BizTalk: XSLT versus mapping tool

Question

We\'re doing a mapping process from an XML file generated by a legacy system to EDI 834/837 files. We have BizTalk 2010 and are using the Microsoft built in EDI schemas.

Answer 1

IMO:

Benefits of XSLT

• You get better DRY by reusing mapping functionality using XSLT apply + call templates and custom script functions (e.g. C# script) in the same map. Unfortunately AFAIK doesn't work, so you will need to copy-paste to get reuse across multiple map xslt files.
• XSLT native call templates tend to be more performant than C# script (which is how most of the functoids are implemented anyhow)
• You can use the XSLT debugger in Visual Studio.
• And to emphasize ckarras' point that for complex maps, XSLT is actually easier to understand than a visual spider web.

Benefits of Visual Map

• Productivity for trivial maps, e.g. where all elements are exactly the same name and type and can be mapped at the root level, or if you need a dummy map with hard coded output element values.
• And I guess the hurdle rate for XSLT may be quite high.