Tool map schemas are used by the adapters to translate tool data to and from the SmartPlant Schema. Although SmartPlant Foundation is unlike most other tools in that there is a schema that is used to define the model, the way that mapping is done is just like any other tool and uses a tool map schema. The tool map schema is a combination of a representation of a tool data dictionary and the mapping to the SmartPlant Schema. The schema definition (class definition, interface definition, property definition) structure of the SmartPlant Foundation authoring database must be represented in a tool map schema as a MapClassDef and MapPropertyDef structure. This is achieved by using the name property on each of the map classes.
Because the authoring schema and published schema are essentially the same, the SmartPlant Foundation adapter can make a few assumptions, which means the tool map schema does not need to be as fully defined as it does for other external tools.