How to Use the Mapping node? Prompted by my previous question, I am wondering how to use the mapping node.
(I still don't understand, even after reading the mapping node section on the wiki)

My setup:



Top:



Bottom:



Scaling the UV map of the cube does not make the texture appear larger or smaller, nor does changing the Scale on the mapping node. (Changing the scale seems to drag and stretch the texture off to one side, high values make it disappear completely)

My confusion is not helped by the fact that it appears differently in Textured, Material, and Rendered views.

Textured:



In Textured view, Scaling the UV map does change the size of the texture:



However, it looks completely different in Material view:

 

Could someone explain how the mapping node should be operated?

Thanks.
Looking at your node setup it looks like you are using Blender's automatic mapping. While the mapping node may be used to scale the Generated map around, it won't affect your textured/material views. 

If you want the textured and material views to match up with the render, you will need to use the UV output (from the Texture Coordinate node) instead of generated.