Exceptions in Informatica

There exists no product/tool without strange exceptions/errors, we will see some of those exceptions.

1. You get the below error when you do “Generate SQL” in Source Qualifier and try to validate it.
“Query should return exactly n field(s) to match field(s) projected from the Source Qualifier”
Where n is the number of fields projected from the Source Qualifier.

Possible reasons for this to occur are:

1. The order of ports may be wrong
2. The number of ports in the transformation may be more/less.
3. Sometimes you will have the correct number of ports and in correct order too but even then you might face this error in that case make sure that Owner name and Schema name are specified correctly for the tables used in the Source Qualifier Query.
E.g., TC_0002.EXP_AUTH@TIMEP

2. The following error occurs at times when an Oracle table is used

“[/export/home/build80/zeusbuild/vobs/powrmart
/common/odl/oracle8/oradriver.cpp] line [xxx]”
Where xxx is some line number mostly 241, 291 or 416.

Possible reasons are

1. Use DataDirect Oracle ODBC driver instead of the driver “Oracle in
2. If the table has been imported using the Oracle drivers which are not supported, then columns with Varchar2 data type are replaced by String data type and Number columns are imported with precision Zero(0).

3. Recently I encountered the below error while trying to save a Mapping.

Unexpected Condition Detected
Warning: Unexpected condition at: statbar.cpp: 268
Contact Informatica Technical Support for assistance

When there is no enough memory in System this happens. To resolve this we can either

1. Increase the Virtual Memory in the system
2. If continue to receive the same error even after increasing the Virtual Memory, in Designer, go to ToolsàOptions, go to General tab and clear the “Save MX Data” option.

Read More about Informatica

What is Informatica?

Informatica is a data integration platform, some of the key characteristics of Informatica that stand out are the

1. ETL process components and the user interface
2. Metadata
3. Wider data handling

ETL process components and the user interface

Datastage was the first GUI based data integration platform with an engine at its core, Informatica was probably designed & built to overcome some of the issues faced in using the Datastage. Informatica’s initial ETL product PoweMart’s Visual C++ based user interface was much appealing and easier to use than the Visual Basic based interface of Datastage. The port level view of the transformations/widgets made things much easier to view. The simple transformations like Filter, Update Strategy helped ETL developers to easily convert their design ideas into mappings. For every release there are definitive enhancements being done to improve the developer experience.

Metadata

Informatica has set standards into terms of either collecting or exposing the Metadata of an ETL process. The metadata of Informatica is stored in relational structure and is easily accessible directly or through its MX Views or through the SDK kit. The detail in capturing the ETL process into multiple components has enabled the product to introduce much better features or integrate newer solutions like data lineage or data type propagation or reusability that are not easily possible in other competitor products. The level of metadata capture right from mapping to transformation to the port level ensured that data about the process is captured at all levels and that no separate documentation is to be maintained outside the system.

Wider data handling

Unquestionably Informatica has made some great products available at the right time, something like mainframe access component which it acquired through Striva Inc still remains as the best mainframe access, and if you would have used the MVS edition of Datastage you would have seen its code generation based mainframe support. Informatica’s successful take on the ‘ELT’ based database engine products by introducing the ‘Push Down Optimization’ are great examples on how the platform has been flexible and agile to get itself extended in regular product updates.

Now Informatica is also a complete ‘data governance’ platform it provides the tools like data profiling or data quality management or the recent one identity systems solution integration. ‘Informatica Way’ has been to always make complex things look simpler and easily manageable.

We would discuss further on many more topics related to the Informatica platform right from simple tips to solution options, keep reading…Thank You.

Read More about Informatica