured in a parent-child relationship, define the Operational Content so that the parameter linked to the parent drop-down part is above the parameter linked to the child drop-down part. The parameters of parent and child drop-down parts need not be contiguous.

The following figure shows an example in which output parameters (the ports on the right side of a Plugin Part) are associated with drop-down parts in a parent-child relationship.

Figure 5‒1: Example of associating output parameters with drop-down parts in parent-child relationship

In this example, parameter1 is associated with the parent drop-down part, and parameter2 is associated with the child. However, parameter3 could also be associated with the child drop-down part because the parameters associated with drop-down parts in parent-child relationships need not be contiguous.

These notes do not only apply to output parameters. They also apply when associating input parameters with parent-child drop-down parts.

Operations after editing plugins

If you edit a plugin after associating its Plugin Part with parameters, you need to place the Plugin Part for the edited plugin again and redraw the mapping lines.

If a User Plugin has been edited, contact the system administrator. The system administrator will need to perform the necessary changes.

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