About PowerCenter and PowerMart

Welcome to PowerMart and PowerCenter, Informatica’s integrated suite of software products that deliver an open, scalable solution addressing the complete life cycle for data warehouse and analytic application development. Both PowerMart and PowerCenter combine the latest technology enhancements for reliably managing data repositories and delivering information resources in a timely, usable manner.

The metadata repository coordinates and drives a variety of core functions including extraction, transformation, loading, and management. The Informatica Server can extract large volumes of data from multiple platforms, handle complex transformations, and support high-speed loads. PowerMart and PowerCenter can simplify and accelerate the process of moving data warehouses from development to test to full production. 

Software features that differ between the PowerMart and PowerCenter:

If You Are Using PowerCenter

With PowerCenter, you receive all product functionality, including the ability to register multiple servers, share metadata across repositories, and partition data.

A PowerCenter license lets you create a single repository that you can configure as a global repository, the core component of a data warehouse. When this guide mentions a PowerCenter Server, it is referring to an Informatica Server with a PowerCenter license.

If You Are Using PowerMart

This version of PowerMart includes all features except distributed metadata, multiple registered servers, and data partitioning. Also, the various options available with PowerCenter (such as PowerCenter Integration Server for BW, PowerConnect for IBM DB2, PowerConnect for IBM MQSeries, PowerConnect for SAP R/3, PowerConnect for Siebel, and PowerConnect for PeopleSoft) are not available with PowerMart.

When this guide mentions a PowerMart Server, it is referring to an Informatica Server with a PowerMart license.

 
Informatica
Client Tools:

Designer

Server Manager

Repository
Manager

Informatica
Server Tools:

1. Informatica Server

Load Manager Process and Data Transformation Manager Process

 
The Load Manager is the primary Informatica Server process. It performs the
following tasks:

• Manages session and batch scheduling.
• Locks the session and reads session properties.
• Reads the parameter file.
• Expands the server and session variables and parameters.
• Verifies permissions and privileges.
• Validates source and target code pages.
• Creates the session log file.
• Creates the Data Transformation Manager (DTM) process, which executes the session. 
   

The Data Transformation Manager (DTM) process executes the session.

 
DESIGNER

The Designer has five tools to help you build mappings and mapplets so you can specify how to move and transform data between sources and targets. The Designer helps you create source definitions, target definitions, and transformations to build your mappings.

The Designer allows you to work with multiple tools at one time and to work in multiple folders and repositories at the same time. It also includes windows so you can view folders, repository objects, and tasks.  

Designer Tools

The Designer provides the 5 following tools:

Source Analyzer.

Used to import or create source definitions for flat file (Fixed-width and delimited flat files), XML, COBOL, ERP, and relational sources (tables, views, and synonyms).

Warehouse Designer.

Used to import or create target definitions.

 
Transformation Developer.

          
Used to create reusable transformations.

 
Mapplet Designer.

Used to create mapplets.

Mapping Designer.

Used to create mappings.

What is a Transformation?

A transformation is a repository object that generates, modifies, or passes data. The Designer provides a set of transformations that perform specific functions. For example, an Aggregator transformation performs calculations on groups of data. Transformations in a mapping represent the operations the Informatica Server performs on the
data. Data passes into and out of transformations through ports that you connect in a mapping or mapplet.

Transformations can be active or passive. An active transformation can change the number of rows that pass through it, such as a Filter transformation that removes rows that do not meet the configured filter condition. A passive transformation does not change the number of rows that pass through it, such as an Expression transformation that performs a calculation on data and passes all rows through the transformation.

Transformations can be connected to the data flow, or they can be unconnected. An unconnected transformation is not connected to other transformations in the mapping. It is called within another transformation, and returns a value to that transformation.

Below table provides a brief description of each transformation:

Table Transformation Descriptions
Transformation	Type	Description
Advanced External Procedure	Active/ Connected	Calls a procedure in a shared library or in the COM layer of Windows NT.
Aggregator	Active/ Connected	Performs aggregate calculations.
ERP Source Qualifier	Active/ Connected	Represents the rows that the Informatica Server reads from an ERP source when it runs a session.
Expression	Passive/ Connected	Calculates a value.
External Procedure	Passive/ Connected or Unconnected	Calls a procedure in a shared library or in the COM layer of Windows NT.
Filter	Active/ Connected	Filters records.
Input	Passive/ Connected	Defines mapplet input rows. Available only in the Mapplet Designer.
Joiner	Active/ Connected	Joins records from different databases or flat file systems.
Lookup	Passive/ Connected or Unconnected	Looks up values.
Normalizer	Active/ Connected	Normalizes records, including those read from COBOL sources.
Output	Passive/ Connected	Defines mapplet output rows. Available only in the Mapplet Designer.
Rank	Active/ Connected	Limits records to a top or bottom range.
Sequence Generator	Passive/ Connected	Generates primary keys.
Source Qualifier	Active/ Connected	Represents the rows that the Informatica Server reads from a relational or flat file source when it runs a session.
Router	Active/ Connected	Routes data into multiple transformations based on a group expression.
Stored Procedure	Passive/ Connected or Unconnected	Calls a stored procedure.
Update Strategy	Active/ Connected	Determines whether to insert, delete, update, or reject records.
XML Source Qualifier	Passive/ Connected	Represents the rows that the Informatica Server reads from an XML source when it runs a session.