When information is transmitted between different domains, each domain might use different terminology or processing codes to describe the same entity. For example, one domain might use complete city names in its messages (Boston), while another domain uses a code to indicate the city (BO). Rather than requiring each domain to standardize their data to one set of terminology, you can use domain value maps to map the terms used in one domain to the terms used in other domains. Domain value maps operate on the actual data values in the messages that are transmitted through an application at runtime.

While each domain value map typically defines the mapping for only one field or category, a single SOA composite can require mappings for multiple categories. Thus, one SOA composite might contain several domain value maps. For example, you might have one domain value map that defines city name mapping, one that defines state name mapping, and one that defines country name mapping.

A direct mapping of values between two or more domains is known as point-to-point mapping. Table 45-1 shows a point-to-point mapping for cities between two domains:

Domain value map values are static. You specify the domain value map values at design time using Oracle JDeveloper, and then at runtime the application performs a lookup for the values in the domain value maps. For information about editing domain value maps at runtime with Oracle SOA Composer, see Using Oracle SOA Composer with Domain Value Maps.