Create a map or profile
Lesson 11 of 25 5 min read
Create a new root map or profile as a draft for one organisation, and understand what is and is not checked at this point.
Every map or profile starts life as a draft. In this lesson you will create one, choose between a root and an overlay, and learn why Prism lets you save a half-written body.
Create a draft
- Open the list of the kind, for example Create maps.
- Select Add. The dialog opens, for example New create map.
- Fill in the fields (see below).
- Select Create draft. The page of the new draft opens.
| Name | A name that people will know it by, for example Acme orders. |
|---|---|
| Description | Optional. What it is for. |
| Integration type | The integration type, for example Acme API. |
| Document type | The document type it is for, for example warehouse orders. |
| Layers onto | Keep "Nothing: this holds a whole specification" for a root. Select a base to make an overlay. |
| Body | The configuration. You can type it only after you select the integration type and document type. |
Choose the integration type and document type first. Prism then lists the bases that match those types first in Layers onto, showing where each base comes from and its version, and starts the body in the right form.
Root or overlay?
The Layers onto field is where you decide:
- Nothing: this holds a whole specification makes a root. Use it when the organisation needs its own complete map or profile, and no shared base fits.
- Choosing a base makes an overlay. Use it when a shared base nearly fits and you only need to change part of it. The next module covers overlays in depth.
Name for the next person
A good name says the partner, the document and the variation, for example Acme orders: express. The End result and What actually runs screens show names in the chain, so clear names make those screens easier to read.
The body is not checked yet
The body is not checked when you create the draft. It is checked when you validate or publish. That is deliberate: a draft is allowed to be half-written, so you can save your work as you go.
Some checks can only happen at publish, because only then is everything known:
- A parse map is also checked against the document model.
- A send profile is also checked against the create maps that feed it.
So a draft that validates cleanly can still be refused at publish. That is not a fault in the draft check.
Hilltop Coffee's purchase orders
Hilltop Coffee needs Acme API to receive purchase orders, and there is no shared base for that document type: the Create maps list is empty when filtered to Acme API and purchase orders. You select Add, name it Hilltop purchase orders to Acme, choose Acme API and the purchase order document type, keep Layers onto as Nothing: this holds a whole specification, and paste in the body your developer wrote. You select Create draft. Nothing runs yet: the draft is yours to check.
Recap
- New maps and profiles always start as drafts, for this organisation.
- Pick the integration type and document type first; then the body and matching bases become available.
- Layers onto decides root (nothing) or overlay (a base).
- The body is not checked on create; it is checked on validate and publish.
- Parse maps and send profiles get extra checks at publish.
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