Informatica

• http://mimishandshuna.com/jhuki/category/powercenter-informatica/

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What is Informatica

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If you want to set up a Data Warehouse - then you will love to have Informatica
software. It will greatly simplify DW design, and numerous routine tasks related to
data transformation and migration (ETL - Extract, Transform, and Load), day-to-day
maintenance and management.

• www.informatica.com

Informatica has a simple visual interface. You do most of the work by simply
dragging and dropping with your mouse in the Designer. This graphical approach
makes it also very easy to understand what is going on (it is "self-documenting" in a
sense).

Informatica can communicate with all major databases, can move/transform data
between them. It can move huge volumes of data in a very effective way. It can
throttle the transactions (do big updates in small chunks to avoid long locking and
filling the transactional log). It can effectively do joins between tables in different
databases on different servers. The tasks are performed by Informatica Server
(Unix or MS Windows). You get a client application called "Server Manager" to work
with the server.

You design your processes in a client application called "Designer". This is where
you you tell what the source databases and tables will be, what will be the targets,
and how you move/transform the data.

Informatica uses its own database called "Metadata Repository Database", or simply
a Repository. Repository stores the data (rules) needed for data extraction,
transformation, loading, and management. You get a client application "Repository
Manager" to work with the repository.

Informatica comes in different packages:

• Informatica PowerCenter license - has all options, including distributed

metadata, ability to organize repositories into a data mart domain and share
metadata accross repositories.
• PowerMart PowerMart - a limited license (all features except distributed
metadata and multiple registered servers).

The short overview below is based on PowerCenter v.1.7, and PowerMart 4.7 (this is
dated at ~2000). Since then new versions were made, and all the version numbering
was changed. The latest version of the PowerCenter is v.7 (end of 2003 - cost
~$200,000).
Other products by Informatica:

• Informatica PowerAnalyzer (web based tool for data analysis - Business

Intelligence)
• Informatica SuperGlue - managing metadata (data about data). Directory of
data (personalized), graphical representation of data quality and flow, flexible
analysis and reporting (based on PowerAnalyzer) of overall data volumes,
loading performance, etc.

Working with Informatica

Here are the pieces of the puzzle:

• source database(s), target database(s), repository metadata database

• Informatica server
• PC-based client software (Designer, Server Manager, Repository Manager)

Setting everything up is also straighforward. Once the server components are

installed and configured, you install the client applications, configure 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
sessions (resulting in writing data to targets).

Repository Manager

The Repository Manager allows you navigate through multiple repositories and
folders inside the repositories. Navigating it is very similar to navigating standard MS
Windows Explorer. You have expandable tree on the left (Navigator Window) - and
list of details of the objects in the selected folder (Main Window).

Repository Login

Repository Manager

Folders main contain Nodes (subfolders) - Sessions, Batches, Sources, Targets,

Transformations, Mapplets (reusable sets of transformations) and Mappings. They in
turn may contain corresponding individual repository objects - sessions, batches,
sources, targets, transformations, mapplets and mappings, as well as shortcuts,
batches, and session logs.

Interface is simple and intuitive, For example, to see the properties of an object -
right-click on it - and select Properties. To create a new repository - choose
Repository-Create Repository (you have to run in admin mode to be able to do this).
Etc. You can reorder the columns in the main window by dragging, and sort by any
column (just click on the corresponding header). The set of columns in the main
window is different for each kind of the node or object.

Note: PowerMart Repositories are standalone. PowerCenter repositories can be

standalone, local, or global.

You can work with:

• Repositories - create, backup, copy, restore, upgrade, and delete

repositories.
• Users & Groups - (choose Security menu) - Create, edit, and delete
repository users and groups, assign and revoke repository privileges (on a
group or user level), and folder permissions, view locks - and unlock objects,
versions, and folders. Privelege types:
o Session Operator
o Use Designer
o Browse Repository
o Create Sessions and Batches
o Administer Repository
o Administer Server
o Super User
• Folders - (choose Folder menu) - create/edit/delete folders inside
repositories, copy within a repository or between repositories. Folders can be
shared or not shared.
• Reports - add/remove reports
• Import/export repository connection info
• Analyze source/target, mapping, shortcut dependencies.
• Search by keyword
• View properties of repository objects
• Customize the Repository Manager (add, edit, remove repositories in the
Navigator, edit repository connection info, view/hide windows)

Below the Navigator and the Main Window you may see two more windows:

• Dependency window - to see dependencies for a selected object (source-

target, mapping, shortcut dependencies).
• Output window - shows what is happening.

Designer Client Application

Designer consists of several tools (choose Tools menu):

• Source Analyzer - (choose Sources menu) to import or create source

definitions for flat file, Cobol, ERP, and Relational Databases. Note - double-
click on the title-bar opens a pop-up to edit definitions.
• Warehouse Designer - to import or create target definitions (choose Targets
- Generate/Execute SQL, or Targets-Create to create manually).
• Transformation Developer - to create reusable transformations.
• Mapplet Designer - to create mapplets (reusable sets of transformations)
• Mapping Designer - to create mappings (m_somename).
Windows:

• Navigator - to connect and word with multiple repositories and folders, copy
objects and create shortcuts.
• Workspace - to view/edit sources, targets, mapplets, transformations, and
mappings.
• Output window and Status bar
• Overview (choose View-Overview) - optional window - to simplify wiewing
workbooks containing large mappings or large number of objects.

Warehouse Designer - Import Tables:

Edit Table's Definitions:

Mapping Designer - creating mappings:

Mapping Designer Example of a mapping Overview window

Note: you can open several workspaces (workbooks) - choose Window - New
Window, and then select appropriate tool.

To make a mapping:

• Switch to the Mapping Designer

• Choose Mapping-Create - and enter a new name (m_xxxx)
• Drag a source table from the navigator to the work space. Note, that the
designer will also automatically create and show a Source Qualifier
transformation (this is a temp. table created by Informatica Server).
• Drag a target table to the work space
 • Drag one-by-one fields from source to target - thus creating graphical
connections. Note - you can also delete connection by selecting it - and
pressing DEL button.
• Choose Layout-Arrange

Note: Source has only Ouput ports, Source Qualifier has both input and output ports.

Here are some transformations:

• Advanced External Procedure - ...

• Aggregator - to do things like "group by".
• ERP Source Qualifier - ...
• Expression - to use various expressions.
• External procedure - ...
• Filter - to filter data.
• Joiner - to make joins between separate databases, file, ODBC sources.
• Lookup - to create local copy of the data.
• Normalizer - to transform denormalized data into normalized data.
• Rank - to select only top (or bottom) ranked data.
• Sequence Generator - to generate unique IDs for target tables.
• Source Qualifier - to filter sources (SQL, select distinct, join, etc.)
• Stored Procedure - to run stored procedures in the database - and capture
their returned values.
• Update Strategy - to flag records in target for insert,delete, update (defined
inside a mapping).

To create a transformation, simply click on the corresponding transformation icon on

the transformations toolbar - and then click in the workspace between the tables.
The Designer adds a new transformation.

Chose Layout-Link Columns, drag needed fields from Source Qualifier to the
Transformation, double-click on the title bar of the transformation to edit the
transformation.

In the "Edit Transformations" dialog box you can check/uncheck necessary options
(I/O ports, Group-By), add new ports as necessary, edt the expressions for each port
(and validate them).
You can click on the Expression field - and edit expression in the Expression Editor:

You can chain transformations. You can do joins between tables in different
databases using "Lookup" transformation to create local copy of the data. You
connect transformations by dragging with the mouse from port to port.

Server Manager

Sessions are sets of instructions for Informatica Server when and how to move data
from sources to targets.

Server Manager - a client application used to create and manage sessions and
batches, and to configure session connections. You can monitor multiple Informatica
Servers, navigate through folders and repositories. Here is what you can do in Server
Manager:

• Monitor, add, edit, delete Informatica Server info in the repository

• Stop the infomratica Server
• Configure database, external loader, and FTP connections
• Manage sessions and batches - create, edit, delete, copy/move within a
folder, start/stop, abort sessions, view session logs, details, session
performance details.

Windows:

• Navigator & Configure windows

• Monitor
• Output
• Status bar
- Note:As usual you can dock/undock the windows by double-clicking the title bar
and/or dragging.
- Note: Cancel button - appears at the bottom-left when the program communicates
with the Informatica Server.
- Note: Server Manager can mark a session invalid if something is wrong. You can
open session properties, edit, and try again.
- Note: you can create/customize toolbars.

To create a session in Server Manager:

• Select a Repository in the Navigator - and connect to it.

• Choose "Server Configuration - Database Conections" - and add connections
to sources and target.
• Choose "Server Configuration - Register Server" - to connect to the server.
• In the Navigator - open a folder with mappings.
• Choose Operations - Add Sessions (or click on "Add Session" button) and
select the mapping.
• You will get a session Wizard:

Monitoring and Running a Session:

• Select the Informatica Server in the navigator - and choose Server

Configuration - Monitor - to toggle the monitor window. Then you can
choose Server Requests - Start/Stop polling, or you can choose Server
Requests - Session overview - to refresh the monitor.

Running the Session:

• Select the session wit the mouse - and choose Server Requests - Start (or
click on the start button on the toolbar).

Organize sessions in a batch:

• To create a batch choose Operations - Add Batch (or click on the

corresponding button on the toolbar).
• Once you created and opened the batch - you can add seesions into it by
dragging them into the batch. You can reorder them inside the batch, or you
can check the Concurrent option to run the sessions concurrently inside the
batch.
 • You start the batch the same way as a session - select it - and click the start
button (or choose Server Requests - Start).

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