Functions in Informatica

1 Character Functions: 1.1 LENGTH: The LENGTH function returns the number of characters in a string, including trailing blanks. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. LENGTH (string) Example: The following expression returns the length of each customer name: LENGTH (CUSTOMER_NAME) CUSTOMER_NAME Leonardo NULL Edwin Britto 1.2 LPAD: RETURN VALUE 8 NULL 12 The LPAD function adds a set of blanks or characters to the beginning of a string, to set a string to a specified length. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. LPAD (first_string, length [, second_string]) Example: The following expression standardizes numbers to five digits by padding them with leading zeros. LPAD (NUM, 5, '0') NUM 1 250 1.3 LTRIM: RETURN VALUE 00001 00250 The LTRIM function removes blanks or characters from the beginning of a string. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. LTRIM (string [, trim_set]) LTRIM (string) removes the leading spaces or blanks from the string. When LTRIM function is used with a trim set, which is optional, it removes the characters in the trim set from the string. Example : The following expression removes the leading zeroes in the port

ITEM_CODE. LTRIM (ITEM_CODE,'0') ITEM_CODE 006 0803 RETURN VALUE 6 803 * The LTRIM function can be nested when needed to remove multiple characters. 1.4 RPAD: The RPAD function converts a string to a specified length by adding blanks or characters to the end of the string. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. RPAD( first_string, length [, second_string ] ) Example: The following expression returns the string with a length of 5 characters, appending the string ':' to the end of each word: RPAD (WORD, 5, ':) WORD Date Time 1.5 RTRIM: RETURN VALUE Date: Time: The RTRIM function removes blanks or characters from the end of a string. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. RTRIM (string [, trim_set]) The RTRIM function can be combined with the LENGTH function if the trailing blanks are to be ignored. It can also be nested when needed to remove multiple characters. RTRIM (string) removes the trailing spaces or blanks from the string. When RTRIM function is used with a trimset, which is optional, it removes the characters in the trimset from the string. For example, RTRIM (ITEM_CODE,'10') The above expression removes the characters 10 in the port ITEM_CODE. ITEM_CODE 0610 380 RETURN VALUE 06 38

In the second example the function removes the trailing zero since the RTRIM compares the first character in the trimset with the last character of the string, since it does not match it takes the second character in the trimset and compares with last character of the string. Since it matches it removes it. 1.6 SUBSTR: The SUBSTR function returns a portion of a string. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. SUBSTR( string, start [, length ] ) The SUBSTR may not give the desired result if the string on which it is used is not trimmed. Though it is always a good practice to trim the strings before using them in any expression, it becomes extremely important to trim them if they are used in a SUBSTR function. For example, if there is a function SUBSTR (NAME, 2,2) It will not return the 2,3 characters of the NAME if the port has leading spaces. In this case LTRIM becomes essential. SUBSTR(LTRIM(NAME),2,2) The SUBSTR function can also be used to get the last few characters as described below. SUBSTR(NAME,-3,3) This function will return the last three characters of the string. But it may not return the required last three characters if the port has trailing blanks, hence RTRIM is essential. SUBSTR(RTRIM(NAME),-3,3) Hence it is always better to trim the strings before using them in a SUBSTR function. SUBSTR(LTRIM(RTRIM(NAME)),3,2) The above expression will get the 3,4 character of the port NAME irrespective of whether the port has leading or trailing blanks or not. 2 Conversion Functions: 2.1 TO_CHAR: The TO_CHAR function converts numeric values and dates to text strings. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. TO_CHAR( numeric_value ) TO_CHAR (date [, format ] ) Example : The following expression converts the values in the SALES port to text: TO_CHAR (SALES ) SALES 1800.03 -22.57891 RETURN VALUE

'1800.03' '-22.57891' The following expression converts the dates in the DATE_PROMISED port to text in the format MON DD YYYY: TO_CHAR (DATE_PROMISED, 'MON DD YYYY' ) DATE_PROMISED Apr 1 1998 12:00:10AM RETURN VALUE 'Apr 01 1998' If we omit the format_string argument, TO_CHAR returns a string in the default date format MM/DD/YYYY. We can use Conversion functions with DATE functions in order to do some calculations. The following composite expression converts the string DATE_PROMISED to date, adds 1 to it and then converts the same to text string with the format YYYYMMDD. TO_CHAR(ADD_TO_DATE(TO_DATE(DATE_PROMISED),'DD',1),'YYYY MMDD') Test functions can also be used with Conversion functions. The following expression uses IS_DATE along with TO_CHAR. IS_DATE(TO_CHAR(DATE_PROMISED,'YYYYMMDD')) * TO_CHAR returns NULL if invalid Date is passed to the function. 2.2 TO_DATE: The TO_DATE function converts a character string to a date datatype in the same format as the character string. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. TO_DATE( string [, format ] ) Example : The following expression returns date values for the strings in the DATE_PROMISED port. TO_DATE always returns a date and time. If we pass a string that does not have a time value, the date returned always includes the time 00:00:00. If we execute a session in the twentieth century, the century will be 19. The current year on the machine running the Informatica Server is 1998: TO_DATE( DATE_PROMISED, 'MM/DD/YY' ) DATE_PROMISED '12/28/81' NULL RETURN VALUE Dec 28 1981 00:00:00 NULL The format of the string must exactly be the format given in the TO_DATE function. * TO_DATE function fails if invalid date entries are given. To avoid this we

must use IS_DATE function to check if the string has a valid date to be converted. 2.3 TO_DECIMAL: The TO_DECIMAL function converts any value (except binary) to a decimal. It is available in the Designer. TO_DECIMAL( value [, scale ] ) Example : This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX. The datatype is decimal with precision of 10 and scale of 3: TO_DECIMAL( IN_TAX, 3 ) IN_TAX '15.6789' NULL 'A12.3Grove' RETURN VALUE 15.678 NULL 0 We can also use two conversion functions together in a single expression. The following expression uses the functions TO_DECIMAL and TO_CHAR. TO_DECIMAL(TO_CHAR(DATE_PROMISED,'YYYYMMDD')) 2.4 TO_FLOAT: The TO_FLOAT function converts any value (except binary) to a doubleprecision floating point number (the Double datatype). It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. TO_FLOAT( value ) Example : This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX: TO_FLOAT( IN_TAX ) IN_TAX '15.6789' NULL 2.5 TO_INTEGER: RETURN VALUE 15.6789 NULL The TO_INTEGER function converts any value (except binary) to an integer by rounding the decimal portion of a value. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. TO_INTEGER( value ) Example : This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX: TO_INTEGER( IN_TAX ) IN_TAX '15.6789'

'60.2' RETURN VALUE 16 60 3 Date Functions: Date Format Strings in the Transformation Reference D, DD, DDD, DAY, DY, J Days (01-31). We can use any of these format strings to specify the entire day portion of a date. For example, if we pass 12-APR-1997 to a date function, we can use any of these format strings specify 12. HH, HH12, HH24 Hour of day (0 to 23), where zero is 12 AM (midnight). We can use any of these formats to specify the entire hour portion of a date. For example, if we pass the date 12-APR-1997 2:01:32 PM, we can use HH, HH12, or HH24 to specify the hour portion of the date. MI Minutes. MM, MON, MONTH Month portion of date (0 to 59). We can use any of these format strings to specify the entire month portion of a date. For example, if we pass 12APR-1997 to a date function, we can use MM, MON, or MONTH to specify APR. SS , SSSS Second portion of date (0 to 59). Y, YY, YYY, YYYY , RR Year portion of date (1753 to 9999). We can use any of these format strings to specify the entire year portion of a date. For example, if we pass 12-APR-1997 to a date function, we can use Y, YY, YYY, or YYYY to specify 1997. 3.1 ADD_TO_DATE The ADD_TO_DATE function adds a specified amount to one part of a date/time value, and returns a date in the same format as the specified date. Note: If we do not specify the year as YYYY, the Informatica Server assumes the date is in the current century. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. ADD_TO_DATE( date, format, amount ) Example : The following expression adds one month to each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port. If we pass a value that creates a day that does not exist in a particular month, the Informatica Server returns the last day of the month. For example, if we add one month to Jan 31 1998, the Informatica Server returns Feb 28 1998. Also note, ADD_TO_DATE recognizes leap years and adds one month to

Jan 29 2000: ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM', 1 ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 12 1998 12:00:30AM RETURN VALUE Feb 12 1998 12:00:30AM The following expression subtracts 10 days from each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port: ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'D', -10 ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 1 1997 12:00:30AM RETURN VALUE Dec 22 1996 12:00AM The following expression subtracts 15 hours from each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port: ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH', -15 ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 1 1997 12:00:30AM RETURN VALUE Dec 31 1996 9:00:30AM In ADD_TO_DATE function, if the argument passed evaluates to a date that does not exist in a particular month, the Informatica Server returns the last day of the month. The following expression reveals this. ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON', 3 ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 31 1998 6:24:45PM 3.2 DATE_COMPARE RETURN VALUE Apr 30 1998 6:24:45PM The DATE_COMPARE function returns a value indicating the earlier of two dates. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. DATE_COMPARE( date1, date2 ) Example : The following expression compares each date in the DATE_PROMISED and DATE_SHIPPED ports, and returns an integer indicating which date is earlier: DA DATE_COMPARE ( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED ) DATE_PROMISED Jan 1 1997 Feb 1 1997 Dec 22 1997 3.3 DATE_DIFF DATE_SHIPPED

Jan 13 1997 Feb 1 1997 Dec 15 1997 RETURN VALUE -1 0 1 The DATE_DIFF function returns the length of time between two dates, measured in the specified increment (years, months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds). It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. DATE_DIFF( date1, date2, format ) Example: The following expressions return the number of days between the DATE_PROMISED and the DATE_SHIPPED ports: DATE_DIFF DATE_DIFF ( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'D' ) DATE_DIFF DATE_DIFF ( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ) DATE_PROMISED Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM DATE_SHIPPED Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM RETURN VALUE -87.5 87.5 We can combine DATE functions and TEST functions so as to validate the dates. For example, while using the DATE functions like DATE_COMPARE and DATE_DIFF, the dates given as inputs can be validated using the TEST function IS_DATE and then passed to them if valid. 3.4 GET_DATE_PART The GET_DATE_PART function returns the specified part of a date as an integer value, based on the default date format of MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. GET_DATE_PART( date, format ) Example: The following expressions return the day for each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port: GE GET_DATE_PART ( DATE_SHIPPED, 'D' ) GEGET_DATE_PART ( DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ) DATE_SHIPPED Mar 13 1997 12:00:00AM June 3 1997 11:30:44PM NULL 3.5 LAST_DAY

RETURN VALUE 13 3 NULL The LAST_DAY function returns the date of the last day of the month for each date in a port. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. LAST_DAY( date ) Example : The following expression returns the last day of the month for each date in the ORDER_DATE port: LAST_DAY( ORDER_DATE ) ORDER_DATE RETURN VALUE Apr 1 1998 12:00:00AM Jan 6 1998 12:00:00AM Apr 30 1998 12:00:00AM Jan 31 1998 12:00:00AM DATE functions combine with Conversion functions also. The following expression has LAST_DAY and TO_DATE functions nested or combined together. LAST_DAY( TO_DATE( GIVEN_DATE, 'DD-MON-YY' )) 3.6 MAX The MAX function returns the latest date found in a group. It is available in the Designer. MAX( date, filter_condition ) We can return the maximum date for a port or group. Example: The following expression returns the maximum order date for flashlights: MAX( ORDERDATE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' ) ITEM_NAME Flashlight Regulator System Flashlight Diving Hood Halogen Flashlight Flashlight RETURN VALUE: Oct 10 1998 3.7 MIN ORDER_DATE Apr 20 1998 May 15 1998 Sep 21 1998

Aug 18 1998 Feb 1 1998 Oct 10 1998 The MIN function returns the earliest date found in a group. It is available in the Designer. MIN( date, filter_condition ) Example: The following expression returns the oldest order date for flashlights: MIN( ORDER_DATE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' ) ITEM_NAME Flashlight Regulator System Flashlight Diving Hood ORDER_DATE Apr 20 1998 May 15 1998 Sep 21 1998 Aug 18 1998 Halogen Flashlight Flashlight RETURN VALUE: Feb 1 1998 3.8 ROUND Feb 1 1998 Oct 10 1998 The ROUND function rounds one part of a date. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. ROUND( date [, format ] ) Example: The following expressions round the month portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port. ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' ) ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM RETURN VALUE Jan 1 1998 12:00:00AM Similarly the ROUND function can be used to round off Year, Day or Time portions. 3.9 SET_DATE_PART The SET_DATE_PART function sets one part of a date/time value to a specified value. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. SET_DATE_PART( date, format, value ) Example: The following expressions change the month to June for the

dates in the DATE_PROMISED port. The Informatica Server displays an error when we try to create a date that does not exist, such as changing March 31 to June 31: SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'MM', 6 ) SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'MON', 6 ) DATE_PROMISED Jan 1 1997 12:15:56AM NULL RETURN VALUE Jun 1 1997 12:15:56AM NULL Similarly the SET_DATE_PART function can be used to round off Year, Day or Time portions. 3.10 TRUNC The TRUNC function truncates dates to a specific year, month, day, hour, or minute. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. TRUNC( date [, format ] ) Example: The following expressions truncate the year portion of dates in the DATE_SHIPPED port: TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'Y' ) TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'YY' ) DATE_SHIPPED Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM RETURN VALUE Jan 1 1998 12:00:00AM Similarly the TRUNC function can be used to truncate Month , Day or Time portions. The functions TRUNC & ROUND can be nested in order to manipulate dates. 4 Special Functions: 4.1 DECODE The DECODE function searches a port for the specified value. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. DECODE( value, first_search, first_result [, second_search, second_result ][, default ] ) Example: We might use DECODE in an expression that searches for a particular ITEM_ID and returns the ITEM_NAME: DECODE( ITEM_ID, 10, 'Flashlight', 14, 'Regulator', 20, 'Knife', 40, 'Tank', 'NONE' ) ITEM_ID

10 14 17 4.2 IIF RETURN VALUE Flashlight Regulator NONE The IIF function returns one of two values we specify, based on the results of a condition. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. IIF( condition, value2 [, value2 ] ) Example : IIF( SALES < 100, 0, SALARY ) SALES 150 50 SALARY 50,000.00 20,000.00 RETURN VALUE 50,000 0 NULL 50,000.41 50,000 IIF functions can be nested if there is more than one condition to be tested. But it is always a better option to go for DECODE function when the number of conditions is large since DECODE function is less costlier compared to IIF function. For example consider the following expression IIF(MARKS>=90,'A', (IIF(MARKS>= 75,'B', (IIF(MARKS>=65,'C', (IIF(MARKS>=55,'D', IIF(MARKS>=45,'E', 'F')))))))) The same result can be obtained with DECODE(TRUE, MARKS>=90,'A', MARKS>=75,'B', MARKS>=65,'C', MARKS>=55,'D', MARKS>=45,'E', 'F')

When the number of conditions increase we will be able to appreciate the simplicity of the DECODE function and the complexity of the IIF function. In both the cases , If MARKS>90 it will return 'A' though it satisfies all the conditions given. It is because it returns when the first condition is satisfied. Therefore even if a port satisfies two or more the conditions it will take only the first one. Therefore Ordering is important in IIF and DECODE functions. 4.3 ERROR: The ERROR function causes the Informatica Server to skip a record and throws an error message defined by the user. It is available in the Designer. ERROR( string ) Example : The following example shows how you can reference a mapping that calculates the average salary for employees in all departments of your company, but skips negative values. The following expression nests the ERROR function in an IIF expression so that if the Informatica Server finds a negative salary in the Salary port, it skips the row and displays an error: IIF( SALARY < 0, ERROR ('Error. Negative salary found. Row skipped.', EMP_SALARY ) SALARY RETURN VALUE 10000 10000 -15000 'Error. Negative salary found. Row skipped.' The below example combines two special functions, a test Function and a conversion function. IIF(IS_DATE(DATE_PROMISED,'MM/DD/YY'),TO_DATE(DATE_PROMIS ED),ERROR('Invalid Date')) 4.4 LOOKUP: The LOOKUP function searches for a particular value in a lookup source column. It is available in the Designer. LOOKUP( result, search1, value1 [, search2, value2] ) Example : The following expression searches the lookup source :TD.SALES for a specific item ID and price, and returns the item name if both searches find a match: LOOKUP( :TD.SALES.ITEM_NAME, :TD.SALES.ITEM_ID, 10, :TD.SALES.PRICE, 15.99 ) ITEM_NAME Regulator Flashlight 5 Test Functions: 5.1 ISNULL

ITEM_ID 5 10 PRICE 100.00 15.99 The ISNULL function returns whether a value is NULL. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. ISNULL( value ) Example : The following example checks for null values in the items table: ISNULL ISNULL ( ITEM_NAME ) ITEM_NAME Flashlight NULL '' 5.2 IS_DATE RETURN VALUE 0 (FALSE) 1 (TRUE) 0 (FALSE) Empty string is not NULL The IS_DATE function returns whether a value is a valid date. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. IS_DATE( value ) Example : The following expression checks the INVOICE_DATE port for valid dates: IS_DATE( INVOICE_DATE ) This expression returns data similar to the following: INVOICE_DATE NULL 180 '04/01/98' '04/01/1998 00:12:15' '02/31/1998 12:13:55' 'John Smith' RETURN VALUE NULL 0 (FALSE) 0 (FALSE) 1 (TRUE) 0 (FALSE) (February does not have 31 days) 0 (FALSE) This function can also be used to validate a date for a specified format for which the

syntax is IS_DATE( value, format ) If the format is not specified, MM/DD/YYYY is taken as the default format. 5.3 IS_NUMBER The IS_NUMBER returns whether a string is a valid number. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. IS_NUMBER( value ) Example : The following expression checks the ITEM_PRICE port for valid numbers: IS_NUMBER( ITEM_PRICE ) ITEM_PRICE 123.00 -3.45e+3 '' +123abc ABC -ABC NULL RETURN VALUE 1 (True) 1 (True) 0 (False) Empty string 0 (False) 0 (False) 0 (False) NULL 5.4 IS_SPACES The IS_SPACES function returns whether a value consists entirely of spaces. It is available in the Designer and the Workflow Manager. IS_SPACES( value ) Example : The following expression checks the ITEM_NAME port for rows that consist entirely of spaces: IS_SPACES IS_SPACES ( ITEM_NAME ) ITEM_NAME Flashlight Regulator system RETURN VALUE 0 (False) 1 (True) 0 (False)