🚀 New & Improved Data Mapper UX in Azure Logic Apps – Now in Public Preview!
We’re excited to announce that a UX update for Data Mapper in Azure Logic Apps is now in Public Preview! We have continuously improved Data Mapper, which is already generally available (GA), based on customer feedback. Last year, we conducted a private preview to assess the improvements in the new user experience and confirm that we are on the right track in simplifying complex data transformations, including EDI schemas. With the insights gained, we made significant UI enhancements and added features to streamline the mapping process. Feedback We value your feedback to make the Data Mapper even better. Please share your thoughts, suggestions, and overall experience with us through our feedback form. How feedback shaped the Public Preview Throughout the evolution of Data Mapper, we gathered valuable feedback from customers and partners. Key themes that emerged include: Reliability: Ensuring the Data Mapper can handle large schemas and complex transformation logic, including functions. Error handling: Providing real-time validation by allowing users to test payloads and catch errors while authoring maps. Looping: Clearly indicating when repeating nodes are mapped and ensuring complex objects are properly represented Drag & drop enhancements: Improving how connections between nodes are created for better usability. Deserialization & namespace honoring: Ensuring XML deserialization correctly loads mappings without data loss, preserving namespace integrity for seamless schema validation. We’ve incorporated these suggestions into the public preview, ensuring a more refined and user-friendly experience. What’s new in the Data Mapper UX? 1. Easier navigation Docked schema panels keep you oriented within the data map. Easily search for specific nodes to streamline mapping. 2. Side-by-side function panel Search and use 100+ built-in functions, including mainly: Collection functions (for repeating elements) String manipulations Mathematical operations Conditional logic 3. Automatic looping for repeating nodes When mapping repeating nodes, a new loop connection is automatically added on the immediate parent nodes at source and destination. Repeating parent nodes are denoted by "A1, A2" notation on hover. Note: If the child node in the source has a deeper nesting level than in the destination, you must manually map the connection from the repeating source node to the destination to ensure proper data transformation. 4. Real-time error detection On saving the map, instantly view warnings and errors for missing mappings or incorrect configurations 5. Test Your Map Instantly Preview the output before running your workflow. How to set up and test out the new Data Mapper experience Enable the Preview: Go to your Azure Logic App (Standard) extension -> Settings -> Data Mapper. Select “Version ~2” to try out the new user experience. Light theme: Enable "Light Theme" in VS Code before creating a new data map. Dark Theme is not supported, but is on the roadmap and will be prioritized soon. Create a New Data Map: Navigate to the Azure tab on the left-hand panel of your VS Code. Select “Create New Data Map” and name it. Once loaded, select the schemas for source and destination. Upload schemas: Upload your source and destination schemas before creating the map (eg .xsd or .json files). Limitations While the new Data Mapper UX brings significant improvements, a few limitations remain: Filter function: The filter function correctly processes numeric conditions when enclosed in quotes (e.g., ">= 10"), but does not behave consistently for string comparisons (e.g., checking if item name = "Pen"). We are actively working on refining this behavior. Custom Functions: Support for custom functions is coming in the next refresh to enhance flexibility in data mapping. Usability enhancements: Improved tooltips, function labels, error messages and other UX refinements are on the way to provide clearer guidance and a smoother mapping experience, especially for complex transformations. Future investments The product is going to continue getting better and we should be adding more features very soon! Some immediate investments include: Enhanced test map experience: Making it easier to validate mappings during development. Panel resizing: Allowing users to have flexibility in viewing larger schemas and functions when multiple panels are expanded.BizTalk Patterns part 2 – Sync Async
Developing a BizTalk Server solution can be challenging, and especially complex for those who are unfamiliar with it. Developing with BizTalk Server, like any software development effort is like playing chess. There are some great opening moves in chess, and there are some great patterns out there to start a solution. Besides being an outstanding communications tool, design patterns help make the design process faster. This allows solution providers to take the time to concentrate on the business implementation. More importantly, patterns help formalize the design to make it reusable. Reusability not only applies to the components themselves, but also to the stages the design must go through to morph itself into the final solution. The ability to apply a patterned repeatable solution is worth the little time spent learning formal patterns, or to even formalize your own. This entry looks at how architectural design considerations associated to BizTalk Server regarding messaging and orchestration can be applied using patterns, across all industries. The aim is to provide a technical deep-dive using BizTalk Server anchored examples to demonstrate best practices and patterns regarding parallel processing, and correlation. Repost of https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/appfabriccat/biztalk-patterns-part-2sync-asyncLogic Apps Aviators Newsletter - January 2026
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month January's Ace Aviator: Sagar Sharma What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I’m a cross-domain Business Solution Architect specializing in delivering new business capabilities to customers. I design end-to-end architectures specially on Azure platforms and also in the Integration domain using azure integration services. My role involves marking architectural decisions, defining standards, ensuring platform reliability, guiding teams, and helping organizations transition from legacy integration systems to modern cloud-native patterns. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? My day usually blends architecture work with hands-on collaboration. I review integration designs, refine patterns, help teams troubleshoot integration flows, and ensure deployments run smoothly through DevOps pipelines. A good part of my time is spent translating business needs into integration patterns and making sure the overall platform stays secure, scalable, and maintainable. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community has shaped a big part of my career. Many of my early breakthroughs came from blogs, samples, and talks shared by others. Contributing back feels like closing the loop. I enjoy sharing real-world lessons, learning from peers, and helping others adopt integration patterns with confidence. The energy of the community and the conversations it creates keep me inspired. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Focus on core concepts—messaging, APIs, security, and distributed systems—because tools evolve, but fundamentals stay relevant. Share your learning early, even if it feels small. Be curious about the “why” behind patterns. Build side projects, not just follow tutorials. And don’t fear a nonlinear career path—diverse experience is an asset in technology. What has helped you grow professionally? Hands-on customer work, strong mentors, and consistent learning habits have been key. Community involvement—writing, speaking, and collaborating—has pushed me to structure my knowledge and stay current. And working in environments that encourage experimentation has helped me develop faster and with more confidence. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? I’d love to see a unified, out-of-the-box business transaction tracing experience across Logic Apps, Service Bus, APIM, Functions, and downstream services. Something that automatically correlates events, visualizes the full journey of a transaction, and simplifies root-cause analysis. This would make operational troubleshooting dramatically easier in enterprise environments. News from our product group Microsoft BizTalk Server Product Lifecycle Update BizTalk Server 2020 will be the final release, with support extending through 2030. Microsoft encourages a gradual transition to Azure Logic Apps, offering migration tooling, hybrid deployment options, and reuse of existing BizTalk artifacts. Customers can modernize at their own pace while maintaining operational continuity. Data Mapper Test Executor: A New Addition to Logic Apps Standard Test Framework The Data Mapper Test Executor adds native support for testing XSLT and Data Mapper transformations directly within the Logic Apps Standard test framework. It streamlines validation, improves feedback cycles, and integrates with the latest SDK to enable reliable, automated testing of map generation and execution. Announcing General Availability of AI & RAG Connectors in Logic Apps (Standard) Logic Apps Standard AI and RAG connectors are now GA333, enabling native document processing, semantic search, embeddings, and agentic workflows. These capabilities let teams build intelligent, context‑aware automations using their own data, reducing complexity and enhancing decisioning across enterprise integrations. Logic Apps Labs The Logic Apps Labs, which introduces Azure Logic Apps agentic workflows learning path, offering guided modules on building conversational and autonomous agents, extending capabilities with MCP tools, and orchestrating multi‑agent workflows. It serves as a starting point for hands‑on labs covering design, deployment, and advanced patterns for intelligent automation. News from our community Handling Empty SQL Query Results in Azure Logic Apps Post by Anitha Eswaran If a SQL stored procedure returns no rows, you can detect the empty result set in Logic Apps by checking whether the output’s ResultSets object is {}. When empty, the workflow can be cleanly terminated or used to trigger alerts, ensuring predictable behavior and more resilient integrations. Azure Logic Apps MCP Server Post by Laveesh Bansal Our own Laveesh Bansal spent some time creating an Azure Logic Apps MCP Server that enables natural‑language debugging, workflow inspection, and updates without using the portal. It supports both Standard and Consumption apps, integrates with AI clients like Copilot and Claude, and offers tools for local or cloud‑hosted setups, testing, and workflow lifecycle operations. Azure Logic Apps: Change Detection in JSON Objects and Arrays Post by Suraj Somani Logic Apps offers native functions to detect changes in JSON objects and arrays without worrying about field or item order. Using equals() for objects and intersection() for arrays, you can determine when data has truly changed and trigger workflows only when updates occur, improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary processing. Logic Apps Standard: A clever hack to use JSON schemas in your Artifacts folder for JSON message validation (Part 1) Post by Şahin Özdemir Şahin outlines a workaround for using JSON schemas stored in the Artifacts folder to validate messages in Logic Apps Standard. It revisits integration needs from BizTalk migrations and shows how to bring structured validation into modern workflows without relying on Integration Accounts. This is a two part series and you can find part two here. Let's integrate SAP with Microsoft Video by Sebastian Meyer Sebastian has a new video out, and in this episode he and Martin Pankraz break down SAP GROW and RISE for Microsoft integration developers, covering key differences and integration options across IDoc, RFC, BAPI, SOAP, HTTPS, and OData, giving a concise overview of today’s SAP landscape and what it means for building integrations on Azure. Logic Apps Initialize variables action has a max limit of 20 variables Post by Sandro Pereira Logic Apps allows only 20 variables per Initialize variables action, and exceeding it triggers a validation error. This limit applies per action, not per workflow. Using objects, parameters, or Compose actions often reduces the need for many scalars and leads to cleaner, more maintainable workflows. Did you know that? It is a Friday Fact!Announcing the General Availability of the XML Parse and Compose Actions in Azure Logic Apps
The XML Operations connector We have recently added two actions for the XML Operations connector: Parse XML with schema and Compose XML with schema. With this addition, Logic Apps customers can now interact with the token picker during design time. The tokens are generated from the XML schema provided by the customer. As a result, the XML document and its contained properties will be easily accessible, created and manipulated in the workflow. XML parse with schema The XML parse with schema allow customers to parse XML data using an XSD file (an XML schema file). XSD files need to be uploaded to the Logic App schemas artifacts or an Integration account. Once they have been uploaded, you need to enter the enter your XML content, the source of the schema and the name of the schema file. The XML content may either be provided in-line or selected from previous operations in the workflow using the token picker. For instance, the following is a parsed XML: XML compose with schema The XML compose with schema allows customers to generate XML data, using an XSD file. XSD files need to be uploaded to the Logic App schemas artifacts or an Integration account. Once they have been uploaded, you should select the XSD file along with entering the JSON root element or elements of your input XML schema. The JSON input elements will be dynamically generated based on the selected XML schema. For instance, the following is a Composed file: Learnings from Transition from Public Preview to General Availability: Upon feedback received from multiple customers, we would love to share the following recommendations and considerations, that will you maximize the reliability, flexibility, and internationalization capabilities of XML Parse and Compose actions in Azure Logic Apps. Handling Array Inputs in XML Switch to array input mode when mapping arrays. By default, the Logic App Designer expects individual array items for XML elements with maxOccurs > 1. If you want to assign an entire array token, use the array input mode icon in the Designer. This avoids unnecessary For Each loops and streamlines your workflow. For instance, the following: Click the Switch to input entire array Enter your array token. Managing Non-UTF-8 Encoded XML Leverage the encoding parameter in XML Compose. Customers can specify the desired character encoding (e.g., iso-2022-jp for Japanese). This controls both the .NET XML writer settings and the output encoding, allowing for broader internationalization support. Example configuration: Use the XML writer settings property to set encoding as needed. Safe Transport of Binary and Non-UTF-8 Content Utilize the Logic App content envelope. The XML Compose action outputs content in a safe envelope, enabling transport of binary and non-UTF-8 content within the UTF-8 JSON payload. Downstream actions (e.g., HTTP Request) can consume this envelope directly. Content-Type Header Management XML Compose now specifies the exact character set in the Content-Type header. This ensures downstream systems receive the correct encoding information. For example, application/xml; charset=iso-2022-jp will be set for Japanese-encoded XML. Consuming XML Output in HTTP Actions Reference the XML output property directly in HTTP actions. The envelope’s content-type is promoted to the HTTP header, and the base64-encoded content is decoded and sent as the raw HTTP body. This preserves encoding and binary fidelity. Documentation and External References Consult official documentation for advanced scenarios: Support non-Unicode character encoding in Azure Logic Apps. Content-Type and Content-Encoding for clarifying header usage. Do not confuse Content-Type with Content-Encoding. Content-Type specifies character set encoding (e.g., UTF-8, ISO-2022-JP), while Content-Encoding refers to compression (e.g., gzip). Normalization and prefix and trailer trimming: Here is a sample that shows how XML normalization works for values, and how to achieve prefix and trailing trimming: XSD: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <xs:schema id="XmlNormalizationAndWhitespaceCollapsed" targetNamespace="http://schemas.contoso.com/XmlNormalizationAndWhitespace" elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns="http://schemas.contoso.com/XmlNormalizationAndWhitespace" xmlns:mstns="http://schemas.contoso.com/XmlNormalizationAndWhitespace" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <!-- simple type that preserves whitespace (like xs:string) --> <xs:simpleType name="PreserveString"> <xs:restriction base="xs:string" /> </xs:simpleType> <!-- normalizedString collapses CR/LF/TAB to spaces, but preserves leading/trailing and repeated spaces --> <xs:simpleType name="NormalizedName"> <xs:restriction base="xs:normalizedString" /> </xs:simpleType> <!-- token collapses runs of spaces and trims leading/trailing spaces --> <xs:simpleType name="TokenName"> <xs:restriction base="xs:token" /> </xs:simpleType> <!-- explicit whitespace collapse facet (equivalent to xs:token for this purpose) --> <xs:simpleType name="CollapsedName"> <xs:restriction base="xs:string"> <xs:whiteSpace value="collapse" /> </xs:restriction> </xs:simpleType> <xs:element name="root"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="header"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="id" type="xs:int" /> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> <xs:element name="row" maxOccurs="unbounded"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="id" type="xs:int" /> <!-- the three variants on whitespace handling for name and aliases --> <xs:element name="name" type="mstns:TokenName" /> <xs:element name="nameNormalized" type="mstns:NormalizedName" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="nameCollapsed" type="mstns:CollapsedName" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="namePreserved" type="mstns:PreserveString" minOccurs="0" /> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> </xs:schema> JSON: { ":Attribute:xmlns": "http://schemas.contoso.com/XmlNormalizationAndWhitespace", "header": { "id": 1002 }, "row": [ { "id": 1, "name": "cyckel1", "nameNormalized": " cyckel1 end ", "nameCollapsed": "cyckel1", "namePreserved": "cyckel1\r\n\tend" }, { "id": 2, "name": "cyckel2", "nameNormalized": "line1 line2 ", "nameCollapsed": "cyckel2", "namePreserved": "line1\nline2\t" }, { "id": 3, "name": "cyckel12", "nameNormalized": " tabs and lines", "nameCollapsed": "cyckel12", "namePreserved": "\ttabs\tand\r\nlines" } ] } XML: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <root xmlns="http://schemas.contoso.com/XmlNormalizationAndWhitespace"> <header> <id>1002</id> </header> <row> <id>1</id> <name>cyckel1 </name> <nameNormalized> cyckel1
	end </nameNormalized> <nameCollapsed>cyckel1 </nameCollapsed> <namePreserved>cyckel1
	end</namePreserved> </row> <row> <id>2</id> <name>cyckel2 </name> <nameNormalized>line1
line2	</nameNormalized> <nameCollapsed>cyckel2 </nameCollapsed> <namePreserved>line1
line2	</namePreserved> </row> <row> <id>3</id> <name> cyckel12</name> <nameNormalized>	tabs	and
lines</nameNormalized> <nameCollapsed> cyckel12</nameCollapsed> <namePreserved>	tabs	and
lines</namePreserved> </row> </root> Check this short video to learn more:🚀 General Availability: Enhanced Data Mapper Experience in Logic Apps (Standard)
We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of the redesigned Data Mapper UX in the Azure Logic Apps (Standard) extension for Visual Studio Code. This release marks a major milestone in our journey to modernize and streamline data transformation workflows for integration developer. What's new The new UX, previously available in public preview, is now the default experience in the Logic Apps Standard extension. This GA release reflects direct feedback from our integration developer community. We’ve resolved blockers that we heard from customers and usability issues that impacted performance and stability, including: Opening V1 maps in V2: Seamlessly open and edit existing maps you have already created with latest visual capabilities. Load schemas on Mac: Addressed schema-related crashes on macOS for a smoother experience. Function documentation updates: Improved guidance and examples for built-in collection functions that apply on repeating nodes. Stay connected We would love to hear your feedback. Please use this form link to let us know if there are any missing gaps or scenarios that are not yet covered
