Chapter 10 Building Data Transformation Diagrams

Data Structure Columns

A data structure column defines the structure of data at each step of the transformation task. Data structure columns come from one or more source objects, and are conveyed by data flows from one step to another with elementary or complex transformations until it fits your business needs.

For each step (data input, action, and data output), data structure columns display in the Data Structure Columns tab of their property sheet. You can click the Add Columns tool in order to select columns from the previously selected source objects and edit, create or delete data structure columns. Some actions do not allow you to modify data structure columns.

A data structure column comes from a source object and is loaded to a target object after transformations:

Source objects display in the Data Structure Source Objects tab. See Data Structure Source Objects tab.
Target objects display in the Target Object list on the General tab of the data structure column property sheet. This list is only available when the data structure column is owned by a data output.