In most cases, systems do not produce data in the exact format that other systems require, so you often NEED to build flow services that transform the data. When applications and systems EXCHANGE documents, data transformation resolves differences in data representations. In Designer, data transformations are ACCOMPLISHED through mapping. Among the types of transformation you can achieve via mapping are:

• Name transformations: The purpose of this transformation is to correct naming differences. By performing name transformations, the value and position of a variable remain the same in the document structure, but the variable's name is altered.
• Structural transformations: These types of transformations resolve differences in the data types or structures that REPRESENT an item. The value of the variable does not change when you perform structural transformations; only its data type or position in the Document structure changes.
• Value transformations: These types of transformations resolve differences in how values are expressed. A value transformation changes the data CONTAINED in the variable, but the variable's name and position remain the same.