Informatica Fundamentals

1. Introduction
Organizations have a number of ERP, CRM, SCM and Web application
implementations and are hence burdened with the maintenance of these
heterogeneous environments. To address the existing and evolving integration
requirements, organizations need a reliable and scalable data integration
architecture so that individual projects can build value on one another.Informatica
provides a complete range of tools and data services needed to address the most
complex data integration projects.
2. Purpose and Intended Audience
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the architecture of
Informatica, its features, its working, the advantages offered by Informatica vis-vis the other data integration tools etc.
This document is intended as a reference material for members of the ETL team
so as enable the team members in getting an initial understanding of the
Architecture, Features and Working of Informatica.The Case Study provided
herein would help the reader in getting a good working knowledge of the
application.
3. Assumptions:
In order to follow this document better, the reader would be required to have a
sound knowledge of the Data Warehousing concepts and also have an exposure to
SQL as a language for the database. Knowledge of ODBC and basic networking
is essential to help install Informatica and knowledge of Unix and Shells would be
helpful for Unix based servers.
4. Informatica in the Data Warehousing Scenario
a) What is a Data Warehouse?
A Data Warehouse is a Subject Oriented, Integrated, Non volatile, and Time
Variant repository of data that is generally used for querying and analyzing the
past trends to support management decisions for the future.
A Data Warehouse can be a relational database, multidimensional
database, flat file, hierarchical database, object database, etc.
Please refer the following links for more information on Data Warehousing concepts
http://www.dwinfocenter.org/

DWH_Material_Prese
ntation.ppt

b) Stages in a typical Data Warehousing project

i.

Requirement Gathering
The Project team will gather end user reporting requirements and the
remaining period of the project would be dedicated to satisfying these
requirements.

ii.

Identify the Business Areas.

Identify the data that would be required by the Business.

iii.

Data Modeling
The foundation of the data warehousing system is the data model. The first
step in this stage is to build the Logical data model based on the user
requirements and the next step would be to translate the Logical data
model into a Physical data model.

iv.

ETL Process: ETL is the Data Warehouse acquisition processes of

Extracting, Transforming and Loading data from source systems into the
data warehouse.
This requires an understanding of the business rules, the logical and the
physical data models and also involves getting the data from the source
and populating it into the target.

v.

Reporting: Design, Develop and enable the end users to visualize the
reports thereby bringing value to the Data Warehouse.

c) What are the various ETL tools that are available?

Selection of an ETL tool would depend on various factors such as the Complexity
of the data transformation, Data Cleansing needs and the Volume of data
involved.
The commonly used ETL tools are:
Informatica
Ab Initio.
For information on Ab Initio as an ETL tool, refer the link
http://www.abinitio.com/abinitio/ab.nsf/index-flash
For discussions on Ab Initio, refer the link below:
http://www.datawarehouse.com/forum/read.php?f=21&i=1921&t=1921
Ascential DataStage
For information on Ab Initio, refer the link below
http://www.ascential.com/products/ds_features.html
Data Junction
Reveleus
d) What is Informatica?
Informatica provides an environment that can extract data from multiple sources,
transform the data according to the business logic that is built in the Informatica
Client application and load the transformed data into files or relational targets.

Informatica comes in different packages:

PowerCenter license has all options, including distributed metadata (data about
data).
PowerMart is a limited license and does not have a distributed metadata.

The other products that are provided by Informatica are

PowerAnalyzer which is a web based tool for data analysis.
SuperGlue provides graphical representation of data quality and flow, flexible
analysis and reporting of overall data volumes, loading performance, etc.
5. Architecture:
The diagram provided below provides an overview of the various components of
Informatica and the connectivity between them:

Informatica provides the following integrated components:

a) Informatica Repository:
The Informatica Repository is a database with a set of metadata tables that is
accessed by the Informatica Client and Server to save and retrieve metadata.
Repository stores the data needed for data extraction, transformation, loading, and
management.
b) Informatica Client:
The Informatica Client is used to manage users, define sources and targets, build
mappings and mapplets with the transformation logic, and create sessions to run
the mapping logic.
The Informatica Client has three main applications:
i.

Repository Manager: This is used to create and administer the metadata

repository.
The repository users and groups are created through the Repository
Manager.

Assigning privileges and permissions, managing folders in the repository

and managing locks on the mappings are also done through the Repository
Manager
ii.

Designer: The Designer has five tools that are used to analyze sources,
design target schemas and build the Source to Target mappings. These are
Source Analyzer: This is used to either import or create the
source definitions.
Warehouse Designer: This is used to import or create target
definitions.
Mapping Designer: This is used to create mappings that will be
run by the Informatica Server to extract, transform and load data.
Transformation Developer: This is used to develop reusable
transformations that can be used in mappings.
Mapplet Designer: This is used to create sets of transformations
referred to as Mapplets which can be used across mappings.

iii.

Server Manager: The Server Manager is used to create, schedule, execute

and monitor sessions.

c) Informatica Server:
The Informatica Server reads the mapping and the session information from the
repository. It extracts data from the mapping sources, stores it in the memory,
applies the transformation rules and loads the transformed data into the mapping
targets.
Connectivity:
Informatica uses the Network Protocol, Native Drivers or the ODBC for the
Connectivity between its various components. The Connectivity details are as
provided in the diagram above.
6. Setting up Informatica:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

Install and Configure the Server components.

Install the Client applications.
Configure the ODBC.
Register the Informatica Server in the Server Manager.
Create a Repository, create users and groups, edit users profiles.
Add source and target definitions, set up mapping between the sources and
targets, create a session for each mapping and run the sessions.

a) Configuring the ODBC

i.
ii.

Go to StartSettingsControl Panel
Go to Administrative ToolsData Sources(ODBC)

iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.

Click on the System DSN tab and add an entry.

Select MERANT CLOSED 3.60 32-BIT Oracle 8 driver.
Provide any Data Source Name.
Provide the tns entry name for the (Informatica) database as the Server
Name.
Do a test connect by providing the informatica database userid and
password.
Save the settings.

b) Configuring the Informatica Repository

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

Open the Repository Manager

Click on RepositoryAdd Repository
Provide the Name of an existing Repository and its Username
Click on RepositoryConnect
Provide the password for the repository.
Provide the Informatica database details (those provided during the ODBC
setup).

vii.
viii.
ix.
x.

Open the Designer

Click on the RepositoryConnect tab.
Provide the password for the repository.
The left pane displays the various folders and the Sources, Targets,
Mappings, Transformations, Mapplets etc within each folder.
Click on the Mappings tab within any folder, select a mapping and drag it
into the right pane to view the mapping.

xi.

7. Case Study
A Transformation is a repository object that generates, modifies, or passes data.
The various Transformations that are provided by the Designer in Informatica have been
explained with the aid of a mapping, Map_CD_Country_code. (Explained in blue)
The mapping is present in the cifSIT9i repository of the SIT machine under the folder
Ecif_Dev_map
Objective: The mapping Map_CD_Country_code has been developed to extract data
from the STG_COUNTRY table and move it into the ECIF_COUNTRY and the
TRF_COUNTRY target tables.
a) Source Definition:
i.
ii.
iii.

The Source Definition contains a detailed definition of the Source.

The Source can be a Relational table, Fixed width and delimited flat files
that do not contain binary data, COBOL files etc.
The relational source definition is imported from database tables by
connecting to the source database from the client machine.
The Source in the Map_CD_Country_code is
Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY*, a Source Definition Shortcut.
Right click on the Source and select edit.
In the Edit Transformations window, the Transformation tab has the
following info:

The circled area provides the location of the object that the shortcut references.
In the above ex, the object referenced by the shortcut is present in the cifSIT9i repository
under the Ecif_dev_def folder and the object name is STG_COUNTRY.

All fields from the Source are moved into the Source Qualifier.

*For information on the Naming Standard, please refer the document embedded below:
Informatica_ETL_Na
ming_Conventions.doc

P.N: The Naming standards provided in the document indicate generic standards that
CAN be followed while designing a mapping.
What are the advantages of having a Shortcut?
The following are the main advantages of having a Shortcut:
The main advantage of having a shortcut is maintenance.
If all instances of an object have to change, the original repository object is the
only object that has to be edited and all shortcuts accessing the object
automatically inherit the changes.
Restricting the repository users to a set of predefined metadata by asking users to
incorporate the shortcuts into their work instead of developing repository objects
independently.

 Space can be saved in a repository by keeping a single repository object and using
shortcuts to that object, instead of creating copies of the object in multiple folders.
For information on creating and working with Shortcuts, refer the Informatica Designer
Help.
b) Source Qualifier (SQ_Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY):
i. The Source Qualifier is an Active transformation.
ii. The differences between an Active and a Passive transformation are as
given below:
Active Transformation
Passive Transformation
An Active Transformation can change the
A Passive Transformation does not change
number of rows that pass through it
the number of rows that pass through it.
Ex.:
Ex:
Advanced External Procedure
Expression
Aggregator
External Procedure
ERP Source Qualifier
Input
Filter
Lookup
Joiner
Output
Normalizer
Sequence Generator
Rank
Stored Procedure
Source Qualifier
XML Source Qualifier
Router
Update Strategy

In the SQ_Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY, click on the Properties tab SQL

Query.
The SQL Query is the query that is generated by Informatica and is a SELECT statement
for each source column used in the mapping. But the Informatica Server reads only the
columns in Source Qualifier that are connected to another transformation.
In SQ_Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY, since all 4 fields ISO_CTRY_COD,
CTRY_NAM, EMU_IND, PROC_FLG columns are connected to the
EXP_COUNTRY transformation and hence the default SQL Query generated by
Informatica would have all 4 columns. In case, one of the fields had not been
mapped to any other transformation, that field would not have appeared in the
default SQL Query.

The ISO_CTRY_COD field from the Source Qualifier is moved to the Lookup
transformation LKP_CTRY_COD and all the fields including the
ISO_CTRY_COD is moved to the Expression transformation EXP_COUNTRY.

c) Lookup Transformation (LKP_CTRY_COD)

i. Lookup transformation is Passive transformation.
ii. A Lookup transformation would be used in an Informatica mapping to
lookup data in a relational table, view, or synonym.
iii.
The Informatica server queries the lookup table based on the lookup ports
in the transformation. It compares Lookup transformation port values to
lookup table column values based on the lookup condition. The result of
the Lookup would then be passed on to other transformations and targets.
In the Lookup transformation LKP_CTRY_COD, the input field
SRC_COUNTRY_CODE is looked up against the COUNTRY_CODE field
of the Lookup table and if the Lookup is successful, then the corresponding
COUNTRY_CODE is returned as the output.
For more info on Lookup transformation and on Lookup caches, refer the Informatica
Designer Help and also the attached doc.
Lookup_Cache.doc

How does the Lookup Cache work?

Informatica creates a data cache and an index cache when the first row in the data flow
hits the Lookup transformation. This happens only when the Lookup cache option is
enabled in the transformation properties.
To create these caches, Informatica issues a SELECT statement against the database
where the lookup table resides and extracts all the data it needs for the lookup. After that,
whenever a row passes through the lookup, Informatica tries to find a match within the
cached data set based on the lookup conditions and input port values for that row.
When the cache option is disabled, Informatica queries the lookup table every time a row
passes through the lookup.
Advantages of Lookup transformation over Source Qualifier/Joiner transformation
Lookup transformation helps in fetching data from a table exactly where we need it in the
data stream, instead of having to pass the data through every step of the mapping, as it
would with a Source Qualifier or a Joiner transformation.
How do we handle multiple matches in the Lookup table?
The Lookup transformation can be configured to handle multiple matches in the
following ways:
Return the first matching value, or return the last matching value
The transformation can be configured to return the first matching value or the last
matching value. The first and last values are the first values and last values found
in the lookup cache that match the lookup condition.
Return an error: The Informatica server returns the default value for the output
ports.

d) Expression Transformation (EXP_COUNTRY)

i. Expression transformation is Passive transformation
All fields from the Source Qualifier are moved into the Expression
transformation. The COUNTRY_CODE that is the output of the Lookup
transformation is also moved into the Expression transformation.
O_PROC_FLAG has been set to Y in the Expression transformation.
All fields from the Expression transformation except the PROC_FLG field
are moved into the Filter transformations FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD
and FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD.
e) Filter Transformation (FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD)
Filter transformation is an Active transformation.
The COUNTRY_CODE field is checked for NOT NULL and if found true,
the records are passed on to the Update Strategy UPD_COUNTRY_CODE,
the Lookup transformation LKPTRANS and the Update Strategy
UPD_UPD_STG_COUNTRY.
f) Update Strategy Transformation (UPD_COUNTRY_CODE)
i. Update Strategy transformation is an Active transformation.
The ISO_CTRY_COD, CTRY_NAM, BMU_IND fields are moved to the
Update Strategy transformation from the FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD
transformation.
Click on the Properties tab
Update Strategy Expression is DD_UPDATE.
Forward Rejected Rows option is selected.
ii. Update Strategy Expression is used to flag individual records for insert,
delete, update or reject.
iii.
The below table lists the constants for each database operation and the
numerical equivalent:
Operation

iv.

Constant

Numeric Value

Insert

DD_INSERT

Update

DD_UPDATE 1

Delete

DD_DELETE 2

Reject

DD_REJECT

A session can also be configured for handling specific database operations.

This is done by setting the Treat rows as field in the Session Wizard
dialog box that appears while session configuration.
Open the Server Manager.
Click on cifSIT9i under the Repositories tab

Click on RepositoryConnect
Provide the Username
Expand the Ecif_Dev_map folder.
Select the s_Map_CD_Country_code in the right pane, right click and select
edit.
Properties for Sessions window open up.
Pls refer fig below.
v. The Treat rows as option determines the treatment for all rows in the
session. The options provided here are insert, delete, update or data-driven.
vi. If the mapping for the session contains an Update Strategy transformation,
this field is marked Data Driven by default. If any other option is selected,
the Informatica Server ignores all Update Strategy transformations in the
mapping.
vii. The Data Driven option is selected if records destined for the same table
need to be flagged on occasion for one operation (for example, update), or
for a different operation (for example, reject).
viii.
Records can be flagged for reject only with this option.
For more info on Update Strategy transformation and other settings for Update Strategy,
refer the Informatica Designer help.
ix.
The Forward Rejected Rows option indicates whether the Update Strategy
transformation pass rejected rows to the next transformation or rejects them.
x.
By default, Informatica Server forwards rejected rows to the next
transformation.
xi. The Informatica Server flags the rows for reject and writes them to the
session reject files.
xii. If the Forward Rejected Rows is not selected, the Informatica Server drops
rejected rows and writes them to the session log file.
Update Strategy UPD_COUNTRY_CODE updates the target table
Shortcut_to_ECIF_COUNTRY which is a shortcut to the ECIF_COUNTRY
table.

g) Update Strategy Transformation (UPD_UPD_STG_COUNTRY)

This receives the ISO_CTRY_COD and PROC_FLG fields from the filter
transformation FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD when the COUNTRY_CODE
is NOT NULL.
This updates the target table Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY which is a
shortcut to the STG_COUNTRY table.
h) Lookup Transformation (LKPTRANS)
The ISO_CTRY_COD from the filter transformation
FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD is brought as input to the Lookup transformation.
ISO_CTRY_COD as SRC_ISO_CTRY_COD is looked up against the
ISO_CTRY_COD of the TRF_COUNTRY lookup table and if the Lookup is
successful, the corresponding ISO_CTRY_COD of the lookup table is taken as
the output.
The output of the Lookup table is passed to the Filter transformations
FIL_NULL_TRF_CTRY_COD and FIL_NOTNULL_TRF_CTRY_COD.

i) Filter Transformation (FIL_NULL_TRF_CTRY_COD)

This transformation receives the ISO_CTRY_COD from the Lookup
transformation LKPTRANS and the rest of the fields from the Filter
transformation FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD.
The ISO_CTRY_COD field which is the output of the previous lookup is checked
for NULL and if found to be NULL, the records are inserted into the target
Shortcut_To_TRF_COUNTRY which is a Shortcut to the TRF_COUNTRY table.
j) Filter Transformation (FIL_NOTNULL_TRF_CTRY_COD)
This transformation receives the ISO_CTRY_COD from the Lookup
transformation LKPTRANS and the rest of the fields from the Filter
transformation FIL_NOTNULL_CTRY_COD.
The ISO_CTRY_COD field which is the output of the previous lookup is checked
for NOT NULL and if found to be NOT NULL, the records are passed on to the
Update Strategy UPD_TRF_CTRY_COD.
k) Update Strategy Transformation (UPD_TRF_CTRY_COD)
This is used to update the target table Shortcut_To_TRF_COUNTRY, which is a
Shortcut to the TRF_COUNTRY table.
l) Filter Transformation (FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD)
The COUNTRY_CODE field is checked for NULL and if found true, the records
are passed on to the Lookup transformation LKPTRANS1 and the Update
Strategy UPD_INS_STG_COUNTRY.
The records are also inserted into the target table Shortcut_To_ECIF_COUNTRY
which is a shortcut to the ECIF_COUNTRY table.
m) Update Strategy Transformation (UPD_INS_STG_COUNTRY)
This receives the ISO_CTRY_COD and PROC_FLG fields from the filter
transformation FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD when the COUNTRY_CODE is NULL.
This inserts a record into the target table Shortcut_To_STG_COUNTRY which is
a shortcut to the STG_COUNTRY table.
n) Lookup Transformation (LKPTRANS1)
The ISO_CTRY_COD from the filter transformation FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD is
brought as input to the Lookup transformation.
ISO_CTRY_COD as SRC_ISO_CTRY_COD is looked up against the
ISO_CTRY_COD of the TRF_COUNTRY lookup table and if the Lookup is
successful, the corresponding ISO_CTRY_COD of the lookup table is taken as
the output.
The output of the Lookup table is passed to the Filter transformations
FIL_NULL_TRF_CTRY_COD2 and FIL_NOTNULL_TRF_CTRY_COD2.

o) Filter Transformation (FIL_NULL_TRF_CTRY_COD2)

This transformation receives the ISO_CTRY_COD from the Lookup
transformation LKPTRANS1 and the rest of the fields from the Filter
transformation FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD.
The ISO_CTRY_COD1 field which is the output of the previous lookup is
checked for NULL and if found to be NULL, the records are inserted into the
target Shortcut_To_TRF_COUNTRY which is a Shortcut to the TRF_COUNTRY
table.
p) Filter Transformation (FIL_NOTNULL_TRF_CTRY_COD2)
This transformation receives the ISO_CTRY_COD from the Lookup
transformation LKPTRANS1 and the rest of the fields from the Filter
transformation FIL_NULL_CTRY_COD.
The ISO_CTRY_COD1 field which is the output of the previous lookup is
checked for NOT NULL and if found to be NOT NULL, the records are passed on
to the Update Strategy UPD_TRF_CTRY_COD2.
q) Update Strategy Transformation (UPD_TRF_CTRY_COD2)
This is used to update the target table Shortcut_To_TRF_COUNTRY, which is a
Shortcut to the TRF_COUNTRY table.
Stored Procedure Transformation (PR_COMP_COUNTRY)
i.
A Stored Procedure is a Passive transformation.
ii.
A Stored Procedure can be run with the following options
Normal
Pre-load of the Source.
Post-load of the Source.
Pre-load of the Target.
Post-load of the Target.
iii.
Pre-load of the Source is when the Stored Procedure runs before the session
retrieves data from the source.

The Stored Procedure PR_COMP_COUNTRY is called as a Source Pre Load

procedure.

What is a Sequence Generator Transformation?

The Sequence Generator transformation is an object in Informatica which outputs
a unique sequential number to each dataflow that it is attached to.
The starting value and the increment are set in the Sequence Generator
transformation and the NEXTVAL is connected to the dataflow.
A Sequence generator is normally placed after a filter (generally a filter that
checks the primary key value of the target for NULL, which would indicate that
the record is new) and before an update strategy that is set to DD_INSERT.

 If multiple informatica mappings write to the same target table, the sequence
generator should be used as a reusable object or a shortcut.
If non informatica routines write to the same target table, using a trigger or a
database method is recommended.
The document provided below highlights the Best Practices that can be taken into
consideration either while designing mappings or when running sessions.
Informatica_Tuning_
Guide.doc

For info on the features in the Informatica Power Center 6.2, refer the link below:
http://www.itap.purdue.edu/ea/files/PMPC-62_release%20notes%20for%206.2.pdf
Pls refer the link below for enhancements related to Informatica PowerCenter 7.1
http://www.csn.no/nyhetsbrev/0402NyhetsbrevInfa_files/whats_new_PC7_dec2003.pdf