We construct explicitly piecewise affine mappings u:ℝ ⁿ → ℝ ⁿ with affine boundary data satisfying the constraint div u = 0. As an application of the construction we give short and direct proofs of the main approximation lemmas with constraints in convex integration theory. Our approach provides direct proofs avoiding approximation by smooth mappings and works in all dimensions n ≥ 2. After a slight modification of our construction, the constraint div u = 0 can be turned into det Du = 1, giving...