XBRLmapper

File:XBRLMapperMain.png

XBRL Mapper tool main window

Product page

[XBRL Mapper product page]

XBRL Mapper tool icon

Description

XBRLmapper is a sofisticated tool that transfers data from information systems to XBRL reports and from XBRL reports to other systems. It supports then two different purposes:

1. Automatic generation of XBRL reports from different data sources
2. Automatic extraction of data from XBRL reports and data loading into different repositories

Both products share a similar architecture. Both are based on a common definition of data events connected with the XBRL side and specific drivers that attend the data events. Both sides (definition of events, and drivers) can be configured using XML files. This architecture has multiple advantages:

1. Isolates the complexity of the XBRL technology in one part (the definition of the data events). If there are changes in the taxonomy, the user may need to change just the definition of the data events
2. Isolates the complexity of the internal data repositories. Each one of the data repositories can be accessed by an instantiation of a driver
3. Each driver has his own configuration file
4. Drivers are defined for the repository data format
5. The generation of an XBRL report may involve several drivers looking at data in different repositores simultaneously
6. The same event could be potentially attended by more than one driver if this is required
7. Multiple drivers of the same repository type can be used concurrently

The XBRL mapper is a software component that can be launched from a GUI or can be integrated in a workflow. The integration requires development of code (in Java or .NET)

Generating XBRL (Mapper)

Generating XBRL reports is one of the operations for which the mapper was conceived. In this documentation Mapping is the process of obtaining data from data repositories in order to create an XBRL report.

The XBRL Mapper product designed by Reporting Standard S.L. can be used in the most complex scenarios. The XBRL Mapper is robuts, powerful and flexible.

• Robust because it is based on a native XBRL API that supports 100% Conformance level with XBRL Validation
• Powerful because it is based on an architecture that allows the users to plug-in drivers prepared to read different data sources and prepare combinations of data sources attending "mapping events".
• Flexible because it allows users to easily migrate to new taxonomies by just changing the instance document template but maintaining the same "mapping event" names and driver configurations. Or to adapt the system to obtain data from different data sources while using the same target taxonomy.

The configuration of the mapping engine requires then two steps:

1. Preparing an instance document template. This is the definition of "mapping events"
2. Preparing the configuration file for the driver(s) attending "mapping events"

The instance document template

The instance document template is the configuration file where the "mapping events" are defined. As the name suggest, the instance document template resembles an XBRL report but it is parameterized in order to turn each one of the facts in a report into a "mapping event". It is important to notice that while the instance document template may have just one fact for a concept definition in the taxonomy, the response from drivers about requesting data for one mapping event may be multiple facts and, if this is the case, the final output file will have multiple facts as a result of multiple data items for the same mapping event.

The creation of an initial instance document template is a straingt forward process that can be initiated from two different sources, the file can be adapted to cover more complex mapping scenarios later.

The XBRL Template File page on this wiki explains the format of the template files and how the user can create their own files for more complex mapping scenarios.

From a DTS (A set of Taxonomies and Linkbases)

In this case, the instance document template will be generated according to all concept definitions that exists in the DTS (all taxonomy schemas providing item and tuple definitions for the DTS). If the purpose of the instance document template is just the concepts in a specific presentation hierarchy it would be more interesting prepating a sample instance document and convert the sample report into an instance document template (See the next section).

So, the creation of an instance document template from a complete DTS may generate a template with lots of events. The user should use this option if he is absolutely sure this is the way to go.

Steps to produce the initial template file:

1. Open Loader Editor tool
2. In the "Mapper" menu, select the "New Template from DTS" option
3. In the Compose DTS dialog, select the required files
4. Make sure there is a template file name in the dialog to generate a simple instance document template. The file name extension should be (*.xbrlt).
5. Make sure there is one initial data source in the dialog to generate a simple instance document template (more data sources can be added later).
6. A template will be generated and loaded into the XBRLMapper main window.

From a sample XBRL report

In this case, the instance document template will be generated according to the facts that already exists in an XBRL Report. The XBRLMapper tool will take the instance document and will prepare an XBRL Template File for all facts that exists in the instance.

This process generates a template with just the facts that exists in the instance document provided as a parameter. Hint: if the user wants to create an instance document according to the content of one single presentation linkbase, the user can use the XBRLizer tool in order to generate a sample instance document for the presentation tree and then use that file as input for the process of creating the instance document template.

Steps to produce the initial template file:

1. Open Loader Editor tool
2. In the "Mapper" menu, select the "New Template from Instance" option
3. Find the XBRL Report that must be a local file
4. Make sure there is a template file name in the dialog to generate a simple instance document template. The file name extension should be (*.xbrlt).
5. Make sure there is one initial data source in the dialog to generate a simple instance document template (more data sources can be added later).
6. A template will be generated and loaded into the XBRLMapper main window.

Editing instance document templates

The XBRL Template File page on this wiki explains the format of the template files and how the user can create their own files for more complex mapping scenarios. For complex mapping scenarios the mapping file needs to be edited in an XML Editor.

Drivers

The vast majority of use cases for mapping can be implemented using one of the generic drivers already developed by Reporting Standard S.L. For special use cases it is always possible to develop specific drivers in Java or .NET programming languages

List of available generic drivers:

• Excel data source driver
• CSV data source driver
• Relational database data source driver
• Web form data source driver

Running a template

The Mapper engine wiki page contains an explanation about the two modes of operation:

• as a software component, or
• called from the XBRLmapper GUI

This part of the document will explain you an example about how to go through the process from the beginning to the end. The process has the following main steps:

1. Creating a simple instance document template
2. Create some raw data in Excel,
3. Map the data events from the template to excel cells
4. Use the XBRLMapper GUI in order to produce an XBRL report

The process may look hard if it is the first time you do it but remember you are preparing templates and the idea is to reuse the same templates multiple times in the future once the templates and the mapping configuration files are there, the process of producing a new report is much simpler than the first time you go through it.

Navigate

Main Page