Active and Passive transformation

Active Transformations

An active transformation can perform any of the following actions:

1. Change the number of rows that pass through the transformation. For example, the Filter
transformation is
active because it removes rows that do not meet the filter condition.
All multi-group transformations are active because they might change the number of rows that pass
through the transformation.

2. Change the transaction boundary. For example, the Transaction Control transformation is active
because it defines a commit or roll back transaction based on an expression evaluated for each
row.

3. Change the row type. For example, the Update Strategy transformation is active because it flags
rows for insert, delete, update, or reject.

Passive Transformations

A passive transformation does not change the number of rows that pass through the
transformation, maintains the transaction boundary, and maintains the row type.

The Designer allows you to connect multiple transformations to the same downstream
transformation or transformation input group only if all transformations in the upstream branches
are passive. The transformation that originates the branch can be active or passive.

Note:

The Designer does not allow you to connect multiple active transformations or an active and a passive
transformation to the same downstream transformation or transformation input group because the
Integration
Service may not be able to concatenate the rows passed by active transformations.

For example, one branch in a mapping contains an Update Strategy transformation that flags a row for
delete. Another branch contains an Update Strategy transformation that flags a row for insert. If you
connect these transformations to a single transformation input group, the Integration Service cannot
combine the delete and insert operations for the row.

The Sequence Generator transformation is an exception to the rule. The Designer does allow you to
connect a
Sequence Generator transformation and an active transformation to the same downstream transformation
or transformation input group.
A Sequence Generator transformation does not receive data. It generates unique
numeric values. As a result, the Integration Service does not encounter problems concatenating rows
passed by a Sequence Generator transformation and an active transformation.

Connected and Unconnected Transformations

Connected Transformations: Connected Transformation is connected to pipeline means it takes input

from upstream transformation(s) and gives output to downstream transformation(s).

Unconnected Transformations:

An unconnected transformation is not connected to other transformations in the mapping. An

unconnected transformation is called within another transformation, and returns a value to that
transformation.
Transformation Type Description
Aggregator Active/ Performs aggregate calculations
Connected
Application Source Qualifier Active/ Represents the rows that the Integration
Connected Service reads from an
application, such as an ERP source,
when it runs a session.
Custom Active or Calls a procedure in a shared library or
Passive/ DLL.
Connected
Data Masking Passive/ Replaces sensitive production data with
Connected realistic test data for nonproduction
environments.
Expression Passive/ Calculates a value.
Connected
External Procedure Passive/ Calls a procedure in a shared library or in
Connected or the COM layer of
Unconnected Windows.
Filter Active/ Filters data.
Connected
HTTP Passive/ Connects to an HTTP server to read or
Connected update data.
Input Passive/ Defines mapplet input rows. Available in
Connected the Mapplet Designer.
Java Active or Executes user logic coded in Java. The
Passive/ byte code for the user logic
Connected is stored in the repository.
Joiner Active/ Joins data from different databases or flat
Connected file systems.
Lookup Active or Look up and return data from a flat file,
Passive/ relational table, view, or
Connected or synonym.
Unconnected
Normalizer Active/ Source qualifier for COBOL sources. Can
Connected also use in the pipeline to
normalize data from relational or flat file
sources.
Output Passive/ Defines mapplet output rows. Available in
Connected the Mapplet Designer.
Rank Active/ Limits records to a top or bottom range.
Connected
Router Active/ Routes data into multiple transformations
Connected based on group conditions
Sequence Generator Passive/ Generates primary keys.
Connected
Sorter Active/ Sorts data based on a sort key.
Connected
Source Qualifier Active/ Represents the rows that the Integration
Connected Service reads from a
relational or flat file source when it runs a
session.
SQL Active or Executes SQL queries against a
Passive/ database.
Connected
Stored Procedure Passive/ Calls a stored procedure.
Connected or
Unconnected
Transaction Control Active/ Defines commit and rollback transactions.
Connected
Union Active/ Merges data from different databases or
 Connected flat file systems.
Unstructured Data Active or Transforms data in unstructured and
Passive/ semi-structured formats.
Connected
Update Strategy Active/ Determines whether to insert, delete,
Connected update, or reject rows.
XML Generator Active/ Reads data from one or more input ports
Connected and outputs XML through a
single output port.
XML Parser Active/ Reads XML from one input port and
Connected outputs data to one or more
output ports.
XML Source Qualifier Active/ Represents the rows that the Integration
Connected Service reads from an XML
source when it runs a session.