### MFL Transform Action Properties

In a message flow, use a MFL (Message Format Language) transform action to convert message content from XML to non-XML, or vice versa, in the message pipeline. An MFL is a specialized XML document used to describe the layout of binary data. It is a BEA proprietary language used to define rules to transform formatted binary data into XML data, or vice versa.

In the Message Flow Editor, click a MFL transform action to display its properties in the Properties view. Use these properties pages to configure the selected MFL transform action. The pages are:

- MFL Transform
- Comment
- Namespaces
- Variables

The MFL Transform page has the following options:

Option | Description
--- | ---
Apply Transform | The type of transform to be applied. Select XML to Non-XML or Non-XML to XML, according to your requirement.
on <Expression> | The variable on which the MFL transformation action is to be performed. Click <Expression> (or the expression_fragment, if one is already defined) to display the XQuery/XSLT Expression Editor, where you can specify the variable. This input must be text or binary when transforming to XML, and must be XML when transforming to non-XML. Binary content in the message context is represented by the binary-content XML element. This XML should be the result of the Xquery expression when the input needs to be binary.
Resource | Select this option to perform an MFL transform action using a static MFL resource. Click Browse to select the resource.
Resource From | Select this option to specify an MFL resource that will perform the transform action. Click <Expression> (or the expression_fragment, if one is already defined) to display the XQuery/XSLT Expression Editor, where you can specify the MFL resource that will perform the action, in the format project/folder/MFLresourcename.
Variable | The name of the variable to which the result of this transform action is to be assigned. The result will be a binary-content XML element.

Use the Comment page to add a comment, if desired:

Use the Namespaces page to see a list of defined namespaces or to create a new one.

Use the Variables page to see a list of defined context variables or to create a new one. For more information about context variables, see Message Context in the AquaLogic Service Bus User Guide.