IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Migrating and upgrading your IBM BPM environment > Migrating from other products > Migrating from WebSphere InterChange Server or WebSphere Business Integration Server Express > Premigration considerations
Premigration considerations: Maps
When developing WebSphere InterChange Server or WebSphere Business Integration Server Express maps, follow these guidelines to ensure the best chance of a smooth migration to IBM BPM.
To ensure that maps are described appropriately with metadata, always use the Map Designer or the Map Designer Express tool for the creation and modification of maps, and avoid editing the metadata files directly. Use the Activity Editor tool wherever possible to maximize the use of metadata to describe the required logic.
When referencing child business objects in a map, use a submap for the child business objects.
Avoid using Java™ code as the "value" in a SET since that is not valid in IBM BPM. Instead, use constants.
For example, if the set value is xml version=" + "1.0" + " encoding=" + "UTF-8, " this will not validate in IBM BPM. Instead, change it to xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8 before you migrate.
To minimize the amount of manual rework that may be required in migration, use only the documented APIs within maps. Avoid the use of static variables. Instead, use non-static variables. Avoid the use of Java qualifiers final, transient and native in map custom code.
If using an array in a business object, do not rely on the order of the array when indexing into the array in maps. The construct that this migrates into in IBM BPM does not guarantee index order, particularly when entries are deleted.
To maximize future portability, avoid using explicit connection release calls and explicit transaction bracketing (that is, explicit commits and explicit rollbacks) for User Defined Database Connection Pools. Instead, make use of the container-managed implicit connection cleanup and implicit transaction bracketing. Also, avoid keeping system connections and transactions active in custom map steps across transformation node boundaries. This applies to any connection to an external system, as well as user-defined database connection pools. Operations with an external EIS should be managed within an adapter, and code related to database operation should be contained within one custom step.
Do not use inner classes in your maps. The migration command (reposMigrate) does not migrate inner classes and you will receive errors if your maps contain them. In a WebSphere InterChange Server or WebSphere Business Integration Server Express repository, an inner class could be defined in a node and referenced by other nodes within the same collaboration template. In IBM BPM, an inner class defined in a BPEL component cannot be used by other components. Due to this limitation, inner classes are not translated and must be dealt with manually. Recommended changes include packaging the inner class code in a library as an external class, or removing the inner class declaration, resolving any errors, and placing the code as needed throughout the BPEL.
