Key Cross-Referencing and the Cross-Reference Table

Key cross-referencing allows you to use a common key (i.e., the canonical ID) to build relationships between equivalent business objects from different resources. You build the relationships by mapping key values (i.e., the native IDs) from the resources to a common canonical ID. You maintain these relationships in the cross-reference database component (if using an external RDBMS) or the cross-reference table (if using the embedded internal database). For simplicity, in this chapter the term cross-reference table is used to encompass both. For information about configuring the cross-reference table, see Configuring Integration Server for Key Cross-Reference and Echo Suppression.

Note:
The field names listed in the table below are not the actual column names used in the cross‑reference database component. They are the input variable names used by the key cross‑referencing built‑in services that correspond to the columns of the cross‑reference database component.

The cross-reference table includes the fields described in the following table:

Fields	Description
appId	A string that contains the identification of a resource, for example, “CRM System”. You assign this value.
objectId	A string that contains the identification of the of the object that you want to keep synchronized, for example, “Account”. You assign this value.
nativeId	The native ID of the object for the specific resource specified by appId. You obtain this value from the resource.
canonicalKey	The canonical ID that is common to all resources for identifying the specific object. You can assign this value, or you can allow a built-in service to generate the value for you.

For example, to synchronize data between a CRM system, Billing system, and Order Management system, you might have the following rows in the cross-reference table:

appId	objectId	nativeId	canonicalKey
CRM system	Account	DAN0517	WM6308
Billing system	Account	19970620	WM6308
Order Management	Account	acct0104	WM6308