The Data Transformation activity node

The Data Transformation node invokes the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender product. IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender is a third-party product delivered by Infor with Infor ProcessFlow and Infor Landmark Technology Runtime.
Note: Starting with the 2024.10 release, the Data Transformation activity node will be deprecated and removed from the Infor Process Designer (IPD) tool, Infor Process Designer for the Web (IPD Web), and runtime server. Additionally, this node is no longer supported in multi-tenant environments and will be removed on a later date. See KB3522595.

This product was formerly called IBM® WebSphere® DataStage® TX and Ascential DataStage® TX.

Note: 

You cannot use this node in processes that are run in a multi-tenant environment.

The Data Transformation activity node can make use of the error connector.

See Configuring error handling and the error connector in Infor Process Designer.

Note: 

You must set the environment variable MERC_DO_NOT_CHDIR to TRUE for the server to run the IBM® WebSphere® Transforation Extender engine directly. If this environment variable is not set, the server runs the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender engine in a separate process for safety, resulting in a loss of performance. A warning message is logged by the Data Transformation node if this environment variable is not set.

Field Description
Caption The name of the activity that is displayed in the Designer window.
Name The internal name for the node.

General tab

Function

You can select any of these values:

  • TransformRealTime — Input data and output data are both actual data.

  • TransformBatch — Input data must be a pathname. The IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender map will read the input data from the specified file and write the output data to a file. The name of the output file is the name of the input file with ".mapout" appended to the end.

  • TransformBatchToRealTime — The input data is a pathname as in TransformBatch, but the output data is actual data.
Input Data/Input File

The data to be transformed (transform RealTime) or the file name to be transformed (Transform Batch, Transform Batch to RealTime).

  • TransformRealTime — If this option is selected from the Function drop-down list, the Input Data field is displayed.

  • TransformBatch — If this option is selected from the Function drop-down list, the Input File field is displayed.

  • TransformBatchToRealTime — If this option is selected from the Function drop-down list, the Input File field is displayed.

You can also provide multiple data sources by including multiple variables separated by commas. For example,

<!var1>,<!var2>,<!var3>

The home directory for IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender maps on the server is $LAWDIR/bpm/bci_maps.
Map Name The name of the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender map to execute.
Audit tab

  • Show data audit information — Generates audit information on the data being transformed.

  • Show execution summary — Generates summary information.

  • Generate unique filename — Each run will create an audit file with a unique name.

  • Override directory path — Specifies an alternate directory for the audit file to be created.

Note: 

For additional information, refer to the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender documentation.
Trace tab

  • Trace input card — Tracing information generated for the input card(s)

  • All cards — Generates tracing information for all input cards

  • Specific card — Generates tracing information only for the specified input card

  • Trace output card — Tracing information generated for the output card(s)

  • All cards — Generates tracing information for all output cards

  • Specific card — Generates tracing information only for the specified output card

  • Summary Info — Generates summary information for the trace

  • Override directory path — Alternate directory for the trace file to be created

Note: 

For additional information, refer to the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender documentation.
Input Override tab

Enables you to override the input file source for specific input cards.

Note: 

For additional information, refer to the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender documentation.
Output Override tab

Enables you to override the output file destination for specific output cards.

Note: 

For additional information, refer to the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender documentation.
Stop on error Stop the process if an error is encountered executing the activity or the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender map.

Description tab

The description of the activity.

Output variables

Variable Description
NODENAME_errorCode The error code returned by the activity.
NODENAME_informationCode If errorCode is MERCATOR_MAP_ERROR, the information code is the error code returned from the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender Map API. Otherwise, the information code is 0.
NODENAME_returnMessage The return message from the activity.
NODENAME_outputData If function is TransformRealTime or TransformBatchToRealTime, outputData is the output data from the IBM® WebSphere® Transformation Extender map. If function is TransformBatch, the output data is the name of the output file.