Developer Tool Guide

10.4.0
- 10.5.3
- 10.5.2
- 10.5.1
- 10.5
- 10.4.1

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Customized Data Objects

Customized data objects are physical data objects with one or more relational resources. Create a customized data object if you want to perform operations such as joining data, filtering rows, sorting ports, or running custom queries when the Data Integration Service reads source data. You can reuse a customized data object in a mapping, mapplet, or profile.

You can create customized data objects in projects and folders. You cannot change the customized data object from within a mapping, mapplet, or profile. If you change a customized data object in a project or folder, the Developer tool updates the object in all mappings, mapplets, and profiles that use the object.

The following figure shows a sample customized data object that is open in the editor:

The Overview view shows the name, description, and columns of the customized data object. The Overview view also shows whether the customized data object is synchronized when column metadata changes. A customized data object that is open in the editor also has the Read, Write, Parameters, and Advanced views.

Create a customized data object to perform the following tasks:

Create a custom query to replace the default query that the Data Integration Service runs to read the source data. The default query is a SELECT statement that references each column that the Data Integration Service reads from the source.

Define parameters for the data object. You can define and assign parameters in a customized data object to represent connections. You can define parameters for the connection name, table owner, and table name. When you run a mapping that uses the customized data object, you can define different values for the connection parameters at runtime.

Join source data that originates from the same source database. You can join multiple tables with primary key-foreign key relationships whether or not the relationships exist in the database.

Retain key relationships when you synchronize the object with the sources. If you create a customized data object that contains multiple tables, and you define key relationships that do not exist in the database, you can retain the relationships when you synchronize the data object.

Select distinct values from the source. If you choose Select Distinct, the Data Integration Service adds a SELECT DISTINCT statement to the default SQL query.

Filter rows when the Data Integration Service reads source data. If you include a filter condition, the Data Integration Service adds a WHERE clause to the default query.

Specify sorted ports. If you specify a number for sorted ports, the Data Integration Service adds an ORDER BY clause to the default SQL query.

Specify an outer join instead of the default inner join. If you include a user-defined join, the Data Integration Service replaces the join information specified by the metadata in the SQL query.

Add pre- and post-mapping SQL commands. The Data Integration Service runs pre-mapping SQL commands against the source database before it reads the source. It runs post-mapping SQL commands against the source database after it writes to the target.

You can create customized data objects from the following types of connections and objects:

DB2 i5/OS connections

DB2 z/OS connections

IBM DB2 connections

JDBC connections

Microsoft SQL Server connections

ODBC connections

Oracle connections

Relational data objects

You can also add sources to a customized data object through a custom SQL query.

Physical Data Objects

Key Relationships