Informatica (Version 10.

0)

Transformation Language
Reference

Informatica Transformation Language Reference

Version 10.0
November 2015
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Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Informatica Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Informatica My Support Portal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Informatica Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Informatica Product Availability Matrixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Informatica Web Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica How-To Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica Knowledge Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica Support YouTube Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica Marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica Velocity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Informatica Global Customer Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 1: The Transformation Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Transformation Language Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Transformation Language Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Internationalization and the Transformation Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Expression Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Expression Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rules and Guidelines for Expression Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Adding Comments to Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Reserved Words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 2: Constants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
DD_DELETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
DD_INSERT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
DD_REJECT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
DD_UPDATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
FALSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
NULL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Working with Null Values in Boolean Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Working with Null Values in Comparison Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Null Values in Aggregate Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Null Values in Filter Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Nulls with Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Table of Contents

TRUE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chapter 3: Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Operator Precedence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Arithmetic Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
String Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Nulls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Comparison Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Logical Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Nulls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter 4: Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Built-in Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
SYSDATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Local Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 5: Dates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Dates Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Date/Time Datatype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Julian Day, Modified Julian Day, and the Gregorian Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Dates in the Year 2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Dates in Relational Databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Dates in Flat Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Default Date Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Date Format Strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
TO_CHAR Format Strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Rules and Guidelines for Date Format Strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Understanding Date Arithmetic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter 6: Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Function Categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Aggregate Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Aggregate Functions and Nulls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Character Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Conversion Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Data Cleansing Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Date Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Encoding Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Table of Contents

Financial Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Numeric Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Scientific Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Special Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
String Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Test Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ABORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ABS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ADD_TO_DATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
AES_DECRYPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
AES_ENCRYPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ANY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
ASCII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
AVG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
CEIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
CHOOSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
CHR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
CHRCODE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
COMPRESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
CONCAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
CONVERT_BASE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
COS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
COSH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
COUNT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
CRC32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
CUME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
DATE_COMPARE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
DATE_DIFF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
DEC_BASE64. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
DECODE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
DECOMPRESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
ENC_BASE64. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
ERROR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
EXP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
FIRST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
FLOOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
FV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
GET_DATE_PART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
GET_TIMEZONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
GET_TIMESTAMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
GREATEST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

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IIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
IN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
INDEXOF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
INITCAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
INSTR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
ISNULL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
IS_DATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
IS_NUMBER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
IS_SPACES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
LAST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
LAST_DAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
LEAST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
LENGTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
LN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
LOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
LOWER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
LPAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
LTRIM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
MAKE_DATE_TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
MAX (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
MAX (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
MAX (String). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
MD5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
MEDIAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
METAPHONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
MIN (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
MIN (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
MIN (String). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
MOD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
MOVINGAVG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
MOVINGSUM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
NPER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
PERCENTILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
PMT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
POWER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
PV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
RAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
RATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
REG_EXTRACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
REG_MATCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
REG_REPLACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
REPLACECHR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

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REPLACESTR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
REVERSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ROUND (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
ROUND (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
RPAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
RTRIM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
SET_DATE_PART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
SIGN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
SIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
SINH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
SOUNDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
SQL_LIKE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
SQRT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
STDDEV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
SUBSTR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
SUM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
SYSTIMESTAMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
TAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
TANH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
TO_BIGINT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
TO_CHAR (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
TO_CHAR (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
TO_DATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
TO_DECIMAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
TO_DECIMAL38. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
TO_FLOAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
TO_INTEGER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
TRUNC (Dates). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
TRUNC (Numbers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
UPPER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
UUID4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
UUID_UNPARSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
VARIANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Table of Contents

Preface
The Informatica Developer Transformation Language Reference is written for the developers who are
responsible for building mappings. The Informatica Developer Transformation Language Reference assumes
you have knowledge of SQL, relational database concepts, and the interface requirements for your
supporting applications.

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10

Preface

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Preface

11

CHAPTER 1

The Transformation Language

This chapter includes the following topics:

The Transformation Language Overview, 12

Expression Syntax, 13

Adding Comments to Expressions, 15

Reserved Words, 16

The Transformation Language Overview

Informatica Developer provides a transformation language that includes SQL-like functions to transform
source data. Use these functions to write expressions.
Expressions modify data or test whether data matches conditions. For example, you might use the AVG
function to calculate the average salary of all the employees, or the SUM function to calculate the total sales
for a specific branch.
You can create a simple expression that only contains a port, such as ORDERS, or a numeric literal, such as
10. You can also write complex expressions that include functions nested within functions, or combine
different ports using the transformation language operators.

Transformation Language Components

The transformation language includes the following components to create simple or complex transformation
expressions:

12

Functions. Over 100 SQL-like functions allow you to change data in a mapping.

Operators. Use transformation operators to create transformation expressions to perform mathematical

computations, combine data, or compare data.

Constants. Use built-in constants to reference values that remain constant, such as TRUE.

Mapping parameters. Create mapping parameters for use within a mapping or mapplet to reference
values that remain constant throughout a mapping or mapplet run, such as a state sales tax rate.

Built-in and local variables. Use built-in variables to write expressions that reference values that vary,
such as the system date. You can also create local variables in transformations.

Return values. You can also write expressions that include the return values Lookup transformations.

Internationalization and the Transformation Language

Transformation language functions can handle character data in either ASCII or Unicode data movement
mode. Use Unicode mode to handle multibyte character data. The return values of the following functions and
transformations depend on the code page of the Data Integration Service and the data movement mode:

INITCAP

LOWER

UPPER

MIN (Date)

MIN (Number)

MIN (String)

MAX (Date)

MAX (Number)

MAX (String)

Any function that uses conditional statements to compare strings, such as IIF and DECODE

MIN and MAX also return values based on the sort order associated with the Data Integration Service code
page.
When you validate an invalid expression in the Expression Editor, a dialog box displays the expression with
an error indicator, >>>>. This indicator appears to the left of and points to the part of the expression
containing the error. For example, if the expression a = b + c contains an error at c, the error message
displays:
a = b +

>>>> c

Transformation language functions that evaluate character data are character-oriented, not byte-oriented. For
example, the LENGTH function returns the number of characters in a string, not the number of bytes. The
LOWER function returns a string in lowercase based on the code page of the Data Integration Service.

Expression Syntax
Although the transformation language is based on standard SQL, there are difference between the two
languages. For example, SQL supports the keywords ALL and DISTINCT for aggregate functions, but the
transformation language does not. On the other hand, the transformation language supports an optional filter
condition for aggregate functions, while SQL does not.
You can create an expression that is as simple as a port (such as ORDERS) or a numeric literal (such as 10).
You can also write complex expressions that include functions nested within functions, or combine different
columns using the transformation language operators.

Expression Components
Expressions can consist of any combination of the following components:

Ports (input, input/output, variable)

String literals, numeric literals

Constants

Functions

Expression Syntax

13

Built-in and local variables

Mapping parameters

Operators

Return values

Ports and Return Values

When you write an expression that includes a port or return value from an unconnected transformation, use
the reference qualifiers in the following table:
Reference
Qualifier

Description

:LKP

Required when you create an expression that includes the return value from an unconnected
Lookup transformation. The general syntax is:
:LKP.lookup_transformation(argument1, argument2, ...)
The arguments are the local ports used in the lookup condition. The order must match the
order of the ports in the transformation. The datatypes for the local ports must match the
datatype of the Lookup ports used in the lookup condition.

String and Numeric Literals

You can include numeric or string literals.
Be sure to enclose string literals within single quotation marks. For example:
'Alice Davis'
String literals are case sensitive and can contain any character except a single quotation mark. For example,
the following string is not allowed:
'Joan's car'
To return a string containing a single quote, use the CHR function:
'Joan' || CHR(39) || 's car'
Do not use single quotation marks with numeric literals. Just enter the number you want to include. For
example:
.05
or
$$Sales_Tax

Rules and Guidelines for Expression Syntax

Use the following rules and guidelines when you write expressions:

You cannot include both single-level and nested aggregate functions in an Aggregator transformation.

If you need to create both single-level and nested functions, create separate Aggregator transformations.

You cannot use strings in numeric expressions.

For example, the expression 1 + '1' is not valid because you can only perform addition on numeric
datatypes. You cannot add an integer and a string.

14

You cannot use strings as numeric parameters.

Chapter 1: The Transformation Language

For example, the expression SUBSTR(TEXT_VAL, '1', 10) is not valid because the SUBSTR function
requires an integer value, not a string, as the start position.

You cannot mix datatypes when using comparison operators.

For example, the expression 123.4 = '123.4' is not valid because it compares a decimal value with a
string.

You can pass a value from a port, literal string or number, Lookup transformation, or the results of another
expression.

Use the ports tab in the Expression Editor to enter a port name into an expression. If you rename a port in
a connected transformation, the Developer tool propagates the name change to expressions in the
transformation.

Separate each argument in a function with a comma.

Except for literals, the transformation language is not case sensitive.

Except for literals, the Developer tool and Data Integration Service ignore spaces.

The colon (:), comma (,), and period (.) have special meaning and should be used only to specify syntax.

The Data Integration Service treats a dash (-) as a minus operator.

If you pass a literal value to a function, enclose literal strings within single quotation marks. Do not use
quotation marks for literal numbers. The Data Integration Service treats any string value enclosed in
single quotation marks as a character string.

When you pass a mapping parameter to a function within an expression, do not use quotation marks to
designate mapping parameters.

Do not use quotation marks to designate ports.

You can nest multiple functions within an expression except aggregate functions, which allow only one
nested aggregate function. The Data Integration Service evaluates the expression starting with the
innermost function.

Adding Comments to Expressions

The transformation language provides two comment specifiers to let you insert comments in expressions:

Two dashes, as in:

Two slashes, as in:

-- These are comments

// These are comments
The Data Integration Service ignores all text on a line preceded by these two comment specifiers. For
example, if you want to concatenate two strings, you can enter the following expression with comments in the
middle of the expression:
-- This expression concatenates first and last names for customers:
FIRST_NAME -- First names from the CUST table
|| // Concat symbol
LAST_NAME // Last names from the CUST table
// Joe Smith Aug 18 1998
The Data Integration Service ignores the comments and evaluates the expression as follows:
FIRST_NAME || LAST_NAME

Adding Comments to Expressions

15

You cannot continue a comment to a new line:

-- This expression concatenates first and last names for customers:
FIRST_NAME -- First names from the CUST table
|| // Concat symbol
LAST_NAME // Last names from the CUST table
Joe Smith Aug 18 1998
In this case, the Developer tool does not validate the expression, since the last line is not a valid expression.
If you do not want to embed comments, you can add them by clicking Comment in the Expression Editor.

Reserved Words
Some keywords in the transformation language, such as constants, operators, and built-in variables, are
reserved for specific functions. These include:

:INFA

:LKP

:MCR

AND

DD_DELETE

DD_INSERT

DD_REJECT

DD_UPDATE

FALSE

NOT

NULL

OR

PROC_RESULT

SPOUTPUT

SYSDATE

TRUE

Note: You cannot use a reserved word to name a port or local variable. You can only use reserved words
within transformation expressions. Reserved words have predefined meanings in expressions.

16

Chapter 1: The Transformation Language

CHAPTER 2

Constants
This chapter includes the following topics:

DD_DELETE, 17

DD_INSERT, 17

DD_REJECT, 18

DD_UPDATE, 18

FALSE, 19

NULL, 19

TRUE, 20

DD_DELETE
Flags records for deletion in an update strategy expression. DD_DELETE is equivalent to the integer literal 2.
Note: Use the DD_DELETE constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_DELETE instead of
the integer literal 2 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

Example
The following expression marks items with an ID number of 1001 for deletion, and all other items for
insertion:
IIF( ITEM_ID = 1001, DD_DELETE, DD_INSERT )
This update strategy expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:
IIF( ITEM_ID = 1001, 2, 0 )
Note: The expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

DD_INSERT
Flags records for insertion in an update strategy expression. DD_INSERT is equivalent to the integer literal 0.
Note: Use the DD_INSERT constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_INSERT instead of
the integer literal 0 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

17

Examples
The following examples modify a mapping that calculates monthly sales by salesperson, so you can examine
the sales of just one salesperson.
The following update strategy expression flags an employees sales for insertion, and rejects everything else:
IIF( EMPLOYEENAME = 'Alex', DD_INSERT, DD_REJECT )
This update strategy expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:
IIF( EMPLOYEENAME = 'Alex', 0, 3 )
Tip: The expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.

DD_REJECT
Flags records for rejection in an update strategy expression. DD_REJECT is equivalent to the integer literal
3.
Note: Use the DD_REJECT constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_REJECT instead of
the integer literal 3 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.
Use DD_REJECT to filter or validate data. If you flag a record as reject, the Data Integration Service skips
the record and writes it to the session reject file.

Examples
The following examples modify a mapping that calculates the sales for the current month, so it includes only
positive values.
This update strategy expression flags records less than 0 for reject and all others for insert:
IIF( ORDERS.SALES > 0, DD_INSERT, DD_REJECT )
This expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result:
IIF( ORDERS.SALES > 0, 0, 3 )
The expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.
The following data-driven example uses DD_REJECT and IS_SPACES to avoid writing spaces to a character
column in a target table. This expression flags records that consist entirely of spaces for reject and flags all
others for insert:
IIF( IS_SPACES( CUST_NAMES ), DD_REJECT, DD_INSERT )

DD_UPDATE
Flags records for update in an update strategy expression. DD_UPDATE is equivalent to the integer literal 1.
Note: Use the DD_UPDATE constant in the Update Strategy transformation only. Use DD_UPDATE instead
of the integer literal 1 to facilitate troubleshooting complex numeric expressions.

18

Chapter 2: Constants

Examples
The following examples modify a mapping that calculates sales for the current month. The mapping loads
sales for one employee.
This expression flags records for Alex as updates and flags all others for rejection:
IIF( EMPLOYEENAME = 'Alex', DD_UPDATE, DD_REJECT )
This expression uses numeric literals to produce the same result, flagging Alexs sales for update (1) and
flagging all other sales records for rejection (3):
IIF( EMPLOYEENAME = 'Alex', 1, 3 )
The expression using constants is easier to read than the expression using numeric literals.
The following update strategy expression uses SYSDATE to find only those orders that have shipped in the
last two days and flag them for insertion. Using DATE_DIFF, the expression subtracts DATE_SHIPPED from
the system date, returning the difference between the two dates. Because DATE_DIFF returns a Double
value, the expression uses TRUNC to truncate the difference. It then compares the result to the integer literal
2. If the result is greater than 2, the expression flags the records for rejection. If the result is 2 or less, it flags
the records for update. Otherwise, it flags them for rejection:
IIF( TRUNC( DATE_DIFF( SYSDATE, ORDERS_DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ), 0 ) > 2, DD_REJECT,
DD_UPDATE )

FALSE
Clarifies a conditional expression. FALSE is equivalent to the integer 0.

Example
The following example uses FALSE in a DECODE expression to return values based on the results of a
comparison. This is useful if you want to perform multiple searches based on a single search value:
DECODE( FALSE,
Var1 = 22,'Variable 1 was 22!',
Var2 = 49,'Variable 2 was 49!',
Var1 < 23, 'Variable 1 was less than 23.',
Var2 > 30, 'Variable 2 was more than 30.',
'Variables were out of desired ranges.')

NULL
Indicates that a value is either unknown or undefined. NULL is not equivalent to a blank or empty string (for
character columns) or 0 (for numerical columns).
Although you can write expressions that return nulls, any column that has the NOT NULL or PRIMARY KEY
constraint will not accept nulls. Therefore, if the Data Integration Service tries to write a null value to a
column with one of these constraints, the database will reject the row and the Data Integration Service will
write it to the reject file. Be sure to consider nulls when you create transformations.
Functions can handle nulls differently. If you pass a null value to a function, it might return 0 or NULL, or it
might ignore null values.

FALSE

19

Related Topics:

Functions on page 41

Working with Null Values in Boolean Expressions

Expressions that combine a null value with a Boolean expression produces results that are ANSI compliant.
For example, the Data Integration Service produces the following results:

NULL AND TRUE = NULL

NULL AND FALSE = FALSE

Working with Null Values in Comparison Expressions

When you use a null value in an expression containing a comparison operator, the Data Integration Service
produces a null value.

Null Values in Aggregate Functions

The Data Integration Service treats null values as nulls in aggregate functions. If you pass an entire port or
group of null values, the function returns NULL.

Null Values in Filter Conditions

If a filter condition evaluates to NULL, the function does not select the record. If the filter condition evaluates
to NULL for all records in the selected port, the aggregate function returns NULL (except COUNT, which
returns 0). You can use filter conditions with aggregate functions and the CUME, MOVINGAVG, and
MOVINGSUM functions.

Nulls with Operators

Any expression that uses operators (except the string operator ||) and contains a null value always evaluates
to NULL. For example, the following expression evaluates to NULL:
8 * 10 - NULL
To test for nulls, use the ISNULL function.

TRUE
Returns a value based on the result of a comparison. TRUE is equivalent to the integer 1.

Example
The following example uses TRUE in a DECODE expression to return values based on the results of a
comparison. This is useful if you want to perform multiple searches based on a single search value:
DECODE( TRUE,
Var1 = 22,'Variable 1 was 22!',
Var2 = 49,'Variable 2 was 49!',
Var1 < 23, 'Variable 1 was less than 23.',

20

Chapter 2: Constants

Var2 > 30, 'Variable 2 was more than 30.',

'Variables were out of desired ranges.')

TRUE

21

CHAPTER 3

Operators
This chapter includes the following topics:

Operator Precedence, 22

Arithmetic Operators, 23

String Operators, 24

Comparison Operators, 25

Logical Operators, 25

Operator Precedence
The transformation language supports the use of multiple operators and the use of operators within nested
expressions.
If you write an expression that includes multiple operators, the Data Integration Service evaluates the
expression in the following order:
1.

Arithmetic operators

2.

String operators

3.

Comparison operators

4.

Logical operators

The Data Integration Service evaluates operators in the order they appear in the following table. It evaluates
operators in an expression with equal precedence to all operators from left to right.
The following table lists the precedence for all transformation language operators:

22

Operator

Meaning

( )

Parentheses.

+, -, NOT

Unary plus and minus and the logical NOT operator.

*, /,%

Multiplication, division, modulus.

+, -

Addition, subtraction.

||

Concatenate.

Operator

Meaning

<, <=, >, >=

Less than, less than or equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to.

=, <>, !=, ^=

Equal to, not equal to, not equal to, not equal to.

AND

Logical AND operator, used when specifying conditions.

OR

Logical OR operator, used when specifying conditions.

The transformation language also supports the use of operators within nested expressions. When
expressions contain parentheses, the Data Integration Service evaluates operations inside parentheses
before operations outside parentheses. Operations in the innermost parentheses are evaluated first.
For example, depending on how you nest the operations, the equation 8 + 5 - 2 * 8 returns different values:
Equation

Return Value

8+5-2*8

-3

8 + (5 - 2) * 8

32

Arithmetic Operators
Use arithmetic operators to perform mathematical calculations on numeric data.
The following table lists the arithmetic operators in order of precedence in the transformation language:
Operator

Meaning

+, -

Unary plus and minus. Unary plus indicates a positive value. Unary minus indicates a negative
value.

*, /, %

Multiplication, division, modulus. A modulus is the remainder after dividing two integers. For
example, 13 % 2 = 1 because 13 divided by 2 equals 6 with a remainder of 1.

+, -

Addition, subtraction.
The addition operator (+) does not concatenate strings. To concatenate strings, use the string
operator ||. To perform arithmetic on date values, use the date functions.

If you perform arithmetic on a null value, the function returns NULL.

When you use arithmetic operators in an expression, all of the operands in the expression must be numeric.
For example, the expression 1 + '1' is not valid because it adds an integer to a string. The expression
1.23 + 4 / 2 is valid because all of the operands are numeric.
Note: The transformation language provides built-in date functions that let you perform arithmetic on date/
time values.

Arithmetic Operators

23

Related Topics:
Understanding Date Arithmetic on page 40

String Operators
Use the || string operator to concatenate two strings. The || operator converts operands of any datatype
(except Binary) to String datatypes before concatenation:
Input Value

Return Value

'alpha' || 'betical'

alphabetical

'alpha' || 2

alpha2

'alpha' || NULL

alpha

The || operator includes leading and trailing blanks. Use the LTRIM and RTRIM functions to trim leading and
trailing blanks before concatenating two strings.

Nulls
The || operator ignores null values. However, if both values are NULL, the || operator returns NULL.

Example
The following example shows an expression that concatenates employee first names and employee last
names from two columns. This expression removes the spaces from the end of the first name and the
beginning of the last name, concatenates a space to the end of each first name, then concatenates the last
name:
LTRIM( RTRIM( EMP_FIRST ) || ' ' || LTRIM( EMP_LAST ))
EMP_FIRST

EMP_LAST

RETURN VALUE

' Alfred'

' Rice '

Alfred Rice

' Bernice'

' Kersins'

Bernice Kersins

NULL

' Proud'

Proud

' Curt'

NULL

Curt

NULL

NULL

NULL

Note: You can also use the CONCAT function to concatenate two string values. The || operator, however,
produces the same results in less time.

24

Chapter 3: Operators

Comparison Operators
Use comparison operators to compare character or numeric strings, manipulate data, and return a TRUE (1)
or FALSE (0) value.
The following table lists the comparison operators in the transformation language:
Operator

Meaning

Equal to.

>

Greater than.

<

Less than.

>=

Greater than or equal to.

<=

Less than or equal to.

<>

Not equal to.

!=

Not equal to.

^=

Not equal to.

Use the greater than (>) and less than (<) operators to compare numeric values or return a range of rows
based on the sort order for a primary key in a particular port.
When you use comparison operators in an expression, the operands must be the same datatype. For
example, the expression 123.4 > 123 is not valid because the expression compares a decimal with a string.
The expressions 123.4 > 123 and a != b are valid because the operands are the same datatype.
If you compare a value to a null value, the result is NULL.
If a filter condition evaluates to NULL, the Integration Service returns NULL.

Logical Operators
Use logical operators to manipulate numeric data. Expressions that return a numeric value evaluate to TRUE
for values other than 0, FALSE for 0, and NULL for NULL.

Comparison Operators

25

The following table lists the logical operators in the transformation language:
Operator

Meaning

NOT

Negates result of an expression. For example, if an expression evaluates to TRUE, the

operator NOT returns FALSE. If an expression evaluates to FALSE, NOT returns TRUE.

AND

Joins two conditions and returns TRUE if both conditions evaluate to TRUE. Returns FALSE
if one condition is not true.

OR

Connects two conditions and returns TRUE if any condition evaluates to TRUE. Returns
FALSE if both conditions are not true.

Nulls
Expressions that combine a null value with a Boolean expression produce results that are ANSI compliant.
For example, the Data Integration Service produces the following results:

26

NULL AND TRUE = NULL

NULL AND FALSE = FALSE

Chapter 3: Operators

CHAPTER 4

Variables
This chapter includes the following topics:

Built-in Variables, 27

Local Variables, 27

Built-in Variables
The transformation language provides the built-in variable SYSDATE that returns the system date. You can
use SYSDATE in an expression. For example, you can use SYSDATE in a DATE_DIFF function.

SYSDATE
SYSDATE returns the current date and time up to seconds on the node that process data for each row
passing through the transformation. SYSDATE is stored as a transformation date/time datatype value.

Example
The following expression uses SYSDATE to find orders that have shipped in the last two days and flag them
for insertion. Using DATE_DIFF, the Data Integration Service subtracts DATE_SHIPPED from the system
date, returning the difference between the two dates. Because DATE_DIFF returns a double value, the
expression truncates the difference. It then compares the result to the integer literal 2. If the result is greater
than 2, the expression flags the rows for rejection. If the result is 2 or less, it flags them for insertion.
IIF( TRUNC( DATE_DIFF( SYSDATE, DATE_SHIPPED, 'DD' ),
0 ) > 2, DD_REJECT, DD_INSERT

Local Variables
If you use local variables in a mapping, use them in any transformation expression in the mapping. For
example, if you use a complex tax calculation throughout a mapping, you might want to write the expression
once and designate it as a variable. This increases performance since the Data Integration Service performs
the calculation only once.
Local variables are useful when used with stored procedure expressions to capture multiple return values.

27

CHAPTER 5

Dates
This chapter includes the following topics:

Dates Overview, 28

Date Format Strings, 32

TO_CHAR Format Strings, 33

TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings, 36

Understanding Date Arithmetic, 40

Dates Overview
The transformation language provides a set of date functions and built-in date variables to perform
transformations on dates. With the date functions, you can round, truncate, or compare dates, extract one
part of a date, or perform arithmetic on a date. You can pass any value with a date datatype to a date
function.
Use date variables to capture the current date on the node hosting the Data Integration Service.
The transformation language also provides the following sets of format strings:

Date format strings. Use with date functions to specify the parts of a date.

TO_CHAR format strings. Use to specify the format of the return string.

TO_DATE and IS_DATE format strings. Use to specify the format of a string you want to convert to a
date or test.

Date/Time Datatype
Informatica uses generic datatypes to transform data from different sources. These transformation datatypes
include a Date/Time datatype that supports datetime values up to the nanosecond. Informatica stores dates
internally in binary format.
Date functions accept datetime values only. To pass a string to a date function, first use TO_DATE to convert
it to a datetime value. For example, the following expression converts a string port to datetime values and
then adds one month to each date:
ADD_TO_DATE( TO_DATE( STRING_PORT, 'MM/DD/RR'), 'MM', 1 )
You can use dates between 1 A.D. and 9999 A.D in the Gregorian calendar system.

28

Julian Day, Modified Julian Day, and the Gregorian Calendar

You can use dates in the Gregorian calendar system only. Dates in the Julian calendar are called Julian
dates and are not supported in Informatica. This term should not be confused with Julian Day or with
Modified Julian Day.
You can manipulate Modified Julian Day (MJD) formats using the J format string. The MJD for a given date is
the number of days to that date since Jan 1 4713 B.C. 00:00:00 (midnight). By definition, MJD includes a time
component expressed as a decimal, which represents some fraction of 24 hours. The J format string does not
convert this time component.
For example, the following TO_DATE expression converts strings in the SHIP_DATE_MJD_STRING port to
date values in the default date format:
TO_DATE (SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR, 'J')
SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR

RETURN_VALUE

2451544

Dec 31 1999 00:00:00.000000000

2415021

Jan 1 1900 00:00:00.000000000

SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR

RETURN_VALUE

2451544

Dec 31 1999 00:00:00.000000000

2415021

Jan 1 1900 00:00:00.000000000

Because the J format string does not include the time portion of a date, the return values have the time set to
00:00:00.000000000.
You can also use the J format string in TO_CHAR expressions. For example, use the J format string in a
TO_CHAR expression to convert date values to MJD values expressed as strings. For example:
TO_CHAR(SHIP_DATE, 'J')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

Dec 31 1999 23:59:59

2451544

Jan 1 1900 01:02:03

2415021

Note: The Data Integration Service ignores the time portion of the date in a TO_CHAR expression.

Dates in the Year 2000

All transformation language date functions support the year 2000. Informatica Developer supports dates
between 1 A.D. and 9999 A.D.

Dates Overview

29

RR Format String
The transformation language provides the RR format string to convert strings with two-digit years to dates.
Using TO_DATE and the RR format string, you can convert a string in the format MM/DD/RR to a date. The
RR format string converts data differently depending on the current year.

Current Year Between 0 and 49. If the current year is between 0 and 49 (such as 2003) and the source
string year is between 0 and 49, the Data Integration Service returns the current century plus the two-digit
year from the source string. If the source string year is between 50 and 99, the Integration Service returns
the previous century plus the two-digit year from the source string.

Current Year Between 50 and 99. If the current year is between 50 and 99 (such as 1998) and the
source string year is between 0 and 49, the Data Integration Service returns the next century plus the twodigit year from the source string. If the source string year is between 50 and 99, the Data Integration
Service returns the current century plus the specified two-digit year.

The following table summarizes how the RR format string converts to dates:
Current year

Source year

RR Format String Returns

0-49

0-49

Current century

0-49

50-99

Previous century

50-99

0-49

Next century

50-99

50-99

Current century

Example
The following expression produces the same return values for any current year between 1950 and 2049:
TO_DATE( ORDER_DATE, 'MM/DD/RR' )
ORDER_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

'04/12/98'

04/12/1998 00:00:00.000000000

'11/09/01'

11/09/2001 00:00:00.000000000

Difference Between the YY and RR Format Strings

Informatica Developer also provides a YY format string. Both the RR and YY format strings specify two-digit
years. The YY and RR format strings produce identical results when used with all date functions except
TO_DATE. In TO_DATE expressions, RR and YY produce different results.
The following table shows the different results each format string returns:

30

String

Current Year

TO_DATE(String, MM/DD/RR)

TO_DATE(String, MM/DD/YY)

04/12/98

1998

04/12/1998 00:00:00.000000000

04/12/1998 00:00:00.000000000

11/09/01

1998

11/09/2001 00:00:00.000000000

11/09/1901 00:00:00.000000000

Chapter 5: Dates

String

Current Year

TO_DATE(String, MM/DD/RR)

TO_DATE(String, MM/DD/YY)

04/12/98

2003

04/12/1998 00:00:00.000000000

04/12/2098 00:00:00.000000000

11/09/01

2003

11/09/2001 00:00:00.000000000

11/09/2001 00:00:00.000000000

For dates in the year 2000 and beyond, the YY format string produces less meaningful results than the RR
format string. Use the RR format string for dates in the twenty-first century.

Dates in Relational Databases

In general, dates stored in relational databases contain a date and time value. The date includes the month,
day, and year, while the time might include the hours, minutes, seconds, and sub-seconds. You can pass
datetime data to any of the date functions.

Dates in Flat Files

Use the TO_DATE function to convert strings to datetime values. You can also use IS_DATE to check if a
string is a valid date before converting it with TO_DATE. The transformation language date functions accept
date values only. To pass a string to a date function, you must first use the TO_DATE function to convert it to
a transformation Date/Time datatype.

Default Date Format

The Data Integration Service uses a default date format to store and manipulate strings that represent dates.
To specify the default date format, enter a date format in the DateTime Format String attribute in the data
viewer configuration. By default, the date format is MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS.US.
Because Informatica stores dates in binary format, the Data Integration Service uses the default date format
when you perform the following actions:

Convert a date to a string by connecting a date/time port to a string port. The Data Integration
Service converts the date to a string in the date format defined in the data viewer configuration.

Convert a string to a date by connecting a string port to a date/time port. The Data Integration
Service expects the string values to be in the date format defined by the data viewer configuration. If an
input value does not match this format, or if it is an invalid date, the Data Integration Service skips the
row. If the string is in this format, the Data Integration Service converts the string to a date value.

Use TO_CHAR(date, [format_string]) to convert dates to strings. If you omit the format string, the
Data Integration Service returns the string in the date format defined in the data viewer configuration. If
you specify a format string, the Data Integration Service returns a string in the specified format.

Use TO_DATE(date, [format_string]) to convert strings to dates. If you omit the format string, the Data
Integration Service expects the string in the date format defined in the data viewer configuration. If you
specify a format string, the Data Integration Service expects a string in the specified format.

The default date format of MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS.US consists of:

Month (January = 01, September = 09)

Day (of the month)

Year (expressed in four digits, such as 1998)

Hour (in 24-hour format, for example, 12:00:00AM = 0, 1:00:00AM = 1, 12:00:00PM = 12, 11:00:00PM =
23)

Dates Overview

31

Minutes

Seconds

Microseconds

Date Format Strings

You can evaluate input dates using a combination of format strings and date functions. Date format strings
are not internationalized and must be entered in predefined formats as listed in the following table.
The following table summarizes the format strings to specify a part of a date:
Format String

Description

D, DD, DDD, DAY, DY, J

Days (01-31). Use any of these format strings to specify the entire day portion of a
date. For example, if you pass 12-APR-1997 to a date function, use any of these
format strings specify 12.

HH, HH12, HH24

Hour of day (0-23), where 0 is 12 AM (midnight). Use any of these formats to specify
the entire hour portion of a date. For example, if you pass the date 12-APR-1997
2:01:32 PM, use HH, HH12, or HH24 to specify the hour portion of the date.

MI

Minutes (0-59).

MM, MON, MONTH

Month (01-12). Use any of these format strings to specify the entire month portion of
a date. For example, if you pass 12-APR-1997 to a date function, use MM, MON, or
MONTH to specify APR.

MS

Milliseconds (0-999).

NS

Nanoseconds (0-999999999).

SS, SSSS

Seconds (0-59).

US

Microseconds (0-999999).

Y, YY, YYY, YYYY, RR

Year portion of date (0001 to 9999). Use any of these format strings to specify the
entire year portion of a date. For example, if you pass 12-APR-1997 to a date
function, use Y, YY, YYY, or YYYY to specify 1997.

Note: The format string is not case sensitive. It must always be enclosed within single quotation marks.
The following table describes date functions that use date format strings to evaluate input dates:

32

Function

Description

ADD_TO_DATE

The part of the date you want to change.

DATE_DIFF

The part of the date to use to calculate the difference between two dates.

GET_DATE_PART

The part of the date you want to return. This function returns an integer value based
on the default date format.

Chapter 5: Dates

Function

Description

IS_DATE

The date you want to check.

ROUND

The part of the date you want to round.

SET_DATE_PART

The part of the date you want to change.

SYSTIMESTAMP

The timestamp precision.

TO_CHAR (Dates)

The character string.

TO_DATE

The character string.

TRUNC (Dates)

The part of the date you want to truncate.

TO_CHAR Format Strings

The TO_CHAR function converts a Date/Time datatype to a string with the format you specify. You can
convert the entire date or a part of the date to a string. You might use TO_CHAR to convert dates to strings,
changing the format for reporting purposes.
TO_CHAR is generally used when the target is a flat file or a database that does not support a Date/Time
datatype.
The following table summarizes the format strings for dates in the function TO_CHAR:
Format
String

Description

AM, A.M.,
PM, P.M.

Meridian indicator. Use any of these format strings to specify AM and PM hours. AM and PM return
the same values as A.M. and P.M.

Day of week (1-7), where Sunday equals 1.

DAY

Name of day, including up to nine characters (for example, Wednesday).

DD

Day of month (01-31).

DDD

Day of year (001-366, including leap years).

DY

Abbreviated three-character name for a day (for example, Wed).

HH, HH12

Hour of day (01-12).

HH24

Hour of day (00-23), where 00 is 12AM (midnight).

Modified Julian Day. Converts the calendar date to a string equivalent to its Modified Julian Day
value, calculated from Jan 1, 4713 00:00:00 B.C. It ignores the time component of the date. For
example, the expression TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, J ) converts Dec 31 1999 23:59:59 to the string
2451544.

TO_CHAR Format Strings

33

34

Format
String

Description

MI

Minutes (00-59).

MM

Month (01-12).

MONTH

Name of month, including up to nine characters (for example, January).

MON

Abbreviated three-character name for a month (for example, Jan).

MS

Milliseconds (0-999).

NS

Nanoseconds (0-999999999).

Quarter of year (1-4), where January to March equals 1.

RR

Last two digits of a year. The function removes the leading digits. For example, if you use RR and
pass the year 1997, TO_CHAR returns 97. When used with TO_CHAR, RR produces the same
results as, and is interchangeable with, YY. However, when used with TO_DATE, RR calculates
the closest appropriate century and supplies the first two digits of the year.

SS

Seconds (00-59).

SSSSS

Seconds since midnight (00000 - 86399). When you use SSSSS in a TO_CHAR expression, the
Data Integration Service only evaluates the time portion of a date. For example, the expression
TO_CHAR(SHIP_DATE, MM/DD/YYYY SSSSS) converts 12/31/1999 01:02:03 to 12/31/1999
03723.

US

Microseconds (0-999999).

Last digit of a year. The function removes the leading digits. For example, if you use Y and pass
the year 1997, TO_CHAR returns 7.

YY

Last two digits of a year. The function removes the leading digits. For example, if you use YY and
pass the year 1997, TO_CHAR returns 97.

YYY

Last three digits of a year. The function removes the leading digits. For example, if you use YYY
and pass the year 1997, TO_CHAR returns 997.

YYYY

Entire year portion of date. For example, if you use YYYY and pass the year 1997, TO_CHAR
returns 1997.

Week of month (1-5), where week 1 starts on the first day of the month and ends on the seventh,
week 2 starts on the eighth day and ends on the fourteenth day. For example, Feb 1 designates the
first week of February.

WW

Week of year (01-53), where week 01 starts on Jan 1 and ends on Jan 7, week 2 starts on Jan 8
and ends on Jan 14, and so on.

-/.;:

Punctuation that displays in the output. You might use these symbols to separate date parts. For
example, you create the following expression to separate date parts with a period:
TO_CHAR( DATES, MM.DD.YYYY ).

Chapter 5: Dates

Format
String

Description

text

Text that displays in the output. For example, if you create an output port with the expression:
TO_CHAR( DATES, MM/DD/YYYY Sales Were Up ) and pass the date Apr 1 1997, the function
returns the string 04/01/1997 Sales Were Up. You can enter multibyte characters that are valid in
the repository code page.

Use double quotation marks to separate ambiguous format strings, for example DDDD. The empty
quotation marks do not appear in the output.

Note: The format string is not case sensitive. It must always be enclosed within single quotation marks.

Examples
The following examples show the J, SSSSS, RR, and YY format strings. See the individual functions for more
examples.
Note: The Data Integration Service ignores the time portion of the date in a TO_CHAR expression.

J Format String
Use the J format string in a TO_CHAR expression to convert date values to MJD values expressed as
strings. For example:
TO_CHAR(SHIP_DATE, 'J')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

Dec 31 1999 23:59:59

2451544

Jan 1 1900 01:02:03

2415021

SSSSS Format String

You can also use the format string SSSSS in a TO_CHAR expression. For example, the following expression
converts the dates in the SHIP_DATE port to strings representing the total seconds since midnight:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'SSSSS')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03

3723

09/15/1996 23:59:59

86399

TO_CHAR Format Strings

35

RR Format String
The following expression converts dates to strings in the format MM/DD/YY:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'MM/DD/RR')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03

12/31/99

09/15/1996 23:59:59

09/15/96

05/17/2003 12:13:14

05/17/03

YY Format String
In TO_CHAR expressions, the YY format string produces the same results as the RR format string. The
following expression converts dates to strings in the format MM/DD/YY:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'MM/DD/YY')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03

12/31/99

09/15/1996 23:59:59

09/15/96

05/17/2003 12:13:14

05/17/03

TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings

The TO_DATE function converts a string with the format you specify to a datetime value. TO_DATE is
generally used to convert strings from flat files to datetime values. TO_DATE format strings are not
internationalized and must be entered in the predefined formats.
Note: TO_DATE and IS_DATE use the same set of format strings.
When you create a TO_DATE expression, use a format string for each part of the date in the source string.
The source string format and the format string must match. The date separator need not match for date
validation to take place. If any part does not match, the Data Integration Service does not convert the string,
and it skips the row. If you omit the format string, the source string must be in the date format specified in the
data viewer configuration.
IS_DATE indicates whether a value is a valid date. A valid date is any string in the date format specified in
the data viewer configuration. If the strings that you want to test are not in the specified date format, use the
format of the strings listed in "TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings" table. If the format of a string does
not match the specified format or if the string does not represent a valid date, the function returns FALSE (0).
If the format of the string matches the specified format of the string and is a valid date, the function returns
TRUE (1). IS_DATE format strings are not internationalized and must be entered in one of the formats listed
in the following table.

36

Chapter 5: Dates

The following table lists the format strings for the functions TO_DATE and IS_DATE:
Table 1. TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings
Format String

Description

AM, a.m., PM, p.m.

Meridian indicator. Use any of these format strings to specify AM and PM hours. AM
and PM return the same values as do a.m. and p.m.

DAY

Name of day, including up to nine characters (for example, Wednesday). The DAY
format string is not case sensitive.

DD

Day of month (1-31).

DDD

Day of year (001-366, including leap years).

DY

Abbreviated three-character name for a day (for example, Wed). The DY format
string is not case sensitive.

HH, HH12

Hour of day (1-12).

HH24

Hour of day (0-23), where 0 is 12AM (midnight).

Modified Julian Day. Convert strings in MJD format to date values. It ignores the
time component of the source string, assigning all dates the time of
00:00:00.000000000. For example, the expression TO_DATE(2451544, J)
converts 2451544 to Dec 31 1999 00:00:00.000000000.

MI

Minutes (0-59).

MM

Month (1-12).

MONTH

Name of month, including up to nine characters (for example, August). Case does
not matter.

MON

Abbreviated three-character name for a month (for example, Aug). Case does not
matter.

MS

Milliseconds (0-999).

NS

Nanoseconds (0-999999999).

RR

Four-digit year (for example, 1998, 2034). Use when source strings include two-digit
years. Use with TO_DATE to convert two-digit years to four-digit years.
- Current Year Between 50 and 99. If the current year is between 50 and 99 (such as
1998) and the year value of the source string is between 0 and 49, the Data
Integration Service returns the next century plus the two-digit year from the source
string. If the year value of the source string is between 50 and 99, the Data Integration
Service returns the current century plus the specified two-digit year.
- Current Year Between 0 and 49. If the current year is between 0 and 49 (such as
2003) and the source string year is between 0 and 49, the Data Integration Service
returns the current century plus the two-digit year from the source string. If the source
string year is between 50 and 99, the Data Integration Service returns the previous
century plus the two-digit year from the source string.

SS

Seconds (0-59).

TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings

37

Format String

Description

SSSSS

Seconds since midnight. When you use SSSSS in a TO_DATE expression, the Data
Integration Service only evaluates the time portion of a date.
For example, the expression TO_DATE( DATE_STR, MM/DD/YYYY SSSSS)
converts 12/31/1999 3783 to 12/31/1999 01:02:03.

US

Microseconds (0-999999).

The current year on the node running the Data Integration Service with the last digit
of the year replaced with the string value.

YY

The current year on the node running the Data Integration Service with the last two
digits of the year replaced with the string value.

YYY

The current year on the node running the Data Integration Service with the last
three digits of the year replaced with the string value.

YYYY

Four digits of a year. Do not use this format string if you are passing two-digit years.
Use the RR or YY format string instead.

Rules and Guidelines for Date Format Strings

Use the following rules and guidelines when you work with date format strings:

The format of the TO_DATE string must match the format string. If it does not, the Data Integration
Service might return inaccurate values or skip the row. For example, if you pass the string 20200512,
representing May 12, 2020, to TO_DATE, you must include the format string YYYYMMDD. If you do not
include a format string, the Data Integration Service expects the string in the date format specified in the
data viewer configuration. Likewise, if you pass a string that does not match the format string, the Data
Integration Service returns an error and skips the row. For example, if you pass the string 2020120 to
TO_DATE and include the format string YYYYMMDD, the Data Integration Service returns an error and
skips the row because the string does not match the format string.

The format string must be enclosed within single quotation marks.

The Data Integration Service uses the default date time format specified in the session. Default is MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS.US. The format string is not case sensitive.

Example
The following examples illustrate the J, RR, and SSSSS format strings. See the individual functions for more
examples.

38

Chapter 5: Dates

J Format String
The following expression converts strings in the SHIP_DATE_MJD_STRING port to date values in the default
date format:
TO_DATE (SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR, 'J')
SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR

RETURN_VALUE

2451544

Dec 31 1999 00:00:00.000000000

2415021

Jan 1 1900 00:00:00.000000000

Because the J format string does not include the time portion of a date, the return values have the time set to
00:00:00.000000000.

RR Format String
The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/RR')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

04/01/98

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

08/17/05

08/17/2005 00:00:00.000000000

YY Format String
The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/YY')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

04/01/98

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

08/17/05

08/17/1905 00:00:00.000000000

Note: For the second row, RR returns the year 2005, but YY returns the year 1905.

SSSSS Format String

The following expression converts strings that include the seconds since midnight to date values:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/YYYY SSSSS')
DATE_STR

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 3783

12/31/1999 01:02:03.000000000

09/15/1996 86399

09/15/1996 23:59:59.000000000

TO_DATE and IS_DATE Format Strings

39

Understanding Date Arithmetic

The transformation language provides built-in date functions so you can perform arithmetic on datetime
values as follows:

ADD_TO_DATE. Add or subtract a specific portion of a date.

DATE_DIFF. Subtract two dates.

SET_DATE_PART. Change one part of a date.

You cannot use numeric arithmetic operators (such as + or -) to add or subtract dates.
The transformation language recognizes leap years and accepts dates between Jan. 1, 0001
00:00:00.000000000 A.D. and Dec. 31, 9999 23:59:59.999999999 A.D.
Note: The transformation language uses the transformation Date/Time datatype to specify date values. You
can only use the date functions on datetime values.

40

Chapter 5: Dates

CHAPTER 6

Functions
This chapter describes the functions in the transformation language in alphabetical order. Each function
description includes:

Syntax

Return value

Example

Function Categories
The transformation language provides the following types of functions:

Aggregate

Character

Conversion

Data Cleansing

Date

Encoding

Financial

Numerical

Scientific

Special

String

Test

Variable

Aggregate Functions
Aggregate functions return summary values for non-null values in selected ports. With aggregate functions
you can:

Calculate a single value for all rows in a group.

Return a single value for each group in an Aggregator transformation.

Apply filters to calculate values for specific rows in the selected ports.

41

Use operators to perform arithmetic within the function.

Calculate two or more aggregate values derived from the same source columns in a single pass.

The transformation language includes the following aggregate functions:

ANY

AVG

COUNT

FIRST

LAST

MAX (Date)

MAX (Number)

MAX (String)

MEDIAN

MIN (Date)

MIN (Number)

MIN (String)

PERCENTILE

STDDEV

SUM

VARIANCE

If you configure the Data Integration Service to run in Unicode mode, MIN and MAX return values according
to the sort order of the code page you specify in the mapping configuration.
Use aggregate functions in Aggregator transformations only. You can nest only one aggregate function within
another aggregate function. The Data Integration Service evaluates the innermost aggregate function
expression and uses the result to evaluate the outer aggregate function expression. You can set up an
Aggregator transformation that groups by ID and nests two aggregate functions as follows:
SUM( AVG( earnings ) )
where the dataset contains the following values:

42

ID

EARNINGS

32

45

100

65

75

76

21

Chapter 6: Functions

ID

EARNINGS

45

99

The return value is 186. The Data Integration Service groups by ID, evaluates the AVG expression, and
returns three values. Then it adds the values with the SUM function to get the result.

Aggregate Functions and Nulls

When you configure the Data Integration Service, you can choose how you want to handle null values in
aggregate functions. You can have the Data Integration Service treat null values in aggregate functions as
NULL or 0.
By default, the Data Integration Service treats null values as NULL in aggregate functions. If you pass an
entire port or group of null values, the function returns NULL. You can optionally configure the Data
Integration Service if you pass an entire port of null values to an aggregate function to return 0.

Filter Conditions
Use a filter condition to limit the rows returned in a search.
A filter limits the rows returned in a search. You can apply a filter condition to all aggregate functions and to
CUME, MOVINGAVG, and MOVINGSUM. The filter condition must evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. If the
filter condition evaluates to NULL or FALSE, the Data Integration Service does not select the row.
You can enter any valid transformation expression. For example, the following expression calculates the
median salary for all employees who make more than $50,000:
MEDIAN( SALARY, SALARY > 50000 )
You can also use other numeric values as the filter condition. For example, you can enter the following as the
complete syntax for the MEDIAN function, including a numeric port:
MEDIAN( PRICE, QUANTITY > 0 )
In all cases, the Data Integration Service rounds a decimal value to an integer (for example, 1.5 to 2, 1.2 to 1,
0.35 to 0) for the filter condition. If the value rounds to 0, the filter condition returns FALSE. If you do not want
to round up a value, use the TRUNC function to truncate the value to an integer:
MEDIAN( PRICE, TRUNC( QUANTITY ) > 0 )
If you omit the filter condition, the function selects all rows in the port.

Character Functions
The transformation language includes the following character functions:

ASCII

CHR

CHRCODE

CONCAT

INITCAP

INSTR

Function Categories

43

LENGTH

LOWER

LPAD

LTRIM

METAPHONE

REPLACECHR

REPLACESTR

RPAD

RTRIM

SOUNDEX

SUBSTR

UPPER

The character functions MAX, MIN, LOWER, UPPER, and INITCAP use the code page of the Data
Integration Service to evaluate character data.

Conversion Functions
The transformation language includes the following conversion functions:

TO_BIGINT

TO_CHAR(Number)

TO_DATE

TO_DECIMAL

TO_FLOAT

TO_INTEGER

Data Cleansing Functions

The transformation language includes a group of functions to eliminate data errors. You can complete the
following tasks with data cleansing functions:

Test input values.

Convert the datatype of an input value.

Trim string values.

Replace characters in a string.

Encode strings.

Match patterns in regular expressions.

The transformation language includes the following data cleansing functions:

44

GREATEST

IN

INSTR

IS_DATE

IS_NUMBER

Chapter 6: Functions

IS_SPACES

ISNULL

LEAST

LTRIM

METAPHONE

REG_EXTRACT

REG_MATCH

REG_REPLACE

REPLACECHR

REPLACESTR

RTRIM

SQL_LIKE

SOUNDEX

SUBSTR

TO_BIGINT

TO_CHAR

TO_DATE

TO_DECIMAL

TO_FLOAT

TO_INTEGER

Date Functions
The transformation language includes a group of date functions to round, truncate, or compare dates, extract
one part of a date, or perform arithmetic on a date.
You can pass any value with a date datatype to any of the date functions. However, if you want to pass a
string to a date function, you must first use the TO_DATE function to convert it to a transformation Date/Time
datatype.
The transformation language includes the following date functions:

ADD_TO_DATE

DATE_COMPARE

DATE_DIFF

GET_DATE_PART

IS_DATE

LAST_DAY

MAKE_DATE_TIME

MAX

MIN

ROUND(Date)

SET_DATE_PART

SYSTIMESTAMP

Function Categories

45

TO_CHAR(Date)

TRUNC(Date)

Several of the date functions include a format argument. You must specify one of the transformation
language format strings for this argument. Date format strings are not internationalized.
The Date/Time transformation datatype supports dates with precision to the nanosecond.

Related Topics:

Date Format Strings on page 32

Encoding Functions
The transformation language includes the following functions for data encryption, compression, encoding,
and checksum:

AES_DECRYPT

AES_ENCRYPT

COMPRESS

CRC32

DEC_BASE64

DECOMPRESS

ENC_BASE64

MD5

Financial Functions
The transformation language includes the following financial functions:

FV

NPER

PMT

PV

RATE

Numeric Functions
The transformation language includes the following numeric functions:

46

ABS

CEIL

CONV

CUME

EXP

FLOOR

LN

LOG

Chapter 6: Functions

MAX

MIN

MOD

MOVINGAVG

MOVINGSUM

POWER

RAND

ROUND

SIGN

SQRT

TRUNC

Scientific Functions
The transformation language includes the following scientific functions:

COS

COSH

SIN

SINH

TAN

TANH

Special Functions
The transformation language includes the following special functions:

ABORT

DECODE

ERROR

IIF

LOOKUP

UUID4

UUID_UNPARSE

Generally, you use special functions in Expression, Filter, and Update Strategy transformations. You can nest
other functions within special functions. You can also nest a special function in an aggregate function.

String Functions
The transformation language includes the following string functions:

CHOOSE

INDEXOF

MAX

MIN

Function Categories

47

REVERSE

Test Functions
The transformation language includes the following test functions:

ISNULL

IS_DATE

IS_NUMBER

IS_SPACES

ABORT
Stops the mapping run, and issues a specified error message to the log. When the Data Integration Service
encounters an ABORT function, it stops transforming data at that row. It processes any rows read before the
mapping run aborts. The Data Integration Service writes to the target up to the aborted row and then rolls
back all uncommitted data to the last commit point.
Use ABORT to validate data. Generally, you use ABORT within an IIF or DECODE function to set rules for
aborting a session.
Use the ABORT function for both input and output port default values. You might use ABORT for input ports
to keep null values from passing into a transformation. You can also use ABORT to handle any kind of
transformation error, including ERROR function calls within an expression. The default value overrides the
ERROR function in an expression. If you want to ensure the session stops when an error occurs, assign
ABORT as the default value.
If you use ABORT in an expression for an unconnected port, the Data Integration Service does not run the
ABORT function.

Syntax
ABORT( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

String. The message you want to display in the log when the mapping run stops. The
string can be any length. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
NULL.

ABS
Returns the absolute value of a numeric value.

48

Chapter 6: Functions

Syntax
ABS( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to return the absolute
values. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Positive numeric value. ABS returns the same datatype as the numeric value passed as an argument. If you
pass a Double, it returns a Double. Likewise, if you pass an Integer, it returns an Integer.
NULL if you pass a null value to the function.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Example
The following expression returns the difference between two numbers as a positive value, regardless of
which number is larger:
ABS( PRICE - COST )
PRICE

COST

RETURN VALUE

250

150

100

52

48

169.95

69.95

100

59.95

NULL

NULL

70

30

40

430

330

100

100

200

100

ADD_TO_DATE
Adds a specified amount to one part of a datetime value, and returns a date in the same format as the date
you pass to the function. ADD_TO_DATE accepts positive and negative integer values. Use ADD_TO_DATE
to change the following parts of a date:

Year. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use any of the year format strings: Y,
YY, YYY, or YYYY. The following expression adds 10 years to all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:
ADD_TO_DATE ( SHIP_DATE, 'YY', 10 )

ADD_TO_DATE

49

Month. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use any of the month format strings:
MM, MON, MONTH. The following expression subtracts 10 months from each date in the SHIP_DATE
port:
ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'MONTH', -10 )

Day. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use any of the day format strings: D,
DD, DDD, DY, and DAY. The following expression adds 10 days to each date in the SHIP_DATE port:
ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'DD', 10 )

Hour. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use any of the hour format strings:
HH, HH12, HH24. The following expression adds 14 hours to each date in the SHIP_DATE port:

Minute. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use the MI format string to set the
minute. The following expression adds 25 minutes to each date in the SHIP_DATE port:

ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'HH', 14 )

ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'MI', 25 )

Seconds. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use the SS format string to set the
second. The following expression adds 59 seconds to each date in the SHIP_DATE port:
ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'SS', 59 )

Milliseconds. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use the MS format string to
set the milliseconds. The following expression adds 125 milliseconds to each date in the SHIP_DATE
port:
ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'MS', 125 )

Microseconds. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use the US format string to
set the microseconds. The following expression adds 2,000 microseconds to each date in the SHIP_DATE
port:

Nanoseconds. Enter a positive or negative integer in the amount argument. Use the NS format string to
set the nanoseconds. The following expression adds 3,000,000 nanoseconds to each date in the
SHIP_DATE port:

ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'US', 2000 )

ADD_TO_DATE( SHIP_DATE, 'NS', 3000000 )

Syntax
ADD_TO_DATE( date, format, amount )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the values you want to change. You can enter any
valid transformation expression.

format

Required

A format string specifying the portion of the date value you want to change.
Enclose the format string within single quotation marks, for example, 'mm'. The
format string is not case sensitive.

amount

Required

An integer value specifying the amount of years, months, days, hours, and so on
by which you want to change the date value. You can enter any valid
transformation expression that evaluates to an integer.

Return Value
Date in the same format as the date you pass to this function.

50

Chapter 6: Functions

NULL if a null value is passed as an argument to the function.

Examples
The following expressions all add one month to each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port. If you pass a value
that creates a day that does not exist in a particular month, the Data Integration Service returns the last day
of the month. For example, if you add one month to Jan 31 1998, the Data Integration Service 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 )
ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON', 1 )
ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH', 1 )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 12 1998 12:00:30AM

Feb 12 1998 12:00:30AM

Jan 31 1998 6:24:45PM

Feb 28 1998 6:24:45PM

Jan 29 2000 5:32:12AM

Feb 29 2000 5:32:12AM

Oct 9 1998 2:30:12PM

Nov 9 1998 2:30:12PM

NULL

NULL

(Leap Year)

The following expressions subtract 10 days from each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ADD_TO_DATE(
ADD_TO_DATE(
ADD_TO_DATE(
ADD_TO_DATE(
ADD_TO_DATE(

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'D', -10 )
'DD', -10 )
'DDD', -10 )
'DY', -10 )
'DAY', -10 )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:30AM

Dec 22 1996 12:00AM

Jan 31 1997 6:24:45PM

Jan 21 1997 6:24:45PM

Mar 9 1996 5:32:12AM

Feb 29 1996 5:32:12AM

Oct 9 1997 2:30:12PM

Sep 30 1997 2:30:12PM

Mar 3 1996 5:12:20AM

Feb 22 1996 5:12:20AM

NULL

NULL

(Leap Year)

The following expressions subtract 15 hours from each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH', -15 )
ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH12', -15 )
ADD_TO_DATE( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH24', -15 )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:30AM

Dec 31 1996 9:00:30AM

ADD_TO_DATE

51

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 31 1997 6:24:45PM

Jan 31 1997 3:24:45AM

Oct 9 1997 2:30:12PM

Oct 8 1997 11:30:12PM

Mar 3 1996 5:12:20AM

Mar 2 1996 2:12:20PM

Mar 1 1996 5:32:12AM

Feb 29 1996 2:32:12PM

NULL

NULL

(Leap Year)

Working with Dates

Use the following tips when working with ADD_TO_DATE:

You can add or subtract any part of the date by specifying a format string and making the amount
argument a positive or negative integer.

If you pass a value that creates a day that does not exist in a particular month, the Data Integration
Service returns the last day of the month. For example, if you add one month to Jan 31 1998, the Data
Integration Service returns Feb 28 1998.

You can nest TRUNC and ROUND to manipulate dates.

You can nest TO_DATE to convert strings to dates.

ADD_TO_DATE changes only one portion of the date, which you specify. If you modify a date so that it
changes from standard to daylight savings time, you need to change the hour portion of the date.

AES_DECRYPT
Returns decrypted data to string format. The Data Integration Service uses Advanced Encryption Standard
(AES) algorithm with 128-bit encoding. The AES algorithm is a FIPS-approved cryptographic algorithm.

Syntax
AES_DECRYPT ( value, key )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Binary datatype. Value you want to decrypt.

key

Required

String datatype. Precision of 16 characters or fewer. You can use mapping

variables for the key. Use the same key to decrypt a value that you used to
encrypt it.

Return Value
Decrypted binary value.
NULL if the input value is a null value.

52

Chapter 6: Functions

Example
The following example returns decrypted social security numbers. In this example, the Data Integration
Service derives the key from the first three numbers of the social security number using the SUBSRT
function:
AES_DECRYPT( SSN_ENCRYPT, SUBSTR( SSN,1,3 ))
SSN_ENCRYPT

DECRYPTED VALUE

07FB945926849D2B1641E708C85E4390

832-17-1672

9153ACAB89D65A4B81AD2ABF151B099D

832-92-4731

AF6B5E4E39F974B3F3FB0F22320CC60B

832-46-7552

992D6A5D91E7F59D03B940A4B1CBBCBE

832-53-6194

992D6A5D91E7F59D03B940A4B1CBBCBE

832-81-9528

AES_ENCRYPT
Returns data in encrypted format. The Data Integration Service uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
algorithm with 128-bit encoding. The AES algorithm is a FIPS-approved cryptographic algorithm.
Use this function to prevent sensitive data from being visible to everyone. For example, to store social
security numbers in a data warehouse, use the AES_ENCRYPT function to encrypt the social security
numbers to maintain confidentiality.

Syntax
AES_ENCRYPT ( value, key )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String datatype. Value you want to encrypt.

key

Required

String datatype. Precision of 16 characters or fewer. You can use mapping

variables for the key.

Return Value
Encrypted binary value.
NULL if the input is a null value.

AES_ENCRYPT

53

Example
The following example returns encrypted values for social security numbers. In this example, the Data
Integration Service derives the key from the first three numbers of the social security number using the
SUBSTR function:
AES_ENCRYPT( SSN, SUBSTR( SSN,1,3 ))
SSN

ENCRYPTED VALUE

832-17-1672

07FB945926849D2B1641E708C85E4390

832-92-4731

9153ACAB89D65A4B81AD2ABF151B099D

832-46-7552

AF6B5E4E39F974B3F3FB0F22320CC60B

832-53-6194

992D6A5D91E7F59D03B940A4B1CBBCBE

832-81-9528

992D6A5D91E7F59D03B940A4B1CBBCBE

Tip
If the target does not support binary data, use AES_ENCRYPT with the ENC_BASE64 function to store the
data in a format compatible with the database.

ANY
Returns any row in the selected port. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the rows the Data Integration
Service reads. You can nest only one other aggregate function within ANY.

Syntax
ANY( value [, filter_condition ] )
The following table describes the arguments for this function:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any data type except Binary. Passes the values for which you want to return
any row. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Any row in a port. Returns a different row each time.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected. For example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows.

54

Chapter 6: Functions

Example
The following expression returns any row in the ITEM_NAME port with a price greater than $10.00:
ANY( ITEM_NAME, ITEM_PRICE > 10 )
ITEM_NAME

ITEM_PRICE

Flashlight

35.00

Navigation Compass

8.05

Regulator System

150.00

Flashlight

29.00

Depth/Pressure Gauge

88.00

Vest

31.00

RETURN VALUE:Flashlight

ASCII
When the Data Integration Service uses ASCII mode, the ASCII function returns the numeric ASCII value of
the first character of the string passed to the function.
When the Data Integration Service uses Unicode mode, the ASCII function returns the numeric Unicode
value of the first character of the string passed to the function. Unicode values fall in the range 0 to 65,535.
You can pass a string of any size to ASCII, but it evaluates only the first character in the string. Before you
pass any string value to ASCII, you can parse out the specific character you want to convert to an ASCII or
Unicode value. For example, you might use RTRIM or another string-manipulation function. If you pass a
numeric value, ASCII converts it to a character string and returns the ASCII or Unicode value of the first
character in the string.
This function is identical in behavior to the CHRCODE function. If you use ASCII in existing expressions, they
will still work correctly. However, when you create new expressions, use the CHRCODE function instead of
the ASCII function.

Syntax
ASCII ( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Character string. Passes the value you want to return as an ASCII value. You
can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Integer. The ASCII or Unicode value of the first character in the string.

ASCII

55

NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the ASCII or Unicode value for the first character of each value in the
ITEMS port:
ASCII( ITEMS )
ITEMS

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

70

Compass

67

Safety Knife

83

Depth/Pressure Gauge

68

Regulator System

82

AVG
Returns the average of all values in a group of rows. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the rows you
read to calculate the average. You can nest only one other aggregate function within AVG, and the nested
function must return a Numeric datatype.

Syntax
AVG( numeric_value [, filter_condition ] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to calculate an
average. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected. For example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a value is NULL, AVG ignores the row. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, AVG returns
NULL.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Group By
AVG groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is not a group by port, AVG treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the average wholesale cost of flashlights:
AVG( WHOLESALE_COST, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' )
ITEM_NAME

WHOLESALE_COST

Flashlight

35.00

Navigation Compass

8.05

Regulator System

150.00

Flashlight

29.00

Depth/Pressure Gauge

88.00

Flashlight

31.00
RETURN VALUE: 31.66

Tip
You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to AVG before the function calculates the average. For
example:
AVG( QTY * PRICE - DISCOUNT )

CEIL
Returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to the numeric value passed to this function. For example,
if you pass 3.14 to CEIL, the function returns 4. If you pass 3.98 to CEIL, the function returns 4. Likewise, if
you pass -3.17 to CEIL, the function returns -3.

Syntax
CEIL( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric data type. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.

CEIL

57

Double value if you pass a numeric value with declared precision greater than 38.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the price rounded to the next integer:
CEIL( PRICE )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

39.79

40

125.12

126

74.24

75

NULL

NULL

-100.99

-100

Tip: You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to CEIL before CEIL returns the next integer value. For
example, if you want to multiply a numeric value by 10 before you calculated the smallest integer greater than
the modified value, you might write the function as follows:
CEIL( PRICE * 10 )

CHOOSE
Chooses a string from a list of strings based on a given position. You specify the position and the value. If the
value matches the position, the Data Integration Service returns the value.

Syntax
CHOOSE( index, string1 [, string2, ..., stringN] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
index

Required

Numeric datatype. Enter a number based on the position of the value you want to
match.

string

Required

Any character value.

Return Value
The string that matches the position of the index value.
NULL if no string matches the position of the index value.

Example
The following expression returns the string flashlight based on an index value of 2:
CHOOSE( 2, 'knife', 'flashlight', 'diving hood' )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following expression returns NULL based on an index value of 4:

CHOOSE( 4, 'knife', 'flashlight', 'diving hood' )
CHOOSE returns NULL because the expression does not contain a fourth argument.

CHR
When the Data Integration Service uses ASCII mode, CHR returns the ASCII character corresponding to the
numeric value you pass to this function. ASCII values fall in the range 0 to 255. You can pass any integer to
CHR, but only ASCII codes 32 to 126 are printable characters.
When the Data Integration Service uses Unicode mode, CHR returns the Unicode character corresponding to
the numeric value you pass to this function. Unicode values fall in the range 0 to 65,535.

Syntax
CHR( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. The value you want to return as an ASCII or Unicode

character. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
ASCII or Unicode character. A string containing one character.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the ASCII or Unicode character for each numeric value in the ITEM_ID port:
CHR( ITEM_ID )
ITEM_ID

RETURN VALUE

65

122

NULL

NULL

88

100

71

Use the CHR function to concatenate a single quote onto a string. The single quote is the only character that
you cannot use inside a string literal. Consider the following example:
'Joan' || CHR(39) || 's car'

CHR

59

The return value is:

Joan's car

CHRCODE
When the Data Integration Service uses ASCII mode, CHRCODE returns the numeric ASCII value of the first
character of the string passed to the function. ASCII values fall in the range 0 to 255.
When the Data Integration Service uses Unicode mode, CHRCODE returns the numeric Unicode value of the
first character of the string passed to the function. Unicode values fall in the range 0 to 65,535.
Normally, before you pass any string value to CHRCODE, you parse out the specific character you want to
convert to an ASCII or Unicode value. For example, you might use RTRIM or another string-manipulation
function. If you pass a numeric value, CHRCODE converts it to a character string and returns the ASCII or
Unicode value of the first character in the string.
This function is identical in behavior to the ASCII function. If you currently use ASCII in expressions, it will
still work correctly. However, when you create new expressions, use the CHRCODE function instead of the
ASCII function.

Syntax
CHRCODE ( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Character string. Passes the values you want to return as ASCII or Unicode
values. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Integer.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the ASCII or Unicode value for the first character of each value in the
ITEMS port:
CHRCODE( ITEMS )

60

ITEMS

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

70

Compass

67

Safety Knife

83

Depth/Pressure Gauge

68

Regulator System

82

Chapter 6: Functions

COMPRESS
Compresses data using the zlib 1.2.1 compression algorithm. Use the COMPRESS function before you send
large amounts of data over a wide area network.

Syntax
COMPRESS( value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String datatype. Data that you want to compress.

Return Value
Compressed binary value of the input value.
NULL if the input is a null value.

Example
Your organization has an online order service. You want to send customer order data over a wide area
network. The source contains a row that is 10 MB. You can compress the data in this row using COMPRESS.
When you compress the data, you decrease the amount of data the Data Integration Service writes over the
network. As a result, you may increase performance.

CONCAT
Concatenates two strings. CONCAT converts all data to text before concatenating the strings. Alternatively,
use the || string operator to concatenate strings. Using the || string operator instead of CONCAT improves
Data Integration Service performance.

Syntax
CONCAT( first_string, second_string )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
first_string

Required

Any datatype except Binary. The first part of the string you want to
concatenate. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

second_string

Required

Any datatype except Binary. The second part of the string you want to
concatenate. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
String.
NULL if both string values are NULL.

COMPRESS

61

Nulls
If one of the strings is NULL, CONCAT ignores it and returns the other string.
If both strings are NULL, CONCAT returns NULL.

Example
The following expression concatenates the names in the FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME ports:
CONCAT( FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME )
FIRST_NAME

LAST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

John

Baer

JohnBaer

NULL

Campbell

Campbell

Bobbi

Apperley

BobbiApperley

Jason

Wood

JasonWood

Dan

Covington

DanCovington

Greg

NULL

Greg

NULL

NULL

NULL

100

200

100200

CONCAT does not add spaces to separate strings. If you want to add a space between two strings, you can
write an expression with two nested CONCAT functions. For example, the following expression first
concatenates a space on the end of the first name and then concatenates the last name:
CONCAT( CONCAT( FIRST_NAME, ' ' ), LAST_NAME )
FIRST_NAME

LAST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

John

Baer

John Baer

NULL

Campbell

Bobbi

Apperley

Bobbi Apperley

Jason

Wood

Jason Wood

Dan

Covington

Dan Covington

Greg

NULL

Greg

NULL

NULL

NULL

Campbell (includes leading blank)

Use the CHR and CONCAT functions to concatenate a single quote onto a string. The single quote is the
only character you cannot use inside a string literal. Consider the following example:
CONCAT( 'Joan', CONCAT( CHR(39), 's car' ))
The return value is:
Joan's car

62

Chapter 6: Functions

CONVERT_BASE
Converts a non-negative numeric string from one base value to another base value.

Syntax
CONVERT_BASE( value, source_base, dest_base )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String datatype. Value you want to convert from one base to another base.
Maximum is 9,233,372,036,854,775,806.

source_base

Required

Numeric datatype. Current base value of the data you want to convert.
Minimum base is 2. Maximum base is 36.

dest_base

Required

Numeric datatype. Base value you want to convert the data to. Minimum base is
2. Maximum base is 36.

Return Value
Numeric value.

Example
The following example converts 2222 from the decimal base value 10 to the binary base value 2:
CONVERT_BASE( "2222", 10, 2 )
The Data Integration Service returns 100010101110.

COS
Returns the cosine of a numeric value (expressed in radians).

Syntax
COS( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by pi

divided by 180). Passes the values for which you want to calculate a cosine.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

CONVERT_BASE

63

Example
The following expression returns the cosine for all values in the Degrees port:
COS( DEGREES * 3.14159265359 / 180 )
DEGREES

RETURN VALUE

1.0

90

0.0

70

0.342020143325593

30

0.866025403784421

0.996194698091745

18

0.951056516295147

89

0.0174524064371813

NULL

NULL

Tip: You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to COS before the function calculates the cosine. For
example, you can convert the values in the port to radians before calculating the cosine, as follows:
COS( ARCS * 3.14159265359 / 180 )

COSH
Returns the hyperbolic cosine of a numeric value (expressed in radians).

Syntax
COSH( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by

pi divided by 180). Passes the values for which you want to calculate the
hyperbolic cosine. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

64

Chapter 6: Functions

Example
The following expression returns the hyperbolic cosine for the values in the Angles port:
COSH( ANGLES )
ANGLES

RETURN VALUE

1.0

1.54308063481524

2.897

9.0874465864177

3.66

19.4435376920294

5.45

116.381231106176

1.0

0.345

1.06010513656773

NULL

NULL

Tip: You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to COSH before the function calculates the hyperbolic
cosine. For example:
COSH( MEASURES.ARCS / 360 )

COUNT
Returns the number of rows that have non-null values in a group. Optionally, you can include the asterisk (*)
argument to count all input values in a transformation. You can nest only one other aggregate function within
COUNT. You can apply a condition to filter rows before counting them.

Syntax
COUNT( value [, filter_condition] )
or
COUNT( * [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Passes the values you want to count. You can
enter any valid transformation expression.

Optional

Use to count all rows in a transformation.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

COUNT

65

Return Value
Integer.
0 if all values passed to this function are NULL (unless you include the asterisk argument).

Nulls
If all values are NULL, the function returns 0.
If you apply the asterisk argument, this function counts all rows, regardless if a column in a row contains a
null value.
If you apply the value argument, this function ignores columns with null values.

Group By
COUNT groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for
each group. If there is no group by port COUNT treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Examples
The following expression counts the items with less than 5 quantity in stock, excluding null values:
COUNT( ITEM_NAME, IN_STOCK < 5 )
ITEM_NAME

IN_STOCK

Flashlight

10

NULL

Compass

NULL

Regulator System

Safety Knife

Halogen Flashlight

RETURN VALUE: 1
In this example, the function counted the Halogen flashlight but not the NULL item. The function counts all
rows in a transformation, including null values, as illustrated in the following example:
COUNT( *, QTY < 5 )

66

ITEM_NAME

QTY

Flashlight

10

NULL

Compass

NULL

Regulator System

Safety Knife

Chapter 6: Functions

ITEM_NAME

QTY

Halogen Flashlight

RETURN VALUE: 2
In this example, the function counts the NULL item and the Halogen Flashlight. If you include the asterisk
argument, but do not use a filter, the function counts all rows that pass into the transformation. For example:
COUNT( * )
ITEM_NAME

QTY

Flashlight

10

NULL

Compass

NULL

Regulator System

Safety Knife

Halogen Flashlight

RETURN VALUE: 6

CRC32
Returns a 32-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC32) value. Use CRC32 to find data transmission errors. You
can also use CRC32 if you want to verify that data stored in a file has not been modified.
If you use CRC32 to perform a redundancy check on data in ASCII mode and Unicode mode, the Data
Integration Service might generate different results on the same input value. If you use CRC32 to perform a
redundancy check on data on different operating systems, the Data Integration Service might generate
different results on the same input value.
Note: CRC32 can return the same output for different input strings. If you want to generate keys in a
mapping, use a Sequence Generator transformation. If you use CRC32 to generate keys in a mapping, you
might receive unexpected results.

Syntax
CRC32( value )

CRC32

67

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String or Binary datatype. Passes the values you want to perform a redundancy
check on. Input value is case sensitive. The case of the input value affects the
return value. For example, CRC32(informatica) and CRC32 (Informatica) return
different values.

Return Value
32-bit integer value.

Example
You want to read data from a source across a wide area network. You want to make sure the data has been
modified during transmission. You can compute the checksum for the data in the file and store it along with
the file. When you read the source data, the Data Integration Service can use CRC32 to compute the
checksum and compare it to the stored value. If the two values are the same, the data has not been modified.

CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ
Construct a Timestamp with Time Zone data type from the timestamp and time zone values.
The output port must be timestampWithTZ for CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ expressions.

Syntax
CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ (timestamp_value, timezone_value)
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
timestamp_val
ue

Required

Date/Time datatype. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

timezone_valu
e

Required

Must be a string data type. The string must be a character string. Passes the
values you want to create for time zone. You can enter any valid transformation
expression as defined in the time zone file present in the install location.

Return Value
Returns a timestamp with time zone data type.
NULL if the input is a null value.

68

Chapter 6: Functions

Example
INPUT VALUE

RETURN VALUE

1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM,

'America/Los_Angeles'

1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM
America/Los_Angeles'

1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM,

'-08:00'

1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM -08:00'

CUME
Returns a running total. A running total means CUME returns a total each time it adds a value. You can add a
condition to filter rows out of the row set before calculating the running total.
Use CUME and similar functions (such as MOVINGAVG and MOVINGSUM) to simplify reporting by
calculating running values.

Syntax
CUME( numeric_value [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to calculate a running
total. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You can create a
nested expression to calculate a running total based on the results of the
function as long as the result is a numeric value.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a value is NULL, CUME returns the running total for the previous row. However, if all values in the selected
port are NULL, CUME returns NULL.

CUME

69

Examples
The following sample rowset might result from using the CUME function:
CUME( PERSONAL_SALES )
PERSONAL_SALES

RETURN VALUE

40000

40000

80000

120000

40000

160000

60000

220000

NULL

220000

50000

270000

Likewise, you can add values before calculating a running total:

CUME( CA_SALES + OR_SALES )
CA_SALES

OR_SALES

RETURN VALUE

40000

10000

50000

80000

50000

180000

40000

2000

222000

60000

NULL

222000

NULL

NULL

222000

50000

3000

275000

DATE_COMPARE
Returns an integer indicating which of two dates is earlier. DATE_COMPARE returns an integer value rather
than a date value.

Syntax
DATE_COMPARE( date1, date2 )

70

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date1

Required

Date/Time datatype. The first date you want to compare. You can enter any valid
transformation expression as long as it evaluates to a date.

date2

Required

Date/Time datatype. The second date you want to compare. You can enter any
valid transformation expression as long as it evaluates to a date.

Return Value
-1 if the first date is earlier.
0 if the two dates are equal.
1 if the second date is earlier.
NULL if one of the date values is NULL.

Example
The following expression compares each date in the DATE_PROMISED and DATE_SHIPPED ports, and
returns an integer indicating which date is earlier:
DATE_COMPARE( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED )
DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997

Jan 13 1997

-1

Feb 1 1997

Feb 1 1997

Dec 22 1997

Dec 15 1997

Feb 29 1996

Apr 12 1996

-1

NULL

Jan 6 1997

NULL

Jan 13 1997

NULL

NULL

(Leap year)

DATE_DIFF
Returns the length of time between two dates. You can request the format to be years, months, days, hours,
minutes, seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds. The Data Integration Service subtracts the
second date from the first date and returns the difference.
The Data Integration Service calculates the DATE_DIFF function based on the number of months instead of
the number of days. It calculates the date differences for partial months with the days selected in each
month. To calculate the date difference for the partial month, the Data Integration Service adds the days used
within the month. It then divides the value with the total number of days in the selected month.
The Data Integration Service gives a different value for the same period in the leap year period and a nonleap year period. The difference occurs when February is part of the DATE_DIFF function. The DATE_DIFF
divides the days with 29 for February for a leap year and 28 if it is not a leap year.

DATE_DIFF

71

For example, you want to calculate the number of months from September 13 to February 19. In a leap year
period, the DATE_DIFF function calculates the month of February as 19/29 months or 0.655 months. In a
non-leap year period, the DATE_DIFF function calculates the month of February as 19/28 months or 0.678
months. The Data Integration Service similarly calculates the difference in the dates for the remaining months
and the DATE_DIFF function returns the totaled value for the specified period.
Note: Some databases might use a different algorithm to calculate the difference in dates.

Syntax
DATE_DIFF( date1, date2, format )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date1

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the values for the first date you want to compare.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

date2

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the values for the second date you want to
compare. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

format

Required

Format string specifying the date or time measurement. You can specify years,
months, days, hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, or
nanoseconds. You can specify only one part of the date, such as 'mm'. Enclose
the format strings within single quotation marks. The format string is not case
sensitive. For example, the format string 'mm' is the same as 'MM', 'Mm' or 'mM'.

Return Value
Double value. If date1 is later than date2, the return value is a positive number. If date1 is earlier than date2,
the return value is a negative number.
0 if the dates are the same.
NULL if one (or both) of the date values is NULL.

Examples
The following expressions return the number of hours between the DATE_PROMISED and DATE_SHIPPED
ports:
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH12' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH24' )

72

DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

-2100

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

2100

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

NULL

Chapter 6: Functions

DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jun 3 1997 1:13:46PM

Aug 23 1996 4:20:16PM

6812.89166666667

Feb 19 2004 12:00:00PM

Feb 19 2005 12:00:00PM

-8784

The following expressions return the number of days between the DATE_PROMISED and the
DATE_SHIPPED ports:
DATE_DIFF(
DATE_DIFF(
DATE_DIFF(
DATE_DIFF(
DATE_DIFF(

DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'D' )
'DD' )
'DDD' )
'DY' )
'DAY' )

DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

-87.5

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

87.5

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

NULL

Jun 3 1997 1:13:46PM

Aug 23 1996 4:20:16PM

283.870486111111

Feb 19 2004 12:00:00PM

Feb 19 2005 12:00:00PM

-366

The following expressions return the number of months between the DATE_PROMISED and
DATE_SHIPPED ports:
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH' )
DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

-2.91935483870968

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

2.91935483870968

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

NULL

Jun 3 1997 1:13:46PM

Aug 23 1996 4:20:16PM

9.3290162037037

Feb 19 2004 12:00:00PM

Feb 19 2005 12:00:00PM

-12

The following expressions return the number of years between the DATE_PROMISED and DATE_SHIPPED
ports:
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'Y' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'YY' )

DATE_DIFF

73

DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'YYY' )

DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'YYYY' )
DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

-0.24327956989247

Mar 29 1997 12:00:00PM

Jan 1 1997 12:00:00AM

0.24327956989247

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

Dec 10 1997 5:55:10PM

NULL

NULL

Jun 3 1997 1:13:46PM

Aug 23 1996 4:20:16PM

0.77741801697531

Feb 19 2004 12:00:00PM

Feb 19 2005 12:00:00PM

-1

The following expressions return the number of months between the DATE_PROMISED and
DATE_SHIPPED ports:
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' )
DATE_DIFF( DATE_PROMISED, DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH' )
DATE_PROMISED

DATE_SHIPPED

LEAP YEAR VALUE

(in Months)

NON-LEAP YEAR VALUE

(in Months)

Sept 13

Feb 19

-5.237931034

-5.260714286

NULL

Feb 19

NULL

N/A

Sept 13

NULL

NULL

N/A

DEC_BASE64
Decodes a base 64 encoded value and returns a string with the binary data representation of the data. If you
encode data using ENC_BASE64, and you want to decode data using DEC_BASE64, you must run the
mapping using the same data movement mode. Otherwise, the output of the decoded data may differ from
the original data.

Syntax
DEC_BASE64( value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Return Value
Binary decoded value.

74

Chapter 6: Functions

String datatype. Data that you want to decode.

NULL if the input is a null value.

Return values differ if the mapping runs in Unicode mode versus ASCII mode.

DECODE
Searches a port for a value you specify. If the function finds the value, it returns a result value, which you
define. You can build an unlimited number of searches within a DECODE function.
If you use DECODE to search for a value in a string port, you can either trim trailing blanks with the RTRIM
function or include the blanks in the search string.

Syntax
DECODE( value, first_search, first_result [, second_search, second_result]...
[,default] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Passes the values you want to search. You can
enter any valid transformation expression.

search

Required

Any value with the same datatype as the value argument. Passes the values for
which you want to search. The search value must match the value argument.
You cannot search for a portion of a value. Also, the search value is case
sensitive.
For example, if you want to search for the string 'Halogen Flashlight' in a
particular port, you must enter 'Halogen Flashlight, not just 'Halogen'. If you enter
'Halogen', the search does not find a matching value. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

result

Required

Any datatype except Binary. The value you want to return if the search finds a
matching value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

default

Optional

Any datatype except Binary. The value you want to return if the search does not
find a matching value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
First_result if the search finds a matching value.
Default value if the search does not find a matching value.
NULL if you omit the default argument and the search does not find a matching value.
Even if multiple conditions are met, the Data Integration Service returns the first matching result.
If the data contains multibyte characters and the DECODE expression compares string data, the return value
depends on the code page and data movement mode of the Data Integration Service.

DECODE and Datatypes

When you use DECODE, the datatype of the return value is always the same as the datatype of the result
with the greatest precision.

DECODE

75

For example, you have the following expression:

DECODE ( CONST_NAME
'Five', 5,
'Pythagoras', 1.414213562,
'Archimedes', 3.141592654,
'Pi', 3.141592654 )
The return values in this expression are 5, 1.414213562, and 3.141592654. The first result is an Integer, and
the other results are Decimal. The Decimal datatype has greater precision than Integer. This expression
always writes the result as a Decimal.
When you run a mapping in high precision mode, if at least one result is Double, the datatype of the return
value is Double.
You cannot create a DECODE function with both string and numeric return values.
For example, the following expression is invalid:
DECODE ( CONST_NAME
'Five', 5,
'Pythagoras', '1.414213562',
'Archimedes', '3.141592654',
'Pi', 3.141592654 )
When you validate the expression above, you receive the following error message:
Function cannot resolve operands of ambiguously mismatching datatypes.

Examples
You 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

RETURN VALUE

10

Flashlight

14

Regulator

17

NONE

20

Knife

25

NONE

NULL

NONE

40

Tank

DECODE returns the default value of NONE for items 17 and 25 because the search values did not match
the ITEM_ID. Also, DECODE returns NONE for the NULL ITEM_ID.
The following expression tests multiple columns and conditions, evaluated in a top to bottom order for TRUE
or FALSE:
DECODE( TRUE,
Var1 = 22, 'Variable 1 was 22!',
Var2 = 49, 'Variable 2 was 49!',
Var1 < 23, 'Variable 1 was less than 23.',

76

Chapter 6: Functions

Var2 > 30, 'Variable 2 was more than 30.',

'Variables were out of desired ranges.')
Var1

Var2

RETURN VALUE

21

47

Variable 1 was less than 23.

22

49

Variable 1 was 22!

23

49

Variable 2 was 49!

24

27

Variables were out of desired ranges.

25

50

Variable 2 was more than 30.

DECOMPRESS
Decompresses data using the zlib 1.2.1 compression algorithm. Use the DECOMPRESS function on data
that has been compressed with the COMPRESS function or a compression tool that uses the zlib 1.2.1
algorithm. If the mapping that decompresses the data uses a different data movement mode than the
mapping that compressed the data, the output of the decompressed data may differ from the original data.

Syntax
DECOMPRESS( value, precision )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Binary datatype. Data that you want to decompress.

precision

Optional

Integer datatype.

Return Value
Decompressed binary value of the input value.
NULL if the input is a null value.

ENC_BASE64
Encodes data by converting binary data to string data using Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
encoding. Encode data when you want to store data in a database or file that does not allow binary data. You
can also encode data to pass binary data through transformations in string format. The encoded data is
approximately 33% longer than the original data. It displays as a set of random characters.

Syntax
ENC_BASE64( value )

DECOMPRESS

77

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Binary or String datatype. Data that you want to encode.

Return Value
Encoded value.
NULL if the input is a null value.

ERROR
Causes the Data Integration Service to skip a row and issue an error message, which you define. The error
message displays in the log. The Data Integration Service does not write these skipped rows to the reject file.
Use ERROR in Expression transformations to validate data. Generally, you use ERROR within an IIF or
DECODE function to set rules for skipping rows.
Use the ERROR function for both input and output port default values. You might use ERROR for input ports
to keep null values from passing into a transformation.
Use ERROR for output ports to handle any kind of transformation error, including ERROR function calls
within an expression. When you use the ERROR function in an expression and in the output port default
value, the Data Integration Service skips the row and logs both the error message from the expression and
the error message from the default value. If you want to ensure the Data Integration Service skips rows that
produce an error, assign ERROR as the default value.
If you use an output default value other than ERROR, the default value overrides the ERROR function in an
expression. For example, you use the ERROR function in an expression, and you assign the default value,
1234, to the output port. Each time the Data Integration Service encounters the ERROR function in the
expression, it overrides the error with the value 1234 and passes 1234 to the next transformation. It does
not skip the row, and it does not log an error in the log.

Syntax
ERROR( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Return Value
String.

78

Chapter 6: Functions

Required

String value. The message you want to display when the Integration Service
skips a row based on the expression containing the ERROR function. The string
can be any length.

Example
The following example shows how to reference a mapping that calculates the average salary for employees
in all departments of the organization, but skip negative values. The following expression nests the ERROR
function in an IIF expression so that if the Data Integration Service 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.'

NULL

NULL

150000

150000

1005

1005

EXP
Returns e raised to the specified power (exponent), where e=2.71828183. For example, EXP(2) returns
7.38905609893065. You might use this function to analyze scientific and technical data rather than business
data. EXP is the reciprocal of the LN function, which returns the natural logarithm of a numeric value.

Syntax
EXP( exponent )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
exponent

Required

Numeric datatype. The value to which you want to raise e. The exponent in the
equation e^value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed as an argument to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression uses the values stored in the Numbers port as the exponent value:
EXP( NUMBERS )
NUMBERS

RETURN VALUE

10

22026.4657948067

EXP

79

NUMBERS

RETURN VALUE

-2

0.135335283236613

8.55

5166.754427176

NULL

NULL

FIRST
Returns the first value found within a port or group. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the rows the Data
Integration Service reads. You can nest only one other aggregate function within FIRST.

Syntax
FIRST( value [, filter_condition ] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Passes the values for which you want to return
the first value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
First value in a group.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter condition
evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a value is NULL, FIRST ignores the row. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, FIRST
returns NULL.

Group By
FIRST groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, FIRST treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

80

Chapter 6: Functions

Examples
The following expression returns the first value in the ITEM_NAME port with a price greater than $10.00:
FIRST( ITEM_NAME, ITEM_PRICE > 10 )
ITEM_NAME

ITEM_PRICE

Flashlight

35.00

Navigation Compass

8.05

Regulator System

150.00

Flashlight

29.00

Depth/Pressure Gauge

88.00

Flashlight

31.00

RETURN VALUE:

Flashlight

The following expression returns the first value in the ITEM_NAME port with a price greater than $40.00:
FIRST( ITEM_NAME, ITEM_PRICE > 40 )
ITEM_NAME

ITEM_PRICE

Flashlight

35.00

Navigation Compass

8.05

Regulator System

150.00

Flashlight

29.00

Depth/Pressure Gauge

88.00

Flashlight

31.00

RETURN VALUE:

Regulator System

FLOOR
Returns the largest integer less than or equal to the numeric value you pass to this function. For example, if
you pass 3.14 to FLOOR, the function returns 3. If you pass 3.98 to FLOOR, the function returns 3. Likewise,
if you pass -3.17 to FLOOR, the function returns -4.

Syntax
FLOOR( numeric_value )

FLOOR

81

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. You can enter any valid transformation expression as long
as it evaluates to numeric data.

Return Value
Integer if you pass a numeric value with declared precision between 0 and 28.
Double if you pass a numeric value with declared precision greater than 28.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the largest integer less than or equal to the values in the PRICE port:
FLOOR( PRICE )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

39.79

39

125.12

125

74.24

74

NULL

NULL

-100.99

-101

Tip: You can perform arithmetic on the values you pass to FLOOR. For example, to multiply a numeric value
by 10 and then calculate the largest integer that is less than the product, you might write the function as
follows:
FLOOR( UNIT_PRICE * 10 )

FV
Returns the future value of an investment, where you make periodic, constant payments and the investment
earns a constant interest rate.

Syntax
FV( rate, terms, payment [, present value, type] )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
rate

Required

Numeric. Interest rate earned in each period. Expressed as a decimal

number. Divide the percent rate by 100 to express it as a decimal number.
Must be greater than or equal to 0.

terms

Required

Numeric. Number of periods or payments. Must be greater than 0.

payment

Required

Numeric. Payment amount due per period. Must be a negative number

present value

Optional

Numeric. Current value of the investment. If you omit this argument, FV uses
0.

type

Optional

Integer. Timing of the payment. Enter 1 if payment is at the beginning of

period. Enter 0 if payment is at the end of period. Default is 0. If you enter a
value other than 0 or 1, the Data Integration Service treats the value as 1.

Return Value
Numeric.

Example
You deposit $2,000 into an account that earns 9% annual interest compounded monthly (monthly interest of
9%/12, or 0.75%). You plan to deposit $250 at the beginning of every month for the next 12 months. The
following expression returns $5,337.96 as the account balance at the end of 12 months:
FV(0.0075, 12, -250, -2000, TRUE)

Notes
To calculate interest rate earned in each period, divide the annual rate by the number of payments made in a
year. The payment value and present value are negative because these are amounts that you pay.

GET_DATE_PART
Returns the specified part of a date as an integer value. Therefore, if you create an expression that returns
the month portion of the date, and pass a date such as Apr 1 1997 00:00:00, GET_DATE_PART returns 4.

Syntax
GET_DATE_PART( date, format )

GET_DATE_PART

83

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

format

Required

A format string specifying the portion of the date value you want to return.
Enclose format strings within single quotation marks, for example, 'mm'. The
format string is not case sensitive. Each format string returns the entire part of
the date based on the date format specified in the mapping.
For example, if you pass the date Apr 1 1997 to GET_DATE_PART, the format
strings 'Y', 'YY', 'YYY', or 'YYYY' all return 1997.

Return Value
Integer representing the specified part of the date.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples
The following expressions return the hour for each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port. 12:00:00AM returns 0
because the default date format is based on the 24 hour interval:
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH' )
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH12' )
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH24' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Mar 13 1997 12:00:00AM

Sep 2 1997 2:00:01AM

Aug 22 1997 12:00:00PM

12

June 3 1997 11:30:44PM

23

NULL

NULL

The following expressions return the day for each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(

84

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'D' )
'DD' )
'DDD' )
'DY' )
'DAY' )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Mar 13 1997 12:00:00AM

13

June 3 1997 11:30:44PM

Aug 22 1997 12:00:00PM

22

NULL

NULL

Chapter 6: Functions

The following expressions return the month for each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' )
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' )
GET_DATE_PART( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Mar 13 1997 12:00:00AM

June 3 1997 11:30:44PM

NULL

NULL

The following expression return the year for each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(
GET_DATE_PART(

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'Y' )
'YY' )
'YYY' )
'YYYY' )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Mar 13 1997 12:00:00AM

1997

June 3 1997 11:30:44PM

1997

NULL

NULL

GET_TIMEZONE
Returns the time zone value from a given timestamp with time zone column.
For example:
String TimeZone = GET_TIMEZONE (timestampWithTZ);
The output port must be of the String data type for the GET_TIMEZONE expressions.

Syntax
GET_TIMEZONE (timestamp_with_timezone_value)
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
timestamp_wit
h_timezone_v
alue

Required

Must be a timestamp with time zone data type. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

Return Value
Returns a String data type containing the time zone region name or a time zone offset.
NULL if the input is a null value.

GET_TIMEZONE

85

Example
INPUT VALUE

RETURN VALUE

1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111111 AM America/Los_Angeles

AMERICA/LOS_ANGELES'

'1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111111 AM -08:00'

-08:00'

GET_TIMESTAMP
Returns the date/time value for a timestampWithTZ input type. The date/time returned will be in the
requested time zone, which can be provided as the second argument. If the time zone value is not specified
in the second argument, the function returns the timestamp part of the input timestampWithTZ value.
For example:
GET_TIMESTAMP(Timestamp with Time Zone,+08:30)
The first argument, timestamp with time zone has (+05:30) as the time zone value. The function returns the
timestamp in the time zone specified as the second argument, (+08:30).
The output port must be date/time for GET_TIMESTAMP expressions.

Syntax
GET_TIMESTAMP (timestamp_with_timezone_value, [timezone_value])
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
timestamp_wit
h_timezone_v
alue

Required

Must be a timestamp with time zone data type. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

timezone_valu
e

Optional

Must be a string data type. The string must be a character string. Passes the
values you want to display for time zone based on which the function can return
the timestamp. You can enter any valid transformation expression. If you do not
specify the time zone, the function returns the timestamp part of the first
argument.

Return Value
Returns the timestamp value in time zone offset or region specified.
If the time zone value is not passed, the function returns the timestamp part of the first argument.
NULL if the input is a null value.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Example
INPUT VALUE

RETURN VALUE

'1996-01-05 10:45:00.221111111 Returns the timestamp value in time zone offset of

AM America/Los_Angeles,
'+05:30':
'+05:30'
1996-01-06 12:15:00.221111111 AM
'1996-01-05 10:45:00.221111111 Returns the timestamp value in the GMT time zone:
AM America/Los_Angeles, 'GMT 1996-01-05 06:45:00.221111111 PM
'1996-01-05 10:45:00.221111111 As the time zone value is not passed as the second
AM America/Los_Angeles
input parameter, the timestamp is returned:
1996-01-05 10:45:00.221111111 AM

GREATEST
Returns the greatest value from a list of input values. Use this function to return the greatest string, date, or
number. By default, the match is case sensitive.

Syntax
GREATEST( value1, [value2, ..., valueN,] CaseFlag )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any data type except Binary. Data type must be compatible with other values.
Value you want to compare against other values. You must enter at least one
value argument.
If the value is numeric, and other input values are numeric, all values use the
highest precision possible. For example, if some values are Integer data type
and others are Double data type, the Data Integration Service converts the
values to Double.

CaseFlag

Optional

Must be an integer. Specify a value when the input value argument is a string
value. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case sensitive. You
can enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is 0, the function is not case sensitive.

Return Value
value1 if it is the greatest of the input values, value2 if it is the greatest of the input values, and so on.
NULL if any of the arguments is null.

GREATEST

87

Example
The following expression returns the greatest quantity of items ordered:
GREATEST( QUANTITY1, QUANTITY2, QUANTITY3 )
QUANTITIY1

QUANTITY2

QUANTITY3

RETURN VALUE

150

756

27

756
NULL

5000

97

17

5000

120

1724

965

1724

IIF
Returns one of two values you specify, based on the results of a condition.

Syntax
IIF( condition, value1 [,value2] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
condition

Required

The condition you want to evaluate. You can enter any valid transformation
expression that evaluates to TRUE or FALSE.

value1

Required

Any datatype except Binary. The value you want to return if the condition is
TRUE. The return value is always the datatype specified by this argument. You
can enter any valid transformation expression, including another IIF expression.

value2

Optional

Any datatype except Binary. The value you want to return if the condition is
FALSE. You can enter any valid transformation expression, including another IIF
expression.

Unlike conditional functions in some systems, the FALSE (value2) condition in the IIF function is not required.
If you omit value2, the function returns the following when the condition is FALSE:

88

0 if value1 is a Numeric datatype.

Empty string if value1 is a String datatype.

NULL if value1 is a Date/Time datatype.

Chapter 6: Functions

For example, the following expression does not include a FALSE condition and value1 is a string datatype so
the Data Integration Service returns an empty string for each row that evaluates to FALSE:
IIF( SALES > 100, EMP_NAME )
SALES

EMP_NAME

RETURN VALUE

150

John Smith

John Smith

50

Pierre Bleu

'' (empty string)

120

Sally Green

Sally Green

NULL

Greg Jones

'' (empty string)

Return Value
value1 if the condition is TRUE.
value2 if the condition is FALSE.
For example, the following expression includes the FALSE condition NULL so the Data Integration Service
returns NULL for each row that evaluates to FALSE:
IIF( SALES > 100, EMP_NAME, NULL )
SALES

EMP_NAME

RETURN VALUE

150

John Smith

John Smith

50

Pierre Bleu

NULL

120

Sally Green

Sally Green

NULL

Greg Jones

NULL

If the data contains multibyte characters and the condition argument compares string data, the return value
depends on the code page and data movement mode of the Data Integration Service.

IIF and Datatypes

When you use IIF, the datatype of the return value is the same as the datatype of the result with the greatest
precision.
For example, you have the following expression:
IIF( SALES < 100, 1, .3333 )
The TRUE result (1) is an integer and the FALSE result (.3333) is a decimal. The Decimal datatype has
greater precision than Integer, so the datatype of the return value is always a Decimal.
When you run a mapping in high precision mode and at least one result is Double, the datatype of the return
value is Double.

Special Uses of IIF

Use nested IIF statements to test multiple conditions. The following example tests for various conditions and
returns 0 if sales is 0 or negative:
IIF( SALES > 0, IIF( SALES < 50, SALARY1, IIF( SALES < 100, SALARY2, IIF( SALES < 200,
SALARY3, BONUS))), 0 )

IIF

89

You can make this logic more readable by adding comments:

IIF( SALES > 0,
--then test to see if sales is between 1 and 49:
IIF( SALES < 50,
--then return SALARY1
SALARY1,
--else test to see if sales is between 50 and 99:
IIF( SALES < 100,
--then return
SALARY2,
--else test to see if sales is between 100 and 199:
IIF( SALES < 200,
--then return
SALARY3,

),

--else for sales over 199, return

BONUS)

--else for sales less than or equal to zero, return

0)
Use IIF in update strategies. For example:
IIF( ISNULL( ITEM_NAME ), DD_REJECT, DD_INSERT)

Alternative to IIF
Use DECODE on page 75 instead of IIF in many cases. DECODE may improve readability. The following
shows how you use DECODE instead of IIF using the first example from the previous section:
DECODE( TRUE,
SALES > 0 and SALES < 50, SALARY1,
SALES > 49 AND SALES < 100, SALARY2,
SALES > 99 AND SALES < 200, SALARY3,
SALES > 199, BONUS)
You can often use a Filter transformation instead of IIF to maximize performance.

IN
Matches input data to a list of values. By default, the match is case sensitive.

Syntax
IN( valueToSearch, value1, [value2, ..., valueN,] CaseFlag )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
valueToSearch

Required

Can be a string, date, or numeric value. Input value you want to match against
a comma-separated list of values.

value

Required

Can be a string, date, or numeric value depending on the type specified for the
valueToSearch argument. Comma-separated list of values you want to search
for. Values can be ports in a transformation. There is no maximum number of
values you can list.

CaseFlag

Optional

Must be an integer.
Specify a value when the valueToSearch argument is a string value.
Determines whether the arguments in this function are case sensitive. You can
enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is 0, the function is not case sensitive.

Return Value
TRUE (1) if the input value matches the list of values.
FALSE (0) if the input value does not match the list of values.
NULL if the input is a null value.

Example
The following expression determines if the input value is a safety knife, chisel point knife, or medium titanium
knife. The input values do not have to match the case of the values in the comma-separated list:
IN( ITEM_NAME, Chisel Point Knife, Medium Titanium Knife, Safety Knife, 0 )
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Stabilizing Vest

0 (FALSE)

Safety knife

1 (TRUE)

Medium Titanium knife

1 (TRUE)
NULL

INDEXOF
Finds the index of a value among a list of values. By default, the match is case sensitive.

Syntax
INDEXOF( valueToSearch, string1 [, string2, ..., stringN,] [CaseFlag] )

INDEXOF

91

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
valueToSearch

Required

String datatype. Value you want to search for in the list of strings.

string

Required

String datatype. Comma-separated list of values you want to search against.

Values can be in string format. There is no maximum number of values you can
list. The value is case sensitive, unless you set CaseFlag to 0.

CaseFlag

Optional

Must be an integer. Specify a value when the valueToSearch argument is a

string value. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case
sensitive. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is 0, the function is not case sensitive.

Return Value
1 if the input value matches string1, 2 if the input value matches string2, and so on.
0 if the input value is not found.
NULL if the input is a null value.

Example
The following expression determines if values from the ITEM_NAME port match the first, second, or third
string:
INDEXOF( ITEM_NAME, diving hood, flashlight, safety knife)
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Safety Knife

diving hood

Compass

safety knife

flashlight

Safety Knife returns a value of 0 because it does not match the case of the input value.

INITCAP
Capitalizes the first letter in each word of a string and converts all other letters to lowercase. Words are
delimited by white space (a blank space, formfeed, newline, carriage return, tab, or vertical tab) and
characters that are not alphanumeric. For example, if you pass the string THOMAS, the function returns
Thomas.

92

Chapter 6: Functions

Syntax
INITCAP( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Any datatype except Binary. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
String. If the data contains multibyte characters, the return value depends on the code page and data
movement mode of the Data Integration Service.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression capitalizes all names in the FIRST_NAME port:
INITCAP( FIRST_NAME )
FIRST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

ramona

Ramona

18-albert

18-Albert

NULL

NULL

?!SAM

?!Sam

THOMAS

Thomas

PierRe

Pierre

INSTR
Returns the position of a character set in a string, counting from left to right.

Syntax
INSTR( string, search_value [,start [,occurrence [,comparison_type ]]] )

INSTR

93

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/
Optional

Description

string

Required

The string must be a character string. Passes the value you want to evaluate.
You can enter any valid transformation expression. The results of the
expression must be a character string. If not, INSTR converts the value to a
string before evaluating it.

search_value

Required

Any value. The search value is case sensitive. The set of characters you want
to search for. The search_value must match a part of the string. For example,
if you write INSTR('Alfred Pope', 'Alfred Smith') the function
returns 0.
You can enter any valid transformation expression. If you want to search for a
character string, enclose the characters you want to search for in single
quotation marks, for example 'abc'.

start

Optional

Must be an integer value. The position in the string where you want to start
the search. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
The default is 1, meaning that INSTR starts the search at the first character in
the string.
If the start position is 0, INSTR searches from the first character in the string.
If the start position is a positive number, INSTR locates the start position by
counting from the beginning of the string. If the start position is a negative
number, INSTR locates the start position by counting from the end of the
string. If you omit this argument, the function uses the default value of 1.

occurrence

Optional

A positive integer greater than 0. You can enter any valid transformation
expression. If the search value appears more than once in the string, you can
specify which occurrence you want to search for. For example, you would
enter 2 to search for the second occurrence from the start position.
If you omit this argument, the function uses the default value of 1, meaning
that INSTR searches for the first occurrence of the search value. If you pass a
decimal, the Data Integration Service rounds it to the nearest integer value. If
you pass a negative integer or 0, the session fails.

comparison_type

Optional

The string comparison type, either linguistic or binary, when the Data
Integration Service runs in Unicode mode. When the Data Integration Service
runs in ASCII mode, the comparison type is always binary.
Linguistic comparisons take language-specific collation rules into account,
while binary comparisons perform bitwise matching. For example, the German
sharp s character matches the string ss in a linguistic comparison, but not in
a binary comparison. Binary comparisons run faster than linguistic
comparisons.
Must be an integer value, either 0 or 1:
- 0: INSTR performs a linguistic string comparison.
- 1: INSTR performs a binary string comparison.

Default is 0.

Return Value
Integer if the search is successful. Integer represents the position of the first character in the search_value,
counting from left to right.
0 if the search is unsuccessful.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Examples
The following expression returns the position of the first occurrence of the letter a, starting at the beginning
of each company name. Because the search_value argument is case sensitive, it skips the A in Blue Fin
Aqua Center, and returns the position for the a in Aqua:
INSTR( COMPANY, 'a' )
COMPANY

RETURN VALUE

Blue Fin Aqua Center

13

Maco Shark Shop

Scuba Gear

Frank's Dive Shop

VIP Diving Club

The following expression returns the position of the second occurrence of the letter a, starting at the
beginning of each company name. Because the search_value argument is case sensitive, it skips the A in
Blue Fin Aqua Center, and returns 0:
INSTR( COMPANY, 'a', 1, 2 )
COMPANY

RETURN VALUE

Blue Fin Aqua Center

Maco Shark Shop

Scuba Gear

Frank's Dive Shop

VIP Diving Club

The following expression returns the position of the second occurrence of the letter a in each company
name, starting from the last character in the company name. Because the search_value argument is case
sensitive, it skips the A in 'Blue Fin Aqua Center, and returns 0:
INSTR( COMPANY, 'a', -1, 2 )
COMPANY

RETURN VALUE

Blue Fin Aqua Center

Maco Shark Shop

Scuba Gear

Frank's Dive Shop

VIP Diving Club

INSTR

95

The following expression returns the position of the first character in the string Blue Fin Aqua Center
(starting from the last character in the company name):
INSTR( COMPANY, 'Blue Fin Aqua Center', -1, 1 )
COMPANY

RETURN VALUE

Blue Fin Aqua Center

Maco Shark Shop

Scuba Gear

Frank's Dive Shop

VIP Diving Club

Using Nested INSTR

You can nest the INSTR function within other functions to accomplish more complex tasks.
The following expression evaluates a string, starting from the end of the string. The expression finds the last
(rightmost) space in the string and then returns all characters to the left of it:
SUBSTR( CUST_NAME,1,INSTR( CUST_NAME,' ' ,-1,1 ))
CUST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

PATRICIA JONES

PATRICIA

MARY ELLEN SHAH

MARY ELLEN

The following expression removes the character '#' from a string:

SUBSTR( CUST_ID, 1, INSTR(CUST_ID, '#')-1 ) || SUBSTR( CUST_ID, INSTR(CUST_ID, '#')+1 )
CUST_ID

RETURN VALUE

ID#33

ID33

#A3577

A3577

SS #712403399

SS 712403399

ISNULL
Returns whether a value is NULL. ISNULL evaluates an empty string as FALSE.
Note: To test for empty strings, use LENGTH.

Syntax
ISNULL( value )

96

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Passes the rows you want to evaluate. You can
enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
TRUE (1) if the value is NULL.
FALSE (0) if the value is not NULL.

Example
The following example checks for null values in the items table:
ISNULL( ITEM_NAME )
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

0 (FALSE)

NULL

1 (TRUE)

Regulator system

0 (FALSE)

''

0 (FALSE)

Empty string is not NULL

IS_DATE
Returns whether a string value is a valid date. A valid date is any string in the date portion of the date time
format specified in the session. If the string you want to test is not in this date format, use the TO_DATE
format string to specify the date format. If the strings passed to IS_DATE do not match the format string
specified, the function returns FALSE (0). If the strings match the format string, the function returns
TRUE (1).
IS_DATE evaluates strings and returns an integer value.
The output port for an IS_DATE expression must be String or Numeric datatype.
You might use IS_DATE to test or filter data in a flat file before writing it to a target.
Use the RR format string with IS_DATE instead of the YY format string. In most cases, the two format strings
return the same values, but there are some unique cases where YY returns incorrect results. For example,
the expression IS_DATE(02/29/00, YY) is internally computed as IS_DATE(02/29/1900 00:00:00), which
returns false. However, the Data Integration Service computes the expression IS_DATE(02/29/00, RR) as
IS_DATE(02/29/2000 00:00:00), which returns TRUE. In the first case, year 1900 is not a leap year, so there
is no February 29th.
Note: IS_DATE uses the same format strings as TO_DATE.

Syntax
IS_DATE( value [,format] )

IS_DATE

97

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Must be a string datatype. Passes the rows you want to evaluate. You can enter
any valid transformation expression.

format

Optional

Enter a valid TO_DATE format string. The format string must match the parts of
the string argument. For example, if you pass the string 'Mar 15 1997
12:43:10AM', you must use the format string 'MON DD YYYY HH12:MI:SSAM'. If
you omit the format string, the string value must be in the date format specified in
the mapping configuration.

Return Value
TRUE (1) if the row is a valid date.
FALSE (0) if the row is not a valid date.
NULL if a value in the expression is NULL or if the format string is NULL.
Warning: The format of the IS_DATE string must match the format string, including any date separators. If it
does not, the Data Integration Service might return inaccurate values or skip the record.

Examples
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

RETURN VALUE

NULL

NULL

'180'

0 (FALSE)

'04/01/98'

0 (FALSE)

'04/01/1998 00:12:15.7008'

1 (TRUE)

'02/31/1998 12:13:55.9204'

0 (FALSE)

'John Smith'

0 (FALSE)

(February does not have 31 days)

The following IS_DATE expression specifies a format string of YYYY/MM/DD:

IS_DATE( INVOICE_DATE, 'YYYY/MM/DD' )
If the string value does not match this format, IS_DATE returns FALSE:

98

INVOICE_DATE

RETURN VALUE

NULL

NULL

'180'

0 (FALSE)

'04/01/98'

0 (FALSE)

Chapter 6: Functions

INVOICE_DATE

RETURN VALUE

'1998/01/12'

1 (TRUE)

'1998/11/21 00:00:13'

0 (FALSE)

'1998/02/31'

0 (FALSE)

'John Smith'

0 (FALSE)

(February does not have 31 days)

The following example shows how you use IS_DATE to test data before using TO_DATE to convert the
strings to dates. This expression checks the values in the INVOICE_DATE port and converts each valid date
to a date value. If the value is not a valid date, the Data Integration Service returns ERROR and skips the
row.
This example returns a Date/Time value. Therefore, the output port for the expression needs to be Date/
Time:
IIF( IS_DATE ( INVOICE_DATE, 'YYYY/MM/DD' ), TO_DATE( INVOICE_DATE ), ERROR('Not a
valid date' ) )
INVOICE_DATE

RETURN VALUE

NULL

NULL

'180'

'Not a valid date'

'04/01/98'

'Not a valid date'

'1998/01/12'

1998/01/12

'1998/11/21 00:00:13'

'Not a valid date'

'1998/02/31'

'Not a valid date'

'John Smith'

'Not a valid date'

IS_NUMBER
Returns whether a string is a valid number. A valid number consists of the following parts:

Optional space before the number

Optional sign (+/-)

One or more digits with an optional decimal point

Optional scientific notation, such as the letter e or E (and the letter d or D on Windows) followed by an
optional sign (+/-), followed by one or more digits

Optional white space following the number

The following numbers are all valid:

' 100 '
'
+100'
'-100'

IS_NUMBER

99

'-3.45e+32'
'+3.45E-32'
'+3.45d+32' (Windows only)
'+3.45D-32' (Windows only)
'.6804'
The output port for an IS_NUMBER expression must be a String or Numeric datatype.
You might use IS_NUMBER to test or filter data in a flat file before writing it to a target.

Syntax
IS_NUMBER( value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
Required

value

Must be a String datatype. Passes the rows you want to evaluate. You can enter
any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
TRUE (1) if the row is a valid number.
FALSE (0) if the row is not a valid number.
NULL if a value in the expression is NULL.

Examples
The following expression checks the ITEM_PRICE port for valid numbers:
IS_NUMBER( ITEM_PRICE )
ITEM_PRICE

RETURN VALUE

'123.00'

1 (True)

'-3.45e+3'

1 (True)

'-3.45D-3'

1 (True - Windows only)

'-3.45d-3'

0 (False - UNIX only)

'3.45E-'

0 (False)

Incomplete number

'

0 (False)

Consists entirely of blanks

''

0 (False)

Empty string

'+123abc'

0 (False)

'

1 (True)

Leading white blanks

1 (True)

Trailing white blanks

'

123'

'123

'

'ABC'

100

Chapter 6: Functions

0 (False)

ITEM_PRICE

RETURN VALUE

'-ABC'

0 (False)

NULL

NULL

Use IS_NUMBER to test data before using one of the numeric conversion functions, such as TO_FLOAT. For
example, the following expression checks the values in the ITEM_PRICE port and converts each valid
number to a double-precision floating point value. If the value is not a valid number, the Data Integration
Service returns 0.00:
IIF( IS_NUMBER ( ITEM_PRICE ), TO_FLOAT( ITEM_PRICE ), 0.00 )
ITEM_PRICE

RETURN VALUE

'123.00'

123

'-3.45e+3'

-3450

'3.45E-3'

0.00345

'

0.00

Consists entirely of blanks

''

0.00

Empty string

'+123abc'

0.00

''

0.00

'

123ABC'

'ABC'

0.00

'-ABC'

0.00

NULL

NULL

IS_SPACES
Returns whether a string value consists entirely of spaces. A space is a blank space, a formfeed, a newline, a
carriage return, a tab, or a vertical tab.
IS_SPACES evaluates an empty string as FALSE because there are no spaces. To test for an empty string,
use LENGTH.

Syntax
IS_SPACES( value )

IS_SPACES

101

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Must be a string datatype. Passes the rows you want to evaluate. You can enter
any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
TRUE (1) if the row consists entirely of spaces.
FALSE (0) if the row contains data.
NULL if a value in the expression is NULL.

Example
The following expression checks the ITEM_NAME port for rows that consist entirely of spaces:
IS_SPACES( ITEM_NAME )
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

0 (False)
1 (True)

Regulator system

0 (False)

NULL

NULL

''

0 (FALSE) (Empty string does not contain spaces.)

Tip: Use IS_SPACES to avoid writing spaces to a character column in a target table. For example, if you
have a transformation that writes customer names to a fixed length CHAR(5) column in a target table, you
might want to write 00000 instead of spaces. You would create an expression similar to the following:
IIF( IS_SPACES( CUST_NAMES ), '00000', CUST_NAMES )

LAST
Returns the last row in the selected port. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the rows the Data
Integration Service reads. You can nest only one other aggregate function within LAST.

Syntax
LAST( value [, filter_condition ] )

102

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Passes the values for which you want to return
the last row. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Last row in a port.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Example
The following expression returns the last row in the ITEMS_NAME port with a price greater than $10.00:
LAST( ITEM_NAME, ITEM_PRICE > 10 )
ITEM_NAME

ITEM_PRICE

Flashlight

35.00

Navigation Compass

8.05

Regulator System

150.00

Flashlight

29.00

Depth/Pressure Gauge

88.00

Vest

31.00

RETURN VALUE:Vest

LAST_DAY
Returns the date of the last day of the month for each date in a port.

Syntax
LAST_DAY( date )

LAST_DAY

103

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the dates for which you want to return the last day
of the month. You can enter any valid transformation expression that evaluates
to a date.

Return Value
Date. The last day of the month for that date value you pass to this function.
NULL if a value in the selected port is NULL.

Null
If a value is NULL, LAST_DAY ignores the row. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL,
LAST_DAY returns NULL.

Group By
LAST_DAY groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for
each group. If there is no group by port, LAST_DAY treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Examples
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

Apr 30 1998 12:00:00AM

Jan 6 1998 12:00:00AM

Jan 31 1998 12:00:00AM

Feb 2 1996 12:00:00AM

Feb 29 1996 12:00:00AM

NULL

NULL

Jul 31 1998 12:00:00AM

Jul 31 1998 12:00:00AM

(Leap year)

You can nest TO_DATE to convert string values to a date. TO_DATE always includes time information. If you
pass a string that does not have a time value, the date returned will include the time 00:00:00.
The following example returns the last day of the month for each order date in the same format as the string:
LAST_DAY( TO_DATE( ORDER_DATE, 'DD-MON-YY' ))

104

ORDER_DATE

RETURN VALUE

'18-NOV-98'

Nov 30 1998 00:00:00

'28-APR-98'

Apr 30 1998 00:00:00

NULL

NULL

'18-FEB-96'

Feb 29 1996 00:00:00 (Leap year)

Chapter 6: Functions

LEAST
Returns the smallest value from a list of input values. By default, the match is case sensitive.

Syntax
LEAST( value1, [value2, ..., valueN,] CaseFlag )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Any datatype except Binary. Datatype must be compatible with other values.
Value you want to compare against other values. You must enter at least one
value argument.
If the value is Numeric, and other input values are of other numeric datatypes, all
values use the highest precision possible. For example, if some values are of the
Integer datatype and others are of the Double datatype, the Data Integration
Service converts the values to Double.

CaseFlag

Optional

Must be an integer. Specify a value when the input value argument is a string
value. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case sensitive. You
can enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is 0, the function is not case sensitive.

Return Value
value1 if it is the smallest of the input values, value2 if it is the smallest of the input values, and so on.
NULL if any of the arguments is null.

Example
The following expression returns the smallest quantity of items ordered:
LEAST( QUANTITY1, QUANTITY2, QUANTITY3 )
QUANTITIY1

QUANTITY2

QUANTITY3

RETURN VALUE

150

756

27

27
NULL

5000

97

17

17

120

1724

965

120

LENGTH
Returns the number of characters in a string, including trailing blanks.

Syntax
LENGTH( string )

LEAST

105

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

String datatype. The strings you want to evaluate. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

Return Value
Integer representing the length of the string.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the length of each customer name:
LENGTH( CUSTOMER_NAME )
CUSTOMER_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Bernice Davis

13

NULL

NULL

John Baer

Greg Brown

10

Tips for LENGTH

Use LENGTH to test for empty string conditions. If you want to find fields in which customer name is empty,
use an expression such as:
IIF( LENGTH( CUSTOMER_NAME ) = 0, 'EMPTY STRING' )
To test for a null field, use ISNULL. To test for spaces, use IS_SPACES.

LN
Returns the natural logarithm of a numeric value. For example, LN(3) returns 1.098612. You usually use this
function to analyze scientific data rather than business data.
This function is the reciprocal of the function EXP.

Syntax
LN( numeric_value )

106

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. It must be a positive number, greater than 0. Passes the

values for which you want to calculate the natural logarithm. You can enter
any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the natural logarithm for all values in the NUMBERS port:
LN( NUMBERS )
NUMBERS

RETURN VALUE

10

2.302585092994

125

4.828313737302

0.96

-0.04082199452026

NULL

NULL

-90

Error. (The Integration Service does not write row.)

Error. (The Integration Service does not write row.)

Note: The Data Integration Service displays an error and does not write the row when you pass a negative
number or 0. The numeric_value must be a positive number greater than 0.

LOG
Returns the logarithm of a numeric value. Most often, you use this function to analyze scientific data rather
than business data.

Syntax
LOG( base, exponent )

LOG

107

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
base

Required

The base of the logarithm. Must be a positive numeric value other than 0 or 1.
Any valid transformation expression that evaluates to a positive number other
than 0 or 1.

exponent

Required

The exponent of the logarithm. Must be a positive numeric value greater than 0.
Any valid transformation expression that evaluates to a positive number greater
than 0.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the logarithm for all values in the NUMBERS port:
LOG( BASE, EXPONENT )
BASE

EXPONENT RETURN VALUE

15

.09

10

-0.956244644696599

NULL

18

NULL

35.78 NULL

NULL

-9

18

Error. (Data Integration Service does not write the row.)

Error. (Data Integration Service does not write the row.)

10

-2

Error. (Data Integration Service does not write the row.)

The Data Integration Service displays an error and does not write the row if you pass a negative number, 0,
or 1 as a base value, or if you pass a negative value for the exponent.

LOWER
Converts uppercase string characters to lowercase.

Syntax
LOWER( string )

108

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Any string value. The argument passes the string values that you want to return
as lowercase. You can enter any valid transformation expression that evaluates
to a string.

Return Value
Lowercase character string. If the data contains multibyte characters, the return value depends on the code
page and data movement mode of the Integration Service.
NULL if a value in the selected port is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns all first names to lowercase:
LOWER( FIRST_NAME )
FIRST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

antonia

antonia

NULL

NULL

THOMAS

thomas

PierRe

pierre

BERNICE

bernice

LPAD
Adds a set of blanks or characters to the beginning of a string to set the string to a specified length.

Syntax
LPAD( first_string, length [,second_string] )

LPAD

109

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
first_string

Required

Can be a character string. The strings you want to change. You can enter any
valid transformation expression.

length

Required

Must be a positive integer literal. This argument specifies the length you want
each string to be.

second_string

Optional

Can be any string value. The characters you want to append to the left-side of
the first_string values. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You
can enter a specific string literal. However, enclose the characters you want to
add to the beginning of the string within single quotation marks, as in 'abc'.
This argument is case sensitive. If you omit the second_string, the function
pads the beginning of the first string with blanks.

Return Value
String of the specified length.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL or if length is a negative number.

Examples
The following expression standardizes numbers to six digits by padding them with leading zeros:
LPAD( PART_NUM, 6, '0')
PART_NUM

RETURN VALUE

702

000702

000001

0553

000553

484834

484834

LPAD counts the length from left to right. If the first string is longer than the length, LPAD truncates the string
from right to left. For example, LPAD(alphabetical, 5, x) returns the string alpha.
If the second string is longer than the total characters needed to return the specified length, LPAD uses a
portion of the second string:
LPAD( ITEM_NAME, 16, '*..*' )

110

ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

*..**.Flashlight

Compass

*..**..**Compass

Regulator System

Regulator System

Safety Knife

*..*Safety Knife

Chapter 6: Functions

LTRIM
Removes blanks or characters from the beginning of a string. You can use LTRIM with IIF or DECODE in an
Expression or Update Strategy transformation to avoid spaces in a target table.
If you do not specify a trim_set parameter in the expression:

In UNICODE mode, LTRIM removes both single- and double-byte spaces from the beginning of a string.

In ASCII mode, LTRIM removes only single-byte spaces.

If you use LTRIM to remove characters from a string, LTRIM compares the trim_set to each character in the
string argument, character-by-character, starting with the left side of the string. If the character in the string
matches any character in the trim_set, LTRIM removes it. LTRIM continues comparing and removing
characters until it fails to find a matching character in the trim_set. Then it returns the string, which does not
include matching characters.

Syntax
LTRIM( string [, trim_set] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Arguments

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Any string value. Passes the strings you want to modify. You can enter any valid
transformation expression. Use operators to perform comparisons or
concatenate strings before removing characters from the beginning of a string.

trim_set

Optional

Any string value. Passes the characters you want to remove from the beginning
of the first string. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You can
also enter a character string. However, you must enclose the characters you
want to remove from the beginning of the string within single quotation marks, for
example, 'abc'. If you omit the second string, the function removes any blanks
from the beginning of the string.
LTRIM is case sensitive. For example, if you want to remove the 'A' character
from the string 'Alfredo', you would enter 'A', not 'a'.

Return Value
String. The string values with the specified characters in the trim_set argument removed.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL. If the trim_set is NULL, the function returns NULL.

Example
The following expression removes the characters S and . from the strings in the LAST_NAME port:
LTRIM( LAST_NAME, 'S.')
LAST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Nelson

Nelson

Osborne

Osborne

NULL

NULL

LTRIM

111

LAST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

S. MacDonald

MacDonald

Sawyer

awyer

H. Bender

H. Bender

Steadman

teadman

LTRIM removes S. from S. MacDonald and the S from both Sawyer and Steadman, but not the period from
H. Bender. This is because LTRIM searches, character-by-character, for the set of characters you specify in
the trim_set argument. If the first character in the string matches the first character in the trim_set, LTRIM
removes it. Then LTRIM looks at the second character in the string. If it matches the second character in the
trim_set, LTRIM removes it, and so on. When the first character in the string does not match the
corresponding character in the trim_set, LTRIM returns the string and evaluates the next row.
In the example of H. Bender, H does not match either character in the trim_set argument, so LTRIM returns
the string in the LAST_NAME port and moves to the next row.

Tips for LTRIM

Use RTRIM and LTRIM with || or CONCAT to remove leading and trailing blanks after you concatenate two
strings.
You can also remove multiple sets of characters by nesting LTRIM. For example, if you want to remove
leading blanks and the character 'T' from a column of names, you might create an expression similar to the
following:
LTRIM( LTRIM( NAMES ), 'T' )

MAKE_DATE_TIME
Returns the date and time based on the input values.

Syntax
MAKE_DATE_TIME( year, month, day, hour, minute, second, nanosecond )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional

112

year

Required

Numeric datatype. Positive 4-digit integer. If you pass this function a 2-digit year,
the Data Integration Service returns 00 as the first two digits of the year.

month

Required

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 1 and 12 (January=1 and

December=12).

day

Required

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 1 and 31 (except for the months that
have less than 31 days: February, April, June, September, and November).

Chapter 6: Functions

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
hour

Optional

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 0 and 24 (where 0=12AM, 12=12PM,

and 24 =12AM).

minute

Optional

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 0 and 59.

second

Optional

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 0 and 59.

nanosecond

Optional

Numeric datatype. Positive integer between 0 and 999,999,999.

Return Value
Date as MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS. Returns a null value if you do not pass the function a year, month, or
day.

Example
The following expression creates a date and time from the input ports:
MAKE_DATE_TIME( SALE_YEAR, SALE_MONTH, SALE_DAY, SALE_HOUR, SALE_MIN, SALE_SEC )
SALE_YR

SALE_MTH

SALE_DAY

SALE_HR

SALE_MIN

SALE_SEC

RETURN VALUE

2002

10

27

36

22

10/27/2002 08:36:22

2000

15

15

17

2003

04

30

12

99

12

12

06/15/2000 15:17:00

22

45

01/03/2003 00:22:45

10

03/30/0004 12:05:10

16

12/12/0099 05:00:16

MAX (Dates)
Returns the latest date found within a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in the search. You
can nest only one other aggregate function within MAX.
You can also use MAX to return the largest numeric value or the highest string value in a port or group.

Syntax
MAX( date [, filter_condition] )

MAX (Dates)

113

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the date for which you want to return a
maximum date. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Date.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Example
You can return the maximum date for a port or group. The following expression returns the maximum order
date for flashlights:
MAX( ORDERDATE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' )
ITEM_NAME

ORDER_DATE

Flashlight

Apr 20 1998

Regulator System

May 15 1998

Flashlight

Sep 21 1998

Diving Hood

Aug 18 1998

Flashlight

NULL

MAX (Numbers)
Returns the maximum numeric value found within a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in
the search. You can nest only one other aggregate function within MAX. You can also use MAX to return the
latest date or the highest string value in a port or group.

Syntax
MAX( numeric_value [, filter_condition] )

114

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the numeric values for which you want to return a
maximum numeric value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter condition
evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a value is NULL, MAX ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MAX returns NULL.

Group By
MAX groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, MAX treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The first expression returns the maximum price for flashlights:
MAX( PRICE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' )
ITEM_NAME

PRICE

Flashlight

10.00

Regulator System

360.00

Flashlight

55.00

Diving Hood

79.00

Halogen Flashlight

162.00

Flashlight

85.00

Flashlight

NULL

RETURN VALUE:

85.00

MAX (Numbers)

115

MAX (String)
Returns the highest string value found within a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in the
search. You can nest only one other aggregate function within MAX.
Note: The MAX function uses the same sort order that the Sorter transformation uses. However, the MAX
function is case sensitive, and the Sorter transformation may not be case sensitive.
You can also use MAX to return the latest date or the largest numeric value in a port or group.

Syntax
MAX( string [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

String datatype. Passes the string values for which you want to return a
maximum string value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
String.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a value is NULL, MAX ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MAX returns NULL.

Group By
MAX groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, MAX treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the maximum item name for manufacturer ID 104:
MAX( ITEM_NAME, MANUFACTURER_ID='104' )

116

MANUFACTURER_ID

ITEM_NAME

101

First Stage Regulator

102

Electronic Console

104

Flashlight

104

Battery (9 volt)

104

Rope (20 ft)

Chapter 6: Functions

MANUFACTURER_ID

ITEM_NAME

104

60.6 cu ft Tank

107

75.4 cu ft Tank

108

Wristband Thermometer

RETURN VALUE:

Rope (20 ft)

MD5
Calculates the checksum of the input value. The function uses Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5). MD5 is a
one-way cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value. You can conclude that input values are
different when the checksums of the input values are different. Use MD5 to verify data integrity.

Syntax
MD5( value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String or Binary datatype. Value for which you want to calculate checksum. The
case of the input value affects the return value. For example, MD5(informatica)
and MD5(Informatica) return different values.

Return Value
Unique 32-character string of hexadecimal digits 0-9 and a-f.
NULL if the input is a null value.

Example
You want to write changed data to a database. Use MD5 to generate checksum values for rows of data you
read from a source. When you run a mapping, compare the previously generated checksum values against
the new checksum values. Then, write the rows with updated checksum values to the target. You can
conclude that an updated checksum value indicates that the data has changed.

Tip
You can use the return value as a hash key.

MEDIAN
Returns the median of all values in a selected port.

MD5

117

If there is an even number of values in the port, the median is the average of the middle two values when all
values are placed ordinally on a number line. If there is an odd number of values in the port, the median is
the middle number.
You can nest only one other aggregate function within MEDIAN, and the nested function must return a
Numeric datatype.
The Data Integration Service reads all rows of data to perform the median calculation. The process of reading
rows of data to perform the calculation may affect performance. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the
rows you read to calculate the median.

Syntax
MEDIAN( numeric_value [, filter_condition ] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to calculate a
median. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected. For example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a value is NULL, MEDIAN ignores the row. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MEDIAN
returns NULL.

Group By
MEDIAN groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for
each group.
If there is no group by port, MEDIAN treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
To calculate the median salary for all departments, you create an Aggregator transformation grouped by
departments with a port specifying the following expression:
MEDIAN( SALARY )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following expression returns the median value for orders of stabilizing vests:
MEDIAN( SALES, ITEM = 'Stabilizing Vest' )
ITEM

SALES

Flashlight

85

Stabilizing Vest

504

Stabilizing Vest

36

Safety Knife

Medium Titanium Knife

150

Tank

NULL

Stabilizing Vest

441

Chisel Point Knife

60

Stabilizing Vest

NULL

Stabilizing Vest

1044

Wrist Band Thermometer

110

RETURN VALUE: 472.5

METAPHONE
Encodes string values. You can specify the length of the string that you want to encode.
METAPHONE encodes characters of the English language alphabet (A-Z). It encodes both uppercase and
lowercase letters in uppercase.
METAPHONE encodes characters according to the following list of rules:

Skips vowels (A, E, I, O, and U) unless one of them is the first character of the input string.
METAPHONE(CAR) returns KR and METAPHONE(AAR) returns AR.

Uses special encoding guidelines.

The following table lists the METAPHONE encoding guidelines:

Input

Returns

Condition

Example

- n/a

- when it follows M

- METAPHONE (Lamb) returns LM.

- B

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Box) returns BKS.

- X

- when followed by IA or H

- METAPHONE (Facial) returns FXL.

- S

- when followed by I, E, or Y

- METAPHONE (Fence) returns FNS.

METAPHONE

119

120

Input

Returns

Condition

Example

- n/a

- when it follows S, and is followed by I, E, or Y

- METAPHONE (Scene) returns SN.

- K

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Cool) returns KL.

- J

- when followed by GE, GY, or GI

- METAPHONE (Dodge) returns TJ.

- T

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (David) returns TFT.

- F

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (FOX) returns FKS.

- F

- when followed by H and the first character in

the input string is not B, D, or H

- METAPHONE (Tough) returns TF.

- n/a

- when followed by H and the first character in

the input string is B, D, or H

- METAPHONE (Hugh) returns HF.

- J

- when followed by I, E or Y and does not repeat

- METAPHONE (Magic) returns MJK.

- K

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE(GUN) returns KN.

- H

- when it does not follow C, G, P, S, or T and is

followed by A, E, I, or U

- METAPHONE (DHAT) returns THT.

- n/a

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Chain) returns XN.

- J

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Jen) returns JN.

- n/a
- K

- when it follows C
- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Ckim) returns KM.

- METAPHONE (Kim) returns KM.

- L

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Laura) returns LR.

- M

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Maggi) returns MK.

- N

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Nancy) returns NNS.

- F

- when followed by H

- METAPHONE (Phone) returns FN.

- P

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Pip) returns PP.

- K

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Queen) returns KN.

- R

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Ray) returns R.

- X

- when followed by H, IO, IA, or CHW

- METAPHONE (Cash) returns KX.

- S

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Sing) returns SNK.

- X

- when followed by IA or IO

- METAPHONE (Patio) returns PX.

- 0

- when followed by H

- n/a

- when followed by CH

- METAPHONE (Glitch) returns KLTX.

Chapter 6: Functions

METAPHONE (Thor) returns 0R.

Input

Returns

Condition

Example

- T

- in all other cases

- METAPHINE (Tim) returns TM.

- F

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Vin) returns FN.

- W

- when followed by A, E, I, O, or U

- METAPHONE (Wang) returns WNK.

- n/a

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (When) returns HN.

- KS

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Six) returns SKS.

- Y

- when followed by A, E, I, O, or U

- METAPHONE (Yang) returns YNK.

- n/a

- in all other cases

- METAPHONE (Bobby) returns BB.

- S

- in all cases

- METAPHONE (Zack) returns SK.

1. The integer 0.

Skips the initial character and encodes the remaining string if the first two characters of the input string
have one of the following values:
- KN. For example, METAPHONE(KNOT) returns NT.
- GN. For example, METAPHONE(GNOB) returns NB.
- PN. For example, METAPHONE(PNRX) returns NRKS.
- AE. For example, METAPHONE(AERL) returns ERL.

If a character other than C occurs more than once in the input string, encodes the first occurrence only.
For example, METAPHONE(BBOX) returns BKS and METAPHONE(CCOX) returns KKKS.

Syntax
METAPHONE( string [,length] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Must be a character string. Passes the value you want to encode. The first
character must be a character in the English language alphabet (A-Z). You can
enter any valid transformation expression.
Skips any non-alphabetic character in string.

length

Optional

Must be an integer greater than 0. Specifies the number of characters in string

that you want to encode. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
When length is 0 or a value greater than the length of string, encodes the entire
input string.
Default is 0.

Return Value
String.

METAPHONE

121

NULL if one of the following conditions is true:

All values passed to the function are NULL.

No character in string is a letter of the English alphabet.

string is empty.

Examples
The following expression encodes the first two characters in EMPLOYEE_NAME port to a string:
METAPHONE( EMPLOYEE_NAME, 2 )
Employee_Name

Return Value

John

JH

*@#$

NULL

P$%%oc&&KMNL

PK

The following expression encodes the first four characters in EMPLOYEE_NAME port to a string:
METAPHONE( EMPLOYEE_NAME, 4 )
Employee_Name

Return Value

John

JHN

1ABC

ABK

*@#$

NULL

P$%%oc&&KMNL

PKKM

MIN (Dates)
Returns the earliest date found in a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in the search. You
can nest only one other aggregate function within MIN, and the nested function must return a date datatype.
You can also use MIN to return the smallest numeric value or the lowest string value in a port or group.

Syntax
MIN( date [, filter_condition] )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the values for which you want to return minimum
value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Date if the value argument is a date.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, MIN ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MIN returns
NULL.

Group By
MIN groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, MIN treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the oldest order date for flashlights:
MIN( ORDER_DATE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' )
ITEM_NAME

ORDER_DATE

Flashlight

Apr 20 1998

Regulator System

May 15 1998

Flashlight

Sep 21 1998

Diving Hood

Aug 18 1998

Halogen Flashlight

Feb 1 1998

Flashlight

Oct 10 1998

Flashlight

NULL

RETURN VALUE:

Feb 1 1998

MIN (Dates)

123

MIN (Numbers)
Returns the smallest numeric value found in a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in the
search. You can nest only one other aggregate function within MIN, and the nested function must return a
numeric datatype.
You can also use MIN to return the latest date or the lowest string value in a port or group.

Syntax
MIN( numeric_value [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatypes. Passes the values for which you want to return minimum
value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, MIN ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MIN returns
NULL.

Group By
MIN groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, MIN treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the minimum price for flashlights:
MIN ( PRICE, ITEM_NAME='Flashlight' )

124

ITEM_NAME

PRICE

Flashlight

10.00

Regulator System

360.00

Flashlight

55.00

Chapter 6: Functions

ITEM_NAME

PRICE

Diving Hood

79.00

Halogen Flashlight

162.00

Flashlight

85.00

Flashlight

NULL

RETURN VALUE:

10.00

MIN (String)
Returns the lowest string value found in a port or group. You can apply a filter to limit the rows in the search.
You can nest only one other aggregate function within MIN, and the nested function must return a string
datatype.
Note: The MIN function uses the same sort order that the Sorter transformation uses. However, the MIN
function is case sensitive, but the Sorter transformation may not be case sensitive.
You can also use MIN to return the latest date or the minimum numeric value in a port or group.

Syntax
MIN( string [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

String datatype. Passes the values for which you want to return minimum
value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
String value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, MIN ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, MIN returns
NULL.

Group By
MIN groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.

MIN (String)

125

If there is no group by port, MIN treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the minimum item name for manufacturer ID 104:
MIN ( ITEM_NAME, MANUFACTURER_ID='104' )
MANUFACTURER_ID

ITEM_NAME

101

First Stage Regulator

102

Electronic Console

104

Flashlight

104

Battery (9 volt)

104

Rope (20 ft)

104

60.6 cu ft Tank

107

75.4 cu ft Tank

108

Wristband Thermometer

RETURN VALUE: 60.6 cu ft Tank

MOD
Returns the remainder of a division calculation. For example, MOD(8,5) returns 3.

Syntax
MOD( numeric_value, divisor )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. The values you want to divide. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

divisor

Required

The numeric value you want to divide by. The divisor cannot be 0.

Return Value
Numeric value of the datatype you pass to the function. The remainder of the numeric value divided by the
divisor.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

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Examples
The following expression returns the modulus of the values in the PRICE port divided by the values in the
QTY port:
MOD( PRICE, QTY )
PRICE

QTY

RETURN VALUE

10.00

12.00

9.00

15.00

NULL

NULL

20.00

NULL

NULL

25.00

Error. Integration Service does not write row.

The last row (25, 0) produced an error because you cannot divide by 0. To avoid dividing by 0, you can
create an expression similar to the following, which returns the modulus of Price divided by Quantity only if
the quantity is not 0. If the quantity is 0, the function returns NULL:
MOD( PRICE, IIF( QTY = 0, NULL, QTY ))
PRICE

QTY

RETURN VALUE

10.00

12.00

9.00

15.00

NULL

NULL

20.00

NULL

NULL

25.00

NULL

The last row (25, 0) produced a NULL rather than an error because the IIF function replaces NULL with the 0
in the QTY port.

MOVINGAVG
Returns the average (row-by-row) of a specified set of rows. Optionally, you can apply a condition to filter
rows before calculating the moving average.

MOVINGAVG

127

Syntax
MOVINGAVG( numeric_value, rowset [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. The values for which you want to calculate a moving
average. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

rowset

Required

Must be a positive integer literal greater than 0. Defines the row set for which
you want to calculate the moving average. For example, if you want to
calculate a moving average for a column of data, five rows at a time, you
might write an expression such as: MOVINGAVG(SALES, 5).

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter condition
evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
MOVINGAVG ignores null values when calculating the moving average. However, if all values are NULL, the
function returns NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the average order for a Stabilizing Vest, based on the first five rows in the
Sales port, and thereafter, returns the average for the last five rows read:
MOVINGAVG( SALES, 5 )
ROW_NO

SALES

RETURN VALUE

600

NULL

504

NULL

36

NULL

100

NULL

550

358

39

245.8

490

243

The function returns the average for a set of five rows: 358 based on rows 1 through 5, 245.8 based on rows
2 through 6, and 243 based on rows 3 through 7.
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Chapter 6: Functions

MOVINGSUM
Returns the sum (row-by-row) of a specified set of rows.
Optionally, you can apply a condition to filter rows before calculating the moving sum.

Syntax
MOVINGSUM( numeric_value, rowset [, filter_condition] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. The values for which you want to calculate a moving sum.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

rowset

Required

Must be a positive integer literal greater than 0. Defines the rowset for which
you want to calculate the moving sum. For example, if you want to calculate a
moving sum for a column of data, five rows at a time, you might write an
expression such as: MOVINGSUM( SALES, 5 )

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if the function does not select any rows (for example,
the filter condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
MOVINGSUM ignores null values when calculating the moving sum. However, if all values are NULL, the
function returns NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the sum of orders for a Stabilizing Vest, based on the first five rows in the
Sales port, and thereafter, returns the average for the last five rows read:
MOVINGSUM( SALES, 5 )
ROW_NO

SALES

RETURN VALUE

600

NULL

504

NULL

36

NULL

100

NULL

550

1790

MOVINGSUM

129

ROW_NO

SALES

RETURN VALUE

39

1229

490

1215

The function returns the sum for a set of five rows: 1790 based on rows 1 through 5, 1229 based on rows 2
through 6, and 1215 based on rows 3 through 7.

NPER
Returns the number of periods for an investment based on a constant interest rate and periodic, constant
payments.

Syntax
NPER( rate, present value, payment [, future value, type] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
rate

Required

Numeric. Interest rate earned in each period. Expressed as a decimal

number. Divide the rate by 100 to express it as a decimal number. Must be
greater than or equal to 0.

present value

Required

Numeric. Lump-sum amount a series of future payments is worth.

payment

Required

Numeric. Payment amount due per period. Must be a negative number.

future value

Optional

Numeric. Cash balance you want to attain after the last payment is made. If
you omit this value, NPER uses 0.

type

Optional

Boolean. Timing of the payment. Enter 1 if payment is at the beginning of

period. Enter 0 if payment is at the end of period. Default is 0. If you enter a
value other than 0 or 1, the Data Integration Service treats the value as 1.

Return Value
Numeric.

Example
The present value of an investment is $500. Each payment is $2000 and the future value of the investment is
$20,000. The following expression returns 9 as the number of periods for which you need to make the
payments:
NPER ( 0.015, -500, -2000, 20000, TRUE )

Notes
To calculate interest rate earned in each period, divide the annual rate by the number of payments made in
an year. For example, if you make monthly payments at an annual interest rate of 15 percent, the value of the
Rate argument is 15% divided by 12. If you make annual payments, the value of the Rate argument is 15%.

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Chapter 6: Functions

The payment value and present value are negative because these are amounts that you pay.

PERCENTILE
Calculates the value that falls at a given percentile in a group of numbers. You can nest only one other
aggregate function within PERCENTILE, and the nested function must return a Numeric datatype.
The Data Integration Service reads all rows of data to perform the percentile calculation. The process of
reading rows to perform the calculation may affect performance. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the
rows you read to calculate the percentile.

Syntax
PERCENTILE( numeric_value, percentile [, filter_condition ] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to calculate a
percentile. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

percentile

Required

Integer between 0 and 100, inclusive. Passes the percentile you want to
calculate. You can enter any valid transformation expression. If you pass a
number outside the 0 to 100 range, the Data Integration Service displays an
error and does not write the row.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL, or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter
condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a value is NULL, PERCENTILE ignores the row. However, if all values in a group are NULL, PERCENTILE
returns NULL.

Group By
PERCENTILE groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result
for each group.
If there is no group by port, PERCENTILE treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

PERCENTILE

131

Example
The Data Integration Service calculates a percentile using the following logic:

Use the following guidelines for this equation:

x is the number of elements in the group of values for which you are calculating a percentile.

If i < 1, PERCENTILE returns the value of the first element in the list.

If i is an integer value, PERCENTILE returns the value of the ith element in the list.

Otherwise PERCENTILE returns the value of n:

The following expression returns the salary that falls at the 75th percentile of salaries greater than $50,000:
PERCENTILE( SALARY, 75, SALARY > 50000 )
SALARY
125000.0
27900.0
100000.0
NULL
55000.0
9000.0
85000.0
86000.0
48000.0
99000.0
RETURN VALUE:

106250.0

PMT
Returns the payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate.

Syntax
PMT( rate, terms, present value[, future value, type] )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
rate

Required

Numeric. Interest rate of the loan for each period. Expressed as a decimal
number. Divide the rate by 100 to express it as a decimal number. Must be
greater than or equal to 0.

terms

Required

Numeric. Number of periods or payments. Must be greater than 0.

present value

Required

Numeric. Principle for the loan.

future value

Optional

Numeric. Cash balance you want to attain after the last payment. If you omit
this value, PMT uses 0.

type

Optional

Boolean. Timing of the payment. Enter 1 if the payment is at the beginning of

period. Enter 0 if the payment is at the end of period. Default is 0. If you enter
a value other than 0 or 1, the Data Integration Service treats the value as 1.

Return Value
Numeric.

Example
The following expression returns -2111.64 as the monthly payment amount of a loan:
PMT( 0.01, 10, 20000 )

Notes
To calculate interest rate earned in each period, divide the annual rate by the number of payments made in a
year. For example, if you make monthly payments at an annual interest rate of 15%, the rate is 15%/12. If
you make annual payments, the rate is 15%.
The payment value is negative because these are amounts that you pay.

POWER
Returns a value raised to the exponent you pass to the function.

Syntax
POWER( base, exponent )

POWER

133

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
base

Required

Numeric value. This argument is the base value. You can enter any valid
transformation expression. If the base value is negative, the exponent must be
an integer.

exponent

Required

Numeric value. This argument is the exponent value. You can enter any valid
transformation expression. If the base value is negative, the exponent must be
an integer. In this case, the function rounds any decimal values to the nearest
integer before returning a value.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if you pass a null value to the function.

Example
The following expression returns the values in the Numbers port raised to the values in the Exponent port:
POWER( NUMBERS, EXPONENT )
NUMBERS

EXPONENT

RETURN VALUE

10.0

2.0

100

3.5

6.0

1838.265625

3.5

5.5

982.594307804838

NULL

2.0

NULL

10.0

NULL

NULL

-3.0

-6.0

0.00137174211248285

3.0

-6.0

0.00137174211248285

-3.0

6.0

729.0

-3.0

5.5

729.0

The value -3.0 raised to 6 returns the same results as -3.0 raised to 5.5. If the base is negative, the exponent
must be an integer. Otherwise, the Data Integration Service rounds the exponent to the nearest integer value.

PV
Returns the present value of an investment.

Syntax
PV( rate, terms, payment [, future value, type] )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
rate

Required

Numeric. Interest rate earned in each period. Expresses as a decimal

number. Divide the rate by 100 to express it as a decimal number. Must be
greater that or equal to 0.

terms

Required

Numeric. Number of period or payments. Must be greater than 0.

payments

Required

Numeric. Payment amount due per period. Must be a negative number.

future value

Optional

Numeric. Cash balance after the last payment. If you omit this value, PV uses
0.

types

Optional

Boolean. Timing of the payment. Enter 1 if payment is at the beginning of

period. Enter 0 if the payment is at the end of period. Default is 0. If you enter
a value other than 0 or 1, the Data Integration Service treats the value as 1.

Return Value
Numeric.

Example
The following expression returns 12,524.43 as the amount you must deposit in the account today to have a
future value of $20,000 in one year if you also deposit $500 at the beginning of each period:
PV( 0.0075, 12, -500, 20000, TRUE )

RAND
Returns a random number between 0 and 1. This is useful for probability scenarios.

Syntax
RAND( seed )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
seed

Optional

Numeric. Starting value for the Integration Service to generate the random
number. Value must be a constant. If you do not enter a seed, the Data
Integration Service uses the current system time to derive the numbers of
seconds since January 1, 1971. It uses this value as the seed.

Return Value
Numeric.
For the same seed, the Data Integration Service generates the same sequence of numbers.

RAND

135

Example
The following expression may return a value of 0.417022004702574:
RAND (1)

RATE
Returns the interest rate earned per period by a security.

Syntax
RATE( terms, payment, present value[, future value, type] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
terms

Required

Numeric. Number of periods or payments. Must be greater than 0.

payments

Required

Numeric. Payment amount due per period. Must be a negative number.

present value

Required

Numeric. Lump-sum amount that a series of future payments is worth now.

future value

Optional

Numeric. Cash balance you want to attain after the last payment. For
example, the future value of a loan is 0. If you omit this argument, RATE
uses 0.

types

Optional

Boolean. Timing of the payment. Enter 1 if payment is at the beginning of

period. Enter 0 if payment is at the end of the period. Default is 0. If you enter
a value other than 0 or 1, the Data Integration Service treats the value as 1.

Return Value
Numeric.

Example
The following expression returns 0.0077 as the monthly interest rate of a loan:
RATE( 48, -500, 20000 )
To calculate the annual interest rate of the loan, multiply 0.0077 by 12. The annual interest rate is 0.0924 or
9.24%.

REG_EXTRACT
Extracts subpatterns of a regular expression within an input value. For example, from a regular expression
pattern for a full name, you can extract the first name or last name.
Note: Use the REG_REPLACE function to replace a character pattern in a string with another character
pattern.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Syntax
REG_EXTRACT( subject, 'pattern', subPatternNum )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
subject

Required

String datatype. Passes the value you want to compare against the regular
expression pattern.

pattern

Required

String datatype. Regular expression pattern that you want to match. You
must use perl compatible regular expression syntax. Enclose the pattern in
single quotation marks. Enclose each subpattern in parentheses.

subPatternNum

Optional

Integer value. Subpattern number of the regular expression you want to

match. Use the following guidelines to determine the subpattern number:
- no value or 1. Extracts the first regular expression subpattern.
- 2. Extracts the second regular expression subpattern.
- n. Extracts the nth regular expression subpattern.

Default is 1.

Using perl Compatible Regular Expression Syntax

You must use perl compatible regular expression syntax with REG_EXTRACT, REG_MATCH and
REG_REPLACE functions.
The following table provides perl compatible regular expression syntax guidelines:
Syntax

Description

. (a period)

Matches any one character.

[a-z]

Matches one instance of a character in lower case. For example, [a-z] matches ab. Use [A-Z]
to match characters in upper case.

\d

Matches one instance of any digit from 0-9.

\s

Matches a whitespace character.

\w

Matches one alphanumeric character, including underscore (_)

()

Groups an expression. For example, the parentheses in (\d-\d-\d\d) groups the expression \d
\d-\d\d, which finds any two numbers followed by a hyphen and any two numbers, as in
12-34.

{}

Matches the number of characters. For example, \d{3} matches any three numbers, such as
650 or 510. Or, [a-z]{2} matches any two letters, such as CA or NY.

Matches the preceding character or group of characters zero or one time. For example, \d{3}
(-{d{4})? matches any three numbers, which can be followed by a hyphen and any four
numbers.

REG_EXTRACT

137

Syntax

Description

* (an asterisk)

Matches zero or more instances of the values that follow the asterisk. For example, *0 is any
value that precedes a 0.

Matches one or more instances of the values that follow the plus sign. For example, \w+ is
any value that follows an alphanumeric character.

For example, the following regular expression finds 5-digit U.S.A. zip codes, such as 93930, and 9-digit zip
codes, such as 93930-5407:
\d{5}(-\d{4})?
\d{5} refers to any five numbers, such as 93930. The parentheses surrounding -\d{4} group this segment of
the expression. The hyphen represents the hyphen of a 9-digit zip code, as in 93930-5407. \d{4} refers to any
four numbers, such as 5407. The question mark states that the hyphen and last four digits are optional or can
appear one time.

Converting COBOL Syntax to perl Compatible Regular Expression Syntax

If you are familiar with COBOL syntax, you can use the following information to write perl compatible regular
expressions.
The following table shows examples of COBOL syntax and their perl equivalents:
COBOL Syntax

perl Syntax

Description

\d

Matches one instance of any digit from 0-9.

9999

\d\d\d\d

Matches any four digits from 0-9, as in 1234 or 5936.

or
\d{4}
x

[a-z]

Matches one instance of a letter.

9xx9

\d[a-z][a-z]\d

Matches any number followed by two letters and another number, as in

1ab2.

Converting SQL Syntax to perl Compatible Regular Expression Syntax

If you are familiar with SQL syntax, you can use the following information to write perl compatible regular
expressions.
The following table shows examples of SQL syntax and their perl equivalents:

138

SQL Syntax

perl Syntax

Description

.*

Matches any string.

A%

A.*

Matches the letter A followed by any string, as in Area.

. (a period)

Matches any one character.

A_

A.

Matches A followed by any one character, such as AZ.

Chapter 6: Functions

Return Value
Returns the value of the nth subpattern that is part of the input value. The nth subpattern is based on the
value you specify for subPatternNum.
NULL if the input is a null value or if the pattern is null.

Example
You might use REG_EXTRACT in an expression to extract middle names from a regular expression that
matches first name, middle name, and last name. For example, the following expression returns the middle
name of a regular expression:
REG_EXTRACT( Employee_Name, '(\w+)\s+(\w+)\s+(\w+)',2)
Employee_Name

Return Value

Stephen Graham Smith

Graham

Juan Carlos Fernando

Carlos

REG_MATCH
Returns whether a value matches a regular expression pattern. This lets you validate data patterns, such as
IDs, telephone numbers, postal codes, and state names.
Note: Use the REG_REPLACE function to replace a character pattern in a string with a new character
pattern.

Syntax
REG_MATCH( subject, pattern )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
subject

Required

String datatype. Passes the value you want to match against the regular
expression pattern.

pattern

Required

String datatype. Regular expression pattern that you want to match. You must
use perl compatible regular expression syntax. Enclose the pattern in single
quotes. For more information, see REG_EXTRACT on page 136.

Return Value
TRUE if the data matches the pattern.
FALSE if the data does not match the pattern.
NULL if the input is a null value or if the pattern is NULL.

REG_MATCH

139

Example
You might use REG_MATCH in an expression to validate telephone numbers. For example, the following
expression matches a 10-digit telephone number against the pattern and returns a Boolean value based on
the match:
REG_MATCH (Phone_Number, '(\d\d\d-\d\d\d-\d\d\d\d)' )
Phone_Number

Return Value

408-555-1212

TRUE
NULL

510-555-1212

TRUE

92 555 51212

FALSE

650-555-1212

TRUE

415-555-1212

TRUE

831 555 12123

FALSE

Tip
You can also use REG_MATCH for the following tasks:

To verify that a value matches a pattern. This use is similar to the SQL LIKE function.

To verify that values are characters. This use is similar to the SQL IS_CHAR function.

To verify that a value matches a pattern, use a period (.) and an asterisk (*) with the REG_MATCH function in
an expression. A period matches any one character. An asterisk matches 0 or more instances of values that
follow it.
For example, use the following expression to find account numbers that begin with 1835:
REG_MATCH(ACCOUNT_NUMBER, 1835.*)
To verify that values are characters, use a REG_MATCH function with the regular expression [a-zA-Z]+. a-z
matches all lowercase characters. A-Z matches all uppercase characters. The plus sign (+) indicates that
there should be at least one character.
For example, use the following expression to verify that a list of last names contain only characters:
REG_MATCH(LAST_NAME, [a-zA-Z]+)

REG_REPLACE
Replaces characters in a string with another character pattern. By default, REG_REPLACE searches the
input string for the character pattern you specify and replaces all occurrences with the replacement pattern.
You can also indicate the number of occurrences of the pattern you want to replace in the string.

Syntax
REG_REPLACE( subject, pattern, replace, numReplacements )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
subject

Required

String datatype. Passes the string you want to search.

pattern

Required

String datatype. Passes the character string to be replaced. You must use
perl compatible regular expression syntax. Enclose the pattern in single
quotes. For more information, see REG_EXTRACT on page 136.

replace

Required

String datatype. Passes the new character string.

numReplacements

Optional

Numeric datatype. Specifies the number of occurrences you want to

replace. If you omit this option, REG_REPLACE will replace all
occurrences of the character string.

Return Value
String

Example
The following expression removes additional spaces from the Employee name data for each row of the
Employee_name port:
REG_REPLACE( Employee_Name, \s+, )
Employee_Name

RETURN VALUE

Adam Smith

Adam Smith

Greg

Sanders

Greg Sanders

Sarah

Fe

Sarah Fe

Sam

Cooper

Sam Cooper

REPLACECHR
Replaces characters in a string with a single character or no character. REPLACECHR searches the input
string for the characters you specify and replaces all occurrences of all characters with the new character you
specify.

Syntax
REPLACECHR( CaseFlag, InputString, OldCharSet, NewChar )

REPLACECHR

141

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
CaseFlag

Required

Must be an integer. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case
sensitive. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is a null value or 0, the function is not case sensitive.

InputString

Required

Must be a character string. Passes the string you want to search. You can enter
any valid transformation expression. If you pass a numeric value, the function
converts it to a character string.
If InputString is NULL, REPLACECHR returns NULL.

OldCharSet

Required

Must be a character string. The characters you want to replace. You can enter
one or more characters. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You
can also enter a text literal enclosed within single quotation marks, for example,
'abc'.
If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string.
If OldCharSet is NULL or empty, REPLACECHR returns InputString.

NewChar

Required

Must be a character string. You can enter one character, an empty string, or
NULL. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
If NewChar is NULL or empty, REPLACECHR removes all occurrences of all
characters in OldCharSet in InputString.
If NewChar contains more than one character, REPLACECHR uses the first
character to replace OldCharSet.

Return Value
String.
Empty string if REPLACECHR removes all characters in InputString.
NULL if InputString is NULL.
InputString if OldCharSet is NULL or empty.

Examples
The following expression removes the double quotes from web log data for each row in the WEBLOG port:
REPLACECHR( 0, WEBLOG, '"', NULL )

142

WEBLOG

RETURN VALUE

"GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"

GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1

"GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1"

GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1

GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1

GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1

NULL

NULL

Chapter 6: Functions

The following expression removes multiple characters for each row in the WEBLOG port:
REPLACECHR ( 1, WEBLOG, ']["', NULL )
WEBLOG

RETURN VALUE

[29/Oct/2001:14:13:50 -0700]

29/Oct/2001:14:13:50 -0700

[31/Oct/2000:19:45:46 -0700] "GET /news/ 31/Oct/2000:19:45:46 -0700 GET /news/

index.html HTTP/1.1"
index.html HTTP/1.1
[01/Nov/2000:10:51:31 -0700] "GET /news/ 01/Nov/2000:10:51:31 -0700 GET /news/
index.html HTTP/1.1"
index.html HTTP/1.1
NULL

NULL

The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the
CUSTOMER_CODE port:
REPLACECHR ( 1, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', 'M' )
CUSTOMER_CODE

RETURN VALUE

ABA

MBM

abA

abM

BBC

BBC

ACC

MCC

NULL

NULL

The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the
CUSTOMER_CODE port:
REPLACECHR ( 0, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', 'M' )
CUSTOMER_CODE

RETURN VALUE

ABA

MBM

abA

MbM

BBC

BBC

ACC

MCC

The following expression changes part of the value of the customer code for each row in the
CUSTOMER_CODE port:
REPLACECHR ( 1, CUSTOMER_CODE, 'A', NULL )
CUSTOMER_CODE

RETURN VALUE

ABA

REPLACECHR

143

CUSTOMER_CODE

RETURN VALUE

BBC

BBC

ACC

CC

AAA

[empty string]

aaa

aaa

NULL

NULL

The following expression removes multiple numbers for each row in the INPUT port:
REPLACECHR ( 1, INPUT, '14', NULL )
INPUT

RETURN VALUE

12345

235

4141

NULL

111115

NULL

NULL

When you want to use a single quote (') in either OldCharSet or NewChar, you must use the CHR function.
The single quote is the only character that cannot be used inside a string literal.
The following expression removes multiple characters, including the single quote, for each row in the INPUT
port:
REPLACECHR (1, INPUT, CHR(39), NULL )
INPUT

RETURN VALUE

'Tom Smith' 'Laura Jones'

Tom Smith Laura Jones

Tom's

Toms

NULL

NULL

REPLACESTR
Replaces characters in a string with a single character, multiple characters, or no character. REPLACESTR
searches the input string for all strings you specify and replaces them with the new string you specify.

Syntax
REPLACESTR ( CaseFlag, InputString, OldString1, [OldString2, ... OldStringN,]
NewString )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
CaseFlag

Required

Must be an integer. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case
sensitive. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive.
When CaseFlag is a null value or 0, the function is not case sensitive.

InputString

Required

Must be a character string. Passes the strings you want to search. You can enter
any valid transformation expression. If you pass a numeric value, the function
converts it to a character string.
If InputString is NULL, REPLACESTR returns NULL.

OldString

Required

Must be a character string. The string you want to replace. You must enter at
least one OldString argument. You can enter one or more characters per
OldString argument. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You can
also enter a text literal enclosed within single quotation marks, for example,
'abc'.
If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string.
When REPLACESTR contains multiple OldString arguments, and one or more
OldString arguments is NULL or empty, REPLACESTR ignores the OldString
argument. When all OldString arguments are NULL or empty, REPLACESTR
returns InputString.
The function replaces the characters in the OldString arguments in the order they
appear in the function. For example, if you enter multiple OldString arguments,
the first OldString argument has precedence over the second OldString
argument, and the second OldString argument has precedence over the third
OldString argument. When REPLACESTR replaces a string, it places the cursor
after the replaced characters in InputString before searching for the next match.

NewString

Required

Must be a character string. You can enter one character, multiple characters, an
empty string, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
If NewString is NULL or empty, REPLACESTR removes all occurrences of
OldString in InputString.

Return Value
String.
Empty string if REPLACESTR removes all characters in InputString.
NULL if InputString is NULL.
InputString if all OldString arguments are NULL or empty.

Examples
The following expression removes the double quotes and two different text strings from web log data for each
row in the WEBLOG port:
REPLACESTR( 1, WEBLOG, '"', 'GET ', ' HTTP/1.1', NULL )
WEBLOG

RETURN VALUE

"GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"

/news/index.html

"GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1"

/companyinfo/index.html

REPLACESTR

145

WEBLOG

RETURN VALUE

GET /companyinfo/index.html

/companyinfo/index.html

GET

[empty string]

NULL

NULL

The following expression changes the title for certain values for each row in the TITLE port:
REPLACESTR ( 1, TITLE, 'rs.', 'iss', 's.' )
TITLE

RETURN VALUE

Mrs.

Ms.

Miss

Ms.

Mr.

Mr.

MRS.

MRS.

The following expression changes the title for certain values for each row in the TITLE port:
REPLACESTR ( 0, TITLE, 'rs.', 'iss', 's.' )
TITLE

RETURN VALUE

Mrs.

Ms.

MRS.

Ms.

The following expression shows how the REPLACESTR function replaces multiple OldString arguments for
each row in the INPUT port:
REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, 'ab', 'bc', '*' )
INPUT

RETURN VALUE

abc

*c

abbc

**

abbbbc

*bb*

bc

The following expression shows how the REPLACESTR function replaces multiple OldString arguments for
each row in the INPUT port:
REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, 'ab', 'bc', 'b' )

146

INPUT

RETURN VALUE

ab

Chapter 6: Functions

INPUT

RETURN VALUE

bc

abc

bc

abbc

bb

abbcc

bbc

When you want to use a single quote (') in either OldString or NewString, you must use the CHR function.
Use both the CHR and CONCAT functions to concatenate a single quote onto a string. The single quote is
the only character that cannot be used inside a string literal. Consider the following example:
CONCAT( 'Joan', CONCAT( CHR(39), 's car' ))
The return value is:
Joan's car
The following expression changes a string that includes the single quote, for each row in the INPUT port:
REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, CONCAT('it', CONCAT(CHR(39), 's' )), 'its' )
INPUT

RETURN VALUE

it's

its

mit's

mits

mits

mits

mits'

mits'

REVERSE
Reverses the input string.

Syntax
REVERSE( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Any character value. Value you want to reverse.

Return Value
String. Reverse of the input value.

REVERSE

147

Example
The following expression reverses the numbers of the customer code:
REVERSE( CUSTOMER_CODE )
CUSTOMER_CODE

RETURN VALUE

0001

1000

0002

2000

0003

3000

0004

4000

ROUND (Dates)
Rounds one part of a date. You can also use ROUND to round numbers.
This function can round the following parts of a date:
Year
Rounds the year portion of a date based on the month.
Month
Rounds the month portion of a date based on the day of the month.
Day
Rounds the day portion of the date based on the time.
Hour
Rounds the hour portion of the date based on the minutes in the hour.
Minute
Rounds the minute portion of the date based on the seconds.
Second
Rounds the second portion of the date based on the milliseconds.
Millisecond
Rounds the millisecond portion of the date based on the microseconds.
Microsecond
Rounds the microsecond portion of the date based on the nanoseconds.

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The following table shows the conditions used by the ROUND expression and the return values:
Condition

Expression

Return Value

Month between January and June, function

returns January 1 of the same year and sets
the time to 00:00:00.000000000.

ROUND(TO_DATE('04/16/19
98 8:24:19','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'YY')

01/01/1998
00:00:00.000000000

Month between July and December, function

returns January 1 of next year and sets the
time to 00:00:00.000000000.

ROUND(TO_DATE('07/30/19
98 2:30:55','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'YY')

01/01/1999
00:00:00.000000000

Day of the month between 1 and 15, function

returns the first day of the input month and
sets the time to 00:00:00.000000000.

ROUND(TO_DATE('04/15/19
98 8:24:19','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'MM')

04/01/1998
00:00:00.000000000

Day of the month between 16 and the last day

of the month, function returns the first day of
the next month and sets the time to
00:00:00.000000000.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98 10:15:29','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'MM')

06/01/1998
00:00:00.000000000

Time between 00:00:00 (12 a.m.) and

11:59:59 a.m., function returns the current
date and sets the time to 00:00:00.000000000
(12 a.m.).

ROUND(TO_DATE('06/13/19
98 2:30:45','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'DD')

06/13/1998
00:00:00.000000000

Time 12:00:00 (12 p.m.) or later, function

rounds the date to the next day and sets the
time to 00:00:00.000000000 (12 a.m.).

ROUND(TO_DATE('06/13/19
98 22:30:45','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'DD')

06/14/1998
00:00:00.000000000

Minute portion of time between 0 and 29

minutes, function returns the current hour and
sets minutes, seconds, milliseconds, and
nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('04/01/19
98 11:29:35','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'HH')

04/01/1998
11:00:00.000000000

Minute portion of the time 30 or greater,

function returns the next hour and sets
minutes, seconds, milliseconds, and
nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('04/01/19
98 13:39:00','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'HH')

04/01/1998
14:00:00.000000000

Time between 0 and 29 seconds, function

returns the current minute and sets seconds,
milliseconds, and nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98 10:15:29','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'MI')

05/22/1998
10:15:00.000000000

Time between 30 and 59 seconds, function

returns the next minute and sets seconds,
milliseconds, and nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98 10:15:30','MM/DD/
YYYY HH24:MI:SS'),'MI')

05/22/1998
10:16:00.000000000

Time between 0 and 499 milliseconds,

function returns the current second and sets
milliseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.499','MM/DD/
YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.MS'),'SS')

05/22/1998
10:15:29.000000000

Time between 500 and 999 milliseconds,

function returns the next second and sets
milliseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.500','MM/DD/
YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.MS'),'SS')

05/22/1998
10:15:30.000000000

ROUND (Dates)

149

Condition

Expression

Return Value

Time between 0 and 499 microseconds,

function returns the current millisecond and
sets microseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.498125','MM/DD
/YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.US'),'MS')

05/22/1998
10:15:29.498000000

Time between 500 and 999 microseconds,

function returns the next millisecond and sets
microseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.498785','MM/DD
/YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.US'),'MS')

05/22/1998
10:15:29.499000000

Time between 0 and 499 nanoseconds,

function returns the current microsecond and
sets nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.498125345','MM
/DD/YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.NS'),'US')

05/22/1998
10:15:29.498125000

Time between 500 and 999 nanoseconds,

function returns the next microsecond and
sets nanoseconds to 0.

ROUND(TO_DATE('05/22/19
98
10:15:29.498125876','MM
/DD/YYYY
HH24:MI:SS.NS'),'US')

05/22/1998
10:15:29.498126000

Syntax
ROUND( date [,format] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. You can nest TO_DATE to convert strings to dates before
rounding.

format

Optional

Enter a valid format string. This is the portion of the date that you want to round.
You can round only one portion of the date. If you omit the format string, the
function rounds the date to the nearest day.

Return Value
Date with the specified part rounded. ROUND returns a date in the same format as the source date. You can
link the results of this function to any port with a Date/Time datatype.
NULL if you pass a null value to the function.

Examples
The following expressions round the year portion of dates in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'Y' )
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'YY' )

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Chapter 6: Functions

ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'YYY' )

ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'YYYY' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Jan 1 1999 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions round the month portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' )
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' )
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

May 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Jan 1 1999 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions round the day portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ROUND(
ROUND(
ROUND(
ROUND(
ROUND(

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'D' )
'DD' )
'DDD' )
'DY' )
'DAY' )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 15 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 20 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 21 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Jan 1 1999 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions round the hour portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH' )
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH12' )
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH24' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:31AM

Jan 15 1998 2:00:00.000000000AM

ROUND (Dates)

151

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 19 1998 2:00:00.000000000PM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 20 1998 3:00:00.000000000PM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Jan 1 1999 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expression rounds the minute portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
ROUND( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MI' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 15 1998 2:11:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:00.000000000PM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 20 1998 3:30:00.000000000PM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Jan 1 1999 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

ROUND (Numbers)
Rounds numbers to a specified number of digits or decimal places. You can also use ROUND to round dates.

Syntax
ROUND( numeric_value [, precision] )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. You can enter any valid transformation expression. Use
operators to perform arithmetic before you round the values.

precision

Optional

Positive or negative integer. If you enter a positive precision, the function

rounds to this number of decimal places. For example, ROUND(12.99, 1)
returns 13.0 and ROUND(15.44, 1) returns 15.4.
If you enter a negative precision, the function rounds this number of digits to
the left of the decimal point, returning an integer. For example, ROUND(12.99,
-1) returns 10 and ROUND(15.99, -1) returns 20.
If you enter decimal precision, the function rounds to the nearest integer
before evaluating the expression. For example, ROUND(12.99, 0.8) returns
13.0 because the function rounds 0.8 to 1 and then evaluates the expression.
If you omit the precision argument, the function rounds to the nearest integer,
truncating the decimal portion of the number. For example, ROUND(12.99)
returns 13.

Return Value
Numeric value.
If one of the arguments is NULL, ROUND returns NULL.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Examples
The following expression returns the values in the Price port rounded to three decimal places:
ROUND( PRICE, 3 )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.9936

12.994

15.9949

15.995

-18.8678

-18.868

56.9561

56.956

NULL

NULL

You can round digits to the left of the decimal point by passing a negative integer in the precision argument:
ROUND( PRICE, -2 )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

13242.99

13200.0

1435.99

1400.0

ROUND (Numbers)

153

PRICE

RETURN VALUE

-108.95

-100.0

NULL

NULL

If you pass a decimal value in the precision argument, the Data Integration Service rounds it to the nearest
integer before evaluating the expression:
ROUND( PRICE, 0.8 )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.99

13.0

56.34

56.3

NULL

NULL

If you omit the precision argument, the function rounds to the nearest integer:
ROUND( PRICE )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.99

13.0

-15.99

-16.0

-18.99

-19.0

56.95

57.0

NULL

NULL

Tip
You can also use ROUND to explicitly set the precision of calculated values and achieve expected results.
When the Data Integration Service runs in low precision mode, it truncates the result of calculations if the
precision of the value exceeds 15 digits. For example, you might want to process the following expression in
low precision mode:
7/3 * 3 = 7
In this case, the Data Integration Service evaluates the left hand side of the expression as
6.999999999999999 because it truncates the result of the first division operation. The Data Integration
Service evaluates the entire expression as FALSE. This may not be the result you expect.
To achieve the expected result, use ROUND to round the truncated result of the left hand side of the
expression to the expected result. The Data Integration Service evaluates the following expression as TRUE:
ROUND(7/3 * 3) = 7

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Chapter 6: Functions

RPAD
Converts a string to a specified length by adding blanks or characters to the end of the string.

Syntax
RPAD( first_string, length [,second_string] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
first_string

Required

Any string value. The strings you want to change. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

length

Required

Must be a positive integer literal. Specifies the length you want each string to
be.

second_string

Optional

Any string value. Passes the string you want to append to the right-side of the
first_string values. Enclose the characters you want to add to the end of the
string within single quotation marks, for example, 'abc'. This argument is case
sensitive.
If you omit the second string, the function pads the end of the first string with
blanks.

Return Value
String of the specified length.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL or if length is a negative number.

Examples
The following expression returns the item name with a length of 16 characters, appending the string '.' to the
end of each item name:
RPAD( ITEM_NAME, 16, '.')
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

Flashlight......

Compass

Compass.........

Regulator System

Regulator System

Safety Knife

Safety Knife....

RPAD counts the length from left to right. So, if the first string is longer than the length, RPAD truncates the
string from right to left. For example, RPAD(alphabetical, 5, x) would return the string alpha. RPAD uses a
partial part of the second_string when necessary.

RPAD

155

The following expression returns the item name with a length of 16 characters, appending the string *..* to
the end of each item name:
RPAD( ITEM_NAME, 16, '*..*' )
ITEM_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Flashlight

Flashlight*..**.

Compass

Compass*..**..**

Regulator System

Regulator System

Safety Knife

Safety Knife*..*

RTRIM
Removes blanks or characters from the end of a string.
If you do not specify a trim_set parameter in the expression:

In UNICODE mode, RTRIM removes both single- and double-byte spaces from the end of a string.

In ASCII mode, RTRIM removes only single-byte spaces.

If you use RTRIM to remove characters from a string, RTRIM compares the trim_set to each character in the
string argument, character-by-character, starting with the right side of the string. If the character in the string
matches any character in the trim_set, RTRIM removes it. RTRIM continues comparing and removing
characters until it fails to find a matching character in the trim_set. It returns the string without the matching
characters.

Syntax
RTRIM( string [, trim_set] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Any string value. Passes the values you want to trim. You can enter any valid
transformation expression. Use operators to perform comparisons or
concatenate strings before removing blanks from the end of a string.

trim_set

Optional

Any string value. Passes the characters you want to remove from the end of the
string. You can also enter a text literal. However, you must enclose the
characters you want to remove from the end of the string within single quotation
marks, for example, 'abc'. If you omit the second string, the function removes
blanks from the end of the first string.
RTRIM is case sensitive.

Return Value
String. The string values with the specified characters in the trim_set argument removed.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Example
The following expression removes the characters re from the strings in the LAST_NAME port:
RTRIM( LAST_NAME, 're')
LAST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Nelson

Nelson

Page

Pag

Osborne

Osborn

NULL

NULL

Sawyer

Sawy

H. Bender

H. Bend

Steadman

Steadman

RTRIM removes e from Page even though r is the first character in the trim_set. This is because RTRIM
searches, character-by-character, for the set of characters you specify in the trim_set argument. If the last
character in the string matches the first character in the trim_set, RTRIM removes it. If, however, the last
character in the string does not match, RTRIM compares the second character in the trim_set. If the second
from last character in the string matches the second character in the trim_set, RTRIM removes it, and so on.
When the character in the string fails to match the trim_set, RTRIM returns the string and evaluates the next
row.
In the last example, the last character in Nelson does not match any character in the trim_set argument, so
RTRIM returns the string 'Nelson' and evaluates the next row.

Tips for RTRIM

Use RTRIM and LTRIM with || or CONCAT to remove leading and trailing blanks after you concatenate two
strings.
You can also remove multiple sets of characters by nesting RTRIM. For example, if you want to remove
trailing blanks and the character t from the end of each string in a column of names, you might create an
expression similar to the following:
RTRIM( RTRIM( NAMES ), 't' )

SET_DATE_PART
Sets one part of a Date/Time value to a value you specify. With SET_DATE_PART, you can change the
following parts of a date:

Year. Change the year by entering a positive integer in the value argument. Use any of the year format
strings: Y, YY, YYY, or YYYY to set the year. For example, the following expression changes the year to
2001 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:
SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'YY', 2001 )

SET_DATE_PART

157

Month. Change the month by entering a positive integer between 1 and 12 (January=1 and
December=12) in the value argument. Use any of the month format strings: MM, MON, MONTH to set the
month. For example, the following expression changes the month to October for all dates in the
SHIP_DATE port:
SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'MONTH', 10 )

Day. Change the day by entering a positive integer between 1 and 31 (except for the months that have
less than 31 days: February, April, June, September, and November) in the value argument. Use any of
the month format strings (D, DD, DDD, DY, and DAY) to set the day. For example, the following
expression changes the day to 10 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:
SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'DD', 10 )

Hour. Change the hour by entering a positive integer between 0 and 24 (where 0=12AM, 12=12PM, and
24 =12AM) in the value argument. Use any of the hour format strings (HH, HH12, HH24) to set the hour.
For example, the following expression changes the hour to 14:00:00 (or 2:00:00PM) for all dates in the
SHIP_DATE port:

Minute. Change the minutes by entering a positive integer between 0 and 59 in the value argument. Use
the MI format string to set the minute. For example, the following expression changes the minute to 25 for
all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:

SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'HH', 14 )

SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'MI', 25 )

Seconds. Change the seconds by entering a positive integer between 0 and 59 in the value argument.
Use the SS format string to set the second. For example, the following expression changes the second to
59 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:
SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'SS', 59 )

Milliseconds. Change the milliseconds by entering a positive integer between 0 and 999 in the value
argument. Use the MS format string to set the milliseconds. For example, the following expression
changes the milliseconds to 125 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:
SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'MS', 125 )

Microseconds. Change the microseconds by entering a positive integer between 1000 and 999999 in the
value argument. Use the US format string to set the microseconds. For example, the following expression
changes the microseconds to 12555 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:

Nanoseconds. Change the nanoseconds by entering a positive integer between 1000000 and 999999999
in the value argument. Use the NS format string to set the nanoseconds. For example, the following
expression changes the nanoseconds to 12555555 for all dates in the SHIP_DATE port:

SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'US', 12555 )

SET_DATE_PART( SHIP_DATE, 'NS', 12555555 )

Syntax
SET_DATE_PART( date, format, value )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. The date you want to modify. You can enter any valid
transformation expression.

format

Required

Format string specifying the portion of the date to be changed. The format string
is not case sensitive.

value

Required

A positive integer value assigned to the specified portion of the date. The integer
must be a valid value for the part of the date you want to change. If you enter an
improper value such as February 30, the session fails.

Return Value
Date in the same format as the source date with the specified part changed.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples
The following expressions change the hour to 4PM for each date in the DATE_PROMISED port:
SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH', 16 )
SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH12', 16 )
SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH24', 16 )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:15:56AM

Jan 1 1997 4:15:56PM

Feb 13 1997 2:30:01AM

Feb 13 1997 4:30:01PM

Mar 31 1997 5:10:15PM

Mar 31 1997 4:10:15PM

Dec 12 1997 8:07:33AM

Dec 12 1997 4:07:33PM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions change the month to June for the dates in the DATE_PROMISED port. The Data
Integration Service displays an error when you 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 )
SET_DATE_PART( DATE_PROMISED, 'MONTH', 6 )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:15:56AM

Jun 1 1997 12:15:56AM

Feb 13 1997 2:30:01AM

Jun 13 1997 2:30:01AM

Mar 31 1997 5:10:15PM

Error. Integration Service doesn't write row.

SET_DATE_PART

159

DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

Dec 12 1997 8:07:33AM

Jun 12 1997 8:07:33AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions change the year to 2000 for the dates in the DATE_PROMISED port:
SET_DATE_PART(
SET_DATE_PART(
SET_DATE_PART(
SET_DATE_PART(

DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,
DATE_PROMISED,

'Y', 2000 )
'YY', 2000 )
'YYY', 2000 )
'YYYY', 2000 )

DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 1 1997 12:15:56AM

Jan 1 2000 12:15:56AM

Feb 13 1997 2:30:01AM

Feb 13 2000 2:30:01AM

Mar 31 1997 5:10:15PM

Mar 31 2000 5:10:15PM

Dec 12 1997 8:07:33AM

Dec 12 2000 4:07:33PM

NULL

NULL

Tip
If you want to change multiple parts of a date at one time, you can nest multiple SET_DATE_PART functions
within the date argument. For example, you might write the following expression to change all of the dates in
the DATE_ENTERED port to July 1 1998:
SET_DATE_PART( SET_DATE_PART( SET_DATE_PART( DATE_ENTERED, 'YYYY', 1998),MM', 7), 'DD',
1)

SIGN
Returns whether a numeric value is positive, negative, or 0.

Syntax
SIGN( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Return Value
-1 for negative values.
0 for 0.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Numeric value. Passes the values you want to evaluate. You can enter any
valid transformation expression.

1 for positive values.

NULL if NULL.

Example
The following expression determines if the SALES port includes any negative values:
SIGN( SALES )
SALES

RETURN VALUE

100

-25.99

-1

NULL

NULL

SIN
Returns the sine of a numeric value (expressed in radians).

Syntax
SIN( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by pi

divided by 180). Passes the values for which you want to calculate the sine.
You can enter any valid transformation expression. You can also use operators
to convert a numeric value to radians or perform arithmetic within the SIN
calculation.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression converts the values in the Degrees port to radians and then calculates the sine for
each radian:
SIN( DEGREES * 3.14159265359 / 180 )
DEGREES

RETURN VALUE

90

SIN

161

DEGREES

RETURN VALUE

70

0.939692620785936

30

0.50000000000003

0.0871557427476639

89

0.999847695156393

NULL

NULL

You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to SIN before the function calculates the sine. For example:
SIN( ARCS * 3.14159265359 / 180 )

SINH
Returns the hyperbolic sine of the numeric value.

Syntax
SINH( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by

pi divided by 180). Passes the values for which you want to calculate the
hyperbolic sine. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the hyperbolic sine for the values in the Angles port:
SINH( ANGLES )

162

ANGLES

RETURN VALUE

1.0

1.1752011936438

2.897

9.03225804884884

3.66

19.4178051793031

5.45

116.376934801486

Chapter 6: Functions

ANGLES

RETURN VALUE

0.0

0.345

0.35188478309993

NULL

NULL

Tip
You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to SINH before the function calculates the hyperbolic sine.
For example:
SINH( MEASURES.ARCS / 180 )

SOUNDEX
Encodes a string value into a four-character string.
SOUNDEX works for characters in the English alphabet (A-Z). It uses the first character of the input string as
the first character in the return value and encodes the remaining three unique consonants as numbers.
SOUNDEX encodes characters according to the following list of rules:

Uses the first character in string as the first character in the return value and encodes it in uppercase. For
example, both SOUNDEX(John) and SOUNDEX(john) return J500.

Encodes the first three unique consonants following the first character in string and ignores the rest. For
example, both SOUNDEX(JohnRB) and SOUNDEX(JohnRBCD) return J561.

Assigns a single code to consonants that sound alike.

The following table lists SOUNDEX encoding guidelines for consonants:
Table 2. SOUNDEX Encoding Guidelines for Consonants
Code

Consonant

B, P, F, V

C, S, G, J, K, Q, X, Z

D, T

M, N

Skips the characters A, E, I, O, U, H, and W unless one of them is the first character in string. For
example, SOUNDEX(A123) returns A000 and SOUNDEX(MAeiouhwC) returns M000.

If string produces fewer than four characters, SOUNDEX pads the resulting string with zeroes. For
example, SOUNDEX(J) returns J000.

SOUNDEX

163

If string contains a set of consecutive consonants that use the same code listed in SOUNDEX on page
163, SOUNDEX encodes the first occurrence and skips the remaining occurrences in the set. For
example, SOUNDEX(AbbpdMN) returns A135.

Skips numbers in string. For example, both SOUNDEX(Joh12n) and SOUNDEX(1John) return J500.

Returns NULL if string is NULL or if all the characters in string are not letters of the English alphabet.

Syntax
SOUNDEX( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Character string. Passes the string value you want to encode. You can enter any
valid transformation expression.

Return Value
String.
NULL if one of the following conditions is true:

If value passed to the function is NULL.

No character in string is a letter of the English alphabet.

string is empty.

Example
The following expression encodes the values in the EMPLOYEE_NAME port:
SOUNDEX( EMPLOYEE_NAME )
EMPLOYEE_NAME

RETURN VALUE

John

J500

William

W450

jane

J500

joh12n

J500

1abc

A120

NULL

NULL

SQL_LIKE
Returns whether a value matches a regular expression pattern. This lets you validate date patterns, such as
IDs, telephone numbers, postal codes, and state names.

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Chapter 6: Functions

Syntax
SQL_LIKE(subject, pattern, escape character)
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/
Optional

Description

subject

Required

String data type. Passes the value you want to match against the regular
expression. Enclose the value in single quotation marks.

pattern

Required

String data type. Regular expression that you want to match. Enclose the
pattern in single quotation marks.

escape
character

Optional

String data type. The SQL_LIKE function supports the percentage sign (%)
and underscore (_) as escape characters. Enclose the escape character in
single quotation marks.

Return Value
TRUE if the data matches the pattern.
FALSE if the data does not match the pattern.
NULL if the input is a null value or if the pattern is NULL.

Example
You might use SQL_LIKE in an expression to find names that match a pattern. For example, the following
expression matches names against the pattern "A_#%" with the escape character '#':
SQL_LIKE(ENAME, 'A_#%', '#')
ENAME

Value

SMITH

FALSE

AX%

TRUE

MILLER

FALSE

A%

FALSE

JONES

FALSE

BLAKE

FALSE

A%l

FALSE

SQRT
Returns the square root of a non-negative numeric value.

Syntax
SQRT( numeric_value )

SQRT

165

The following table describes the argument for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Positive numeric value. Passes the values for which you want to calculate a
square root. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the square root for the values in the Numbers port:
SQRT( NUMBERS )
NUMBERS

RETURN VALUE

100

10

-100

Error. Data Integration Service does not write row.

NULL

NULL

60.54

7.78074546557076

The value -100 results in an error, since the function SQRT only evaluates positive numeric values. If you
pass a negative value or character value, the Data Integration Service displays a Transformation Evaluation
Error and does not write the row.
You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to SQRT before the function calculates the square root.

STDDEV
Returns the standard deviation of the numeric values you pass to this function. STDDEV is used to analyze
statistical data. You can nest only one other aggregate function within STDDEV, and the nested function
must return a Numeric datatype.

Syntax
STDDEV( numeric_value [,filter_condition] )

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The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatypes. This function passes the values for which you want to
calculate a standard deviation or the results of a function. You can enter any
valid transformation expression. You can use operators to average values in
different ports.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter condition
evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, STDDEV ignores it. However, if all values are NULL, STDDEV returns NULL.

Group By
STDDEV groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for
each group.
If there is no group by port, STDDEV treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Examples
The following expression calculates the standard deviation of all rows greater than $2000.00 in the
TOTAL_SALES port:
STDDEV( SALES, SALES > 2000.00 )
SALES
2198.0
1010.90
2256.0
153.88
3001.0
NULL
8953.0
RETURN VALUE: 3254.60361129688

STDDEV

167

The function does not include the values 1010.90 and 153.88 in the calculation because the filter_condition
specifies sales greater than $2,000.
The following expression calculates the standard deviation of all rows in the SALES port:
STDDEV(SALES)
SALES
2198.0
2198.0
2198.0
2198.0
RETURN VALUE: 0
The return value is 0 because each row contains the same number (no standard deviation exists). If there is
no standard deviation, the return value is 0.

SUBSTR
Returns a portion of a string. SUBSTR counts all characters, including blanks, starting at the beginning of the
string.

Syntax
SUBSTR( string, start [,length] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional

168

string

Required

Must be a character string. Passes the strings you want to search. You can enter
any valid transformation expression. If you pass a numeric value, the function
converts it to a character string.

start

Required

Must be an integer. The position in the string where you want to start counting.
You can enter any valid transformation expression. If the start position is a
positive number, SUBSTR locates the start position by counting from the
beginning of the string. If the start position is a negative number, SUBSTR
locates the start position by counting from the end of the string. If the start
position is 0, SUBSTR searches from the first character in the string.

length

Optional

Must be an integer greater than 0. The number of characters you want SUBSTR
to return. You can enter any valid transformation expression. If you omit the
length argument, SUBSTR returns all of the characters from the start position to
the end of the string. If you pass a negative integer or 0, the function returns an
empty string. If you pass a decimal, the function rounds it to the nearest integer
value.

Chapter 6: Functions

Return Value
String.
Empty string if you pass a negative or 0 length value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples
The following expressions return the area code for each row in the Phone port:
SUBSTR( PHONE, 0, 3 )
PHONE

RETURN VALUE

809-555-0269

809

357-687-6708

357

NULL

NULL

SUBSTR( PHONE, 1, 3 )
PHONE

RETURN VALUE

809-555-3915

809

357-687-6708

357

NULL

NULL

The following expressions return the phone number without the area code for each row in the Phone port:
SUBSTR( PHONE, 5, 8 )
PHONE

RETURN VALUE

808-555-0269

555-0269

809-555-3915

555-3915

357-687-6708

687-6708

NULL

NULL

You can also pass a negative start value to return the phone number for each row in the Phone port. The
expression still reads the source string from left to right when returning the result of the length argument:
SUBSTR( PHONE, -8, 3 )
PHONE

RETURN VALUE

808-555-0269

555

809-555-3915

555

SUBSTR

169

PHONE

RETURN VALUE

357-687-6708

687

NULL

NULL

You can nest INSTR in the start or length argument to search for a specific string and return its position.
The following expression evaluates a string, starting from the end of the string. The expression finds the last
(right-most) space in the string and then returns all characters preceding it:
SUBSTR( CUST_NAME,1,INSTR( CUST_NAME,' ' ,-1,1 ) - 1 )
CUST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

PATRICIA JONES

PATRICIA

MARY ELLEN SHAH

MARY ELLEN

The following expression removes the character '#' from a string:

SUBSTR( CUST_ID, 1, INSTR(CUST_ID, '#')-1 ) || SUBSTR( CUST_ID, INSTR(CUST_ID, '#')+1 )
When the length argument is longer than the string, SUBSTR returns all the characters from the start position
to the end of the string. Consider the following example:
SUBSTR('abcd', 2, 8)
The return value is bcd. Compare this result to the following example:
SUBSTR('abcd', -2, 8)
The return value is cd.

SUM
Returns the sum of all values in the selected port. Optionally, you can apply a filter to limit the rows you read
to calculate the total. You can nest only one other aggregate function within SUM, and the nested function
must return a Numeric datatype.

Syntax
SUM( numeric_value [, filter_condition ] )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values you want to add. You can enter any
valid transformation expression. You can use operators to add values in
different ports.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the filter condition
evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, SUM ignores it. However, if all values passed from the port are NULL, SUM returns
NULL.

Group By
SUM groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for each
group.
If there is no group by port, SUM treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression returns the sum of all values greater than 2000 in the Sales port:
SUM( SALES, SALES > 2000 )
SALES
2500.0
1900.0
1200.0
NULL
3458.0
4519.0
RETURN VALUE: 10477.0

SUM

171

Tip
You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to SUM before the function calculates the total. For
example:
SUM( QTY * PRICE - DISCOUNT )

SYSTIMESTAMP
Returns the current date and time of the node hosting the Data Integration Service with precision to the
nanosecond. The precision to which you display the date and time depends on the platform.
The return value of the function varies depending on how you configure the argument:

When you configure the argument of SYSTIMESTAMP as a variable, the Data Integration Service
evaluates the function for each row in the transformation.

When you configure the argument of SYSTIMESTAMP as a constant, the Data Integration Service
evaluates the function once and retains the value for each row in the transformation.

Syntax
SYSTIMESTAMP( [format] )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
format

Optional

Precision to which you want to retrieve the timestamp. You can specify precision up
to seconds (SS), milliseconds (MS), microseconds (US), or nanoseconds (NS).
Enclose the format string within single quotation marks. The format string is not
case sensitive. For example, to display the date and time to the precision of
milliseconds use the following syntax: SYSTIMESTAMP(MS). Default precision is
microseconds (US).

Return Value
Timestamp. Returns date and time to the specified precision.

Examples
Your organization has an online order service and processes real-time data. You can use the
SYSTIMESTAMP function to generate a primary key for each transaction in the target database.
Create an Expression transformation with the following ports and values:

172

Port Name

Port Type

Expression

Customer_Name

Input

n/a

Order_Qty

Input

n/a

Time_Counter

Variable

US

Transaction_Id

Output

SYSTIMESTAMP ( Time_Counter )

Chapter 6: Functions

At run time, the Data Integration Service generates the system time to the precision of microseconds for each
row:
Customer_Name

Order_Qty

Transaction_Id

Vani Deed

14

07/06/2007 18:00:30.701015000

Kalia Crop

07/06/2007 18:00:30.701029000

Vani Deed

07/06/2007 18:00:30.701039000

Harry Spoon

32

07/06/2007 18:00:30.701048000

TAN
Returns the tangent of a numeric value (expressed in radians).

Syntax
TAN( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required
/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by pi

divided by 180). Passes the numeric values for which you want to calculate the
tangent. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the tangent for all values in the Degrees port:
TAN( DEGREES * 3.14159 / 180 )
DEGREES

RETURN VALUE

70

2.74747741945531

50

1.19175359259435

30

0.577350269189672

0.0874886635259298

18

0.324919696232929

TAN

173

DEGREES

RETURN VALUE

89

57.2899616310952

NULL

NULL

TANH
Returns the hyperbolic tangent of the numeric value passed to this function.

Syntax
TANH( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Numeric data expressed in radians (degrees multiplied by

pi divided by 180). Passes the numeric values for which you want to calculate
the hyperbolic tangent. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression returns the hyperbolic tangent for the values in the Angles port:
TANH( ANGLES )

174

ANGLES

RETURN VALUE

1.0

0.761594155955765

2.897

0.993926947790665

3.66

0.998676551914886

5.45

0.999963084213409

0.0

0.345

0.331933853503641

NULL

NULL

Chapter 6: Functions

Tip
You can perform arithmetic on the values passed to TANH before the function calculates the hyperbolic
tangent. For example:
TANH( ARCS / 360 )

TO_BIGINT
Converts a string or numeric value to a bigint value. TO_BIGINT syntax contains an optional argument that
you can choose to round the number to the nearest integer or truncate the decimal portion. TO_BIGINT
ignores leading blanks.

Syntax
TO_BIGINT( value [, flag] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String or numeric datatype. Passes the value you want to convert to a bigint
value. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

flag

Optional

Specifies whether to truncate or round the decimal portion. The flag must be an
integer literal or the constants TRUE or FALSE.
TO_BIGINT truncates the decimal portion when the flag is TRUE or a number
other than 0.
TO_BIGINT rounds the value to the nearest integer if the flag is FALSE or 0 or if
you omit this argument.
The flag is not set by default.

Return Value
Bigint.
NULL if the value passed to the function is NULL.
If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for a bigint value, the Data Integration
Service marks the row as an error row or fails the mapping.

Examples
The following expressions use values from the port IN_TAX:
TO_BIGINT( IN_TAX, TRUE )
IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'7245176201123435.6789'

7245176201123435

'7245176201123435.2'

7245176201123435

'7245176201123435.2.48'

7245176201123435

TO_BIGINT

175

IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

'

176201123435

176201123435.87'

'-7245176201123435.2'

-7245176201123435

'-7245176201123435.23'

-7245176201123435

-9223372036854775806.9

-9223372036854775806

9223372036854775806.9

9223372036854775806

TO_BIGINT( IN_TAX )
IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'7245176201123435.6789'

7245176201123436

'7245176201123435.2'

7245176201123435

'7245176201123435.348'

7245176201123435

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

'

176201123436

176201123435.87'

'-7245176201123435.6789'

-7245176201123436

'-7245176201123435.23'

-7245176201123435

-9223372036854775806.9

-9223372036854775807

9223372036854775806.9

9223372036854775807

TO_CHAR (Dates)
Converts dates to character strings. TO_CHAR also converts numeric values to strings. You can convert the
date into any format using the TO_CHAR format strings.
TO_CHAR (date [,format]) converts a data type or internal value of date, Timestamp, Timestamp with Time
Zone, or Timestamp with Local Time Zone data type to a value of string data type specified by the format
string.

Syntax
TO_CHAR( date [,format] )

176

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. Passes the date values you want to convert to character
strings. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

format

Optional

Enter a valid TO_CHAR format string. The format string defines the format of the
return value, not the format for the values in the date argument. If you omit the
format string, the function returns a string based on the date format specified in
the mapping configuration.

Return Value
String.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples
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

RETURN VALUE

Apr 1 1998 12:00:10AM

'Apr 01 1998'

Feb 22 1998 01:31:10PM

'Feb 22 1998'

Oct 24 1998 02:12:30PM

'Oct 24 1998'

NULL

NULL

If you omit the format argument, TO_CHAR returns a string in the date format specified in the mapping
configuration, by default, MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS.US:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

Apr 1 1998 12:00:10AM

'04/01/1998 00:00:10.000000'

Feb 22 1998 01:31:10PM

'02/22/1998 13:31:10.000000'

Oct 24 1998 02:12:30PM

'10/24/1998 14:12:30.000000'

NULL

NULL

TO_CHAR (Dates)

177

The following expressions return the day of the week for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'D' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'3'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'7'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'6'

NULL

NULL

TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'DAY' )

DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'Tuesday'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'Saturday'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'Friday'

NULL

NULL

The following expression returns the day of the month for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'DD' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'01'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'22'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'24'

NULL

NULL

The following expression returns the day of the year for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'DDD' )

178

DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'091'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'053'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'297'

NULL

NULL

Chapter 6: Functions

The following expressions return the hour of the day for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH' )
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH12' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'12'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'01'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'02'

NULL

NULL

TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'HH24' )

DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'00'

02-22-1997 01:31:10PM

'13'

10-24-1997 11:12:30PM

'23'

NULL

NULL

The following expression converts date values to MJD values expressed as strings:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'J')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

Dec 31 1999 03:59:59PM

2451544

Jan 1 1900 01:02:03AM

2415021

The following expression converts dates to strings in the format MM/DD/YY:

TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'MM/DD/RR')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03AM

12/31/99

09/15/1996 03:59:59PM

09/15/96

05/17/2003 12:13:14AM

05/17/03

TO_CHAR (Dates)

179

You can also use the format string SSSSS in a TO_CHAR expression. For example, the following expression
converts the dates in the SHIP_DATE port to strings representing the total seconds since midnight:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'SSSSS')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03AM

3783

09/15/1996 03:59:59PM

86399

In TO_CHAR expressions, the YY format string produces the same results as the RR format string.
The following expression converts dates to strings in the format MM/DD/YY:
TO_CHAR( SHIP_DATE, 'MM/DD/YY')
SHIP_DATE

RETURN_VALUE

12/31/1999 01:02:03AM

12/31/99

09/15/1996 03:59:59PM

09/15/96

05/17/2003 12:13:14AM

05/17/03

The following expression returns the week of the month for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'W' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10AM

'01'

02-22-1997 01:31:10AM

'04'

10-24-1997 02:12:30PM

'04'

NULL

NULL

The following expression returns the week of the year for each date in a port:
TO_CHAR( DATE_PROMISED, 'WW' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

04-01-1997 12:00:10PM

'18'

02-22-1997 01:31:10AM

'08'

10-24-1997 02:12:30AM

'43'

NULL

NULL

Tip
You can combine TO_CHAR and TO_DATE to convert a numeric value for a month into the text value for a
month using a function such as:
TO_CHAR( TO_DATE( numeric_month, 'MM' ), 'MONTH' )

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Chapter 6: Functions

TO_CHAR (Numbers)
Converts numeric values to text strings. TO_CHAR also converts dates to strings.
TO_CHAR converts double values to text strings as follows:

Converts double values of up to 16 digits to strings and provides accuracy up to 15 digits. If you pass a
number with more than 15 digits, TO_CHAR rounds the number based on the sixteenth digit and returns
the string representation of the number in scientific notation. For example, 1234567890123456 double
value converts to '1.23456789012346e+015' string value.

Returns decimal notation for numbers in the ranges (-1e16,-1e-16] and [1e-16, 1e16). TO_CHAR returns
scientific notation for numbers outside these ranges. For example, 10842764968208837340 double value
converts to '1.08427649682088e+019' string value.

TO_CHAR converts decimal values to text strings as follows:

In high precision mode, TO_CHAR converts decimal values of up to 38 digits to strings. If you pass a
decimal value with more than 38 digits, TO_CHAR returns scientific notation for numbers greater than 38
digits.

In low precision mode, TO_CHAR treats decimal values as double values.

Syntax
TO_CHAR( numeric_value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric data type. The numeric value you want to convert to a string. You can
enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
String.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Double Conversion Example

The following expression converts the double values in the SALES port to strings:
TO_CHAR( SALES )
SALES

RETURN VALUE

1010.99

'1010.99'

-15.62567

'-15.62567'

10842764968208837340'1.08427649682088e+019' (rounded based on the 16th digit and

returns the value in scientific notation)
236789034569723

'236789034569723'

'0'

TO_CHAR (Numbers)

181

SALES

RETURN VALUE

33.15

'33.15'

NULL

NULL

Decimal Conversion Example

The following expression converts the decimal values in the SALES port to strings in high precision mode:
TO_CHAR( SALES )
SALES

RETURN VALUE

2378964536789761

'2378964536789761'

1234567890123456789012345679

'1234567890123456789012345679'

1.234578945469649345876123456

'1.234578945469649345876123456'

0.999999999999999999999999999

'0.999999999999999999999999999'

12345678901234567890123456799

'12345678901234567890123456799'

23456788992233456678458934567123465239

'23456788992233456678458934567123465239'

423456789012345678901234567991234567899

'4.23456789012346e+038'

(greater than 38)

TO_DATE
Converts a character string to a Date/Time datatype. You use the TO_DATE format strings to specify the
format of the source strings.
The output port must be Date/Time for TO_DATE expressions.
If you are converting two-digit years with TO_DATE, use either the RR or YY format string. Do not use the
YYYY format string.

Syntax
TO_DATE( string [, format] )

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

Must be a string datatype. Passes the values that you want to convert to dates.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

format

Optional

Enter a valid TO_DATE format string. The format string must match the parts of
the string argument. For example, if you pass the string 'Mar 15 1998
12:43:10AM', you must use the format string 'MON DD YYYY HH12:MI:SSAM'. If
you omit the format string, the string value must be in the date format specified
in the session.

Return Value
Date.
TO_DATE always returns a date and time. If you pass a string that does not have a time value, the date
returned always includes the time 00:00:00.000000000. You can map the results of this function to any target
column with a datetime datatype. If the target column precision is less than nanoseconds, the Data
Integration Service truncates the datetime value to match the precision of the target column when it writes
datetime values to the target.
NULL if you pass a null value to this function.
Warning: The format of the TO_DATE string must match the format string including any date separators. If it
does not, the Data Integration Service might return inaccurate values or skip the record.

Examples
The following expression returns date values for the strings in the DATE_PROMISED port. TO_DATE always
returns a date and time. If you pass a string that does not have a time value, the date returned always
includes the time 00:00:00.000000000. If you run a mapping in the twentieth century, the century will be 19.
In this example, the current year on the node running the Data Integration Service is 1998. The datetime
format for the target column is MON DD YY HH24:MI SS, so the Data Integration Service truncates the
datetime value to seconds when it writes to the target:
TO_DATE( DATE_PROMISED, 'MM/DD/YY' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

'01/22/98'

Jan 22 1998 00:00:00

'05/03/98'

May 3 1998 00:00:00

'11/10/98'

Nov 10 1998 00:00:00

'10/19/98'

Oct 19 1998 00:00:00

NULL

NULL

The following expression returns date and time values for the strings in the DATE_PROMISED port. If you
pass a string that does not have a time value, the Data Integration Service returns an error. If you run a

TO_DATE

183

mapping in the twentieth century, the century will be 19. The current year on the node running the Data
Integration Service is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_PROMISED, 'MON DD YYYY HH12:MI:SSAM' )
DATE_PROMISED

RETURN VALUE

'Jan 22 1998 02:14:56PM'

Jan 22 1998 02:14:56PM

'Mar 15 1998 11:11:11AM'

Mar 15 1998 11:11:11AM

'Jun 18 1998 10:10:10PM'

Jun 18 1998 10:10:10PM

'October 19 1998'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

NULL

NULL

The following expression converts strings in the SHIP_DATE_MJD_STRING port to date values:
TO_DATE (SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR, 'J')
SHIP_DATE_MJD_STR

RETURN_VALUE

'2451544'

Dec 31 1999 00:00:00.000000000

'2415021'

Jan 1 1900 00:00:00.000000000

Because the J format string does not include the time portion of a date, the return values have the time set to
00:00:00.000000000.
The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/RR')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

'04/01/98'

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

'08/17/05'

08/17/2005 00:00:00.000000000

The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/YY')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

'04/01/98'

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

'08/17/05'

08/17/1905 00:00:00.000000000

Note: For the second row, RR returns the year 2005 and YY returns the year 1905.

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Chapter 6: Functions

The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/Y')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

'04/01/8'

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

'08/17/5'

08/17/1995 00:00:00.000000000

The following expression converts a string to a four-digit year format. The current year is 1998:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/YYY')
DATE_STR

RETURN VALUE

'04/01/998'

04/01/1998 00:00:00.000000000

'08/17/995'

08/17/1995 00:00:00.000000000

The following expression converts strings that includes the seconds since midnight to date values:
TO_DATE( DATE_STR, 'MM/DD/YYYY SSSSS')
DATE_STR

RETURN_VALUE

'12/31/1999 3783'

12/31/1999 01:02:03

'09/15/1996 86399'

09/15/1996 23:59:59

If the target accepts different date formats, use TO_DATE and IS_DATE with the DECODE function to test for
acceptable formats. For example:
DECODE( TRUE,
--test first format
IS_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS' ),
--if true, convert to date
TO_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS' ),
--test second format; if true, convert to date
IS_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MM/DD/YYYY'), TO_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MM/DD/YYYY' ),
--test third format; if true, convert to date
IS_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MON DD YYYY'), TO_DATE( CLOSE_DATE,'MON DD YYYY'),
--if none of the above
ERROR( 'NOT A VALID DATE') )
You can combine TO_CHAR and TO_DATE to convert a numeric value for a month into the text value for a
month using a function such as:
TO_CHAR( TO_DATE( numeric_month, 'MM' ), 'MONTH' )

TO_DATE

185

Related Topics:

Rules and Guidelines for Date Format Strings on page 38

TO_DECIMAL
Converts a string or numeric value to a decimal value. TO_DECIMAL ignores leading blanks.

Syntax
TO_DECIMAL( value [, scale] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Must be a string or numeric datatype. Passes the values you want to convert to
decimal values. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

scale

Optional

Must be an integer literal between 0 and 28, inclusive. Specifies the number of
digits allowed after the decimal point. If you omit this argument, the function
returns a value with the same scale as the input value.

Return Value
Decimal of precision and scale between 0 and 28, inclusive.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.
If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for a decimal value, the Data Integration
Service marks the row as an error row.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Example
This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX. IN_TAX is a String data type with precision of 44 digits.
RETURN VALUE is a Decimal data type with a precision of 28 and scale of 3:
TO_DECIMAL( IN_TAX, 3 )

186

IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'15.6789'

15.679

'60.2'

60.200

'118.348'

118.348

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this

row.

Chapter 6: Functions

IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'711A1'

Error. Integration Service skips this

row.

'1234567890.123'

1234567890.123

'123456789012345678901234567890.123'

Error. Integration Service skips this

row.

'1234567890123456789012345678901234567890.123Error. Integration Service skips this

row.

TO_DECIMAL38
Converts a string or numeric value to a decimal value. TO_DECIMAL38 ignores leading blanks.

Syntax
TO_DECIMAL38( value [, scale] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Must be a string or numeric data type. Passes the values that you want to
convert to decimal values. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

scale

Optional

Must be an integer literal between 0 and 38, inclusive. Specifies the number of
digits allowed after the decimal point. If you omit this argument, the function
returns a value with the same scale as the input value.

Return Value
Decimal of precision and scale between 0 and 38, inclusive.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.
If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for a decimal value, the Data Integration
Service marks the row as an error row. For example, if you pass
TO_DECIMAL38("1234567890123456789012345678901234567890.12"), the Data Integration Service rejects
the row.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 38 digits.

TO_DECIMAL38

187

Example
This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX. IN_TAX is a String data type with precision of 44 digits.
RETURN VALUE is a Decimal data type with a precision of 38 and a scale of 3:
TO_DECIMAL38( IN_TAX, 3 )
IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'15.6789'

15.679

'60.2'

60.200

'118.348'

118.348

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips

this row.

'1234567890.123'

1234567890.123

'123456789012345678901234567890.123'

123456789012345678901234567890.123

'1234567890123456789012345678901234567890.123'Error. Integration Service skips

this row.
'711A1'

Error. Integration Service skips

this row.

TO_FLOAT
Converts a string or numeric value to a double-precision floating point number (the Double datatype).
TO_FLOAT ignores leading blanks.

Syntax
TO_FLOAT( value )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

Must be a string or numeric datatype. Passes the values you want to convert to
double values. You can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if a value passed to this function is NULL.

188

Chapter 6: Functions

If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for a float value, the Data Integration Service
marks the row as an error row or fails the mapping.

Example
This expression uses values from the port IN_TAX:
TO_FLOAT( IN_TAX )
IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'15.6789'

15.6789

'60.2'

60.2

'118.348'

118.348

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

TO_INTEGER
Converts a string or numeric value to an integer. TO_INTEGER syntax contains an optional argument that
you can choose to round the number to the nearest integer or truncate the decimal portion. TO_INTEGER
ignores leading blanks.

Syntax
TO_INTEGER( value [, flag] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
value

Required

String or numeric datatype. Passes the value you want to convert to an integer.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

flag

Optional

Specifies whether to truncate or round the decimal portion. The flag must be an
integer literal or the constants TRUE or FALSE.
TO_INTEGER truncates the decimal portion when the flag is TRUE or a number
other than 0.
TO_INTEGER rounds the value to the nearest integer if the flag is FALSE or 0 or
if you omit this argument.

Return Value
Integer.
NULL if the value passed to the function is NULL.
If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for an integer value, the Data Integration
Service marks the row as an error row or fails the mapping.

TO_INTEGER

189

Examples
The following expressions use values from the port IN_TAX. The Data Integration Service displays an error
when the conversion causes a numeric overflow:
TO_INTEGER( IN_TAX, TRUE )
IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'15.6789'

15

'60.2'

60

'118.348'

118

'5,000,000,000'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

'

123

123.87'

'-15.6789'

-15

'-15.23'

-15

TO_INTEGER( IN_TAX, FALSE)

190

IN_TAX

RETURN VALUE

'15.6789'

16

'60.2'

60

'118.348'

118

'5,000,000,000'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

NULL

NULL

'A12.3Grove'

Error. Integration Service skips this row.

'

124

123.87'

'-15.6789'

-16

'-15.23'

-15

Chapter 6: Functions

TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ
Converts a string to Timestamp with Time Zone value. The function returns Timestamp with Time Zone data
type. You use the TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ format strings to specify the format of the source strings.

Syntax
TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ ( String , [format] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
String

Required

Must be a string data type. Passes the values you want to convert to Timestamp
with Time Zone. You can enter any valid transformation expression.
The string must be a character string.

format

Optional

Enter a valid TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ format string. The format string must match
the parts of the string argument. For example, if you pass the string 'Mar 15 1997
12:43:10AM ASIA/CALCUTTA', you must use the format string 'MON DD YYYY
HH12:MI:SSAM TZR'.
If you do not specify the format string, the function uses the default date time
format in the Run Configurations dialog.

Return Value
Returns a timestamp with time zone data type.
NULL if the input is a null value.
If the value passed to the function contains data that is not valid for a timestamp with time zone value, the
Data Integration Service marks the row as an error row or fails the mapping.
Example
INPUT VALUE
1947-08-05
10:45:00.221111000 AM
America/Los_Angeles,
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.NS
AM TZR'
1947-08-05
10:45:00.221111000 AM
America/Los_Angeles,
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.NS
AM'

RETURN VALUE
Returns a timestamp with time zone data type with the
following data:
1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM AMERICA/LOS_ANGELES

Returns a timestamp with time zone data type even without

specifying time zone region in the time zone region
format:
1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM AMERICA/LOS_ANGELES'

TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ

191

INPUT VALUE
1947-08-05
10:45:00.221111000 AM
America/Los_Angeles

1947-08-05
10:45:00.221111000 AM
America/Los_Angeles,
MM-DD-YYYY HH:MI:SS.NS
AM'

RETURN VALUE
Returns a timestamp with time zone data type even without
specifying timestamp with time zone format.
'1947-08-05 10:45:00.221111000 AM AMERICA/LOS_ANGELES'
Default date time format at the Run Configurations dialog
is used when the format is not specified at the function
level.
Default date time format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.NS AM TZR'
If a timestamp with time zone data does not match the
given format, the following error appears:
Process row failed for function [TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ]:
Failed to convert the string to timestamp with time zone
value.
Verify that the specified date format string is valid.
Verify that the timestamp with time zone string used in
the first argument is compatible with the specified date
format.

TRUNC (Dates)
Truncates dates to a specific year, month, day, hour, minute, second, millisecond, or microsecond. You can
also use TRUNC to truncate numbers.
You can truncate the following date parts:

Year. If you truncate the year portion of the date, the function returns Jan 1 of the input year with the time
set to 00:00:00.000000000. For example, the following expression returns 1/1/1997 00:00:00.000000000:
TRUNC(12/1/1997 3:10:15, 'YY')

Month. If you truncate the month portion of a date, the function returns the first day of the month with the
time set to 00:00:00.000000000. For example, the following expression returns 4/1/1997
00:00:00.000000000:

Day. If you truncate the day portion of a date, the function returns the date with the time set to
00:00:00.000000000. For example, the following expression returns 6/13/1997 00:00:00.000000000:

TRUNC(4/15/1997 12:15:00, 'MM')

TRUNC(6/13/1997 2:30:45, 'DD')

Hour. If you truncate the hour portion of a date, the function returns the date with the minutes, seconds,
and subseconds set to 0. For example, the following expression returns 4/1/1997 11:00:00.000000000:
TRUNC(4/1/1997 11:29:35, 'HH')

Minute. If you truncate the minute portion of a date, the function returns the date with the seconds and
subseconds set to 0. For example, the following expression returns 5/22/1997 10:15:00.000000000:
TRUNC(5/22/1997 10:15:29, 'MI')

Second. If you truncate the second portion of a date, the function returns the date with the milliseconds
set to 0. For example, the following expression returns 5/22/1997 10:15:29.000000000:

Millisecond. If you truncate the millisecond portion of a date, the function returns the date with the
microseconds set to 0. For example, the following expression returns 5/22/1997 10:15:30.135000000:

TRUNC(5/22/1997 10:15:29.135, 'SS')

TRUNC(5/22/1997 10:15:30.135235, 'MS')

192

Chapter 6: Functions

Microsecond. If you truncate the microsecond portion of a date, the function returns the date with the
nanoseconds set to 0. For example, the following expression returns 5/22/1997 10:15:30.135235000:
TRUNC(5/22/1997 10:15:29.135235478, 'US')

Syntax
TRUNC( date [,format] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
date

Required

Date/Time datatype. The date values you want to truncate. You can enter any
valid transformation expression that evaluates to a date.

format

Optional

Enter a valid format string. The format string is not case sensitive. If you omit the
format string, the function truncates the time portion of the date, setting it to
00:00:00.000000000.

Return Value
Date.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Examples
The following expressions truncate the year portion of dates in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
TRUNC(
TRUNC(
TRUNC(
TRUNC(

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'Y' )
'YY' )
'YYY' )
'YYYY' )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000

Jun 20 1998 3:50:04AM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000

NULL

NULL

The following expressions truncate the month portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MM' )
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MON' )
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MONTH' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

TRUNC (Dates)

193

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jun 20 1998 3:50:04AM

Jun 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 1 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions truncate the day portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
TRUNC(
TRUNC(
TRUNC(
TRUNC(
TRUNC(

DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,
DATE_SHIPPED,

'D' )
'DD' )
'DDD' )
'DY' )
'DAY' )

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 15 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 19 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Jun 20 1998 3:50:04AM

Jun 20 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 20 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Dec 31 1998 12:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expressions truncate the hour portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH' )
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH12' )
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'HH24' )
DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:31AM

Jan 15 1998 2:00:00.000000000AM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 19 1998 1:00:00.000000000PM

Jun 20 1998 3:50:04AM

Jun 20 1998 3:00:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 20 1998 3:00:00.000000000PM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Dec 31 1998 11:00:00.000000000AM

NULL

NULL

The following expression truncates the minute portion of each date in the DATE_SHIPPED port:
TRUNC( DATE_SHIPPED, 'MI' )

194

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Jan 15 1998 2:10:30AM

Jan 15 1998 2:10:00.000000000AM

Chapter 6: Functions

DATE_SHIPPED

RETURN VALUE

Apr 19 1998 1:31:20PM

Apr 19 1998 1:31:00.000000000PM

Jun 20 1998 3:50:04AM

Jun 20 1998 3:50:00.000000000AM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:55PM

Dec 20 1998 3:29:00.000000000PM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:59PM

Dec 31 1998 11:59:00.000000000PM

NULL

NULL

TRUNC (Numbers)
Truncates numbers to a specific digit. You can also use TRUNC to truncate dates.

Syntax
TRUNC( numeric_value [, precision] )
The following table describes the arguments for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values you want to truncate. You can enter any
valid transformation expression that evaluates to a Numeric datatype.

precision

Optional

Can be a positive or negative integer. You can enter any valid transformation
expression that evaluates to an integer. The integer specifies the number of
digits to truncate.

If precision is a positive integer, TRUNC returns numeric_value with the number of decimal places specified
by precision. If precision is a negative integer, TRUNC changes the specified digits to the left of the decimal
point to zeros. If you omit the precision argument, TRUNC truncates the decimal portion of numeric_value
and returns an integer.
If you pass a decimal precision value, the Data Integration Service rounds numeric_value to the nearest
integer before evaluating the expression.
When you run a mapping in high precision mode, use the ROUND function before truncating.
For example, suppose the following expression is used to truncate the values in the QTY port:
TRUNC ( QTY / 15 )
When the value for QTY = 15000000, the session returns the value 999999. The expected result is 1000000.
At run time, the Data Integration Service evaluates the constant part of the expression and then the variable
part.
In the above expression, QTY is the variable value and (1/15) is the constant value.

TRUNC (Numbers)

195

When QTY = 15000000, the expression is evaluated as follows:

TRUNC ( 15000000 * (1/15)
TRUNC ( 15000000 * (1/15)
= TRUNC ( 15000000 * 0.0666666666666666)
= TRUNC ( 15000000 * 0.0666666666666666)
= TRUNC ( 999999.99999999)
= 999999
If you use the ROUND function before truncating, the expression is evaluated as follows:
TRUNC (ROUND (QTY/15, .99999999999999999999999999)).

Return Value
Numeric value.
NULL if one of the arguments is NULL.
Note: If the return value is Decimal with precision greater than 15, you can enable high precision to ensure
decimal precision up to 28 digits.

Examples
The following expressions truncate the values in the Price port:
TRUNC( PRICE, 3 )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.9995

12.999

-18.8652

-18.865

56.9563

56.956

15.9928

15.992

NULL

NULL

TRUNC( PRICE, -1 )
PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.99

10.0

-187.86

-180.0

56.95

50.0

1235.99

1230.0

NULL

NULL

TRUNC( PRICE )

196

PRICE

RETURN VALUE

12.99

12.0

-18.99

-18.0

Chapter 6: Functions

PRICE

RETURN VALUE

56.95

56.0

15.99

15.0

NULL

NULL

UPPER
Converts lowercase string characters to uppercase.

Syntax
UPPER( string )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
string

Required

String datatype. Passes the values you want to change to uppercase text. You
can enter any valid transformation expression.

Return Value
Uppercase string. If the data contains multibyte characters, the return value depends on the code page and
data movement mode of the Data Integration Service.
NULL if a value passed to the function is NULL.

Example
The following expression changes all names in the FIRST_NAME port to uppercase:
UPPER( FIRST_NAME )
FIRST_NAME

RETURN VALUE

Ramona

RAMONA

NULL

NULL

THOMAS

THOMAS

PierRe

PIERRE

Bernice

BERNICE

UPPER

197

UUID4
Returns a randomly generated 16-byte binary value that complies with variant 4 of the UUID specification
described in RFC 4122. UUID4 does not take an argument.

Syntax
UUID4()

Return Value
Binary.
UUID4 never returns a null value or an error.

UUID_UNPARSE
Converts a 16-byte binary value to a 36-character string representation as specified in RFC 4122.

Syntax
UUID_UNPARSE( binary )
The following table describes the argument for this command:
Argument

Required/

Description

Optional
binary

Required

Binary datatype. Any 16-byte binary value that you want to convert to a 36character string.

Return Value
36-character string.
Returns null if the argument is null and an error if the argument is not a 16-byte binary value.

Example
The following expression might return a value of 6948DF80-14BD-4E04-8842-7668D9C001F5:
UUID_UNPARSE(UUID4())

VARIANCE
Returns the variance of a value you pass to it. VARIANCE is used to analyze statistical data. You can nest
only one other aggregate function within VARIANCE, and the nested function must return a Numeric
datatype.

Syntax
VARIANCE( numeric_value [, filter_condition ] )

198

Chapter 6: Functions

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument

Required
/

Description

Optional
numeric_value

Required

Numeric datatype. Passes the values for which you want to calculate a variance.
You can enter any valid transformation expression.

filter_condition

Optional

Limits the rows in the search. The filter condition must be a numeric value or
evaluate to TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation
expression.

Return Value
Double value.
NULL if all values passed to the function are NULL or if no rows are selected (for example, the
filter_condition evaluates to FALSE or NULL for all rows).

Nulls
If a single value is NULL, VARIANCE ignores it. However, if all values passed to the function are NULL or if
no rows are selected, VARIANCE returns NULL.

Group By
VARIANCE groups values based on group by ports you define in the transformation, returning one result for
each group.
If there is not a group by port, VARIANCE treats all rows as one group, returning one value.

Example
The following expression calculates the variance of all rows in the TOTAL_SALES port:
VARIANCE( TOTAL_SALES )
TOTAL_SALES
2198.0
2256.0
3001.0
NULL
8953.0
RETURN VALUE:

10592444.6666667

VARIANCE

199

Index

ABORT function
description 48
ABS function
description 48
absolute values
obtaining 48
ADD_TO_DATE function
description 49
Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm
description 52, 53
AES_DECRYPT function
description 52
AES_ENCRYPT function
description 53
aggregate functions
ANY 54
AVG 56
COUNT 65
description 41
FIRST 80
LAST 102
MAX (dates) 113
MAX (numbers) 114
MAX (string) 116
MEDIAN 117
MIN (dates) 122
MIN (numbers) 124, 125
null values 20, 43
PERCENTILE 131
STDDEV 166
SUM 170
VARIANCE 198
AND
reserved word 16
ANY function
description 54
arithmetic
date/time values 40
arithmetic operators
description 23
using strings in expressions 23
using to convert data 23
ASCII
CHR function 59
converting ASCII values 59
converting characters to ASCII values 55
converting to Unicode values 60
ASCII function
description 55
averages
aggregate functions for determining 56
returning 127
AVG function
description 56

bigint
converting values to 175
built-in variables
description 27

200

C
calendars
date types supported 29
capitalization
strings 92, 108, 197
case
converting to uppercase 197
CEIL function
description 57
character functions
ASCII 55
CHR 59
CHRCODE 60
CONCAT function 61
INITCAP 92
INSTR 93
LENGTH 105
list of 43
LOWER 108
LPAD 109
LTRIM 111
METAPHONE 119
REG_EXTRACT 136
REG_MATCH 139
REG_REPLACE 140
REPLACECHR 141
REPLACESTR 144
RPAD 155
RTRIM 156
SOUNDEX 163
SUBSTR 168
UPPER 197
character strings
converting from dates 176
converting to dates 182
characters
adding to strings 109, 155
ASCII characters 55, 59
capitalization 92, 108, 197
counting 168
encoding 119, 163
removing from strings 111, 156
replacing multiple 144
replacing one 141
returning number 105
Unicode characters 55, 59, 60

CHOOSE function
description 58
CHR function
description 59
inserting single quotes 14, 59
CHRCODE function
description 60
COBOL syntax
converting to perl syntax 136
comments
adding to expressions 15
comparison operators
description 25
using strings in expressions 25
COMPRESS function
description 61
compression
compressing data 61
decompressing data 77
CONCAT function
description 61
inserting single quotes using 61
concatenating
strings 24, 61
constants
DD_INSERT 17
DD_REJECT 18
DD_UPDATE 18
description 12
FALSE 19
NULL 19
TRUE 20
conversion functions
CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ 68
description 44
GET_TIMESTAMP 86
GET_TIMEZONE 85
TO_CHAR (dates) 176
TO_CHAR (numbers) 181
TO_DATE 182
TO_DECIMAL 186
TO_DECIMAL38 187
TO_FLOAT 188
TO_INTEGER 189
TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ 191
CONVERT_BASE function
description 63
converting
date strings 30
COS function
description 63
COSH function
description 64
cosine
calculating 63
calculating hyperbolic cosine 64
COUNT function
description 65
CRC32 function
description 67
CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ function
description 68
CUME function
description 69

D
data cleansing functions
description 44
GREATEST 87
IN 90
LEAST 105
Data Integration Service
handling nulls in comparison expressions 20
datatypes
Date/Time 28
date functions
ADD_TO_DATE 49
DATE_COMPARE 70
DATE_DIFF 71
GET_DATE_PART 83
LAST_DAY 103
MAKE_DATE_TIME 112
MAX (dates) 113
MIN (dates) 122
ROUND 148
SET_DATE_PART 157
SYSTIMESTAMP 172
TRUNC (Dates) 192
DATE_COMPARE function
description 70
DATE_DIFF function
description 71
date/time values
adding 49
dates
converting to character strings 176
default datetime format 31
flat files 31
format strings 32
functions 45
Julian 29
Modified Julian 29
overview 28
performing arithmetic 40
relational databases 31
rounding 148
truncating 192
year 2000 29
DD_DELETE constant
description 17
reserved word 16
update strategy example 17
DD_INSERT constant
description 17
reserved word 16
update strategy example 17
DD_REJECT constant
description 18
reserved word 16
update strategy example 18
DD_UPDATE constant
description 18
reserved word 16
update strategy example 18
DEC_BASE64 function
description 74
decimal values
converting 68, 85, 86, 186, 187, 191
DECODE function
description 75
internationalization 13

Index

201

decoding
DEC_BASE64 function 74
DECOMPRESS function
description 77
decryption
AES_DECRYPT function 52
default datetime format
setting 31
default values
ERROR function 78
division calculation
returning remainder 126
double precision values
floating point numbers 188

E
empty strings
testing for 105
ENC_BASE64 function
description 77
encoding
characters 119, 163
ENC_BASE64 function 77
encoding functions
AES_DECRYPT 52
AES_ENCRYPT 53
COMPRESS 61
CRC32 67
DEC_BASE64 74
DECOMPRESS 77
description 46
ENC_BASE64 77
MD5 117
encryption
AES_ENCRYPT function 53
using the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm 53
ERROR function
default value 78
description 78
EXP function
description 79
exponent values
calculating 79
returning 133
expressions
adding comments 15
conditional 19
overview 12
syntax 13
using operators 22

F
FALSE constant
description 19
reserved word 16
filter conditions
aggregate functions 43
null values 20
Filter transformation
using ISNULL function 96
financial functions
description 46
FV function 82
NPER function 130

202

Index

financial functions (continued)

PMT function 132
PV function 134
RATE function 136
FIRST function
description 80
flat files
dates 31
FLOOR function
description 81
FLOOR function (expressions)
description 81
format
from character string to date 182
from date to character string 176
format strings
dates 32
definition 28
IS_DATE function 36
Julian day 33, 36
matching 38
Modified Julian day 33, 36
TO_CHAR function 33
TO_DATE function 36
functions
aggregate 41
categories 41
character 43
conversion 44
data cleansing 44
date 45
description 12
encoding 46
financial 46
internationalization 13
numeric 46
scientific 47
special 47
string 47
test 48
FV function
description 82

G
GET_DATE_PART function
description 83
GET_TIMESTAMP function
description 86
GET_TIMEZONE function
description 85
GREATEST function
description 87
Gregorian calendar
in date functions 29

H
high precision
ABS 48
ABS function 48
arithmetic operators 23
AVG 56
AVG function 56
CEIL 57
CREATE_TIMESTAMP_TZ function 68

high precision (continued)

CUME 69
CUME function 69
EXP 79
GET_TIMESTAMP function 86
GET_TIMEZONE function 85
LOG 107
MAX (numbers) 114
MAX function 114
MEDIAN 117
MEDIAN function 117
MIN (numbers) 124
MIN function 124
MOD 126
MOVINGAVG 127
MOVINGAVG function 127
MOVINGSUM 129
MOVINGSUM function 129
PERCENTILE 131
PERCENTILE function 131
POWER 133
ROUND (numbers) 152
ROUND function 152
SIGN 160
SIN 161
STDDEV function 166
SUM 170
SUM function 170
TO_DECIMAL function 186
TO_DECIMAL38 function 187
TO_TIMESTAMP_TZ function 191
TRUNC function 195
hyperbolic
cosine function 64
sine function 162
tangent function 174

I
IIF function
description 88
internationalization 13
IN function
description 90
INDEXOF function
description 91
:INFA reference qualifier
reserved word 16
INITCAP function
description 92
internationalization 13
INSTR function
description 93
integers
converting values to 189
internationalization
functions affected 13
invalid expression 13
sort order 13
IS_DATE function
description 97
format strings 36
IS_NUMBER function
description 99
IS_SPACES function
description 101

ISNULL function
description 96

J
J format string
using with IS_DATE 39
using with TO_CHAR 35
using with TO_DATE 39
Julian dates
in date functions 29
Julian day
format string 33, 36

L
:LKP reference qualifier
description 14
reserved word 16
LAST function
description 102
LAST_DAY function
description 103
LEAST function
description 105
LENGTH function
description 105
empty string test 105
literals
single quotes in 59, 61
single quotes requirement 14
LN function
description 106
local variables
description 12
LOG function
description 107
logarithm
returning 106, 107
logical operators
description 25
LOWER function
description 108
internationalization 13
LPAD function
description 109
LTRIM function
description 111

M
MAKE_DATE_TIME function
description 112
mapping parameters
definition 12
mapping variables
built-in variables 27
MAX (dates) function
description 113
internationalization 13
MAX (numbers) function
description 114
internationalization 13
MAX (string) function
description 116

Index

203

:MCR reference qualifier

reserved word 16
MD5 function
description 117
MEDIAN function
description 117
METAPHONE
description 119
MIN (dates) function
description 122
internationalization 13
MIN (numbers) function
description 124, 125
internationalization 13
minimum
value, returning 122
MOD function
description 126
Modified Julian day
format string 33, 36
month
returning last day 103
MOVINGAVG function
description 127
MOVINGSUM function
description 129
multiple searches
example of TRUE constant 20

N
negative values
SIGN 160
nested expressions
operators 22
NOT
reserved word 16
NPER function
description 130
NULL constant
description 19
reserved word 16
null values
aggregate functions 20, 43
checking for 96
filter conditions 20
in comparison expressions 20
ISNULL 96
logical operators 26
operators 20
string operator 24
numbers
rounding 152
truncating 195
numeric functions
ABS 48
CEIL 57
CONVERT_BASE 63
CUME 69
description 46
EXP 79
FLOOR 81
LN 106
LOG 107
MOD 126
MOVINGAVG 127
MOVINGSUM 129

204

Index

numeric functions (continued)

POWER 133
RAND 135
ROUND (numbers) 152
SIGN 160
SQRT 165
TRUNC (numbers) 195
numeric values
converting to text strings 181
returning absolute value 48
returning cosine 63
returning hyperbolic cosine of 64
returning hyperbolic sine 162
returning hyperbolic tangent 174
returning logarithms 106, 107
returning minimum 124
returning sine 161
returning square root 165
returning standard deviation 166
returning tangent 173
SIGN 160

O
operator precedence
expressions 22
operators
arithmetic 23
comparison operators 25
description 12
logical operators 25
null values 20
string operators 24
using strings in arithmetic 23
using strings in comparison 25
OR
reserved word 16

P
PERCENTILE function
description 131
perl compatible regular expression syntax
using in a REG_EXTRACT function 136
using in a REG_MATCH function 136
PMT function
description 132
ports
syntax 14
positive values
SIGN 160
POWER function
description 133
primary key constraint
null values 19
PROC_RESULT variable
reserved word 16
PV function
description 134

Q
quotation marks
inserting single using CHR function 14

R
RAND function
description 135
RATE function
description 136
reference qualifiers
description 14
REG_EXTRACT function
description 136
using perl syntax 136
REG_MATCH function
description 139
using perl syntax 136
REG_REPLACE function
description 140
relational databases
dates 31
REPLACECHR function
description 141
REPLACESTR function
description 144
reserved words
list 16
return values
description 12
syntax 14
REVERSE function
description 147
ROUND (dates) function
description 148
processing subseconds 148
ROUND (numbers) function
description 152
rounding
dates 148
numbers 152
rows
avoiding spaces 101
counting 65
returning any row 54
returning average 127
returning first row 80
returning last row 102
returning sum 129
running total 69
skipping 78
RPAD function
description 155
RR format string
description 30
difference between YY and RR 30
using with IS_DATE 39
using with TO_CHAR 36
using with TO_DATE 39
RTRIM function
description 156
running total
returning 69

S
scientific functions
COS 63
COSH 64
description 47
SIN 161

scientific functions (continued)

SINH 162
TAN 173
TANH 174
SESSSTARTTIME variable
using in date functions 40
SET_DATE_PART function
description 157
SIGN function
description 160
SIN function
description 161
sine
returning 161, 162
single quotes in string literals
CHR function 59
using CHR and CONCAT functions 61
SINH function
description 162
skipping
rows 78
sort order
internationalization 13
SOUNDEX function
description 163
spaces
avoiding in rows 101
removing with DD_REJECT 18
special functions
ABORT 48
DECODE 75
description 47
ERROR 78
IIF 88
SPOUTPUT
reserved word 16
SQL IS_CHAR function
using REG_MATCH 139
SQL LIKE function
using REG_MATCH 139
SQL syntax
converting to perl syntax 136
SQL_LIKE function
description 164
SQRT function
description 165
square root
returning 165
SSSSS format string
using with IS_DATE 39
using with TO_CHAR 35
using with TO_DATE 39
standard deviation
returning 166
STDDEV function
description 166
string conversion
dates 30
string functions
CHOOSE 58
description 47
INDEXOF 91
REVERSE 147
string literals
single quotes in 59, 61
single quotes requirement 14
string operators
description 24

Index

205

string values
returning maximum 116
returning minimum 125
strings
adding blanks 109
adding characters 109
capitalization 92, 108, 197
character set 93
concatenating 24, 61
converting character strings to dates 182
converting dates to characters 176
converting length 155
converting numeric values to text strings 181
number of characters 105
removing blanks 111
removing blanks and characters 156
removing characters 111
replacing multiple characters 144
replacing one character 141
returning portion 168
subseconds
processing in ROUND (dates) function 148
processing in TRUNC (dates) function 192
SUBSTR function
description 168
sum
returning 129, 170
SUM function
description 170
syntax
expression 13
general rules 14
ports 14
return values 14
SYSDATE variable
description 27
reserved word 16
using in expressions 27
system variables 27
SYSTIMESTAMP function
description 172

T
TAN function
description 173
tangent
returning 173, 174
TANH function
description 174
test functions
description 48
IS_DATE 97
IS_NUMBER 99
IS_SPACES 101
ISNULL 96
text strings
converting numeric values 181
TO__TIMESTAMP_TZ function
description 191
TO_CHAR (dates) function
description 176
examples 35
format strings 33
TO_CHAR (numbers) function
description 181

206

Index

TO_DATE function
description 182
examples 38
format strings 36
TO_DECIMAL function
description 186
TO_DECIMAL38 function
description 187
TO_FLOAT function
description 188
TO_INTEGER function
description 189
transformation expressions
null constraints 19
overview 12
transformation language
compared to SQL 13
operators 22
reserved words 16
transformation language components
overview 12
transformation language updates
boolean expressions 20
comparison expressions 20
TRUE constant
description 20
reserved word 16
TRUNC (dates) function
description 192
processing subseconds 192
TRUNC (numbers) function
description 195
truncating
dates 192
numbers 195

U
Unicode
converting characters to Unicode values 55
converting to ASCII values 60
converting Unicode values 59
update strategy
DD_DELETE example 17
DD_INSERT example 17
DD_REJECT example 18
DD_UPDATE example 18
UPPER function
description 197
internationalization 13
UUID_UNPARSE function
description 198
UUID4 function
description 198

V
variables
built-in variables 27
SYSDATE 27
VARIANCE function
description 198

Y
year 2000
dates 29
YY format string
difference between RR and YY 30

YY format string (continued)

using with IS_DATE 39
using with TO_CHAR 36
using with TO_DATE 39

Index

207