The Master Outer Join in Informatica is used to return all the existing records from Details table and only matching records from Master table.
Let us see the visual representation of the Master Outer Join in Informatica for better understanding.
In this article, we are going to perform Informatica Master Outer Join on two SQL tables using Joiner Transformation in Informatica.
Before we start designing the Mapping let us look at our two source tables on which we are going to perform Master Outer Join in Informatica.
Employees Table inside the Database is:
Department Table inside the
Master Outer Join in Informatica Example
Before we start doing anything, First connect to the repository service with your Admin Console credentials.
TIP: Please refer to Normal Join, Detail Outer Join, and Full Outer Join articles to understand the remaining Joins in Informatica.
Step 1: Creating Source Definition for Informatica Master Outer Join
Once you have connected successfully, Please navigate to Source Analyzer and define your Sources. In this Informatica Master Outer Join transformation example, we use Department and Employee tables from the SQL Server database as our source definitions. Please refer to Database Source to understand the steps involved in creating a source definition
Step 2: Creating a Informatica Master Outer Join Target Definition
Please navigate to Target Designer and define the Target. In this example, we are using the already created SQL table (Master Outer Join in Informatica) as our target definition. Please refer Create Target table using Source Definition to understand the steps involved in creating a target definition
Step 3: Creating Mapping for Informatica Master Outer Join
In order to create a new mapping, Please navigate to Mappings menu in Menu Bar and select the Create.. option. This will open the Mapping Name window as shown below. For this Informatica Master Outer Join transformation, you have to write a unique name for this mapping (m_Master_Outer) and click OK button.
TIP: Please refer Mapping article to understand the steps involved in creating Mapping.
Next, Drag and drop the Employee and Department source definitions from Sources folder to the mapping designer. Once you drag the source, PowerCenter Designer will automatically create the default transformation called source qualifier.
Step 3(a): Creating Joiner Transformation in Informatica
In order to create Joiner transformation in Informatica, Please navigate to Transformation menu in Menu Bar and select the Create.. option as we shown below.
Once you click on the Create.. option, Create Transformation window will be opened as shown below. Please select the Joiner transformation from a drop-down list and specify the unique name for this transformation (JNR_MASTER) and click on Create button
Once you click on the Create button, the Joiner transformation will be added to the mapping designer. In order to perform Master Outer Join, Joiner Transformation requires some data.
So, we have to connect the Source definition with the transformation using the Autolink.. option (or select and Drag required fields).
Double click on the Joiner transformation to configure the join conditions. From the below screenshot you can see the list of available options in the Ports tab:
- M: Please checkmark the Column(s) that you want to use as Master table. It is always good practice to select the table holding the least records as Master table. Here, we are selecting a Department table as our Master table.
NOTE: You don’t have to select each and every column present in the Master table. If you select One column from Employee then it will automatically the remaining columns.
The list of available options in the Master Outer Join transformation Properties tab:
- Join Type: In this example, we are performing Master Outer Join. So, we are selecting the Informatica Master Outer Join from the drop-down list.
- Sorted Input: If we are using the sorted data then check mark this option.
Within the Condition tab, we have to specify the condition. In this example, we are going to perform Informatica Master Outer Join on Department and Employee table based on the condition Department. id = Employee.Depart Id. So, click on the New button (beside scissors) to create a new condition and select the columns names from Master and detail list
Once you finish configuring the Joiner transformation properties, Click OK to close the transformation window.
Next, Drag and drop the target definition from Targets folder to the mapping designer and connect the Joiner Transformation with the target definition. Please use the Autolink.. option to connect them.
Before we close the Mapping, Let us validate the mapping by going to Mapping Menu bar and selecting the Validate option.
Step 4: Creating a Workflow
Once we finish creating the Mapping we have to create the workflow for Informatica master outer join. PowerCenter Workflow manager provides two approaches to create a workflow.
In this Master Outer Join example, we will create the Workflow manually. In order to create a new Workflow, Please navigate to Workflows Menu and select the Create option. This will open Create Workflow window as shown below.
Please provide the unique name (wf_Master_Outer) for this Informatica Master Outer Join transformation workflow and leave the default settings.
Once we created the Informatica master outer join workflow, our next step is to create a session.
NOTE: We strictly recommend to refer Workflow article to understand the steps involved in creating Workflow manually.
Step 4(a): Creating Session for Master Outer Join in Informatica
There are two types of sessions:
- Non-reusable Session Task: Please refer to Session
- Reusable Session Task: Please refer to Reusable Session
For this Informatica Master Outer Join example, we are going to create Non-reusable Session. Please navigate to Tasks Menu and select the Create option to open the Create Task window. Here you have to select the Session as Task type (default) and enter a unique name (S_Master_Outer) for the session.
Once you click on the Create button, a new window called Mappings will be opened. Here you have to select the mapping you want to associate with this session. From the below screenshot you can observe that we are selecting the mapping (m_Master_Outer) that we created earlier (in Step 3).
Double click on the Session Task to configure it. Although we have to configure Sources, targets, and some common properties, we are explaining only a few properties. We strictly recommend visiting the Session article to understand the remaining properties.
We assigned the $target variable to Connection Value, we changed the Target Load Type option from Bulk to Normal mode and check marked the Truncate target table option to truncate the existing data from the destination table.
From the below screenshot you can observe that the Master Outer Join in Informatica workflow is a valid one. Now, let us start the Workflow by navigating to the Workflows menu and selecting the Start Workflow option.
Once you select the Start Workflow option, the PowerCenter Workflow monitor will be opened to monitor the workflow. From the below screenshot you can observe that our workflow is executed without any errors.
Let us open the SQL Server Management Studio to check whether we successfully performed the Master Outer Join in Informatica using the Joiner Transformation or not.
