Applying Transformations

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This article is a complete guide to mapping transformations. It explains how to change data from one format to another, using clear examples and step-by-step instructions. You will learn how to do simple value maps and more complex changes for specific partners. It’s designed to be a practical resource that shows you how to handle common data transformation tasks you might have. 

Article Contents:

• What It Is
• Why Use It
• Transformation Types Table
• Before You Begin
• Apply a Transformation
• Transformation Examples and Steps
  • Case Change
  • Value Mapping
  • Replace
  • Remove
  • Add
  • If/Then/Else
  • Math
• Recipient-Specific Transformations
• Manage Existing Transformations
• Resolve Transformation Errors
• Review Results
• Related Resources

What It Is

A transformation is a rule applied to an existing mapping. While mapping connects a source attribute to a target attribute, a transformation changes the source value before it is written to the target. Transformations can update text casing, replace or remove characters, add values, map source values to target values, apply conditional logic, or calculate numeric values.

Why Use It

Use transformations to meet retailer or recipient requirements without manually editing product data. They help standardize formatting, reduce data quality errors, automate repetitive cleanup tasks, and keep values consistent across products and recipients.

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Transformation Types Table

Transformation	Use it to	Available options
If/Then/Else	Apply conditional logic to decide the target value.	One If/Then/Else transformation per mapping.
Value Mapping	Map Source Choice list values to Target Choice list values.	Available when the mapping supports value mapping; required for choice-to-choice mappings.
Case Change	Change text capitalization.	Upper Case, Lower Case, Sentence Case, Title Case.
Replace	Replace text or decode HTML.	Replace HTML with normal text; Find and replace characters or words.
Remove	Remove characters, punctuation, or shorten values.	Remove all special characters, Remove sentence punctuation, Shorten to a specific length, Remove a specific character string.
Add	Add characters to meet a required format or length.	Add characters to reach a specific length; Add specific characters into a value.
Math	Calculate, round, truncate, or format numeric values.	Perform Math Function; Round or Truncate.

Before You Begin

• Transformations are applied to existing mappings. If the Transformations card is not shown, transformations are not supported for that mapping.
• If the source and target attributes are both choice format values, the card is named Value Mapping + Transformation and value mapping is required before additional transformations can be added.
• If you apply a transformation in a recipient-specific mapping, it only applies to that selected recipient.
• Multiple transformations can be added and are applied in the order listed.

Apply a Transformation

1. Click the mapped line connecting the source and target attributes to open the mapping details panel. You can also click the mapping card from an attribute details panel.image (22).png
2. Expand the Transformations card.image (23).png
3. If no transformations exist, select a transformation type. If transformations already exist, click Add Transformation.
4. Select the transformation option you want to use.
5. Enter the required values or make the required selections for that transformation.
6. Click Done at the top of the card.
7. Click Save Changes at the top of the page.

Transformation Examples and Steps

Case Change

What it is: Case Change updates the capitalization of text values. You can choose Upper Case, Lower Case, Sentence Case, or Title Case. Only one Case Change transformation can be applied to a mapping.

Why use it: Use Case Change when a retailer requires product names, descriptions, or other text fields to follow a specific capitalization format.

Example: A product name entered as “doggie venture dog food” can be converted to “Doggie Venture Dog Food” using Title Case.

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select Case Change.image (21).png
3. Choose Upper Case, Lower Case, Sentence Case, or Title Case.
4. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Upper Case: Changes all letters to uppercase. Numbers and special characters remain unchanged.
• Lower Case: Changes all letters to lowercase. Numbers and special characters remain unchanged.
• Sentence Case: Capitalizes only the first letter of the first word.
• Title Case: Capitalizes the first letter of each word.
• Rule: Only one Case Change transformation can be applied to a mapping. To change the case option, edit the existing Case Change transformation.

Result: The target value displays using the selected capitalization format.

Value Mapping

What it is: Value Mapping maps an input source value to an output target value. When both source and target attributes are choice values, value mapping is required before additional transformations can be added.

Why use it: Use Value Mapping when source and target values represent the same information but use different names, codes, or allowed choices.

Example: A source color value of “Blue” can be mapped to a target choice value of “6 Blue.”

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Value Mapping + Transformation or Transformations card.image (16).png 
2. Select or add the source values you want to map. Use Source Values to add or remove source values.image (17).png
3. For each source value, select or enter the correct target value.image (18).png
4. Use Search Values to find values quickly.
5. Use Copy/Paste to paste values from another source or copy values from the mapping.image (20).png
6. If a source value needs additional cleanup before it maps correctly, click Add Transformation and choose the needed transformation.
7. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Source Values: Opens the Manage Source Values flow, where you can select or deselect the source values included in the value mapping.
• Language: If multiple locales are configured, choose which language values to show. You can mark a language as a favorite.
• Search Values: Search for specific values in the list.
• Copy/Paste: Paste values from another source or copy existing source or target values from the value mapping.
• Add row: Add additional source and target value pairs when supported.
• Delete: Remove a single value mapping pair or delete all rows from the value mapping table.
• Invalid values: If a source value is not valid for the target, manually select a valid target value or add a transformation to convert it.
• Rule: For choice-to-choice mappings, value mapping is required before additional transformations can be added.

Result: The selected source values are converted to the target values you defined.

Replace

What it is: Replace updates text by replacing HTML-encoded text with normal text or by finding and replacing specific characters or words.

Why use it: Use Replace to standardize terminology, update symbols, decode HTML, or swap one value for another at scale.

Example: Product names that include “TM” can be updated to use the trademark symbol instead.

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select Replace.
3. Choose Replace HTML with normal text or Find and replace characters or words.image (14).png
4. If finding and replacing text, choose whether to replace a Character string or an Entire word.image (15).png
5. Enter the character string or word to find.
6. Select Case Sensitive if capitalization must match exactly.
7. Enter the replacement value. This field cannot be blank; use Remove if you want to delete text without replacing it.
8. Choose the instances to replace, such as all, first only, last only, beginning only, end only, or specific positions.
9. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Replace HTML with normal text: Converts HTML-encoded text into plain text.

image (13).png

• Character string: Finds matching characters even when they appear inside another word.
• Entire word: Finds exact word matches only.
• Case Sensitive: Requires capitalization to match the value entered.
• Replacement value: The replacement field cannot be blank. Use Remove if the goal is to delete text.
• Instances to Replace: Choose All, FirstOnly, LastOnly, BeginningOnly, EndOnly, or SpecificPositions.
• SpecificPositions: Uses zero-based positions to identify where the matching text must appear before it is replaced.

Result: Matching text is replaced based on the option and instances selected. 

Remove

What it is: Remove deletes unwanted characters, punctuation, text strings, or extra content from a source value.

Why use it: Use Remove to clean product data so it meets required formats, character limits, or recipient restrictions.

Example: If a recipient does not allow “TM” or trademark symbols in product names, remove the text from the target value.

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select Remove.
3. Choose one option: Remove all special characters, Remove sentence punctuation, Shorten to a specific length, or Remove a specific character string.image (11).png
4. If shortening, enter the target length, choose whether to shorten from the beginning or end, and choose whether to truncate at the exact character or nearest word. 
5. If removing a specific string, enter the character string, choose whether the search is case-sensitive, and select which instances to remove.image (12).png
6. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Remove all special characters: Removes symbols, punctuation marks, and other non-alphanumeric characters.
• Remove sentence punctuation: Removes ending punctuation from the last sentence only.
• Shorten from: Choose Beginning to keep characters from the start of the value, or End to keep characters from the end.
• Target Length: Sets the final character length for the target value.
• Truncate at: Choose Exact character to cut at the exact count, or At nearest word to stop at the nearest complete word before the cut-off.
• Remove a specific character string: Enter the text to remove, choose whether the search is case-sensitive, and select which instances to remove.
• Instances to remove: Choose All, First only, Last only, Beginning only, End only, or Specific position(s).
• Specific position(s): Uses zero-based positions to identify where the matching text must appear before it is removed.

Result: The target value is cleaned or shortened based on the remove option selected.

Add

What it is: Add inserts characters into a value or adds characters until a value reaches a required length.

Why use it: Use Add when a target field requires a specific length or format, such as adding leading zeros to a UPC so it meets a GTIN requirement.

Example: A 12-digit UPC can be padded with leading zeros until it reaches the required 14-digit GTIN length.

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select Add.
3. Choose Add characters to reach a specific length or Add specific characters into a value.
4. Enter the character string to add.
5. If adding to reach a length, choose whether to add to the beginning or end and enter the target length.
6. If adding specific characters, choose the position: beginning, end, specific position, before a character string, or after a character string.
7. Enter any required position or character string details.
   image (10).png
8. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Add characters to reach a specific length: Adds the entered character string until the target value reaches the specified length.
• Add to: Choose Beginning to add characters before the source value or End to add characters after the source value.
• Target Length: Sets the final length of the target value and must be at least 1.
• Add specific characters into a value: Adds the entered character string into a selected position in the value.
• Position options: Add characters at the Beginning, End, a Specific Position, Before a character string, or After a character string.
• Specific Position: Uses zero-based positions. Multiple positions can be entered when needed.
• Before or after a character string: Enter the character string to search for and choose whether the search should be case-sensitive.

Result: The target value includes the added characters in the selected location or reaches the required length.

If/Then/Else

What it is: If/Then/Else applies conditional logic. If the source value meets the condition, the Then value is applied. If it does not, the Else value is applied.

Why use it: Use If/Then/Else when the target value depends on whether the source value contains, starts with, equals, is empty, meets a length rule, or meets a numeric comparison.

Example: If the source product name contains “food,” set the target value to “True.” Otherwise, set the target value to “False.”

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select If/Then/Else.
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3. Select the If condition. Common options include contains, does not contain, starts with, ends with, is exactly, is empty, is not empty, length is, and numerically is.
4. Enter any additional condition details, such as a value, comparison, number, or case-sensitive search.
5. Enter the Then value to apply when the condition is true.
6. Choose the Else value to apply when the condition is false. Options may include the source value, a specific value, blank, or an explicit null.
7. Optional: Add more conditions with And or Or, add Else If logic, reorder conditionals, or delete conditionals you no longer need.
   image (9).png
8. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Condition options: Includes Contains, Does not contain, Is empty, Is not empty, Ends with, Does not end with, Starts with, Does not start with, Is exactly, Is not exactly, Length is, and Numerically is.
• Multiple condition values: Some text conditions allow multiple values. Values are evaluated using OR.
• Case Sensitive: Available for text-based conditions when capitalization must match exactly.
• Length is: Compares the character length of the source value using Equal to, Not equal to, Greater than, Greater than or equal to, Less than, or Less than or equal to.
• Numerically is: Compares the numeric source value using Equal to, Not equal to, Greater than, Greater than or equal to, Less than, or Less than or equal to.
• And/Or: Add additional If conditions and choose how they should be evaluated together.
• Else If: Add another If/Then conditional that is evaluated after the previous one.
• Else options: Use the source value, enter a specific value, leave the output blank, or return an explicit null.
• Reorder or delete conditionals: Drag conditionals into a different order or remove ones that are no longer needed.
• Rule: Only one If/Then/Else transformation can be applied to a mapping.

Result: The target value is populated based on the condition outcome. Only one If/Then/Else transformation can be applied to a mapping.

Math

What it is: Math performs numeric calculations, rounding, truncation, and output formatting on source values.

Why use it: Use Math when target values require calculations, fixed decimal places, rounded values, or a specific numeric display format.

Example: A product dimension value of 5.6874 can be rounded to 5.69 so it meets a retailer’s decimal-place requirement.

1. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
2. Select Math.
3. Choose Perform Math Function or Round or Truncate.
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4. For a math function, select the operation and enter the value the operation should use against the source value.
   image (7).png
5. For rounding or truncating, choose Round or Truncate, enter the number of decimal places, and choose the output format.
6. Optional: Select Always show specified decimal places to display trailing zeroes when needed.
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7. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Optional Settings and Rules:

• Perform Math Function: Select an operation and enter the value to use against the source value.
• Round: Rounds the source value to the specified number of decimal places using standard rounding rules.
• Truncate: Removes extra digits from the end of the value without rounding.
• Number of Decimal Places: Sets how many decimal places the output should include.
• Output Format: Choose Number, Currency, Percentage, or Scientific notation.
• Always show specified decimal places: Adds trailing zeroes when needed so the output always displays the selected number of decimal places.

Result: The target value displays the calculated, rounded, truncated, or formatted numeric value.

Recipient-Specific Transformations

A universal transformation applies to everyone who receives the mapped data. A recipient-specific transformation applies only to the selected recipient. Use recipient-specific transformations when one retailer has requirements that differ from your standard mapping.

1. Select the recipient from the target column.
2. Toggle the mapping mode to recipient-specific. The mapping line turns orange to indicate a recipient-specific mapping is active.
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3. Open the mapping details panel and expand the Transformations card.
4. Add and configure the needed transformation.
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5. Click Done, then click Save Changes.

Manage Existing Transformations

• Reorder: Transformations run in the order listed. Use the order icon to drag a transformation to a new position.

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• View or edit: Click the pencil icon to open a transformation. If you select a different option while editing, it replaces the current option. Click Done to save edits.
• Add another transformation: Close edit mode, then click Add Transformation.
• Remove: Click the trash bin icon to delete a transformation.

 

Resolve Transformation Errors

If a transformation or value mapping needs attention, the Transformations card displays a Mapping Issues tag. Expand the card to view the configured transformations and value mappings. The item with an issue displays an exclamation point icon. Click the edit icon, make the required updates, then save your changes.

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Review Results

After applying transformations, review the transformed output quality from an edit page or export a data quality report from the mappings tab to confirm that transformed values meet recipient requirements.

Product Details Page/Bulk Edit: Navigate to the correct Recipient requirement set and locate the Target attribute. To view both Source and Target data values, click the blue link icon to open the Linked Attributes window.

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Data Quality Report: Click Export Data Quality from the top right side of the Mappings tab to specify recipients and products before downloading a report. Click here for more information.

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Related Resources

Click the links below to learn more about Mapping and Transformation functionality.

• Exporting Data Quality Report 
• Mappings User Guide
• Mappings Overview Workshop
• Mappings Course in Syndigo University:
  1. In the platform, click the '?' icon at the top right of your account.
  2. Click Syndigo University (new users will enter first name, last name & email to register).
  3. Click the Catalog tab at the top.
  4. Find the Mappings Course.
  5. Click to Enroll or Start Now.