Data transformations When you have created a data template you can create the appropriate data transformation for the data template. A data transformation is a set of rules that reference a data template and provide instructions on how to transform the input data to the proper runtime data instance used in the document formatting process. Data transformations can be used for: • Setting text and attribute values • Repeated instantiation of data template nodes. • Fetching data from different sources, such as XML files. • Filtering and grouping the data. In this section • Creating data transformations • Occurrence of template nodes • Using local variables in transformations • Using global variables in transformations • Defining transformations for Message data • Defining transformations for non-Message data • Custom XPath functions • Exporting transformations • Importing transformations