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All about Informatica Lookup

A Lookup is a Passive, Connected or Unconnected Transformation used to look up data in a relational table, view, synonym or flat file. The integration service queries the lookup table to retrieve a value based on the input source value and the lookup condition. All about Informatica LookUp Transformation A connected lookup receives source data, performs a lookup and returns data to the pipeline; While an unconnected lookup is not connected to source or target and is called by a transformation in the pipeline by :LKP expression which in turn returns only one column value to the calling transformation. Lookup can be Cached or Uncached. If we cache the lookup then again we can further go for static or dynamic or persistent cache, named cache or unnamed cache . By default lookup transformations are cached and static. Lookup Ports Tab The Ports tab of Lookup Transformation contains Input Ports: Create an input port for each lookup port we want to use in the lookup condition. We must have at least one input or input/output port in a lookup transformation. Output Ports: Create an output port for each lookup port we want to link to another transformation. For connected lookups, we must have at least one output port. For unconnected lookups, we must select a lookup port as a return port (R) to pass a return value. Lookup Port: The Designer designates each column of the lookup source as a lookup port. Return Port: An unconnected Lookup transformation has one return port that returns one column of data to the calling transformation through this port. Notes: We can delete lookup ports from a relational lookup if the mapping does not use the lookup ports which will give us performance gain. But if the lookup source is a flat file then deleting of lookup ports fails the session. Now let us have a look on the Properties Tab of the Lookup Transformation: Lookup Sql Override: Override the default SQL statement to add a WHERE clause or to join multiple tables. Lookup table name: The base table on which the lookup is performed. Lookup Source Filter: We can apply filter conditions on the lookup table so as to reduce the number of records. For example, we may want to select the active records of the lookup table hence we may use the condition CUSTOMER_DIM.ACTIVE_FLAG = 'Y'. Lookup caching enabled: If option is checked it caches the lookup table during the session run. Otherwise it goes for uncached relational database hit. Remember to implement database index on the columns used in the lookup condition to provide better performance when the lookup in Uncached.