A workflow is a group of commands that informs the integration sessions upon working or running of tasks with Informatica workflow. These tasks include email notices, session tasks, and command tasks. Here, the integration service reads the workflow information from the repository; data fetches from the sources, and transforms the same. Later, it loads the final output into the target.
There is a sequence of steps in the Informatica workflow from creation to execution. Such as creating a Workflow, building command tasks, adding tasks to the workflow, linking the command task to the beginning task of the workflow, and finally execute it. While developing a workflow, it needs to select an Integration Service to run that workflow easily. Here, a user can use Workflow Monitor for observing the progress of the Informatica workflow.
Informatica workflow overview
To build an Informatica Workflow, all you need is to build a task at first. Then add these tasks to the workflow. Moreover, Informatica workflow is similar to an empty container that has the capability to store the object that is executed. Further, Informatica Workflow executes in two different ways such as-
Sequence & Event-based execution
In the Sequence execution, tasks are performed in a way they are defined.
And in event-based execution, jobs are performed on the basis of event conditions.
Informatica workflow development process in detail:-
Workflow Creation: - First we have to build a workflow within the Workflow Designer, Or through “Workflow Generation Wizard” in the PowerCenter Designer.
Add tasks to the workflow: - Now after creating tasks within the “Task Developer” menu. Or, you can add those tasks to the workflow as you develop it within the Workflow Designer.
Linking tasks with links- After adding tasks to the Informatica workflow connect them with links to mention the order of workflow execution.
Conditions mention for each link- Here you can mention conditions on the links to build various branches and dependencies.
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Validating workflow: - Then you need to validate the workflow within the WD to locate the errors if any.
Saving workflow: - While saving the workflow, the WM validates the same and updates the repository within the workflow.
Running a workflow- Within the properties of workflow chose an Integration Service to run the workflow. Now, run the workflow through the W Manager, and through Workflow Monitor users can observe it in the Workflow Monitor.
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Informatica Workflow Manager
To perform any task within the Informatica workflow manager, a user needs to build various connections. By using them, Integration Service links to several objects.
For instance, in the mapping, if a user has a source table within the Oracle database, then he will need an Oracle connection. Hence, the integration service can link to that database to bring in the source data.
Moreover, there are different types of connections that can be built within the workflow manager. Such as-
- Relational Connection
- Ftp Connection
- Queue
- Application
The selection of a connection that a user will build depends upon the source-type and target systems he wants to link. With more frequency, a user would be using relational connections.
Building a Relational Connection
Let us build a relational connection through different steps.
Step 01 –
Within a Workflow Manager-
-Click on the “Connection” menu from the menu bar.
-From there choose the “Relational Option”.
Step 02 –
Under the pop-up window that appears, -
Now-Select “Oracle” within the type option
Then click on the “new button” from there.
Step 03 –
Now, within the new window under “connection object definition”, do the following-
- Enter-Name of the Connection- (New Name- ABC)
- Next enter- User name
- Enter- password
- Then enter the “connection-string”
- Now leave the rest of the settings “as default” and select the button-“OK”.
Step 04-
Now, return to the earlier window, and close the window by clicking on the “Close” button.
Hence, in this way you have set the relational connection within the Informatica Workflow Manager.
Components of workflow manager
There are different types of components of the Informatica Workflow manager. It includes three different component tools that help in building several objects within the workflow manager. The various tools are as follows-
Task Developer
Workflow Designer &
Worklet Designer
Let us discuss these Workflow components in detail.
Task Developer
A task developer is a tool that is useful in creating many reusable objects. Moreover, the reusable objects within the Informatica workflow manager are those objects that are reused in different workflows.
We can define it through a simple example. Suppose, if a user has built a command task under the task developer pane. Then he can reuse the same task within any number of workflows in Informatica.
The Workflow designer on the other side executes the jobs that are added within it. Further, he can add numerous tasks within a workflow.
Hence, a user can build three different types of reusable tasks within the task developer pane.
- Command task
- Email task
- Session task
Let’s know these reusable tasks in detail.
Command task
This type of task is useful to perform different Windows or UNIX commands during the workflow performance. Further, a user can develop a command task to perform different command-based tasks in one place. Using this type of task users can perform various commands. They are useful to build files & folders, to remove files & folders, to do FTP of files, and much more.
Session Task
This type of task within the Informatica workflow is needed to run a mapping. Moreover, without using a session task, users cannot perform or run a mapping task. Through this task, Informatica will get info regarding the execution of mapping along with its time.
This task can perform a single mapping only hence, there is a head-to-head relationship between both of them (mapping & session).
Furthermore, these sessions cannot be performed independently as they must be added to a workflow. While in a session, the object’s cache properties are configured along with performance optimization.
Email task
With the help of the email task, you can send emails to defined recipients when the Integration Service runs a workflow. For example, if you want to monitor how long a session takes to complete, you can configure the session to send an email containing the details of the session’s start and end times.
Creating a Command task
Let us develop a simple command task through the following steps.
The first step is to - Go to Workflow Manager; tap the “Task Developer” tab from the available menu.
Then, Go to the Tasks menu under the Task Developer option, and then select the “Create” option there.
Next, within the “Create task” window, select the option “Command” as Task type. And enter the Task name and select the “create” option.
Now, your command task folder is ready. The next step you have to do is that you have to configure the task to add a command there.
Later, you can configure the task by double-clicking on the “Command” task button where it opens an “edit task window”. Then select the new edit task - command menu – add new command – enter name – then click on the command button to add text there.
Now, a command editor box will appear in front of your screen. After opening that, you need to enter your command and then click the “Ok” button.
Later you will get back to the edit tasks window where you can see the edited or added command there.
Then click “OK” within the “Edit task window” that appears. Here, you will find that a command task is built within the task developer under a repository you made. Next, you have to save the changes made to the repository for securing it.
Now, you need to build a “workflow’ within this Informatica repository. This helps you to execute the command task that you built.
Let us see how to execute an Informatica Workflow in the following details.
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How to execute Informatica workflow?
To execute an Informatica workflow, you need to follow some steps here.
Go to the “Workflows” option from the main menu and then click on the “start workflows” option.
A workflow monitor window will open here and the workflow will start execution.
When the workflow starts execution, the command task also will also get executed. It is the task that is built under the repository that we defined earlier.
The point is to be noted here is that a “session task” is important to run a mapping series within the Informatica workflow. It also requires several steps to build a session task likewise we built the command task above.
Similarly, we can add multiple tasks to the start task in two different ways. This is in the Parallel mode and the Serial mode. In the first one, all jobs are connected directly to the “start task”. Then all of them start execution in parallel in the same time frame. Likewise, to add tasks in the serial mode, you need to remove the tasks added to the Parallel mode then only you can execute.
Informatica workflow variables
A workflow variable within Informatica refers to a value that can alter while running a workflow. These variables are useful to mention the values and the record run-time info. Here, the user has a choice to opt for using system/predefined or user-defined workflow variables. The first one returns the system runtime info. And the latter one captures the task results that the user specifies.
After creating a user-defined workflow variable the user needs to configure the workflow. This is to allow a runtime value to that variable. These are allotted to the task input and output to pass data between a task and the Informatica workflow.
Moreover, the main reason behind using the Workflow variables is that-
-To decide whether to run the later object on the basis of runtime data or not.
-Using runtime data or workflow variables in the task fields for their value while you want to use the Data combination service.
Further, the workflow variables are also useful while configuring the various tasks. Such as Assignment tasks, Decision Tasks, Links, and Timer Tasks. There are some specific keywords that are useful in writing expressions for pre-defined and user-defined workflow variables.
They are- OR, AND, NOT, Null, True, False, and SYSDATE.
Informatica workflow parameters
A workflow parameter is a value that stays constant before the workflow starts running. These parameters are useful to set the task values within the workflow. Also, they are useful to set values for connection parameters like configuring properties, email address, etc. When a user creates a parameter with the workflow he can run it with different parameter values. Also, these are useful to minimize the overhead of building different workflows. This is when there is a need to alter some attributes within a workflow. These workflow parameters are also assigned to task input & pass data from the workflow towards the task.
Further, when a user creates a workflow parameter, then he must need to enter the default parameter value. Whether he runs the workflow using the parameter set or parameter file, the Data combination service solves all parameters to the values set there.
Here, a parameter set in a workflow is an object within the repository model. This includes a set of parameters and parameter values to run mappings and workflows.
A parameter file refers to an XML file that records user-defined parameters and their allotted values. Further, these files offer the flexibility to modify parameter values each time a user runs a workflow from the command line.
The benefits of a parameter file are-
It makes code migration easier from one ecosystem to another.
This enables users to do tests and debugging easily.
Moreover, it allows changing values easily without modifying codes.
Final thoughts
Hence, this is all about the Informatica workflow properties and their use. These workflows help to pass the information of running tasks to the Integration service. All it performs the ETL tasks such as reading the data from the repository, fetching data from sources, and transforms it. Finally, it loads the result data into the target. From task development to execution there are various steps involved in it. Moreover, the workflow monitor, workflow designer, and the Informatica workflow manager play the key role in this execution part. Hence, to learn more on this segment in a practical way with real-time industry experience get into Informatica Online Training through the ITGuru platform. Let the career give a new start to explore new things in the IT world.