pc 86 transformationlanguagereference[1] (1)

8/11/2019 PC 86 TransformationLanguageReference[1] (1)

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InformaticaPowerCenter(Version 8.6)

Transformation Language

Reference


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Informatica PowerCenter Transformation Language Reference

Version 8.6June 2008

Copyright (c) 19982008 Informatica Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Part Number: PC-TLR-86000-0001


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Table of Contents iii

Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Informatica Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Informatica Customer Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Informatica Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Informatica Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixInformatica Knowledge Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Informatica Global Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Chapter 1: The Transformation Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Transformat ion Language Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Internationalization and the Transformation Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Expression Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Expression Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Rules and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Adding Comments to Expres sions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Reserved Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 2: Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

DD_DELETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

DD_INSERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

DD_REJECT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8DD_UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

FALSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

NULL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Work ing with Nul l Values in Boolean Expre ss ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Work ing with Nul l Values in Comparison Expre ss ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Null Values in Aggrega te Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Null Values in Filter Condit ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Nulls with Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11TRUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 3: Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Operator Precedence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Arithmetic Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

String Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15


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Nulls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Comparison Opera tors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Logical Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Nulls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 4: Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Built-in Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17$PM @TableName, $PM@TableName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

$PMFolderName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

$PMIntegrationServiceName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

$PMMappingName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

$PMRepositoryServiceName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

$PMRepositor yUserName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$PMSessionName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$PMSessionRunMode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$PMWorkflowName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$PMWorkflowRunId . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

$$$SessStartTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

SESSSTARTTIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

SYSDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

WOR KFLOWSTARTT IME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Transaction Control Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Local Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chapter 5: Dates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Date/Time Datatype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Julian Day, Modified Julian Day, and the Gregorian Ca lendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Dates in the Year 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Dates in Relational Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Dates in Flat Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Default Date Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Date Format Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

TO_CHAR Format Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Rules and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Understanding Dat e Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 6: Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Function Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Aggregate Funct ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37


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Aggregate Funct ions and Nul ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Character Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Conversion Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Data Cleansing Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Date Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Encoding Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Financial Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Numeric Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Scientific Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

String Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Test Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Variable Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

ABORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AD D_TO_DATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

AES_DECRYPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

AES_ENCRYPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

ASCII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

AVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

CEIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

CHOOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

CHR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

CHRCODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

COMPRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

CONCAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CONVERT_BASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

COS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

COSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58COUNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

CRC32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

CUME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

DATE_COMPARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

DATE_DIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

DEC_BASE64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

DECODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

DECOMPRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

ENC_BASE64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

ERROR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70EXP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

FIRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

FLOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

FV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

GET_DATE_PART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

GREATEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

IIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77


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IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

INDEXOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

INITCAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

INSTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

ISNULL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

IS_DATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

IS_NUMBER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

IS_SPACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

LAST_DAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

LEAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

LENGTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

LN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

LOOKUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

LOWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

LPAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

LTRIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

MAKE_DATE_TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

MAX (Dates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

MAX (Numbers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

MAX (String) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

MD5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

MEDIAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

METAPHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

MIN (Dates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

MIN (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

MIN (String) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

MOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112MOVINGAVG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

MOVINGSUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

NPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

PERCENTILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

PMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

PV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

RAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

RATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

REG_EXTR ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122REG_MATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

REG_REPLACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

REPLACECH R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

REPLACESTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

REVERSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

ROUND (Dates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

ROUND (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135


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RPAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

RTRIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

SETCOUNTVARIABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

SET_DATE_PART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

SETMAXVARIABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

SETMINVARIABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

SETVARIABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

SIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

SINH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

SOUNDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

SQRT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

STDDEV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

SUBSTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

SUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

SYSTIMESTAMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

TAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

TANH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

TO_BIGINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

TO_CHAR (Dates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

TO_CHAR (Numbers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

TO_DATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

TO_DECIMAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

TO_FLOAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

TO_INTEGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

TRUNC (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

TRUNC (Numbers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

UPPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

VARIANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Chapter 7: Creating Custom Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Steps to Create Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Installing Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Step 1. Get Repository ID Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Step 2. Create a Header File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Step 3. Create an Implementat ion File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Step 4. Build the Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Building the Module on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Building the Module on UNIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Step 5. Create the Repository P lug-in File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

The PLUGIN Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

The FUNCTION_GROUP Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Determining a Namespace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The FUNCTION Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The LIBRARY Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193


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Sample Plug-in XML File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Step 6. Test Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Validating the Repos itory Plug-in File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Verifying Function Accu racy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Installing Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Step 1. Copy Custom Function Libraries to PowerCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Step 2. Register the Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Creating Expressions with Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Chapter 8: Custom Function API Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Common APIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Validation Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

User Interface Validation Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

INFA_EXPR_OPD_M ETADATA Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Get Plug-in Version Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Run-time APIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Module-Level Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Function-Level Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Function Instance-Level Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207


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ix

Preface

The PowerCenter Transformation Language Referenceis written for the developers who are responsible forbuilding mappings. The PowerCenter Transformation Language Referenceassumes you have knowledge of SQL,relational database concepts, and the interface requirements for your supporting applications.

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x Preface

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1

C H A P T E R 1

The Transformation Language

This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview, 1

Expression Syntax, 2

Adding Comments to Expre ssions, 4

Reserved Words, 5

Overview

PowerCenter provides a transformation language that includes SQL-like functions to transform source data.Use these functions to write expressions and create functions called user-defined functions.

User-defined functions reuse expression logic and build complex expressions. You can include them in otheruser-defined functions or in expressions. User-defined functions follow the same guidelines a s expressions. Theyuse the same syntax and can use the same transformation language components.

Expressions modify data or test whether data matches conditions. For example, you might use the AVGfunction to calculate the average salary of all the employees, or the SUM function to calculate the total sales fora specific branch.

You can create a simple expression that only conta ins a port, such as ORDERS, or a numer ic li tera l, such as 10.You can also write complex expressions that include functions nested within functions, or combine differentports using the transformation language operators. For more information about how transformation expressionsare evaluated, see Working with Transformations in the PowerCenter Transformation Guide.

Transformation Language Components

The transformation language includes the following components to create simple or complex transformationexpressions:

Functions. Over 100 SQL-like functions allow you to change data in a mapping.

Operators. Use transformation operators to create transformation expressions to perform mathematicalcomputations, combine data, or compare data.

Constants.Use built-in constants to reference values that remain constant, such as TRUE.

Mapping parameters and variables.Create mapping parameters for use within a mapping or mapplet toreference values that remain constant throughout a session, such as a sta te sales tax rate. Create mappingvariables in mapplets or mappings to w rite expressions referencing values that change from session to session.For more information, see the PowerCenter Designer Guide.


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2 C hap ter 1: Th e Tr ans fo rm at io n L an gu ag e

Workflow variables.Create workflow variables for use within a workflow to write expressions referencingvalues that change from workflow to workflow. For more information, see the PowerCenter WorkflowAdminist ration Guide.

Built-in and local variables.Use built-in variables to write expressions that reference values that vary, such asthe system date. You can also create local variables in transformations.

Return values.You can also write expressions that include the return values from Lookup, Stored Procedure,and External Procedure transformations.

Internationalization and the Transformation LanguageTransformation language functions can handle character data in either ASCII o r Unicode data movement mode.Use Unicode mode to handle multibytecharacter data. The return va lues of the following functions andtransformations depend on the code page of the Integration Service and the data movement mode:

INITCAP

LOWER

UPPER

MIN (Date)

MIN (Number)

MIN (String)

MAX (Date)

MAX (Number)

MAX (String)

Any function that uses conditional statements to compare str ings, such as IIF and DECODE

MIN and MAX also return values based on the sort order associated with the Integration Service code page.

When you validate an invalid express ion in the Express ion Editor, a dialog box displays the express ion with anerror indicator, >>>>. This indicator appears to the left of and points to the part of the expression containingthe error. For example, if the expression a = b + c contains an error at c, the error message displays:

a = b + >>>> c

Transformation language functions that evaluate character data are character-oriented, not byte-oriented. For

example, the LENGTH function returns the number of characters in a string, not the number of bytes. TheLOWER function returns a string in lowercase based on the code page of the Integration Service.

Expression Syntax

Although the transformation language is based on standard SQL, there are di fference between the twolanguages. For example, SQL supports the keywords ALL and DISTINCT for aggregate functions, but thetransformation language does not. On the other hand, the transformation language supports an optional filtercondition for aggregate functions, while SQL does not.

You can create an expression that is as simple as a port (such as ORDERS), a pre-de fined workf low var iable(such as $Start.Status), or a numeric literal (such as 10). You can also write complex expressions that includefunctions nested within functions, or combine different columns using the transformation language operators.

Expression Components

Expressions can consist of any combination of the following components:

Ports (input, input/output, variable)


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Expression Syntax 3

String literals, numeric literals

Constants

Functions

Built-in and local variables

Mapping parameters and mapping variables

Pre-defined workflow variables

User-defined workflow variables

Operators Return values

Ports and Return Values

When you write an expres sion that include s a port or return value from an unconnected transformation, use thereference qualifiers in Table 1-1:

String and Numeric Literals

You can include numeric or string l iterals.

Be sure to enclose string literals within single quotation marks. For example:

'Alice Davis'

String literals are case sensitive and can contain any character except a s ingle quotation mark. For example, thefollowing string is not allowed:

'Joan's car'

Table 1-1. Reference Qualifiers in Transformation Language

Reference

QualifierDescription

:EXT Requ ired when you w ri te an express ion that includes a re tu rn va lue f rom an Externa l

Procedure transformation. The general syntax is::EXT.external_procedure_transformation(argument1, argument2, ...)

:LKP Requ ired when you c reate an express ion that includes the return value from an

unconnected Lookup transformation. The general syntax is::LKP.lookup_transformation(argument1, argument2, ...)

The arguments are the local ports used in the lookup condition. The order must match the

order of the ports in the transformation. The datatypes for the local ports must match the

datatype of the Lookup ports used in the lookup condition.

:SD Opt iona l (PowerMar t 3.5 exp ressions onl y) . Qua li fi es a source tab le po rt in an expression.

The general syntax is:

:SD.source_table.column_name

:SEQ Requ ired when you c reate an express ion that includes a port in a Sequence Genera to r

transformation. The general syntax is::SEQ.sequence_generator_transformation.CURRVAL

:SP Requ ired when you wr ite an exp ress ion tha t includes the re tu rn value f rom an unconnectedStored Procedure transformation. The general syntax is::SP.stored_procedure_transformation( argument1, argument2, [,

PROC_RESULT])

The arguments must match the arguments in the unconnected Stored Procedure

transformation.

:TD R equi red wh en you refer enc e a ta rg et ta ble in a Powe rMar t 3.5 LO OK UP functi on. Thegeneral syntax is:LOOKUP(:TD.SALES.ITEM_NAME, :TD.SALES.ITEM_ID,

10, :TD.SALES.PRICE, 15.99)


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To return a string containing a s ingle quote, use the CHR function:

'Joan' || CHR(39) || 's car'

Do not use single quotation marks with numeric literals. Just enter the number you want to include. Forexample:

.05

or

$$Sales_Tax

Rules and Guidelines

Use the following rules and guidelines when you write expressions:

You cannot include both single-level and nested aggregate functions in an Aggregator tr ansformation.

If you need to create both single-level and nested funct ions, create separate Aggregator transformations.

You cannot use strings in numeric express ions.

For example, the expression 1 + '1'is not valid because you can only perform addition on numericdatatypes. You cannot add an integer and a string.

You cannot use strings as numeric parameters.

For example, the expression SUBSTR(TEXT_VAL, '1', 10)is not valid because the SUBSTR function

requires an integer value, not a string, as the start position.

You cannot mix datatypes when using comparison operators.

For example, the expression 123.4 = '123.4'is not valid because it compares a decimal value with a string.

You can pass a va lue from a port, li teral string or number, variable, Lookup transformation , Stored Proceduretransformation, External Procedure transformation, or the results of another expression.

Use the ports t ab in the Expression Editor to enter a port name into an expression. If you rename a port in aconnected transformation, the Designer propagates the name change to expressions in the transformation.

Separate each argument in a function with a comma.

Except for literals, the transformation language is not case sensitive.

Except for literals, the Designer and Integration Service ignore spaces.

The colon (:), comma (,), and period (.) have special meaning and should be used only to specify syntax.

The Integration Service treats a dash (- ) as a minus operator.

If you pass a literal value to a function, enclose literal strings within single quotation marks. Do not usequotation marks for literal numbers. The Integration Service treats any string value enclosed in s inglequotation marks as a character string.

When you pass a mapping paramete r or variable or a workf low variable to a function within an expression,do not use quotation marks to designate mapping parameters or variables or workflow variables.

Do not use quotation marks to designate ports.

You can nest multiple functions with in an expression (except aggregate functions, which allow only onenested aggregate function). The Integration Service evaluates the expression starting with the innermostfunction.

Adding Comments to Expressions

The transformation language provides two comment specifiers to let you insert comments in expressions:

Two dashes, as in:

-- These are comments


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Reserved Words 5

Two slashes, as in:

// These are comments

The Integration Service ignores all text on a line preceded by these two comment specifiers. For example, if youwant to concatenate two s trings, you can enter the following expression with comments in the middle of theexpression:

-- This expression concatenates first and last names for customers:

FIRST_NAME -- First names from the CUST table|| // Concat symbol

LAST_NAME // Last names from the CUST table

// Joe Smith Aug 18 1998

The Integration Service ignores the comments and evaluates the expression as follows:

FIRST_NAME || LAST_NAME

You cannot continue a comment to a new line:

-- This expression concatenates first and last names for customers:

FIRST_NAME -- First names from the CUST table|| // Concat symbol

LAST_NAME // Last names from the CUST table

Joe Smith Aug 18 1998

In this case, the Designer and Workflow Manager do not validate the expression, since the last line is not a validexpression.

If you do not want to embed comments, you can add them by clicking Comment in the Expression Editor.

Reserved Words

Some keywords in the transformation language, such as constants, operators, and built-in variables, are reservedfor specific functions. These include:

:EXT

:INFA

:LKP

:MCR :SD

:SEQ

:SP

:TD

AND

DD_DELETE

DD_INSERT

DD_REJECT

DD_UPDATE

FALSE

NOT

NULL

OR

PROC_RESULT

SESSSTARTTIME

SPOUTPUT


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SYSDATE

TRUE

WORKFLOWSTARTTIME

The following words are reserved for workflow expressions:

ABORTED

DISABLED

FAILED

NOTSTARTED

STARTED

STOPPED

SUCCEEDED

Note:You cannot use a reser ved word to name a port or local variable. You can only use reserved words withintransformation and workflow expressions. Reserved words have predefined meanings in expressions.


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7

C H A P T E R 2

Constants


DD_DELETE, 7

DD_INSERT, 7

DD_REJECT, 8

DD_UPDATE, 9 FALSE, 9

NULL, 9

TRUE, 11

DD_DELETE

Flags records for deletion in an update strategy expression. DD_DELETE is equivalent to the integer literal 2.

Note: Use the DD_DELETE constant in the Update Strategy transformation on ly. Use DD_DELETE instead ofthe integer literal 2 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

When you run a workflow, select the data-driven update strategy to delete records from a target based on thisflag.

Example

The following expression marks items with an ID number of 1001 for deletion, and all other items forinsertion:

IIF( ITEM_ID = 1001, DD_DELETE, DD_INSERT )

This update strategy expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:

IIF( ITEM_ID = 1001, 2, 0 )

Note: The expression using constants is e asier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

DD_INSERT

Flags records for insertion in an update strategy expression. DD_INSERT is equivalent to the integer literal 0.


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8 Chapter 2: Constants

Note: Use the DD_INSERT constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_INSERT instead ofthe integer literal 0 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

When you run a workf low, select the data-driven update strategy to write records to a target based on thi s flag.

Examples

The following examples modify a mapping that calculates monthly sales by salesperson, so you can examine thesales of just one salesperson.

The following update strategy expression flags an employees sales for insertion, and rejects everyth ing else:IIF( EMPLOYEE.NAME = 'Alex', DD_INSERT, DD_REJECT )

This update strategy expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:

IIF( EMPLOYEE.NAME = 'Alex', 0, 3 )

Tip: The expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

The following update strategy expression uses SESSSTARTTIME to find only those orders that shipped in thelast two days and flag them for insertion. Using DATE_DIFF, the expression subtracts DATE_SHIPPED fromthe system date, returning the difference between the two dates. Because DATE_DIFF returns a Double value,the expression uses TRUNC to truncate the difference. It then compares the result to the integer literal 2. If theresult is greater than 2, the expression flags the records for rejection. If the result is 2 or less, it flags them forinsertion:

IIF( TRUNC( DATE_DIFF( SESSSTARTTIME, ORDERS.DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ), 0 ) > 2,DD_REJECT,

DD_INSERT )

DD_REJECT

Flags records for rejection in an update strategy expression. DD_REJECT is equivalent to the integer literal 3.

Note: Use the DD_REJECT constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_REJECT instead ofthe integer literal 3 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

When you run a workflow, select the data-driven update strategy to reje ct records from a target based on thisflag.

Use DD_REJECT to filter or validate data. If you flag a record as reject, the Integration Service skips the recordand writes it to the session reject file.

Examples

The following examples modify a mapping that calculates the sales for the current month, so it includes onlypositive values.

This update strategy expression flags records less than 0 for reject and all others for inser t:

IIF( ORDERS.SALES > 0, DD_INSERT, DD_REJECT )

This expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:

IIF( ORDERS.SALES > 0, 0, 3 )

Notice that the expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

The following data-driven example uses DD_REJECT and IS_SPACES to avoid writing spaces to a charactercolumn in a target table. This expression flags records that consist ent irely of spaces for reject and flags all othersfor insert:

IIF( IS_SPACES( CUST_NAMES ), DD_REJECT, DD_INSERT )


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DD_UPDATE 9

DD_UPDATE

Flags records for update in an update strategy expression. DD_UPDATE is equivalent to the integer literal 1.

Note: Use the DD_UPDATE constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_UPDATE insteadof the integer literal 1 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

When you run a workf low, select the data-driven update strategy to write records to a target based on thi s flag.

ExamplesThe following examples modify a mapping that calculates sales for the current month. The mapping loads salesfor one employee.

This expression flags records for Alex as updates and flags all others for rejection:

IIF( EMPLOYEE.NAME = 'Alex', DD_UPDATE, DD_REJECT )

This expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result, flagging Alexs sales for update (1) and flaggingall other sales records for rejection (3):

IIF( EMPLOYEE.NAME = 'Alex', 1, 3 )

Notice that the expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

The following update strategy expression uses SYSDATE to find only those orders that have shipped in the lasttwo days and flag them for insertion. Using DATE_DIFF, the expression subtracts DATE_SHIPPED from thesystem date, returning the difference between the two dates. Because DATE_DIFF returns a Double value, theexpression uses TRUNC to truncate the difference. It then compares the result to the integer literal 2. If theresult is greater than 2, the expression flags the records for rejection. If the result is 2 or less, it flags the recordsfor update. Otherwise, it flags them for rejection:

IIF( TRUNC( DATE_DIFF( SYSDATE, ORDERS.DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ), 0 ) > 2, DD_REJECT,

DD_UPDATE )

FALSE

Clarifies a conditional expression. FALSE is equivalent to the integer 0.

Example

The following example uses FALSE in a DECODE expression to r eturn values based on the results o f acomparison. This is useful if you want to perform multiple searches based on a single search value:

DECODE( FALSE,Var1 = 22,'Variable 1 was 22!',

Var2 = 49,'Variable 2 was 49!',

Var1 < 23, 'Variable 1 was less than 23.',Var2 > 30, 'Variable 2 was more than 30.',

'Variables were out of desired ranges.')

NULL

Indicates that a value is either unknown or undefined. NULL is not equivalent to a blank or empty string (forcharacter columns) or 0 (for numerical columns).


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Although you can write expressions that return nulls , any column that has the NOT NULL or PRIMARY KEYconstraint will not accept nulls. Therefore, if the Integration Service tries to write a null value to a column withone of these constraints, the database will reject the row and the Integration Service will write it to the rejectfile. Be sure to consider nulls when you create transformations.

Functions can handle nulls differently. If you pass a null value to a function, it might return 0 or NULL, or itmight ignore null values.

RELATEDTOPICS:

Functions on page 37

Working with Null Values in Boolean Expressions

Expressions that combine a null value with a Boolean expression produces results that are ANSI compliant. Forexample, the Integration Service produces the following results:

NULL AND TRUE = NULL

NULL AND FALSE = FALSE

Working with Null Values in Comparison Expressions

By default, when you use a null value in an expression containing a comparison operator, the Integration

Service produces a null value. However, you can also configure the Integration Service to treat null values ashigh or low in comparison operations.

Use the Treat Null In Comparison Operators As property to configure how the Integration Service handles nullvalues in comparison expressions. For more information, see the PowerCenter Administrator Guide.

This Integration Service configuration property affects the behavior of the following comparison operators inexpressions:

=, !=, ^=, , >, >=, 1 NULL TRUE FALSE

NULL = NULL NULL TRUE TRUE


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TRUE 11

returns 0). You use filter conditions with aggregate functions, and these functions CUME, MOVINGAVG, andMOVINGSUM.

Nulls with Operators

Any express ion that uses operators (except the str ing operator | |) and contains a null va lue a lways evaluates toNULL. For example, the following expression evaluates to NULL:

8 * 10 - NULL

To test for nulls, use the ISNULL function.

TRUE

Returns a value based on the result of a comparison. TRUE is equivalent to the integer 1.

Example

The following example uses TRUE in a DECODE expression to return values based on the results of a

comparison. This is useful if you want to perform multiple searches based on a single search value:DECODE( TRUE,

Var1 = 22,'Variable 1 was 22!',

Var2 = 49,'Variable 2 was 49!',Var1 < 23, 'Variable 1 was less than 23.',

Var2 > 30, 'Variable 2 was more than 30.',

'Variables were out of desired ranges.')


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13

C H A P T E R 3

Operators


Operator Precedence, 13

Arithmetic Operators, 14

String Operators, 15

Comparison Operators, 15 Logical Operators, 16

Operator Precedence

The transformation language supports the use of multiple operators and the use of operators within nestedexpressions.

If you write an expression that includes multiple operators, the Integration Service evaluates the expression inthe following order:

1. Arithmetic operators

2. String operators

3. Comparison operators

4. Logical operators

The Integration Service evaluates operators in the order they appear in the following table. It evaluatesoperators in an expression with equal precedence to all operators from left to right.

Table 3-1lists the precedence for all transformation language operators:

Table 3-1. Operators in the Transformation Language

Operator Meaning( ) Parentheses.

+, -, NOT Unary plus and minus and the logical NOT operator.

*, /,% Multiplication, division, modulus.

+, - Addition, subtraction.

|| Concatenate.

= Less than, less than or equa l to, grea ter than , g reater than o r equal to .


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14 Chapter 3: Operators

The transformation language also supports the use of operators within nested expressions. When expressionscontain parentheses, the Integration Service evaluates operations inside parentheses before operations outsideparentheses. Operations in the innermost parentheses are evaluated first.

For example, depending on how you nest the operations, the equation 8 + 5 - 2 * 8 returns different values:

Arithmetic Operators

Use arithmetic operators to perform mathematical calculations on numeric data.

Table 3-2lists the arithmetic operators in order of precedence in the tr ansformation language:

If you perform arithmetic on a null value, the function returns NULL.

When you use arithmetic ope rators in an expression, a ll of the operands in the expression must be numeric. Forexample, the expression 1 + '1'is not valid because it adds an integer to a string. The expression1.23 + 4 / 2is valid because all of the operands a re numeric.

Note: The transformation language provides built-in date functions that let you perform arithmetic on date/timevalues. For more information about built-in date functions, see Understanding Date Arithmetic on page 34.

=, , !=, = Equal to, not equal to, not equal t o, not equal to.

AND Logical AND operator, use d when specif ying conditi ons.

OR Logical OR operator, used when specifying conditions.

Equation Return Value

8 + 5 - 2 * 8 -3

8 + (5 - 2) * 8 32

Table 3-2. Arithmetic Operators in the Transformation Language

Operator Meaning

+, - Unary plus and minus. Unary plus indicates a positive value. Unary minus indicates anegative value.

*, /, % Multiplication, division, modulus. A modulus is the remainder after dividing two integers. For

example, 13 % 2 = 1 because 13 divided by 2 equals 6 with a remainder of 1.

+, - Addition, subtraction.The addition operator (+) does not concatenate strings. To concatenate strings, use the

string operator ||. To perform arithmetic on date values, use the date functions.

Table 3-1. Operators in the Transformation Language

Operator Meaning


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String Operators 15

String Operators

Use the || string operator to concatenate two strings. The || operator converts operands of any datatype (exceptBinary) to String datatypes before concatenation:

The || operator includes leading and trailing blanks. Use the LTRIM and RTRIM functions to trim leading andtrailing blanks before concatenating two strings.

Nulls

The || operator ignores null values. However, if both values are NULL, the || operator returns NULL.

Example

The following example shows an expression that concatenates employee first names and employee last namesfrom two columns. This expression removes the spaces from the end of the first name and the beginning of thelast name, concatenates a space to the end of each first name, then concatenates the last name:

LTRIM( RTRIM( EMP_FIRST ) || ' ' || LTRIM( EMP_LAST ))

Note:You can al so use the CONCAT function to concatenate two string values. The || operator, however,produces the same results in less time.

Comparison Operators

Use comparison operators to compare character or numeric strings, manipulate data, and return a TRUE (1) orFALSE (0) value.

Table 3-3lists the comparison operators in the transformation language:

Input Value Return Value

'alpha' || 'betical' alphabetical

'alpha' || 2 alpha2'alpha' || NULL alpha

EMP_FIRST EMP_LAST RETURN VALUE

' Alfred' ' Rice ' Alfred Rice

' Bernice' ' Kersins' Bernice Kersins

NULL ' Proud' Proud

' Curt' NULL Curt

NULL NULL NULL

Table 3-3. Comparison Operators in the Transformation Language

Operator Meaning

= Equal to.

> Greater than.

< Less than.

>= Greater than or equal to.


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16 Chapter 3: Operators

Use the greater than (>) and less than ( 123 is not valid because the expression compares a decimal with a string. Theexpressions 123.4 > 123 and a != b are valid because the operands are the same datatype.

If you compare a value to a null value, the result is NULL.

If a filter condition evaluates to NULL, the Integration Service returns NULL.

Logical OperatorsUse logical operators to manipulate numeric data. Expressions that return a numeric value evaluate to TRUEfor values other than 0, FALSE for 0, and NULL for NULL.

Table 3-4lists the logical operators in the transformation language:

Nulls

Expressions that combine a null value with a Boolean expression produce results that are ANSI compliant. Forexample, the Integration Service produces the following results:

NULL AND TRUE = NULL

NULL AND FALSE = FALSE


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17

C H A P T E R 4

Variables


Built-in Variables, 17

Transaction Control Variables, 22

Local Variables, 23

Built-in Variables

The transformation language provides built-in variables. Built-in variables return either run-time or systeminformation. Run-time variables return information such as source and target table name, folder name, sessionrun mode, and workflow run instance name. System variables return session start t ime, system date, andworkflow start t ime.

You can use built-in variables in expre ssions in the Designe r or Workflow Manager. For example, you can usethe system variable SYSDATE in a DATE_DIFF function. You can use run-time variables in expressions and ininput fields that accept mapping or workflow variables. For example, you can use run-time variable$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName as part of a target output file name. The Integration Service sets the values ofbuilt-in variables. You cannot define values for built-in variables in a workflow or session parameter file.

The following built-in variables provide run-time information:

$PM@TableName, $PM@TableName

$PMFolderName

$PMIntegrationServiceName

$PMMappingName

$PMRepositoryServiceName

$PMRepositoryUserName

$PMSessionName $PMSessionRunMode

$PMWorkflowName

$PMWorkflowRunId

$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName

The following built-in variables provide system information:

$$$SessStartTime

SESSSTARTTIME


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1 8 Chapter 4: Variables

SYSDATE

WORKFLOWSTARTTIME

Table 4-1describes where you use built-in variables in the Designer and Workflow Manager:

Table 4-1. Where to Use Built-in Variables

Variable Name Designer Workflow Manager

$PM

@TableName,

$PM@TableName,

- Expressions

- Input fields that accept mapping

variables


variables

$PMFolderName - Expressions


variables

- Input fields that accept workflow

variables

- Expressions


variables


variables

$PMIntegrationService

Name

- Expressions


variables- Input fields that accept workflow

variables

- Expressions



variables

$PMMappingName - Expressions


variables


variables

$PMRepositoryService

Name

- Expressions

- Input fields that accept mappingvariables


variables

- Expressions



variables

$PMRepositoryUserName - Expressions


variables


variables

- Expressions


variables


variables

$PMSessionName - Expressions



variables

$PMSessionRunMode - Expres sions


variables


variables

$PMWorkflowName - Expressions



variables

- Expressions



variables

$PMWorkflowRunId - Expressions


variables


variables

- Expressions


variables


variables

$PMWorkflowRun

InstanceName

- Expressions


variables


variables

- Expressions


variables


variables

$$$ Se ss Star tTim e - Ma pping or mappl et filte r c on diti ons

- User-defined joins- SQL overrides

- Mapping or mapplet filter conditions

- User-defined joins- SQL overrides


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Built-in Variables 19

$PM@TableName, $PM@TableName

$PM@TableName and $PM@TableName return the source and target tablenames for relational source and target instances as string values. Use these variables with any function thataccepts string datatypes.

The variable name depends on the source or target instance name. For example, for a source instance namedCustomers, the built-in variable name is $PMCustomers@TableName. If the relational source or t arget is partof a mapplet within a mapping, the built-in variable name includes the mapplet name:

$PM.@TableName

$PM.@TableName

Use $PM@TableName and $PM@TableName in a mapping or a mapplet. Forexample, in a mapping that contains multiple relational sources, you can use $PM@TableName

in the output port of an Expression transformation to write the source table name for each row to the target.You can also use these variables in input fields that accept mapping var iables.

$PMFolderName

$PMFolderName returns the name of the repository folder as a st ring value. Use $PMFolderName with anyfunction that accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMFolderName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such a s Assignment andDecision tasks. You can also use $PMFolderName in input fields that accept mapping or workflow variables.

$PMIntegrationServiceName

$PMIntegrationServiceName returns the name of the Integration Service that runs the session. Use$PMIntegrationServiceName with any function that accepts st ring datatypes. $PMIntegrationServiceNamereturns the Integration Service name as a string value.

Use $PMIntegrationServiceName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such asAssignment and Decision tasks. You can also use $PMIntegra tionServ iceName in input fields that acceptmapping or workflow variables.

$PMMappingName

$PMMappingName returns the mapping name as a string value. Use $PMMappingName with any functionthat accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMMappingName in a mapping or a mapplet. You can also use $PMMappingName in input fields thataccept mapping variables.

$PMRepositoryServiceName

$PMRepositoryServiceName returns the name of the Repository Serv ice as a string value. Use$PMRepositoryServiceName with any function that accepts st ring datatypes.

SESSSTARTTIME - Expressions n/a

SYSDATE - Expressions - Expressions

WORKFLOWSTARTTIME n/a - Expressions

Table 4-1. Where to Use Built-in Variables

Variable Name Designer Workflow Manager


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Use $PMRepositoryServiceName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks su ch asAssignment and Decision tasks. You can also use $PMRepositoryServiceName in input fields that acceptmapping or workflow variables.

$PMRepositoryUserName

$PMRepositoryUserName returns the name of the repository user that runs the session. Use$PMRepositoryUserName with any function that accepts string datatypes. $PMRepositoryUserName returnsthe repository user name as a string value.

Use $PMRepositoryUserName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such asAssignment and Decision ta sks. You can also use $PMRepositoryUserName in input fields that accept mappingor workflow variables.

$PMSessionName

$PMSessionName returns the session name as a string value. Use $PMSessionName with any function thataccepts string datatypes.

Use $PMSessionName in a mapping or a mapplet. You can also use $PMSessionName in input fields thataccept mapping variables.

$PMSessionRunMode$PMSessionRunMode returns the session run mode, normalor recovery, as a string value. Use$PMSessionRunMode with any function that accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMSessionRunMode in a mapping or a mapplet. You can also use $PMSessionRunMode in input fieldsthat accept mapping variables.

$PMWorkflowName

$PMWorkflowName returns the name of the workflow as a string value. Use $PMWorkflowName with anyfunction that accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMWorkflowName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such as Assignmentand Decision tasks. You can also use $PMWorkflowName in input fields that accept mapping or workflowvariables.

$PMWorkflowRunId

Each workflow run has a unique run ID. $PMWorkflowRunId returns the workflow run ID as a string value.Use $PMWorkflowRunId with any function that accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMWorkflowRunId in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such as Assignmentand Decision tasks. You can also use $PMWorkflowRunId in input fields that accept mapping or workflowvariables. For example, you configure a workflow to run concurrently with the s ame instance name, and youwant to track the status of each workf low run using a third-party application. Use $PMWorkflowRunId in a

post-session shell command to pass the run ID to the application.

$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName

$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName returns the workflow run instance name as a string value. Use$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName with any function that accepts string datatypes.

Use $PMWorkflowRunInstanceName in a mapping, a mapplet, workflow links, or in workflow tasks such asAssignment and Decision tasks. You can also us e $PMWorkf lowRunInstanceName in input fields that acceptmapping or workflow variables. For example, for a concurrent workflow with unique instance names, you can


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Built-in Variables 21

create unique target files for each run instance by setting the target output file name in the session properties toOutFile_$PMWorkflowRunInstanceName.txt.

Or, you want to use a post-session shell command to create an indicator file used by a predefined Event-Waittask. In the shell command that generates the indicator file, use $PMWorkflowRunInstanceName in theindicator file name to ensure that one workflow run instance does not delete an indicator file needed by anotherworkflow run instance.

$$$SessStartTime

$$$SessStartTime returns the initial system date value on the machine hosting the Integration Service when theserver initializes a session. $$$SessStartTime returns the session start time a s a string value. The format of thestring depends on the database you are using.

Table 4-2lists the $$$SessStartTime date and time format according to different database types:

Use $$$SessStartTime in a mapping or mapplet filter condition, user-defined join, or SQL override of a sourcequalifier. You can also use $$$SessStartTime in session-level overrides for mapping attributes. For moreinformation about using $$$SessStartTime in a mapping, see the PowerCenter Transformation Guide.

Note: Changing any database environment variable such as NLS_LANG_FORMAT for Oracle or DBDATE forInformix does not affect the format string for datetime values the Integration Service uses in the SQL overridefor $$$SessStartTime.

Example

The following expression uses $$$SessStartTime in the source filter condition of a source qualifier to performan incremental extraction. The expression specifies a range of dates o f all days in the week prior to when theIntegration Service initializes the session. The expression uses the function DATEDIFF to find the difference inthe number of days between the value ORDER_DATE and $$$SessStartTime. If the difference between thetwo dates is less than or equal to seven days, the Integration Service extracts that row from the source:

DATEDIFF(DAY, ORDER_DATE, '$$$SessStartTime')


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Example

The following expression uses SESSSTARTTIME to display the number of days an order has been open. Usingthe SQL function DATE_DIFF, the Integrat ion Service subtracts DATE_ENTERED from SESSSTARTTIMEand returns the result as a number of days:

DATE_DIFF(SESSSTARTTIME, DATE_ENTERED, 'DD')

SYSDATE

SYSDATE returns the current date and time up to seconds on the machine that runs the session for each rowpassing through the trans formation. SYSDATE is stored as a transformation date/time datatype value.

To capture a static system date, use the SESSSTARTTIME variable instead of SYSDATE.

Example

The following expression uses SYSDATE to find orders that have shipped in the last two days and flag them forinsertion. Using DATE_DIFF, the Integration Service subtracts DATE_SHIPPED from the system date,returning the difference between the two dates. Because DATE_DIFF returns a double value, the expressiontruncates the difference. It then compares the result to the integer literal 2. I f the result is greater than 2, theexpression flags the rows for rejection. If the result is 2 or less, it flags them for insert ion.

IIF( TRUNC( DATE_DIFF( SYSDATE, DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ),

0 ) > 2, DD_REJECT, DD_INSERT

WORKFLOWSTARTTIME

WORKFLOWSTARTTIME returns the current date and time on the mach ine hosting the Integra tion Servicewhen the Integration Service initial izes the workflow. Use WORKFLOWSTARTTIME with any function thataccepts t

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