Value Mapping
Turning your source values into the values your target system expects
| Last updated: August 2026
Contents
- Overview
- Key Concepts: Source, Target, and the Two Layers
- Finding Your Way Around
- Two Ways to Build a Map: Authored Values vs. Reference Crosswalk
- Step 1 — Setting Up a Value Map
- Step 2 — Filling In the Values
- What to Do with Unmatched Values
- Working with a Reference Crosswalk
- Importing and Exporting
- Using a Value Map in Conversion
- The Life of a Value Map
- Quick Reference
1. Overview
When you move data from one system into another, the two systems rarely speak the same language. One system might record a customer's country as US, while the system you're loading into expects United States. One might use M and F for gender; the other expects MALE and FEMALE. Value Mapping is where you write down those translations once, so OnCoor can apply them for you every time the data flows through.
A value map is simply a list of "when the source says this, the target should be that" — for one column of your data. You build it in plain terms on screen, and OnCoor takes care of turning it into something that runs during conversion.
What you can do here
- Translate a source value into the value your target system needs — one column at a time.
- Match on more than one column at once when the answer depends on a combination (for example, country and region together).
- Handle small lists by hand, or large lists in bulk — OnCoor picks the right approach for the size of your data.
- Decide what happens to values you haven't mapped — use a fallback, leave them as they are, or blank them out.
- Check your coverage so you can see, at a glance, how many of your source values still need a target.
- Reuse the same map across your conversion work instead of rewriting the translation each time.
WHERE TO FIND IT — Value Mapping lives under the Management menu, listed as Value Map. You can also reach it from the Conversion view: the home canvas shows your work as capability cards, each carrying a row of pills, and the Migration card has a Value Mapping pill that opens the module. And while you're mapping a conversion, you can jump in straight from Mapping Manager (see Finding Your Way Around).
2. Key Concepts: Source, Target, and the Two Layers
Everything in Value Mapping comes down to turning a source value into a target value. Getting comfortable with a few words makes the rest of the page straightforward.
| Term | What it means | Everyday example |
|---|---|---|
| Source value | The value as it arrives in your incoming data | US, M, 1 |
| Target value | The value your destination system expects instead | United States, MALE, Active |
| Value map | Your list of source-to-target translations for one column | US → United States, CA → Canada, … |
| Source column | The column the source value comes from. You can use more than one at once. | COUNTRY_CODE |
| Target column | The column that will receive the translated value | COUNTRY_NAME |
2.1 Where the values come from
OnCoor already organises your data into working areas, called layers. Value Mapping uses two of them, and fills them in for you automatically:
- The Cleansing layer holds your incoming, tidied-up data — this is where your source values are read from.
- The Conversion layer holds the shape your target system expects — this is where the allowed target values come from.
You don't have to set these up by hand. When you open a value map, OnCoor already points the source side at Cleansing and the target side at Conversion. You simply pick the tables and columns.
NOTE — A single value map always translates into one target column. If you need to fill several target columns, you build a value map for each. That keeps every map simple and easy to reuse.
3. Finding Your Way Around
3.1 The list of value maps
Go to Management → Value Map. This is the home screen for the module. It lists every value map you've built, with its name, what it maps, and a status badge showing where it is in its life (see The Life of a Value Map).
From here you can:
- Create a new value map with the + New value mapping button.
- Open a map to view its setup or edit its values.
- Turn a map on or off (Activate / Inactivate).
- Delete a map you no longer need.
If you haven't built any yet, the screen invites you to create your first one with + New value mapping.
3.2 Reaching it from Mapping Manager
While you're mapping a conversion in Mapping Manager, you can jump straight into Value Mapping to build or edit the translation for a column, then use the Back button to return to exactly where you were. This is the most common way people reach the module in day-to-day work.
3.3 Reaching it from the Conversion view
The Conversion view lays your work out as a set of capability cards, grouped by phase. Each card holds a row of pills — one for each capability it offers. On the Migration card you'll find a Value Mapping pill; clicking it opens the module for the conversion you're working in. It sits right beside the other Migration pills such as Mapping and Reference Configuration, so you can move between them without leaving the canvas.
4. Two Ways to Build a Map: Authored Values vs. Reference Crosswalk
Behind every value map, OnCoor stores your translations in one of two ways. This is called the map's representation. Both do exactly the same job — turn a source value into a target value — and the difference only affects how the translations are held and loaded, not the result your data ends up with.
The two representations
- Authored values — a short list you build and manage by hand. You add rows, type (or pick) the target for each source value, and edit them one at a time. This is the right fit for small, stable lists, and it's the only one that supports source formulas (matching on a condition rather than an exact value).
- Reference crosswalk — a lookup table OnCoor matches your data against. You load the source-to-target pairs in bulk from a table or a file rather than typing them, and OnCoor can then show you a coverage summary of what's still unmapped. This is the right fit for large lists.
| Authored values | Reference crosswalk | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Short, hand-managed lists | Large lists loaded in bulk |
| How you fill it in | Add and edit rows one at a time | Load the pairs in bulk from a table or file |
| Rough size | Up to about 2,000 distinct source values | Up to 500,000 rows |
| Source formulas? | Yes | No |
| Coverage check? | No | Yes |
4.1 How OnCoor decides which one to use
You choose this on the setup screen, in the "Representation · choose the path" panel — but you rarely have to think about it, because OnCoor works it out from the size of your data:
- On setup, click Check source size and OnCoor counts how many distinct source values the map will hold.
- If that count is 2,000 or fewer, you're free to use either representation, and authored values is selected by default. (Most everyday maps stay here.)
- If the count goes above 2,000, the toggle locks to reference crosswalk automatically — that's the efficient way to handle a large list — and the screen notes it's required (locked), so you know why the choice was made for you.
IN SHORT — Small list you'll manage by hand → authored values. Large list loaded in bulk → reference crosswalk, and OnCoor switches to it for you once you pass 2,000 values. Either way, the translation your data receives is identical.
5. Step 1 — Setting Up a Value Map
Building a value map happens in two steps on two screens. The first screen is the setup (or configuration): you say what the map is called and which columns it connects. The second screen, covered in the next section, is where you enter the actual translations.
To start, go to Management → Value Map and click + New value mapping.
What you fill in on the setup screen
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name | A clear name for the map, so you can find it again later (for example, "Country code → Country name"). |
| Description (optional) | A short note about what the map is for. |
| Source table | The table your source values are read from. OnCoor lists the tables in your Cleansing layer for you. |
| Source column(s) | The column that holds the source value. You can add more than one — see Matching on more than one column below. |
| Target table | The table that defines the values your target expects. OnCoor lists the tables in your Conversion layer. |
| Target column | The column that will receive the translated value. |
Once you've filled these in, save the setup. OnCoor confirms with "Configuration saved — now enter the value mappings" and moves you to the second screen.
5.1 Where your source values come from
At the top of the setup screen you choose how OnCoor should get the list of source values:
- From table — read the distinct values straight from the source table you picked. This is the usual choice.
- Custom (file) — upload a spreadsheet or CSV file instead. Its column headings become the columns you can pick from, and the number of rows in the file decides whether the map needs to be a crosswalk (over 2,000 rows → crosswalk).
5.2 Choosing the representation
Lower down the setup screen is a panel titled "Representation · choose the path". This is where you pick how the map stores its translations (see Two Ways to Build a Map):
- A toggle offers Authored values and Reference crosswalk. Authored values is selected by default.
- A Check source size button counts how many distinct source values your chosen columns hold and reports it (for example, "1,240 distinct keys").
- If that count is above 2,000, the toggle locks to Reference crosswalk and the screen notes it's required (locked). Below that, the toggle stays yours to set.
Whichever you land on here decides what the second screen looks like: Authored values gives you the value grid to fill in by hand (Step 2); Reference crosswalk gives you the bulk-load view instead (Working with a Reference Crosswalk).
5.3 Matching on more than one column
Sometimes the right target value depends on a combination of source values, not just one. For example, a region name might depend on both a country and a state code together. To handle this, click Add source column and pick each column that takes part in the match. OnCoor then treats the whole combination as the key — the target value applies only when all of those source values match. Use Remove source column to drop one you don't need.
NOTE — The setup screen can only be changed while you're first creating the map. After that, it's shown read-only when you open a map with View configuration, so the structure of a map stays stable once it's in use. The translations themselves stay editable — that's what the second screen is for.
6. Step 2 — Filling In the Values
This section is for maps you chose to build as Authored values back on the setup screen. (If you chose — or were switched to — Reference crosswalk, you load the translations in bulk instead; see Working with a Reference Crosswalk.)
For an authored map, the second screen is the value grid — the heart of the module. This is where you say, line by line, which source value becomes which target value.
6.1 Pulling in your source values
Rather than typing every source value from memory, click Pull (also shown as Pull values) to have OnCoor read the distinct source values from your source table and drop them into the grid for you. Each one arrives as a row waiting for its target value. You can also click Add row to add a translation by hand.
Once your rows are in place, you fill in the Target value for each one.
6.2 Choosing target values from a list
So you don't have to remember exactly how each target value is spelled, OnCoor can offer the allowed target values as a dropdown. Click Load target values and it reads the valid values from your target column, then presents them as a picklist on every row. This keeps your targets consistent and free of typos.
Target values can also come from a governed reference domain (a controlled code list managed under Reference Data). If your target column is governed this way, its approved codes appear in the dropdown. If none are set up yet, you'll see a prompt that there are no governed check-table domains — those are imported under Reference Data first.
6.3 Using a formula instead of a fixed value
For each row you can switch from Enter values to Formula. A formula lets you match on a condition rather than an exact value — useful when a range or an expression decides the target. For example, a formula like AMOUNT > 1000 could send every large amount to one target value, without you listing each amount individually. Most rows use plain values; formulas are there for the cases that need them.
6.4 Saving your work
Save when you're done. OnCoor saves only what changed — new rows, edited rows, and removals — so saving stays quick even on a long list. You can search within your entries at any time using Search entries…, and the grid is paginated so large maps stay easy to move through.
Your setup choices travel with the map, too. The source and target tables you picked, the Unmatched values policy and its default, and the list of allowed target values are all saved alongside the map — so when you reopen it later everything is exactly as you left it, with nothing to pick again.
TIP — A quick way to build a map: Pull to bring in the source values, Load target values to turn the target column into a dropdown, then work down the list choosing a target for each row.
7. What to Do with Unmatched Values
However carefully you build a map, some source value may turn up that you never listed. The Unmatched values setting decides what OnCoor does when that happens. You choose one of three behaviours:
| Choice | What happens to an unmatched value |
|---|---|
| Use a default value | Replace it with a fallback value you specify (for example, UNKNOWN). When you pick this, a Default value box appears for you to fill in. |
| Pass the source value through | Leave it exactly as it came in, untranslated. |
| Set to null | Blank it out. |
Pick whichever is right for the data. "Use a default value" is a safe choice when you want every record to end up with something recognisable in the target column; "Pass the source value through" is handy when most values already match the target and only a few need translating.
8. Working with a Reference Crosswalk
When a map holds a large list of translations, OnCoor builds it as a reference crosswalk — a lookup table it matches your data against. Working with a crosswalk is much like the authored grid, with a few additions built for larger data.
8.1 Loading the rows
Crosswalk rows are loaded in bulk rather than typed one by one — either pulled from your source table or brought in from a file. You can append rows to what's there, or replace everything and load a fresh set. Because a crosswalk can hold up to half a million rows, it's shown a page at a time.
8.2 Checking your coverage
A crosswalk shows a coverage summary so you always know how complete your map is. It tells you:
- what percentage of your source values have a target (shown as, for example, "87% mapped"),
- how many rows have a target out of the total (for example, "4,350 / 5,000 with a target"), and
- how many are still unmapped.
It also shows a sample of the unmatched values, so you can see exactly which ones still need attention. The coverage refreshes when you open the map and after you make changes.
8.3 Editing individual rows
You can fix a single row's target value, or delete a row you don't want, directly in the crosswalk — handy for small corrections without reloading the whole set.
9. Importing and Exporting
Value Mapping works hand-in-hand with spreadsheets, which makes it easy to prepare translations offline or share them with a colleague.
- Export — download your map's translations as a CSV or Excel file. This works for both authored value maps and reference crosswalks.
- Import — bring translations in from a CSV or Excel file. For an authored map you can append rows from the file; for a crosswalk, import replaces the current data with what's in the file.
NOTE — Because importing a crosswalk replaces everything already there, double-check you're loading the file you mean to. If an import doesn't take, OnCoor lets you know so you can check the file's format and try again.
10. Using a Value Map in Conversion
Building a value map doesn't change your data on its own — it's a translation waiting to be used. You put it to work by binding it to a target column in your conversion, in Mapping Manager.
When you bind a value map onto a conversion's target column, OnCoor connects the two so that, as data flows through conversion, the source values in that column are translated using your map. From that point on the map is doing real work, and you can see everywhere a map is used from its Bindings view — helpful before you change or retire a map, so you know what depends on it.
You don't need to worry about the mechanics of how the translation is applied — whether it's run as a lookup or as a function is handled for you, based on which kind of map you built.
WHERE TO FIND IT — Binding happens in Mapping Manager, on the target column you want to translate. From there you can jump into Value Mapping with Open in Value Mapping to adjust the map, and Back to return.
11. The Life of a Value Map
Every value map carries a status that shows where it is in its life. You'll see it as a coloured badge on the list screen. Most of the time you'll only work with a couple of these — Active and Inactive. The review states (Submitted and Rejected) belong to OnCoor's approval workflow and come into play as that's rolled out.
| Status | What it means | Can you edit the translations? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Newly started, not yet in use | Yes |
| Open | Being worked on | Yes |
| Active | Switched on and available to use in conversion | Yes — see the note below |
| Inactive | Switched off, kept for later | Yes |
| Submitted | Sent for review | No — locked while under review |
| Rejected | Sent back after review | Yes |
YOU CAN KEEP AN ACTIVE MAP UP TO DATE — Unlike some things that freeze once they're switched on, a value map's translations stay editable while it's Active. That's on purpose: keeping a translation list current is normal, everyday upkeep. Only the review states lock the content.
11.1 Turning a map on and off
Use the Activate / Inactivate button (on the list, or from within the map) to switch a map on or off. Activate makes it available to use in conversion; Inactivate retires it from active use while keeping everything you built. This is the control you'll use day to day, and it works the same way for both authored-value maps and reference crosswalks.
11.2 Deleting a map
Deleting is a stricter step than making a map Inactive. If a map is switched on, Inactivate it first, then delete. OnCoor asks you to confirm with "Delete value mapping?" before removing it for good. It's worth checking a map's Bindings before deleting, so nothing in conversion is left pointing at a map that's gone.
12. Quick Reference
A fast lookup for the most common actions.
| I want to… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Open Value Mapping | Management → Value Map (or from Mapping Manager) |
| Start a new map | Click + New value mapping, then fill in the setup screen |
| Translate one column into another | Pick the source column and the target column on the setup screen |
| Match on a combination of columns | Add source column for each column in the match |
| Bring in my source values | Open the value grid and click Pull |
| Offer targets as a dropdown | Click Load target values |
| Match on a condition, not an exact value | Switch a row to Formula |
| Decide what happens to values I didn't map | Set Unmatched values (default / pass through / null) |
| Handle a very large list | Nothing special — OnCoor builds it as a crosswalk above 2,000 values |
| See how complete my crosswalk is | Check the coverage summary and the unmapped sample |
| Load or share translations via spreadsheet | Use Export and Import |
| Put a map to work in conversion | Bind it to a target column in Mapping Manager |
| See where a map is used | Open its Bindings view |
| Switch a map on or off | Use the Activate / Inactivate button |
| Remove a map | Inactivate first, then Delete |
Source: OnCoor Value Mapping module product documentation, written for end users. For the latest screens and options, always refer to the in-app interface.