To view and edit field metadata in a

mapping

task, expand the

Field Data Types

area on the appropriate page of the

mapping

task editor. You configure source and lookup field metadata on the

Sources

page and target field metadata on the

Targets

page.

If you edit field metadata in the task and the field metadata changes after the task is saved,

Data Integration

uses the updated metadata. Typically, the is the desired behavior. However, if the task uses a flat file connection and you want to retain the metadata used at design time, enable the

Retain existing fields at runtime option

.

To see if a connector supports field metadata configuration, see the help for the appropriate connector.