Maintaining Column Mappings

Problem

You want to create or maintain the column mappings between the source tables and the target tables in a SAS Data Integration Studio job. Mapping is the ability to create a relationship between a source and target column. The following mapping types are supported:

1-to-1

no expression is needed to create the column in the target from the source.

derived

an expression is required to create the column in the target based on the source.

Solution

You create or maintain column mappings in the Mappings tab. The Mappings tab is available in the following places in a job:

the Details section in the Job Editor window (when a transformation node is selected in the Diagram tab of the Job Editor window.
the properties window for a transformation when the transformation has been added to the Diagram tab in the Job Editor window. The Mappings tab is not displayed in the properties window for a transformation in a tree or a folder.

Perform the following tasks:

Create Automatic Column Mappings
Create One-to-One Column Mappings
Create Derived Column Mappings
Delete Column Mappings
Use the Options for Mappings
Customize Mapping Rules

Tasks

Create Automatic Column Mappings

You can review the mappings that are automatically generated when a transformation is submitted for execution in the context of a SAS Data Integration Studio job. The mappings are depicted on the Mappings tab. A Mappings tab from a sample job is shown in the following display.

Automatic Column Mappings

The arrows in the preceding display represent mappings that associate source columns with target columns. By default, SAS Data Integration Studio automatically creates a mapping when a source column and a target column have the same column name, data type, and length. Events that trigger automatic mapping include:

connecting a source and a target to the transformation on the Diagram tab
clicking Propagate in the toolbar or in the pop-up menu in the Job Editor window
clicking Propagate on the Mappings tab toolbar and selecting a propagation option
clicking Map all columns on the Mappings tab toolbar

Note: When a transformation that is included in a job has multiple source or target tables, a drop-down menu is added to the top of the field. This menu enables you to select each individual table or all of the tables at once.

SAS Data Integration Studio might not be able to automatically create all column mappings that you need in a transformation. It automatically creates a mapping when a source column and a target column have the same column name, data type, and length. However, even though such mappings are valid, they might not be appropriate in the current job.

You can also disable or enable automatic mapping for a transformation. For example, suppose that both the source table and the target table for a transformation have two columns that have the same column name, data type, and length, as shown in the preceding display. These columns are mapped automatically unless you disable automatic mapping for the transformation. If you delete the mappings between these columns, the mappings are restored upon a triggering event, such as clicking Propagate or Map all columns.

You can use the following methods to disable automatic mapping:

disable automatic mapping globally for new SAS Data Integration Studio jobs. Select or deselect Automatically map columns on the Job Editor tab in the Options window. To access the Options window, click Options in the Tools menu on the SAS Data Integration Studio menu bar.
disable automatic mapping for the job. Deselect Automatically Map Job on the drop-down menu that is displayed when you click Settings on the toolbar at the top of the Job Editor window.
disable automatic mapping for the transformation in a job. Deselect Include Transformation in Mapping on the drop-down menu that is displayed when you click Settings on the toolbar at the top of the Mappings tab.

Note: If you disable automatic mapping for a transformation, you must maintain its mappings manually.

Create One-to-One Column Mappings

You need to manually map between a column in the source table and a column in the target table. Perform the following steps to map between two columns:

Open the Mappings tab.
Click the column in the source table.
Hold down the CTRL key and click the column in the target table.
Click Map selected columns on the Mappings tab toolbar.

You can also create a mapping in the Mappings tab by clicking on a source column and dragging a line to the appropriate target column.

Create Derived Column Mappings

A derived mapping is a mapping between a source column and a target column in which the value of the target column is a function of the source column. For example, you can use a derived column to accomplish the following tasks:

Write the date to a Date field in the target when there is no source column for the date.
Multiply the value of the Price source column by 1.06 to get the value of the PriceIncludingTax target column.
Write the value of the First Name and Last Name columns in the source table to the Name field in the target table.

You can use the techniques that are illustrated in the following table to create different types of derived column mappings. All of the techniques are used on the Mappings tab in the properties window for the transformation.

Derived Column Techniques
Technique	Description
Directly enter an expression into an Expression field	You can create any type of expression by entering the expression directly into an Expression field. The expression can be a constant or an expression that uses the values of one or more source columns. For example, you can create a sample expression that writes today's date to a Date column in a target table. Perform the following steps: Double-click in the field in which you want to enter the expression. A cursor displays in the field. (The button disappears.) Enter your expression into the field. For example, to write today's date to every row in a column, you can enter the expression &SYSDATE.
Create expressions that use no source columns	Some transformations such as Extract, Lookup, and SCD Type 2 Loader provide an Expression column in the target table. You can perform the following steps to enter an expression into this column that does not use source columns: Right-click in an Expression column. Then, click Advanced in the pop-up menu to access the Expression window. Use the Expression Builder to create an expression. Then, click OK to save the expression, close the Expression window, and display the expression in the selected column in the target table.
Create expressions that use a single source column	Assume that you want to define the value of a DiscountedPrice column in the target by using the Price source column in an expression. This is possible if the discount is a constant, such as 6 percent. That is, you might want to define an expression as `Price * .94`. You could perform the following steps: Select the Price source column and the DiscountedPrice target column. Right-click either selected variable, and select Expression from the pop-up menu. Then, select Advanced to access the Expression window. Use the Expression Builder to create an expression. Then, click OK to save the expression, close the Expression window, and display the expression in the selected column in the target table.
Create expressions that use two or more source columns	You can create a derived mapping that uses two or more source columns. Perform the following steps: Select the source columns and target column to be used in the mapping. For example, you can use the values of the Price and Discount columns in the source in an expression. Then, the result can be written to the DiscountedPrice column in the target. Review the warning that displays because two source columns are mapped to a single target column. Right-click either selected variable, and click Expression from the pop-up menu. Then, select Advanced from the submenu to access the Expression window. Create the expression, which is Price - (Price * (Discount / 100)) in this example. Then, click OK to save the expression, close the Expression window, and display the expression in the selected column in the target table.

Delete Column Mappings

You can delete a column mapping in the Mappings tab by using one of the following methods:

Click the arrow that connects a column in the Source table field to a column in the Target table field. Then, press the DELETE key.
Right-click the arrow that connects a column in the Source table field to a column in the Target table field. Then, click Delete Mappings in the pop-up menu.

Note: You must disable automatic mapping for a transformation in order to delete mappings that are otherwise automatically created.

Use the Options for Mappings

You can use the toolbar or the pop-up menu in the Mapping tab of the properties window to control the behavior of the tab. To access the Help for the Mapping tab, click on the Help button at the top of the SAS Data Integration Studio window. Under the folder for Windows and Other Components, select the Popup Menus icon. Click on the Pop-Up Menu Options for Mapping link.

Customize Mapping Rules

All mappings other than user-defined mappings are created by using rules from a rules file. When you initially start SAS Data Integration Studio, if a mappings rule file does not exist, a file is created in your home folder, such as C:\User\user_name\AppData\SAS\SASDataIntegrationStudio\<version>. The mapping rules are used to determine whether two columns should be mapped automatically when you select a mapping option such as Map All. Three rules are provided by default:

mappings based on Source.Name=Target.Name (case insensitive), Source.Length= Target.Length, Source.Type=Target.Type
mappings based on an auto conversion Numeric to Character columns when Source.Name=Target.Name (case insensitive)
mappings based on an auto conversion Character to Numeric columns when Source.Name=Target.Name (case insensitive)

You can customize the rules in the mappings rule file, where you can either add your own rules or edit the default rules. For example, you might define a mapping rule for all column names that begin with the letters WP.