In PowerCenter, a parameter represents a value you can change between sessions, such as a database connection or a source or target file. You can create parameters associated with a workflow or session to provide flexibility each time you run a workflow or session.

For a web service client application, you can define the values for parameters associated with a workflow or session in a parameter file or a parameter array. To use the parameters in a parameter file, specify the parameter file name in the client application. The parameter file must be accessible to the Integration Service. To use a parameter array, provide the parameter values in the elements of the parameter array in the client application.

For example, a request to start a workflow or task can specify the parameters associated with the workflow or task with the name of a parameter file or the list of parameters and values in parameter array.