Informatica Metadata Exchange Frequently Asked Questions By Quontra Solutions

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Informatica Metadata Exchange Frequently
Asked QuestionsByQuontra Solutions

• Email info_at_quontrasolutions.com
• Call us 404-900-9988
• WebSite www.quontrasolutions.com

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Q What is Informatica Metadata Exchange? A
Informatica Metadata Exchange is a family of
metadata exchange products for the Informatica
Data Integration platform. The Informatica
Metadata Exchange Software Development Kit (MX
SDK) provides an open, bi-directional application
programming interface (API) for metadata
integration between the Informatica Metadata
Repository and other metadata stores.
Informatica Metadata Exchange tools leverage the
MX SDK to provide metadata integration with data
models, relational database catalogs, ERP systems
and other metadata Sources. Q How is
Informatica Metadata Exchange different from MX
SDK? A Metadata Exchange is the umbrella term
applied to all of Informaticas metadata exchange
Products. MX SDK is the Metadata Exchange
Software Development Kit, the enabling
Technology that the other Metadata Exchange
products are built on.
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Q Who should use Informatica Metadata
Exchange? A Metadata Exchange provides tools
for Informatica administrators and developers.
Administrators can use the Metadata Exchange
products to help them manage their metadata in a
more timely, accurate, and efficient manner.
Developers can build applications that use the MX
SDK to deliver metadata to business users. Q
Can I use MX SDK to update sources and targets?
A Yes. The MX SDK source and target objects are
fully updateable. You can rename the Object,
change business names and descriptions, add,
modify or remove columns, update Indexes
(targets only) and foreign key relationships and
update metadata extensions. The only Limitation
is that MX SDK does not allow you to change the
database platform for an existing Source or
target in this case you must delete the object
and recreate it.
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Q How comprehensive is the MX SDK? A The MX
SDK supports most metadata objects in the
Informatica repository including Repositories,
Folders, Sources, Targets, Transformations,
Mappings, Mapplets, Schedules, Workflows,
Workflow logs, Worklets, Sessions, Database
Connections, Metadata Extensions and many
others. Q Can I use MX SDK to update
transformations? A Not all transformations can
be updated using the MX SDK. MX SDK support for
Transformations allow developers to update the
properties of their external procedure
transformations and advanced external procedure
transformations. Standard transformations are
read-only in MX SDK and have to be updated using
Designer. Q Can I use MX SDK to update
mappings? A No. Because of the potential
complexity of an Informatica mapping, the MX SDK
mapping Objects are read only. Mappings must be
created using Informatica Designer.
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Q Can I use MX SDK to find out when a workflow
was run and if it succeeded? A Yes. The MX SDK
provides a rich object model for querying
workflow, session task and transformation logs.
Q Can I use MX SDK to determine data lineage?
A MX SDK can determine data lineage at a source
or target level, but not at a field/column
level. The source and target objects have
methods for determining shortcut, source, target
and mapping dependencies. The dependency
information returned by these methods is the same
as the dependency information that is visible in
the Informatica Repository Manager. More
detailed information about dependencies within a
mapping is available when you use MX SDK or
Designer to export the mapping as an XML file.
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Q Can I use Informatica Metadata Exchange to
manage my own custom metadata? A Informatica
metadata extensions were introduced as a new
feature in Informatica PowerCenter 6.0. You can
add your own custom metadata extensions to
sources, targets,Mappings, transformations,
workflows and other objects using the Informatica
Repository Manager. These metadata extensions
then become part of the repository metamodel and
can be maintained using the Informatica Designer
and viewed by end-users in the Informatica
Metadata Reporter. These metadata extensions can
also be read and updated by other applications
that use the MX SDK. This means that Metadata
Exchange for Data Models can be used to populate
source and target metadata extensions from data
models, database catalogs and other Informatica
repositories.
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Q I am an Informatica Developer. Which
Informatica Metadata Exchange tool is right for
me? A You need Metadata Exchange for Data
Models. You can design and document your
database schema using a data modelling tool,
then use Metadata Exchange for Data Models to
replicate your data model in the Informatica
repository, creating either source or target
definitions. As you refine your data models,
your database schemas and your mappings,
Metadata Exchange for Data Models helps you to
detect and resolve metadata discrepancies that
may cause your mappings to fail. The tools
validation, change and dependency reports can
help to identify the impact of schema changes.
Used in conjunction with Informatica metadata
extensions, you can document your design with
rich metadata, including business and technical
definitions, metadata and data lineage, update
timestamps, volumetric data and extended metadata
from your data models.
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Q I am responsible for administering a data
warehouse. Which Informatica Metadata Exchange
tool is right for me? A Metadata Exchange for
Data Models will help to ensure that your source
and target definitions are always consistent
with the databases that they represent. If the
database schema changes, validation, change and
dependency reports will identify the impact of
the change. Metadata Exchange for Data Models
will also help to ensure that business and
technical metadata is always current. If your
data warehouse contains data that originates in a
SAP or Peoplesoft ERP system, PowerConnect
Metadata Exchange gives you tools for automated
preventative maintenance and will ease the pain
of managing an ERP upgrade or customization. This
product dramatically reduces the work required to
keep the Informatica repository current with
changes in an ERP system by providing tools to
manage ERP metadata. You can quickly and
selectively identify metadata differences between
the ERP system and the Informatica repository,
determine the impact of the discrepancy and
optionally update the Informatica repository to
resolve the problem.
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Q I need to deliver business metadata to my
business users. Which Informatica Metadata
Exchange tool is right for me? A Informatica
provides the Informatica Metadata Reporter, a
simple web-based reporting solution. If this
does not fit your needs, many Business
Intelligence tool vendors have pre-built
integration tools for delivering Informatica
metadata to end-users (for more information see
the Informatica Developers Network web site).
These metadata integration components use either
the MX SDK or MX Views, an earlier and simpler
metadata integration technology based on database
views in the Informatica repository. If your BI
tool vendor does not have an integration
offering, then you can use the MX SDK to build
your own. The MX SDK comes complete with sample
code to show you how. Of course, delivering
metadata to end-users only has value if the
metadata is complete and is current. Metadata
Exchange for Data Models and PowerConnect
Metadata Exchange provide you with tools for
capturing the metadata from data models, database
catalogs and ERP systems.
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Q What is PowerPlug? A PowerPlug is an earlier
name for Metadata Exchange for Data Models
(formerly PowerPlug for Data Models) and
PowerConnect Metadata Exchange (formerly
PowerPlug for ERP). Some third-party vendors
have also used the term PowerPlug for their own
metadata integration offerings. Q What is
PowerConnect Metadata Exchange? A PowerConnect
Metadata Exchange is a proactive metadata
management tool for use with PowerConnect for
SAP and PowerConnect for Peoplesoft. Data derived
from ERP systems often underpins a data
warehouse implementation but ERP systems are
large and complex, containing thousands of
tables and data structures and a change in any
one can potentially cause the data warehouse
load to fail. PowerConnect Metadata Exchange is
used for preventative maintenance, to ensure
that your Informatica ERP sources are always
consistent with the ERP system that they
represent. It quickly and selectively identifies
metadata differences between the ERP system and
the Informatica repository, determines the impact
of the discrepancy and can optionally update the
Informatica repository to resolve the problem.
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Q Can I use PowerConnect Metadata Exchange
with my PowerConnect for Siebel? A YES Q I
already use a Metadata Exchange tool. Should I
upgrade? A New versions of Metadata Exchange
tools are usually released simultaneously with
new versions of PowerCenter. If you plan to
upgrade PowerCenter then you should also plan to
upgrade your Metadata Exchange tools to ensure
connectivity and compatibility. This is
particularly important with major releases. If
you are not planning to upgrade PowerCenter there
may still be good reasons for upgrading Metadata
Exchange for Data Models to a newer version. For
instance, Metadata Exchange for Data Models 7.1
supports PowerCenter 7.1, is backwards compatible
with PowerCenter 6.x and offers new interfaces
for Embarcadero ER/Studio and CA ERwin ModelMart,
finer grained control of comparison reports and a
number of bug fixes and minor enhancements. If
you use PowerCenter 6.x then the upgrade is
recommended.
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Q What is Metadata Exchange for Data Models?
A Simply put, Metadata Exchange for Data
Models is a tool for capturing the metadata that
describes relational databases, then replicating
that metadata in the Informatica repository as
either sources or targets. Metadata Exchange for
Data Models can capture metadata from the
market-leading database design tools as well as
from database catalogs, Informatica repositories
and from XML files that conform to the relational
package of the OMG Common Warehouse Metamodel
standard. An interactive and intuitive GUI
provides fine-grained control of metadata
replication as well as model validation,
reporting and impact analysis. Metadata Exchange
for Data Models saves much time and effort in the
development stages of an Informatica
implementation. You design and document your
database schema using a data modelling tool (such
as CA ERwin and ModelMart, Embarcadero ER/Studio,
Sybase Power Designer or Oracle Designer), then
use Metadata Exchange for Data Models to
replicate your data model in the Informatica
repository, creating either source or target
definitions. As you refine your data models,
database schemas and mappings, Metadata Exchange
for Data Models helps you to detect and resolve
metadata discrepancies that may cause your
mappings to fail. Used in conjunction with
Informatica business names, descriptions and
metadata extensions, you can document your design
with rich metadata, including business and
technical definitions, metadata and data lineage,
volumetric data and extended metadata from your
data models. For on-going preventative
maintenance and troubleshooting, built-in
validation, change and dependency reports can
help to detect and determine the impact of
database schema changes.
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Q I dont use a data-modelling tool. Do I need
Metadata Exchange for Data Models? A Apart from
data models, Metadata Exchange for Data Models
can also extract metadata from database catalogs,
Informatica repositories and CWM files. The
database catalog interface provides a powerful
tool for detecting discrepancies between
Informatica sources and targets and the
corresponding database schema. If you detect
changes, you can update the Informatica
repository from the database schema, guaranteeing
consistency. If your database platform supports
schema comments (e.g. DB2, Oracle), then you can
also capture these in the Informatica repository.
Using the Informatica repository interface, you
can connect to two different Informatica
repositories and compare sources and targets,
transfer business metadata data and migrate
sources and targets between repositories. The
XMI Common Warehouse Metamodel interface
provides a standards-based mechanism for metadata
exchange, using the relational package of the OMG
Common Warehouse Metamodel standard.
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Q What data modelling tools are supported by
Metadata Exchange for Data Models? A Metadata
Exchange for Data Models 7.0 supports CA ERwin
4.1, 4.0 and 3.5.2 CA Model Manager (ModelMart)
4.1 SP3 Embarcadero ER/Studio 6.0 and 5.5.x
Sybase Power Designer 9.5, 9.0, 8.0, 7.5 and 6.1
Oracle Designer 9i, 6i and 6.0 and Oracle
Designer 2000 2.1.x. Support for Embarcadero
ER/Studio and CA Model Manager (ModelMart) is new
in this release. Q Why would I use Metadata
Exchange for Data Models to move metadata between
Informatica repository folders when I can do
this with Informatica client tools? A
Informatica Designer allows object definitions to
be exported as XML files and allows the XML files
to be imported. Repository Manager provides tools
for copying folders between repositories.
Metadata Exchange for Data Models complements
these tools by allowing conversion of sources to
targets and targets to sources (useful for
staging tables and Operational Data Stores) and
also allows migration between versions. Metadata
Exchange for Data Models also allows selective
migration of business names, descriptions and
metadata extensions and mapping between them
this provides a very useful tool for managing
business metadata and for moving business
metadata between development, test and production
environments.
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Q Informatica Designer can import database
schemas. Why do I need the database catalog
interface in Metadata Exchange for Data Models?
A Informatica Designer can use ODBC to create
source and target definitions from a database
catalog. However, if you already have the source
or target in the Informatica repository, Designer
has to delete the existing object, before
creating a new one this invalidates your
mappings. Metadata Exchange for Data Models can
compare the database catalog with the sources and
targets, report on differences and selectively
create or update the corresponding Informatica
repository objects. Metadata Exchange for Data
Models also gives you far more control over the
business metadata. It can capture database
comments (if the database supports them), can
generate business names from table and column
names, and can selectively update just the
physical metadata while leaving existing business
metadata and mappings intact. If you define
suitable extended metadata properties, you can
also capture auditing information including the
source database catalog and an update timestamp.
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Q Can I update my data models from my
Informatica repository? A No. Data model
interfaces are currently read-only and metadata
exchange occurs from the data model into the
Informatica repository. The reasons for this are
primarily technical until recently, data
modelling tools did not provide an API that
allowed the data model to be updated. Another
significant reason is the need to define a
metadata system of record generally this is the
data model. However, you can select two different
data models at one time all of the reporting
features of Metadata Exchange for Data Models are
available. This means that you can compare two
different data models, even if the data models
were created with different modelling tools. You
can also select a data model and a database
catalog and compare the data model with the
database schema that it represents. Q What
repository database platforms does Metadata
Exchange support? A Metadata Exchange works
with all of the repository database platforms
that are supported by the Informatica Data
Integration platform. Since version 6, the
Metadata Exchange SDK uses TCP/IP to interact
with the Informatica Repository Server, providing
complete database platform independence, enhanced
security and better performance.
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Q Do any interfaces support bi-directional
metadata exchange? A Yes. The Informatica
repository interface is bi-directional and it can
be used as both a metadata source and a target.
The Common Warehouse Metamodel interface is also
bi-directional and can be used for metadata
exchange with any tool that supports the standard
and the relational package. Q What
Informatica repository objects do the Metadata
Exchange tools support? A Metadata Exchange for
Data Models can selectively update both
Informatica source and target definitions. It can
update all of the objects properties, including
table, column and index names, physical
properties (e.g. column data types), business
names, descriptions and metadata extensions.
PowerConnect Metadata Exchange works
specifically with Informatica source definitions
for ERP sources (SAP and Peoplesoft). It can
update the physical metadata, ERP specific
properties, business names and descriptions.
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Q What is the CWM standard, and how do the
Metadata Exchange tools support it? A The
Common Warehouse Metamodel is a
vendor-independent metadata standard defined by
the Object Management Group OMG). The CWM
standard defines the key metadata required for
data integration and defines a file format and
mechanism for exchanging it. This standard
supersedes the earlier Metadata Coalition MDIS
standard and is supported by many key players in
the industry. Informatica and Yale town
Technology Group are both OMG members.
Informatica Metadata Exchange for Data Models
provides an interface that can read and write XML
files that conform to the CWM relational package.
This means that metadata can be exchanged with
any other product that implements the standard
and contains relational database metadata. Q
How much does Metadata Exchange cost? A The
Metadata Exchange SDK is available to all
Informatica customers from the Informatica
Developers Network. For the latest pricing and
more information on Metadata Exchange products,
please contact your Informatica sales
representative.
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Q Can I run the Metadata Exchange products in
batch mode? A Because of the large number of
objects in an ERP system, PowerConnect Metadata
Exchange was designed specifically to support
batch operation. A command file controls batch
operation. The command file is configured using
an interactive tool and specifies the ERP and
repository connection parameters, the ERP sources
in the Informatica repository that will be
included in reports and updates, and the
operation that will be performed. The name of the
command file is specified as a parameter when the
batch operation is started. Metadata Exchange for
Data Models cannot be run in batch mode but
customers have asked for this feature, so it may
be offered in the future. Q How is Metadata
Exchange for Data Models packaged? A Metadata
Exchange products can be downloaded from the
Informatica Developers Network web site. The
Metadata Exchange for Data Models download is a
trial version that permits a single use per
interface. A license key must be purchased to
unlock the full product functionality.
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Q How is Metadata Exchange for Data Models
licensed? A Separate licenses are available for
ERwin, ModelMart, ER/Studio, Power Designer and
Oracle Designer. These licenses cover all
versions of the modelling tool, even where
different integration technologies are used.
Special licensing packages are available for the
CWM, database catalog and Informatica repository
interfaces. Enterprise licensing for single or
multiple sources is also available. Q How are
the Metadata Exchange tools supported? A
Metadata Exchange tools are Informatica products.
To obtain support and product updates, you need
to purchase support from Informatica. Additional
resources are available on the Informatica
Developer Network web site. Q What operating
systems does Metadata Exchange run on? A
Metadata Exchange products all use the MX SDK.
The MX SDK is built using Microsoft's Component
Object Model (COM) standard and requires 32bit
Windows operating systems including Windows 98,
Windows NT 4, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
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Q Does Metadata Exchange for Data Models
support all the database platforms that my data
modelling tools do? A ERwin ER/Studio and Power
Designer are designed to support almost all
relational database platforms. Metadata Exchange
for Data Models supports almost all of the
database platforms that these products support,
including all of the popular ones. Informatica
PowerCenter has native support for Oracle, Sybase
ASE, Informix, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and
Teradata. Metadata Exchange for Data Models maps
data models defined for these database platforms
to the corresponding Informatica native database
type and all others to ODBC (e.g. Microsoft
Access 2000, Red Brick, Centura SQLBase, Sybase
SQL Anywhere). Oracle Designer provides an Oracle
centric modelling solution. Oracle Designer
Server Model Diagrams do not explicitly specify a
database platform, so Metadata Exchange for Data
Models allows the user to choose the database
platform and maps Oracle Designer data types to
the corresponding database platform specific data
type.
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Q Does Metadata Exchange support XML? A
Metadata Exchange products use XML for metadata
exchange, reporting and control. Metadata
Exchange for Data Models can read and write XML
files that conform to the relational package of
the OMG Common Warehouse Metamodel standard,
allowing metadata exchange with other tools that
support the standard. The MX SDK can be used to
export and import XML files that conform to the
Informatica repository DTD. This feature utilizes
functionality that is built into the Informatica
Repository Manager, Designer and PowerConnect,
producing files that can be exchanged between
Informatica tools. PowerConnect Metadata Exchange
uses the export functionality to generate XML
files from both the ERP system and the
Informatica repository and uses the import
functionality to update the repository. Metadata
Exchange for Data Models and PowerConnect
Metadata Exchange use proprietary XML file
formats to store report data and XSL style sheets
to transform the data for presentation.
PowerConnect Metadata Exchange command files are
also XML files.
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• Data Warehousing questions
• What is source qualifier?
• Difference between DSS OLTP?
• 3) Explain grouped cross tab?
• 4) Hierarchy of DWH?
• 5) How many repositories can we create in
  Informatica?
• 6) What is surrogate key?
• 7) What is difference between Mapplet and
  reusable transformation?
• 8) What is aggregate awareness?
• Explain reference cursor?
• What are parallel query's and query hints?

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11) DWH architecture? 12) What are cursors?
13) Advantages of de normalized data? 14) What
is operational data source (ODS)? 15) What is
meta data and system catalog? 16) What is
factless fact schema? 17) What is confirmed
dimension? 18) What is the capacity of power
cube? 19) Difference between Power Play
transformer and power play reports? 20) What is
IQD file? 21) What is Cognos script editor? 22)
What is difference macros and prompts? 23) What
is power play plug in? 24) Which kind of index
is preferred in DWH? 25) What is hash partition?
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26) What is DTM session? 27) How can you define
a transformation? What are different types of
transformations in Informatica? 28) What
is mapplet? 29) What is query panel? 30) What
is a look up function? What is default
transformation for the look up function? 31)
What is difference between a connected look up
and unconnected look up? 32) What is staging
area? 33) What is data merging, data cleansing
and sampling? 34) What is up date strategy and
what are the options for update strategy? 35)
OLAP architecture? 36) What is subject area?
37) Why do we use DSS database for OLAP tools?
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Thank You!