DataStage Performance Tuning

Performance Tuning - Basics

BasicsParallelism Parallelism in DataStage Jobs should be optimized rather
than maximized. The degree of parallelism of a DataStage Job is
determined by the number of nodes that is defined in the Configuration
File, for example, four-node, eight node etc. A configuration file with a
larger number of nodes will generate a larger number of processes and
will in turn add to the processing overheads as compared to a
configuration file with a smaller number of nodes. Therefore, while
choosing the configuration file one must weigh the benefits of increased
parallelism against the losses in processing efficiency (increased
processing overheads and slow start up time).Ideally , if the amount of
data to be processed is small , configuration files with less number of
nodes should be used while if data volume is more , configuration files
with larger number of nodes should be used.
Partioning :
Proper partitioning of data is another aspect of DataStage Job design,
which significantly improves overall job performance. Partitioning should
be set in such a way so as to have balanced data flow i.e. nearly equal
partitioning of data should occur and data skew should be minimized.
Memory :
In DataStage Jobs where high volume of data is processed, virtual memory
settings for the job should be optimised. Jobs often abort in cases where a
single lookup has multiple reference links. This happens due to low temp
memory space. In such jobs $APT_BUFFER_MAXIMUM_MEMORY,
$APT_MONITOR_SIZE and $APT_MONITOR_TIME should be set to
sufficiently large values.

Performance Analysis of Various stages in

DataStag
Sequential File Stage The sequential file Stage is a file Stage. It is the most common I/O Stage
used in a DataStage Job. It is used to read data from or write data to one
or more flat Files. It can have only one input link or one Output link .It can
also have one reject link. While handling huge volumes of data, this Stage
can itself become one of the major bottlenecks as reading and writing
from this Stage is slow.Sequential files should be used in following
conditionsWhen we are reading a flat file (fixed width or delimited) from
UNIX environment which is FTPed from some external systemsWhen some
UNIX operations has to be done on the file Dont use sequential file for
intermediate storage between jobs. It causes performance overhead, as it
needs to do data conversion before writing and reading from a UNIX file.In
order to have faster reading from the Stage the number of readers per

node can be increased (default value is one).

Data Set Stage :
The Data Set is a file Stage, which allows reading data from or writing
data to a dataset. This Stage can have a single input link or single Output
link. It does not support a reject link. It can be configured to operate in
sequential mode or parallel mode. DataStage parallel extender jobs use
Dataset to store data being operated on in a persistent form.Datasets are
operating system files which by convention has the suffix .dsDatasets are
much faster compared to sequential files.Data is spread across multiple
nodes and is referred by a control file.Datasets are not UNIX files and no
UNIX operation can be performed on them.Usage of Dataset results in a
good performance in a set of linked jobs.They help in achieving end-toend parallelism by writing data in partitioned form and maintaining the
sort order.
Lookup Stage
A Look up Stage is an Active Stage. It is used to perform a lookup on any
parallel job Stage that can output data. The lookup Stage can have a
reference link, single input link, single output link and single reject
link.Look up Stage is faster when the data volume is less.It can have
multiple reference links (if it is a sparse lookup it can have only one
reference link)The optional reject link carries source records that do not
have a corresponding input lookup tables.Lookup Stage and type of lookup
should be chosen depending on the functionality and volume of
data.Sparse lookup type should be chosen only if primary input data
volume is small.If the reference data volume is more, usage of Lookup
Stage should be avoided as all reference data is pulled in to local memory
Join Stage :
Join Stage performs a join operation on two or more datasets input to the
join Stage and produces one output dataset. It can have multiple input
links and one Output link.There can be 3 types of join operations Inner
Join, Left/Right outer Join, Full outer join. Join should be used when the
data volume is high. It is a good alternative to the lookup stage and
should be used when handling huge volumes of data.Join uses the paging
method for the data matching.
Merge Stage :
The Merge Stage is an active Stage. It can have multiple input links, a
single output link, and it supports as many reject links as input links. The
Merge Stage takes sorted input. It combines a sorted master data set with
one or more sorted update data sets. The columns from the records in the
master and update data sets are merged so that the output record
contains all the columns from the master record plus any additional
columns from each update record. A master record and an update record
are merged only if both of them have the same values for the merge key
column(s) that you specify. Merge key columns are one or more columns
that exist in both the master and update records. Merge keys can be more

than one column. For a Merge Stage to work properly master dataset and
update dataset should contain unique records. Merge Stage is generally
used to combine datasets or files.
Sort Stage :
The Sort Stage is an active Stage. The Sort Stage is used to sort input
dataset either in Ascending or Descending order. The Sort Stage offers a
variety of options of retaining first or last records when removing
duplicate records, Stable sorting, can specify the algorithm used for
sorting to improve performance, etc. Even though data can be sorted on a
link, Sort Stage is used when the data to be sorted is huge.When we sort
data on link ( sort / unique option) once the data size is beyond the fixed
memory limit , I/O to disk takes place, which incurs an overhead.
Therefore, if the volume of data is large explicit sort stage should be used
instead of sort on link.Sort Stage gives an option on increasing the buffer
memory used for sorting this would mean lower I/O and better
performance.
Transformer Stage :
The Transformer Stage is an active Stage, which can have a single input
link and multiple output links. It is a very robust Stage with lot of inbuilt
functionality. Transformer Stage always generates C-code, which is then
compiled to a parallel component. So the overheads for using a
transformer Stage are high. Therefore, in any job, it is imperative that the
use of a transformer is kept to a minimum and instead other Stages are
used, such as:Copy Stage can be used for mapping input links with
multiple output links without any transformations. Filter Stage can be used
for filtering out data based on certain criteria. Switch Stage can be used to
map single input link with multiple output links based on the value of a
selector field. It is also advisable to reduce the number of transformers in
a Job by combining the logic into a single transformer rather than having
multiple transformers .
Funnel Stage
Funnel Stage is used to combine multiple inputs into a single output
stream. But presence of a Funnel Stage reduces the performance of a job.
It would increase the time taken by job by 30% (observations). When a
Funnel Stage is to be used in a large job it is better to isolate itself to one
job. Write the output to Datasets and funnel them in new job. Funnel
Stage should be run in continuous mode, without hindrance.

Overall Job Design :

While designing DataStage Jobs care should be taken that a single job is
not overloaded with Stages. Each extra Stage put in a Job corresponds to
lesser number of resources available for every Stage, which directly
affects the Jobs Performance. If possible, big jobs having large number of
Stages should be logically split into smaller units. Also if a particular Stage
has been identified to be taking lot of time in a job, like a transformer
Stage having complex functionality with a lot of Stage variables and

transformations, then the design of jobs could be done in such a way that
this Stage is put in a separate job all together (more resources for the
transformer Stage!!!). Also while designing jobs, care must be taken that
unnecessary column propagation is not done. Columns, which are not
needed in the job flow, should not be propagated from one Stage to
another and from one job to the next. As far as possible, RCP (Runtime
Column Propagation) should be disabled in the jobs. Sorting in a job
should be taken care try to minimise number sorts in a job. Design a job in
such a way as to combine operations around same sort keys, if possible
maintain same hash keys. Most often neglected option is dont sort if
previously sorted in sort Stage, set this option to true. This improves
the Sort Stage performance a great deal. In Transformer Stage Preserve
Sort Order can be used to maintain sort order of the data and reduce
sorting in the job.In a transformer minimum of Stage variables should be
used. More the no of Stage variable lower is the performance. An
overloaded transformer can choke the data flow and lead to bad
performance or even failure of job at some point. In order to minimise the
load on transformer we can Avoid some unnecessary function calls. For
example to convert a varchar field with date value can be type cast into
Date type by simple formatting the input value. We need not use
StringToDate function, which is used to convert a String to Date type.
Implicit conversion of data types.
Reduce the number of Stage variables used. It was observed in our
previous project by removing 5 Stage variables and 6 function calls,
runtime for the job was reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour 10 min
(approximately) with 100 million records input.Try to balance load on
transformers by sharing the transformations across existing transformers.
This would ensure smooth flow of data.If you require type casting,
renaming of columns or addition of new columns, use Copy or Modify
Stages to achieve thisWhenever you have to use Lookups on large tables,
look at the options such as unloading the lookup tables to datasets and
using, user defined join SQL to reduce the look up volume with the help of
temp tables, etc.The Copy stage should be used instead of a Transformer
for simple operations including:o Job Design placeholder between stages o
Renaming Columnso Dropping Columnso Implicit (default) Type
Conversions The upsert works well if the data is sorted on the primary
key column of the table which is being loaded. Or Determine , if the record
already exists or not to have Insert and Update separately.It is
sometimes possible to re-arrange the order of business logic within a job
flow to leverage the same sort order, partitioning, and groupings. Dont
read from a Sequential File using SAME partitioning. Unless more than one
source file is specified, this scenario will read the entire file into a single
partition, making the entire downstream flow run sequentially (unless it is
repartitioned)

Datastage Errors and Resolution

You may get many errors in datastage while compiling the jobs or running the jobs.
Some of the errors are as follows
a)Source file not found.
If you are trying to read the file, which was not there with that name.
b)Some times you may get Fatal Errors.
c) Data type mismatches.
This will occur when data type mismaches occurs in the jobs.
d) Field Size errors.
e) Meta data Mismach
f) Data type size between source and target different
g) Column Mismatch
i) Pricess time out.
If server is busy. This error will come some time.

Some of the errors in detail:

ds_Trailer_Rec: When checking operator: When binding output schema variable "outRec":
When binding output interface field "TrailerDetailRecCount" to field
"TrailerDetailRecCount": Implicit conversion from source type "ustring" to result type
"string[max=255]": Possible truncation of variable length ustring when converting to
string using codepage ISO-8859-1.

Solution:I resolved changing the extended col under meta data of the
transformer to unicode
When checking operator: A sequential operator cannot preserve the
partitioning
of the parallel data set on input port 0.
Solution:I resolved by changing the preserve partioning to 'clear' under
transformer properties
Syntax error: Error in "group" operator: Error in output redirection: Error in output
parameters: Error in modify adapter: Error in binding: Could not find type: "subrec", line
35
Solution:Its the issue of level number of those columns which were being added in transformer.
Their level number was blank and the columns that were being taken from cff file had it as 02.
Added the level number and job worked.

Out_Trailer: When checking operator: When binding output schema variable "outRec": When binding output interface field
"STDCA_TRLR_REC_CNT" to field "STDCA_TRLR_REC_CNT": Implicit conversion from source type "dfloat" to result
type "decimal[10,0]": Possible range/precision limitation.
CE_Trailer: When checking operator: When binding output interface field "Data" to field "Data": Implicit conversion from

source type "string" to result type "string[max=500]": Possible truncation of variable length string.
Implicit conversion from source type "dfloat" to result type "decimal[10,0]": Possible range/precision limitation.
Solution: Used to transformer function'DFloatToDecimal'. As target field is Decimal. By default the output from aggregator
output is double, getting the above by using above function able to resolve the warning.

When binding output schema variable "outputData": When binding output interface field "RecordCount" to field
"RecordCount": Implicit conversion from source type "string[max=255]" to result type "int16": Converting string to number.

Problem(Abstract)
Jobs that process a large amount of data in a column can abort with this error:
the record is too big to fit in a block; the length requested is: xxxx, the max block length is: xxxx.
Resolving the problem

1.
2.
3.

To fix this error you need to increase the block size to accommodate the record size:
Log into Designer and open the job.
Open the job properties--> parameters-->add environment variable and select:
APT_DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_BLOCK_SIZE
You can set this up to 256MB but you really shouldn't need to go over 1MB.
NOTE: value is in KB
For example to set the value to 1MB:
APT_DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_BLOCK_SIZE=1048576
The default for this value is 128kb.
When setting APT_DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_BLOCK_SIZE you want to use the smallest possible value since
this value will be used for all links in the job.
For example if your job fails with APT_DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_BLOCK_SIZE set to 1 MB and succeeds at 4
MB you would want to do further testing to see what it the smallest value between 1 MB and 4 MB that will allow
the job to run and use that value. Using 4 MB could cause the job to use more memory than needed since all the
links would use a 4 MB transport block size.
NOTE: If this error appears for a dataset use APT_PHYSICAL_DATASET_BLOCK_SIZE.

.
While connecting Remote Desktop, Terminal server has been exceeded maximum number of allowed
connections
SOL: In Command Prompt, type mstsc /v: ip address of server /admin
OR

2.

mstsc /v: ip address /console

SQL20521N. Error occurred processing a conditional compilation directive near string. Reason code=rc.
Following link has issue description:

http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r7/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.db2.luw.messages.sql.doc%2Fdoc
%2Fmsql20521n.html

3.

SK_RETAILER_GROUP_BRDIGE,1: runLocally() did not reach EOF on its input data set 0.

SOL: Warning will be disappeared by regenerating SK File.

4.
While connecting to Datastage client, there is no response, and while restarting websphere services,
following errors occurred
[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./stopServer.sh server1 -user wasadmin -password Wasadmin0708
ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
/opt/ibm/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/default/logs/server1/stopServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the default profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: server1
ADMU0111E: Program exiting with error: javax.management.JMRuntimeException:
ADMN0022E: Access is denied for the stop operation on Server MBean
because of insufficient or empty credentials.
ADMU4113E: Verify that username and password information is on the command line
(-username and -password) or in the <conntype>.client.props file.
ADMU1211I: To obtain a full trace of the failure, use the -trace option.
ADMU0211I: Error details may be seen in the file:
/opt/ibm/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/default/logs/server1/stopServer.log

SOL:

Wasadmin and XMeta passwords needs to be reset and commands are below..
[root@poluloro01 bin]# cd /opt/ibm/InformationServer/ASBServer/bin/

[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./AppServerAdmin.sh -was -user wasadmin

-password Wasadmin0708
Info WAS instance /Node:poluloro01/Server:server1/ updated with new user information
Info MetadataServer daemon script updated with new user information
[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./AppServerAdmin.sh -was -user xmeta -password Xmeta0708
Info WAS instance /Node:poluloro01/Server:server1/ updated with new user information
Info MetadataServer daemon script updated with new user information

5.

The specified field doesnt exist in view adapted schema

SOL: Most of the time "The specified field: XXXXXX does not exist in the view adapted schema" occurred when
we missed a field to map. Every stage has got an output tab if used in the between of the job. Make sure you
have mapped every single field required for the next stage.

Sometime even after mapping the fields this error can be occurred and one of the reason could be that the view
adapter has not linked the input and output fields. Hence in this case the required field mapping should be
dropped and recreated.

Just to give an insight on this, the view adapter is an operator which is responsible for mapping the input and
output fields. Hence DataStage creates an instance of APT_ViewAdapter which translate the components of the
operator input interface schema to matching components of the interface schema. So if the interface schema is
not having the same columns as operator input interface schema then this error will be reported.

1)When we use same partitioning in datastage transformer stage we get the following warning in 7.5.2 version.
TFCP000043
2
3
input_tfm: Input dataset 0 has a partitioning method other than entire specified;
disabling memory sharing.
This is known issue and you can safely demote that warning into informational by adding this warning to Project
specific message handler.
2) Warning: A sequential operator cannot preserve the partitioning of input data set on input port 0
Resolution: Clear the preserve partition flag before Sequential file stages.
3)DataStage parallel job fails with fork() failed, Resource temporarily unavailable
On aix execute following command to check maxuproc setting and increase it if you plan to run multiple jobs at
the same time.
lsattr -E -l sys0 | grep maxuproc
maxuproc
1024
Maximum number of PROCESSES allowed per user

True

4)TFIP000000
3
Agg_stg: When checking operator: When binding input interface field
CUST_ACT_NBR to field CUST_ACT_NBR: Implicit conversion from source type string[5] to result type
dfloat: Converting string to number.
Resolution: use the Modify stage explicitly convert the data type before sending to aggregator stage.
5)Warning: A user defined sort operator does not satisfy the requirements.
Resolution:check the order of sorting columns and make sure use the same order when use join stage after sort
to joing two inputs.
6)TFTM000000
2
3
Stg_tfm_header,1: Conversion error calling conversion routine
timestamp_from_string data may have been lost
TFTM000000
may have been lost

xfmJournals,1: Conversion error calling conversion routine decimal_from_string data

Resolution:check for the correct date format or decimal format and also null values in the date or decimal fields
before passing to datastage StringToDate, DateToString,DecimalToString or StringToDecimal functions.
7)TOSO000119
2
3
Join_sort: When checking operator: Data claims to already be sorted on the
specified keys the sorted option can be used to confirm this. Data will be resorted as necessary. Performance
may improve if this sort is removed from the flow
Resolution: Sort the data before sending to join stage and check for the order of sorting keys and join keys and
make sure both are in the same order.
8)TFOR000000
2
1
Join_Outer: When checking operator: Dropping component CUST_NBR
because of a prior component with the same name.
Resolution:If you are using join,diff,merge or comp stages make sure both links have the differnt column names

other than key columns

9)TFIP000022
1
oci_oracle_source: When checking operator: When binding output interface field
MEMBER_NAME to field MEMBER_NAME: Converting a nullable source to a non-nullable result;
Resolution:If you are reading from oracle database or in any processing stage where incoming column is defined
as nullable and if you define metadata in datastage as non-nullable then you will get above issue.if you want to
convert a nullable field to non nullable make sure you apply available null functions in datastage or in the extract
query.

DATASTAGE COMMON ERRORS/WARNINGS AND SOLUTIONS 2

1. No jobs or logs showing in IBM DataStage Director Client, however jobs are still accessible from the Designer
Client.
SOL: SyncProject cmd that is installed with DataStage 8.5 can be run to analyze and recover projects
SyncProject -ISFile islogin -project dstage3 dstage5 Fix
2. CASHOUT_DTL: Invalid property value /Connection/Database (CC_StringProperty::getValue, file
CC_StringProperty.cpp, line 104)
SOL: Change the Data Connection properties manually in the produced
DB2 Connector stage.
A patch fix is available for this issue JR35643
3. Import .dsx file from command line
SOL: DSXImportService -ISFile dataconnection DSProject dstage DSXFile c:\export\oldproject.dsx
4. Generate Surrogate Key without Surrogate Key Stage
SOL: @PARTITIONNUM + (@NUMPARTITIONS * (@INROWNUM 1)) + 1
Use above Formula in Transformer stage to generate a surrogate key.
5. Failed to authenticate the current user against the selected Domain: Could not connect to server.
RC: Client has invalid entry in host file
Server listening port might be blocked by a firewall
Server is down
SOL: Update the host file on client system so that the server hostname can be resolved from client.
Make sure the WebSphere TCP/IP ports are opened by the firewall.
Make sure the WebSphere application server is running. (OR)
Restart Websphere services.
6. The connection was refused or the RPC daemon is not running (81016)
RC: The dsprcd process must be running in order to be able to login to DataStage.
If you restart DataStage, but the socket used by the dsrpcd (default is 31538) was busy, the dsrpcd will fail to
start. The socket may be held by dsapi_slave processes that were still running or recently killed when DataStage
was restarted.
SOL: Run ps -ef | grep dsrpcd to confirm the dsrpcd process is not running.

Run ps -ef | grep dsapi_slave to check if any dsapi_slave processes exist. If so, kill them.
Run netstat -a | grep dsprc to see if any processes have sockets that are ESTABLISHED, FIN_WAIT, or
CLOSE_WAIT. These will prevent the dsprcd from starting. The sockets with status FIN_WAIT or CLOSE_WAIT
will eventually time out and disappear, allowing you to restart DataStage.
Then Restart DSEngine.

(if above doesnt work) Needs to reboot the system.

7. To save Datastage logs in notepad or readable format

SOL: a) /opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/DSEngine (go to this directory)
./bin/dsjob -logdetail project_name job_name >/home/dsadm/log.txt
b) In director client, Project tab Print select print to file option and save it in local directory.
8. Run time error 457. This Key is already associated with an element of this collection.
SOL: Needs to rebuild repository objects.
a)

Login to the Administrator client

b)

Select the project

c)

Click on Command

d)

Issue the command ds.tools

e)

Select option 2

f)

Keep clicking next until it finishes.

g)

All objects will be updated.

9. To stop the datastage jobs in linux level

SOL: ps ef | grep dsadm
To Check process id and phantom jobs
Kill -9 process_id
10. To run datastage jobs from command line
SOL: cd /opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/DSEngine
./dsjob -server $server_nm -user $user_nm -password $pwd -run $project_nm $job_nm
11. Failed to connect to JobMonApp on port 13401.
SOL: needs to restart jobmoninit script (in /opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server/PXEngine/Java)
Type

sh jobmoninit start $APT_ORCHHOME

Add 127.0.0.1 local host in /etc/hosts file

(Without local entry, Job monitor will be unable to use the ports correctly)
12. SQL0752N. Connect to a database is not permitted within logical unit of work CONNECT type 1 settings is in
use.
SOL: COMMIT or ROLLBACK statement before requesting connection to another database.
1. While running ./NodeAgents.sh start command getting the following error: LoggingAgent.sh process
stopped unexpectedly
SOL: needs to kill LoggingAgentSocketImpl

Ps ef | grep LoggingAgentSocketImpl (OR)

PS ef |
2.

Warning: A sequential operator cannot preserve the partitioning of input data set on input port 0

SOL:
3.

grep Agent (to check the process id of the above)

Clear the preserve partition flag before Sequential file stages.

Warning: A user defined sort operator does not satisfy the requirements.

SOL: Check the order of sorting columns and make sure use the same order when use join stage after sort to
joing two inputs.
4. Conversion error calling conversion routine timestamp_from_string data may have been lost. xfmJournals,1:
Conversion error calling conversion routine decimal_from_string data may have been lost
SOL: check for the correct date format or decimal format and also null values in the date or decimal fields
before passing to datastage StringToDate, DateToString,DecimalToString or StringToDecimal functions.
5.

To display all the jobs in command line

SOL:
cd /opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server/DSEngine/bin
./dsjob -ljobs <project_name>
6.

Error trying to query dsadm[]. There might be an issue in database server

SOL: Check XMETA connectivity.

db2 connect to xmeta (A connection to or activation of database xmeta cannot be made because of BACKUP
pending)
7.

DSR_ADMIN: Unable to find the new project location

SOL: Template.ini file might be missing in /opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server.

Copy the file from another severs.
8.

Designer LOCKS UP while trying to open any stage

SOL: Double click on the stage that locks up datastage

Press ALT+SPACE
Windows menu will popup and select Restore
It will show your properties window now
Click on X to close this window.
Now, double click again and try whether properties window appears.
9.

Error Setting up internal communications (fifo RT_SCTEMP/job_name.fifo)

SOL: Remove the locks and try to run (OR)

Restart DSEngine and try to run (OR)
Go to /opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/Projects/proj_name/
ls RT_SCT* then
rm f RT_SCTEMP

then try to restart it.

10.

While attempting to compile job, failed to invoke GenRunTime using Phantom process helper

RC:

/tmp space might be full

Job status is incorrect
Format problems with projects uvodbc.config file

SOL:

a)

clean up /tmp directory

b)

DS Director JOB clear status file

c)

confirm uvodbc.config has the following entry/format:

[ODBC SOURCES]
<local uv>
DBMSTYPE = UNIVERSE
Network = TCP/IP
Service = uvserver
Host = 127.0.0.1

ERROR:Phantom error in jobs

Resolution Datastage Services have to be started

So follow the following steps.
Login to server through putty using dsadm user.

Check whether active or stale sessions are there.

ps ef|grep slave

Ask the application team to close the active or stale sessions running from applications user.
If they have closed the sessions, but sessions are still there, then kill those sessions.

Make sure no jobs are running

If any, ask the application team to stop the job
ps ef|grep dsd.run

Check for output for below command before stopping Datastage services.
netstat a|grep dsrpc
If any processes are in established, check any job or stale or active or osh sessions are not running.

If any processes are in close_wait, then wait for some time, those processes
will not be visible.

Stop the Datastage services.

cd $DSHOME
./dsenv
cd $DSHOME/bin
./uv admin stop
Check whether Datastage services are stopped.
netstat a|grep dsrpc
No output should come for above command.

Wait for 10 to 15 min for shared memory to be released by process holding them.
Start the Datastage services.
./uv admin start
If asking for dsadm password while firing the command , then enable impersonation.through root user
${DSHOME}/scripts/DSEnable_impersonation.sh

Datasets
Managing and operating on large data volumes is usually an extremely complex process. To
facilitate that, Orchestrate might extend relational database management system support in
Datastage by implementing Datasets.
By and large, datasets might be interpreted as uniform sets of rows within the internal
representation of Framework. Commonly, the two types of datasets might be distinguished:

Types of Datasets in Datastage:

According to the scheme above, there are the two groups of Datasets - persistent and
virtual.
The first type, persistent Datasets are marked with *.ds extensions, while for second type,
virtual datasets *.v extension is reserved. (It's important to mention, that no *.v files might be
visible in the Unix file system, as long as they exist only virtually, while inhabiting RAM
memory. Extesion *.v itself is characteristic strictly for OSH - the Orchestrate language of
scripting).
Further differences are much more significant. Primarily, persistent Datasets are being
stored in Unix files using internal Datastage EE format, while virtual Datasets are never
stored on disk - they do exist within links, and in EE format, but in RAM memory. Finally,
persistent Datasets are readable and rewriteable with the DataSet Stage, and virtual
Datasets - might be passed through in memory.
Accurateness demands mentioning the third type of Datasets - they're called filesets, while
their storage places are diverse Unix files and they're human-readable. Filesets are generally
marked with the *.fs extension.
There are a few features specific for Datasets that have to be mentioned to complete the
Datasets policy. Firstly, as a single Dataset contains multiple records, it is obvious that all of
them must undergo the same processes and modifications. In a word, all of them must go
through the same successive stage.
Secondly, it should be expected that different Datasets usually have different schemas,
therefore they cannot be treated commonly.
More accurately, typically Orchestrate Datasets are a single-file equivalent for the whole
sequence of records. With datasets, they might be shown as a one object. Datasets themselves
help ignoring the fact that demanded data really are compounded of multiple and diverse files
remaining spread across different sectors of processors and disks of parallel computers. Along
that, complexity of programming might be significantly reduced, as shown in the example
below.

Datasets parallel architecture in Datastage:

Primary multiple files - shown on the left side of the scheme - have been bracketed together,
what resulted in five nodes. While using datasets, all the files, all the nodes might be boiled
down to the only one, single Dataset - shown on the right side of the scheme. Thereupon, you
might program only one file and get results on all the input files. That significantly shorten
time needed for modifying the whole group of separate files, and reduce the possibility of
engendering accidental errors. What are its measurable profits? Mainly, significantly
increasing speed of applications basing on large data volumes.
All in all, is it worth-while? Surely. Especially, while talking about technological advance and
succeeding data-dependence. They do coerce using larger and larger volumes of data, and - as
a consequence - systems able to rapid cooperate on them became a necessity.

Datastage Scenarios and solutions

Field mapping using Transformer stage:
Requirement:
field will be right justified zero filled, Take last 18 characters
Solution:
Right("0000000000":Trim(Lnk_Xfm_Trans.link),18)

Scenario 1:
We have two datasets with 4 cols each with different names. We should create a dataset with
4 cols 3 from one dataset and one col with the record count of one dataset.
We can use aggregator with a dummy column and get the count from one dataset and do a
look up from other dataset and map it to the 3 rd dataset
Something similar to the below design:

Scenario 2:
Following is the existing job design. But requirement got changed to: Head and trailer
datasets should populate even if detail records is not present in the source file. Below
job don't do that job.

Hence changed the above job to this following requirement:

Used row generator with a copy stage. Given default value( zero) for col( count) coming in
from row generator. If no detail records it will pick the record count from row generator.
We have a source which is a sequential file with header and footer. How to remove the header
and footer while reading this file using sequential file stage of Datastage?
Sol:Type command in putty: sed '1d;$d' file_name>new_file_name (type
this in job before job subroutine then use new file in seq stage)
IF I HAVE SOURCE LIKE COL1 A A B AND TARGET LIKE COL1 COL2 A 1 A 2 B1.
HOW TO ACHIEVE THIS OUTPUT USING STAGE VARIABLE IN TRANSFORMER
STAGE?
If keyChange =1 Then 1 Else stagevaraible+1

Suppose that 4 job control by the sequencer like (job 1, job 2, job 3, job 4 )if job 1 have
10,000 row ,after run the job only 5000 data has been loaded in target table remaining are not
loaded and your job going to be aborted then.. How can short out the problem.Suppose job

sequencer synchronies or control 4 job but job 1 have problem, in this condition should go
director and check it what type of problem showing either data type problem, warning
massage, job fail or job aborted, If job fail means data type problem or missing column action
.So u should go Run window ->Click-> Tracing->Performance or In your target table
->general -> action-> select this option here two option
(i) On Fail -- commit , Continue
(ii) On Skip -- Commit, Continue.
First u check how many data already load after then select on skip option then continue and
what remaining position data not loaded then select On Fail , Continue ...... Again Run the job
defiantly u get successful massage
Question: I want to process 3 files in sequentially one by one how can i do that. while
processing the files it should fetch files automatically .
Ans:If the metadata for all the files r same then create a job having file name as parameter
then use same job in routine and call the job with different file name...or u can create
sequencer to use the job..
Parameterize the file name.
Build the job using that parameter
Build job sequencer which will call this job and will accept the parameter for file name.
Write a UNIX shell script which will call the job sequencer three times by passing different
file each time.
RE: What Happens if RCP is disable ?
In such case Osh has to perform Import and export every time when the job runs and the
processing time job is also increased...
Runtime column propagation (RCP): If RCP is enabled for any job and specifically for those
stages whose output connects to the shared container input then meta data will be propagated
at run time so there is no need to map it at design time.
If RCP is disabled for the job in such case OSH has to perform Import and export every time
when the job runs and the processing time job is also increased.
Then you have to manually enter all the column description in each stage.RCP- Runtime
column propagation
Question:
Source:
Eno
1
2
3

Target

Ename
a,b
c,d
e,f

source has 2 fields like

COMPANY
IBM
TCS
IBM
HCL

LOCATION
HYD
BAN
CHE
HYD

Eno
1
2
3

Ename
a
b
c

TCS
IBM
HCL
HCL

CHE
BAN
BAN
CHE

LIKE THIS.......
THEN THE OUTPUT LOOKS LIKE THIS....
Company loc count
TCS HYD 3
BAN
CHE
IBM HYD 3
BAN
CHE
HCL HYD 3
BAN
CHE
2)input is like this:
no,char
1,a
2,b
3,a
4,b
5,a
6,a
7,b
8,a

But the output is in this form with row numbering of Duplicate occurence
output:
no,char,Count
"1","a","1"
"6","a","2"
"5","a","3"
"8","a","4"
"3","a","5"
"2","b","1"
"7","b","2"
"4","b","3"
3)Input is like this:
file1
10

20
10
10
20
30
Output is like:
file2
file3(duplicates)
10
10
20
10
30
20
4)Input is like:
file1
10
20
10
10
20
30
Output is like Multiple occurrences in one file and single occurrences in one file:
file2
file3
10
30
10
10
20
20
5)Input is like this:
file1
10
20
10
10
20
30
Output is like:
file2
file3
10
30
20
6)Input is like this:
file1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8
9
10
Output is like:
file2(odd)
file3(even)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
7)How to calculate Sum(sal), Avg(sal), Min(sal), Max(sal) with out using Aggregator stage..
8)How to find out First sal, Last sal in each dept with out using aggregator stage
9)How many ways are there to perform remove duplicates function with out using Remove
duplicate stage..
Scenario:
source has 2 fields like
COMPANY
IBM
TCS
IBM
HCL
TCS
IBM
HCL
HCL

LOCATION
HYD
BAN
CHE
HYD
CHE
BAN
BAN
CHE

LIKE THIS.......
THEN THE OUTPUT LOOKS LIKE THIS....
Company loc count
TCS HYD 3
BAN
CHE
IBM HYD 3
BAN
CHE
HCL HYD 3
BAN
CHE
Solution:

Seqfile......>Sort......>Trans......>RemoveDuplicates..........Dataset
Sort
Key=Company
Sort order=Asc
Company1:',':in.Location
create keychange=True

Trans:
create stage variable as Company1
Company1=If(in.keychange=1) then in.Location Else

RemoveDup:
Key=Company
Duplicates To Retain=Last

Drag and Drop in derivation

Company
....................Company
Company1........................Location

11)The input is
Shirt|red|blue|green
Pant|pink|red|blue
Output should be,
Shirt:red
Shirt:blue
Shirt:green
pant:pink
pant:red
pant:blue
Solution:
it is reverse to pivote stage
use
seq------sort------tr----rd-----tr----tg
in the sort stage use create key change column is true
in trans create stage variable=if colu=1 then key c.value else key v::colum
rd stage use duplicates retain last
tran stage use field function superate columns
similar Scenario: :
source
col1 col3
1 samsung
1 nokia
1 ercisson
2 iphone
2 motrolla
3 lava
3 blackberry
3 reliance
Expected Output
col 1 col2
col3 col4
1
samsung nokia ercission
2
iphone motrolla
3
lava
blackberry reliance

You can get it by using

Transformer --tgt

Sort stage --- Transformer stage --- RemoveDuplicates ---

Ok
First Read and Load the data into your source file( For Example Sequential File )
And in Sort stage

select key change column = True ( To Generate Group ids)

Go to Transformer stage
Create one stage variable.
You can do this by right click in stage variable go to properties and name it as your
wish ( For example temp)
and in expression write as below
if keychange column =1

then column name

else temp:',':column name

This column name is the one you want in the required column with delimited
commas.
On remove duplicates stage key is col1 and set option duplicates retain to--> Last.
in transformer drop col3 and define 3 columns like col2,col3,col4
in col1 derivation give Field(InputColumn,",",1) and
in col1 derivation give Field(InputColumn,",",2) and
in col1 derivation give Field(InputColumn,",",3)

Scenario:
12)Consider the following employees data as source?
employee_id, salary
------------------10,
1000
20,
2000
30,
3000
40,
5000
Create a job to find the sum of salaries of all employees and this sum should repeat for
all the rows.
The output should look like as
employee_id, salary, salary_sum
------------------------------10,
1000, 11000
20,
2000, 11000
30,
3000, 11000
40,
5000, 11000

Scenario:
I have two source tables/files numbered 1 and 2.
In the the target, there are three output tables/files, numbered 3,4 and 5.

The scenario is that,

to the out put 4 -> the records which are common to both 1 and 2 should go.
to the output 3 -> the records which are only in 1 but not in 2 should go
to the output 5 -> the records which are only in 2 but not in 1 should go.
sltn:src1----->copy1------>----------------------------------->output_1(only left table)
Join(inner type)----> ouput_1
src2----->copy2------>----------------------------------->output_3(only right table)

Consider the following employees data as source?

employee_id, salary
------------------10,
1000
20,
2000
30,
3000
40,
5000

Scenario:
Create a job to find the sum of salaries of all employees and this sum should repeat for
all the rows.
The output should look like as
employee_id, salary, salary_sum
------------------------------10,
1000, 11000
20,
2000, 11000
30,
3000, 11000
40,
5000, 11000
sltn:
Take Source --->Transformer(Add new Column on both the output links and assign a
value as 1 )------------------------>
1) Aggregator (Do group by
using that new column)
2)lookup/join( join on that new column)-------->tgt.

Scenario:
sno,sname,mark1,mark2,mark3
1,rajesh,70,68,79
2,mamatha,39,45,78
3,anjali,67,39,78
4,pavani,89,56,45
5,indu,56,67,78
out put is
sno,snmae,mark1,mark2,mark3,delimetercount
1,rajesh,70,68,79,4
2,mamatha,39,45,78,4
3,anjali,67,39,78,4
4,pavani,89,56,45,4
5,indu,56,67,78,4

seq--->trans--->seq
create one stage variable as delimiter..
and put derivation on stage as DSLink4.sno : "," : DSLink4.sname : "," :
DSLink4.mark1 : "," :DSLink4.mark2 : "," : DSLink4.mark3
and do mapping and create one more column count as integer type.
and put derivation on count column as Count(delimter, ",")
scenario:
sname
total_vowels_count
Allen
2
Scott
1
Ward
1
Under Transformer Stage Description:
total_Vowels_Count=Count(DSLink3.last_name,"a")+Count(DSLink3.last_name,"e")
+Count(DSLink3.last_name,"i")+Count(DSLink3.last_name,"o")
+Count(DSLink3.last_name,"u").

Scenario:
1)On daily we r getting some huge files data so all files metadata is same we have to
load in to target table how we can load?
Use File Pattern in sequential file
2) One column having 10 records at run time we have to send 5th and 6th record to
target at run time how we can send?
Can get through,by using UNIX command in sequential file filter option
How can we get 18 months date data in transformer stage?
Use transformer stage after input seq file and try this one as constraint in
transformer stage :
DaysSinceFromDate(CurrentDate(), DSLink3.date_18)<=548 OR
DaysSinceFromDate(CurrentDate(), DSLink3.date_18)<=546
where date_18 column is the column having that date which needs to be less or
equal to 18 months and 548 is no. of days for 18 months and for leap year it is
546(these numbers you need to check).
What is differences between Force Compile and Compile ?

Diff b/w Compile and Validate?

Compile option only checks for all mandatory requirements like link requirements, stage
options and all. But it will not check if the database connections are valid.
Validate is equivalent to Running a job except for extraction/loading of data. That is,
validate option will test database connectivity by making connections to databases.

How to FInd Out Duplicate Values Using Transformer?

You can capture the duplicate records based on keys using Transformer stage variables.
1. Sort and partition the input data of the transformer on the key(s) which defines the duplicate.
2. Define two stage variables, let's say StgVarPrevKeyCol(data type same as KeyCol) and StgVarCntr as Integer
with default value 0
where KeyCol is your input column which defines the duplicate.
Expression for StgVarCntr(1st stg var-- maintain order):
If DSLinknn.KeyCol = StgVarPrevKeyCol Then StgVarCntr + 1 Else 1
Expression for StgVarPrevKeyCol(2nd stg var):
DSLinknn.KeyCol
3. Now in constrain, if you filter rows where StgVarCntr = 1 will give you the unique records and if you filter
StgVarCntr > 1 will give you duplicate records.

My source is Like
Sr_no, Name
10,a
10,b
20,c
30,d
30,e
40,f
My target Should Like:
Target 1:(Only unique means which records r only once)
20,c
40,f
Target 2:(Records which r having more than 1 time)
10,a
10,b
30,d
30,e
How to do this in DataStage....
**************
use aggregator and transformer stages
source-->aggregator-->transformat-->target
perform count in aggregator, and take two op links in trasformer, filter data count>1 for one llink
and put count=1 for second link.

Scenario:
in my i/p source i have N no.of records
In output i have 3 targets
i want o/p like 1st rec goes to 1st targt and
2nd rec goes to 2nd target and
3rd rec goes to 3rd target again
4th rec goes to 1st taget ............ like this
do this ""without using partition techniques "" remember it.
*****************
source--->trans---->target
in trans use conditions on constraints
mod(empno,3)=1
mod(empno,3)=2
mod(empno,3)=0
Scenario:
im having i/p as
col A
a_b_c
x_F_I
DE_GH_IF
we hav to mak it as
col1 col 2 col3
abc
xfi
de gh if

*********************
Transformer
create 3 columns with derivation
col1 Field(colA,'_',1)
col2 Field(colA,'_',2)
col3 Field(colA,'_',3)
**************
Field function divides the column based on the delimeter,
if the data in the col is like A,B,C
then

Field(col,',',1) gives A
Field(col,',',2) gives B
Field(col,',',3) gives C

Unix Shell Scripting

Script for passwordless sftp unix:

cd $target_directory
sftp $sftp_user@$sftp_machine <<EOF
cd $source_directory
bin
get $source_file_name
exit
EOF

DataSet in DataStage
Inside a InfoSphere DataStage parallel job, data is moved around in data sets. These carry
meta data with them, both column definitions and information about the configuration that
was in effect when the data set was created. If for example, you have a stage which limits
execution to a subset of available nodes, and the data set was created by a stage using all
nodes, InfoSphere DataStage can detect that the data will need repartitioning.
If required, data sets can be landed as persistent data sets, represented by a Data Set stage
.This is the most efficient way of moving data between linked jobs. Persistent data sets are
stored in a series of files linked by a control file (note that you should not attempt to
manipulate these files using UNIX tools such as RM or MV. Always use the tools provided
with InfoSphere DataStage).
there are the two groups of Datasets - persistent and virtual.
The first type, persistent Datasets are marked with *.ds extensions, while for second type,
virtual datasets *.v extension is reserved. (It's important to mention, that no *.v files might be
visible in the Unix file system, as long as they exist only virtually, while inhabiting RAM
memory. Extesion *.v itself is characteristic strictly for OSH - the Orchestrate language of
scripting).
Further differences are much more significant. Primarily, persistent Datasets are being
stored in Unix files using internal Datastage EE format, while virtual Datasets are never
stored on disk - they do exist within links, and in EE format, but in RAM memory. Finally,
persistent Datasets are readable and rewriteable with the DataSet Stage, and virtual
Datasets - might be passed through in memory.

A data set comprises a descriptor file and a number of other files that are added as the data set
grows. These files are stored on multiple disks in your system. A data set is organized in
terms of partitions and segments.
Each partition of a data set is stored on a single processing node. Each data segment contains
all the records written by a single job. So a segment can contain files from many partitions,
and a partition has files from many segments.
Firstly, as a single Dataset contains multiple records, it is obvious that all of them must
undergo the same processes and modifications. In a word, all of them must go through the
same successive stage.
Secondly, it should be expected that different Datasets usually have different schemas,
therefore they cannot be treated commonly.
Alias names of Datasets are
1) Orchestrate File
2) Operating System file
And Dataset is multiple files. They are
a) Descriptor File
b) Data File
c) Control file
d) Header Files
In Descriptor File, we can see the Schema details and address of data.
In Data File, we can see the data in Native format.
And Control and Header files reside in Operating System.

Starting a Dataset Manager

Choose Tools Data Set Management, a Browse Files dialog box appears:
1. Navigate to the directory containing the data set you want to manage. By convention,
data set files have the suffix .ds.

2. Select the data set you want to manage and click OK. The Data Set Viewer appears.
From here you can copy or delete the chosen data set. You can also view its schema
(column definitions) or the data it contains.

3. SCD Type 2
4. Slowly changing dimension Type 2 is a model where the whole history is stored in
the database. An additional dimension record is created and the segmenting between
the old record values and the new (current) value is easy to extract and the history is
clear.
The fields 'effective date' and 'current indicator' are very often used in that dimension
and the fact table usually stores dimension key and version number.

5. SCD 2 implementation in Datastage

6. The job described and depicted below shows how to implement SCD Type 2 in
Datastage. It is one of many possible designs which can implement this dimension.
For this example, we will use a table with customers data (it's name is
D_CUSTOMER_SCD2) which has the following structure and data:

D_CUSTOMER dimension table before loading

CUST_I
D

CUST_

CUST_

CUST_

CUST_

REC_

NAME

GROUP
_ID

TYPE_
ID

COUNTRY
_ID

VERSI
ON

DRBOUA
7

Dream
Basket

EL

PL

ETIMAA
5

ETL
tools
info

BI

FI

FAMMFA
0

Fajatso

FD

CD

FICILA0

First
Pactonic

FD

IT

FRDXXA
2

Frasir

EL

SK

GAMOPA
9
GGMOPA
9

Ganpa
LTD.
GG
electroni

FD
EL

C
S

US
RU

1
1

REC
_
EFF
DT
01102006
2909200
6
27092006
25092006
23092006
21092006
1909-

REC_
CURRENT_
IND
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

cs
GLMFIA6

Glasithkli
ni

FD

PL

GLMPEA
9

Globitele
co

TC

FI

GONDW
A5

Goli
Airlines

BN

GB

2006
17091 2006
15091 2006
13091 2006

Y
Y
Y

The most important facts and stages of the CUST_SCD2 job processing:
The dimension table with customers is refreshed daily and one of the data sources is a text
file. For the purpose of this example the CUST_ID=ETIMAA5 differs from the one stored in
the database and it is the only record with changed data. It has the following structure and
data:
SCD 2 - Customers file extract:

 There is a hashed file (Hash_NewCust) which handles a lookup of the new data coming
from the text file.
A T001_Lookups transformer does a lookup into a hashed file and maps new and old
values to separate columns.
SCD 2 lookup transformer

A T002_Check_Discrepacies_exist transformer compares old and new values of records and

passes through only records that differ.
SCD 2 check discrepancies transformer

A T003 transformer handles the UPDATE and INSERT actions of a record. The old record is
updated with current indictator flag set to no and the new record is inserted with current
indictator flag set to yes, increased record version by 1 and the current date.
SCD 2 insert-update record transformer

 ODBC Update stage (O_DW_Customers_SCD2_Upd) - update action 'Update existing

rows only' and the selected key columns are CUST_ID and REC_VERSION so they will
appear in the constructed where part of an SQL statement.
ODBC Insert stage (O_DW_Customers_SCD2_Ins) - insert action 'insert rows without
clearing' and the key column is CUST_ID.

CUST_I
D
DRBOUA
7
ETIMAA
5
FAMMFA
0
FICILA0
FRDXXA
2

D_CUSTOMER dimension table after Datawarehouse refresh

REC
CUST_
CUST_
CUST_
CUST_
REC_
REC_
_
GROUP TYPE_ COUNTRY VERSI EFF CURRENT_
NAME
_ID
ID
_ID
ON
DT
IND
01Dream
10Basket
EL
S
PL
1 2006 Y
29ETL
09tools
200
info
BI
C
FI
1 6
N
2709Fajatso
FD
S
CD
1 2006 Y
25First
09Pactonic FD
C
IT
1 2006 Y
2309Frasir
EL
C
SK
1 2006 Y

GAMOPA
9
GGMOPA
9

Ganpa
LTD.
GG
electroni
cs

GLMFIA6

Glasithkli
ni

FD

PL

GLMPEA
9

Globitele
co

TC

FI

GONDW
A5

Goli
Airlines

BN

GB

FD

US

EL

RU

21092006
19092006
17092006
15092006
13092006

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

IBM INFOSPHERE
DATASTAGE PERFORMANCE
TUNING: OVERVIEW OF BEST
PRACTICES
INTRODUCTION
Data integration processes are very time and resource consuming. The
amount of data and the size of the datasets are constantly growing but
data and information are still expected to be delivered on-time.
Performance is therefore a key element in the success of a Business
Intelligence & Data Warehousing project and in order to guarantee the
agreed level of service, management of data warehouse performance and
performance tuning have to take a full role during the data warehouse and
ETL development process.
Tuning, however, is not always straightforward. A chain is only as strong
as its weakest link. In this context, there are five crucial domains that
require attention when tuning an IBM Infosphere DataStage environment :
System Infrastructure
Network
Database

 IBM DataStage Installation & Configuration

IBM DataStage Jobs
It goes without saying that without a well performing infrastructure the
tuning of IBM DataStage Jobs will not make much of a difference. As the
first three domains are usually outside the control of the ETL development
team, this article will only briefly touch upon these subjects and will
mainly focus on the topics related to the developments done within the
IBM InfoSphere DataStage layer. There are also major differences between
the underlying architecture of the DataStage Server Edition and the
DataStage Parallel Edition. This article will only cover performance tuning
for the IBM InfoSphere DataStage Enterprise Edition v 8.x.
One of the first steps of performance tuning, is monitoring the current
performance of the DataStage jobs. It is very important to understand
what step in the job is consuming the most time and resources. To do this
analysis several tools and functionalities of IBM Infosphere DataStage can
be used.

PERFORMANCE MONITORING BEST PRACTICES

Usage of Job Monitor
The IBM InfoSphere DataStage job monitor can be accessed through the
IBM InfoSphereDataStage Director. The job monitor provides a useful
snapshot of a jobs performance at a certain moment of its execution, but
does not provide thorough performance metrics. Due to buffering and to
some job semantics, a snapshot image of the flow might not be a
representative sample of the performance over the course of the entire
job. The CPU summary information provided by the job monitor is useful
as a first approximation of where time is being spent in the flow. That is
why a job monitor snapshot should not be used in place of a full run of the
job, or a run with a sample set of data as it does not include information
on sorts or similar components that might be inserted automatically by
the engine in a parallel job. For these components, the score dump can be
of assistance.

Usage of Score Dump

In order to resolve any performance issues it is essential to have an

understanding of the data flow within the jobs. To help understand a job
flow, a score dump should be taken. This can be done by setting the
APT_DUMP_SCORE environment variable to true prior to running the job.
When enabled, the score dump produces a report which shows the
operators, processes and data sets in the job and contains information
about :
Where and how data was repartitioned.
Whether IBM InfoSphere DataStage has inserted extra operators in
the flow.
The degree of parallelism each operator has run with, and on which
nodes.
Where data was buffered.
The score dump information is included in the job log when a job is run
and is particularly useful in showing where IBM InfoSphere DataStage is
inserting additional components/actions in the job flow, in particular extra
data partitioning and sorting operators as they can both be detrimental to
performance. A score dump will help to detect superfluous operators and
amend the job design to remove them.

Usage of Resource Estimation

Predicting hardware resources needed to run DataStage jobs in order to
meet processing time requirements can sometimes be more of an art than
a science.
With new sophisticated analytical information and deep understanding of
the parallel framework, IBM has added Resource Estimation to DataStage
(and QualityStage) 8.x. This can be used to determine the needed system
requirements or to analyze if the current infrastructure can support the
jobs that have been created.
Within a job design, a new toolbar option is available called Resource
Estimation.

This option opens a dialog called Resource Estimation. The Resource

Estimation is based on a modelization of the job. There are two types of
models that can be created:
Static. The static model does not actually run the job to create the
model. CPU utilization cannot be estimated, but disk space can. The
record size is always fixed. The best case scenario is considered
when the input data is propagated. The worst case scenario is
considered when computing record size.
Dynamic. The Resource Estimation tool actually runs the job with a
sample of the data. Both CPU and disk space are estimated. This is
a more predictable way to produce estimates.

Resource Estimation is used to project the resources required to execute

the job based on varying data volumes for each input data source.

A projection is then executed using the model selected. The results show
the total CPU needed, disk space requirements, scratch space
requirements, and other relevant information.

Different projections can be run with different data volumes and each can
be saved. Graphical charts are also available for analysis, which allow the
user to drill into each stage and each partition. A report can be generated
or printed with the estimations.

This feature will greatly assist developers in estimating the time and
machine resources needed for job execution. This kind of analysis can
help when analyzing the performance of a job, but IBM DataStage also
offers another possibility to analyze job performance.

Usage of Performance Analysis

Isolating job performance bottlenecks during a job execution or even
seeing what else was being performed on the machine during the job run
can be extremely difficult. IBM Infosphere DataStage 8.x adds a new
capability called Performance Analysis.
It is enabled through a job property on the execution tab which collects
data at job execution time. ( Note: by default, this option is disabled ) .
Once enabled and with a job open, a new toolbar option, called
Performance Analysis, is made available .
This option opens a new dialog called Performance Analysis. The first
screen asks the user which job instance to perform the analysis on.

Detailed charts are then available for that specific job run including:
Job timeline
Record Throughput
CPU Utilization
Job Timing
Job Memory Utilization
Physical Machine Utilization (shows what else is happening overall
on the machine, not just the DataStage activity).
Each partitions information is available in different tabs.

A report can be generated for each chart.

Using the information in these charts, a developer can for instance
pinpoint performance bottlenecks and re-design the job to improve
performance.
In addition to instance performance, overall machine statistics are
available. When a job is running, information about the machine is also
collected and is available in the Performance Analysis tool including:
Overall CPU Utilization
Memory Utilization
Disk Utilization
Developers can also correlate statistics between the machine information
and the job performance. Filtering capabilities exist to only display specific
stages.
The information collected and shown in the Performance Analysis tool can
easily be analyzed to identify possible bottlenecks. These bottlenecks are
usually situated in the general job design, which will be described in the
following chapter.

GENERAL JOB DESIGN BEST PRACTICES

The ability to process large volumes of data in a short period of time
depends on all aspects of the flow and the environment being optimized
for maximum throughput and performance. Performance tuning and
optimization are iterative processes that begin with job design and unit
tests, proceed through integration and volume testing, and continue
throughout the production life cycle of the application. Here are some
performance pointers:

Columns and type conversions

Remove unneeded columns as early as possible within the job flow. Every
additional unused column requires additional buffer memory, which can
impact performance and make each row transfer from one stage to the
next more expensive. If possible, when reading from databases, use a
select list to read only the columns required, rather than the entire table.
Avoid propagation of unnecessary metadata between the stages. Use the
Modify stage and drop the metadata. The Modify stage will drop the
metadata only when explicitly specified using the DROP clause.
So only columns that are really needed in the job should be used and the
columns should be dropped from the moment they are not needed
anymore. The OSH_PRINT_SCHEMAS environment variable can be set to
verify that runtime schemas match the job design column definitions.
When using stage variables on a Transformer stage, ensure that their data
types match the expected result types. Avoid that DataStage needs to
perform unnecessary type conversions as it will use time and resources
for these conversions.

Transformer stages
It is best practice to avoid having multiple stages where the functionality
could be incorporated into a single stage, and use other stage types to
perform simple transformation operations. Try to balance load on
Transformers by sharing the transformations across existing Transformers.
This will ensure a smooth flow of data.
When type casting, renaming of columns or addition of new columns is
required, use Copy or Modify Stages to achieve this. The Copy stage, for
example, should be used instead of a Transformer for simple operations
including :
Job Design placeholder between stages
Renaming Columns
Dropping Columns
Implicit (default) Type Conversions
A developer should try to minimize the stage variables in a Transformer
stage because the performance of a job decreases as stage variables are

added in a Transformer stage. The number of stage variables should be

limited as much as possible.
Also if a particular stage has been identified as one that takes a lot of time
in a job, like a Transformer stage having complex functionality with a lot of
stage variables and transformations, then the design of jobs could be
done in such a way that this stage is put in a separate job all together
(more resources for the Transformer Stage).
While designing IBM DataStage Jobs, care should be taken that a single
job is not overloaded with stages. Each extra stage put into a job
corresponds to less resources being available for every stage, which
directly affects the job performance. If possible, complex jobs having a
large number of stages should be logically split into smaller units.

Sorting
A sort done on a database is usually a lot faster than a sort done in
DataStage. So if possible try to already do the sorting when reading
data from the database instead of using a Sort stage or sorting on the
input link. This could also mean a big performance gain in the job,
although it is not always possible to avoid needing a Sort stage in jobs.
Careful job design can improve the performance of sort operations, both in
standalone Sort stages and in on-link sorts specified in other stage types,
when not being able to make use of the database sorting power.
If data has already been partitioned and sorted on a set of key columns,
specify the dont sort, previously sorted option for the key columns in the
Sort stage. This reduces the cost of sorting and takes more advantage of
pipeline parallelism. When writing to parallel data sets, sort order and
partitioning are preserved. When reading from these data sets, try to
maintain this sorting if possible by using theSame partitioning method.
The stable sort option is much more expensive than non-stable sorts, and
should only be used if there is a need to maintain row order other than as
needed to perform the sort.
The performance of individual sorts can be improved by increasing the
memory usage per partition using the Restrict Memory Usage(MB) option

of the Sort stage. The default setting is 20 MB per partition. Note that sort
memory usage can only be specified for standalone Sort stages, it cannot
be changed for inline (on a link) sorts.

Sequential files
While handling huge volumes of data, the Sequential File stage can itself
become one of the major bottlenecks as reading and writing from this
stage is slow. Certainly do not use sequential files for intermediate storage
between jobs. It causes performance overhead, as it needs to do data
conversion before writing and reading from a file. Rather Dataset stages
should be used for intermediate storage between different jobs.
Datasets are key to good performance in a set of linked jobs. They help in
achieving end-to-end parallelism by writing data in partitioned form and
maintaining the sort order. No repartitioning or import/export conversions
are needed.
In order to have faster reading from the Sequential File stage the number
of readers per node can be increased (default value is one). This means,
for example, that a single file can be partitioned as it is read (even though
the stage is constrained to running sequentially on the conductor mode).
This is an optional property and only applies to files containing fixedlength records. But this provides a way of partitioning data contained in a
single file. Each node reads a single file, but the file can be divided
according to the number of readers per node, and written to separate
partitions. This method can result in better I/O performance on an SMP
(Symmetric Multi Processing) system.

It can also be specified that single files can be read by multiple nodes.
This is also an optional property and only applies to files containing fixed-

length records. Set this option to Yes to allow individual files to be read
by several nodes. This can improve performance on cluster systems.
IBM DataStage knows the number of nodes available, and using the fixed
length record size, and the actual size of the file to be read, allocates to
the reader on each node a separate region within the file to process. The
regions will be of roughly equal size.

The options Read From Multiple Nodes and Number of Readers Per
Node are mutually exclusive.

Runtime Column Propagation

Also while designing jobs, care must be taken that unnecessary column
propagation is not done. Columns, which are not needed in the job flow,
should not be propagated from one stage to another and from one job to
the next. As much as possible, RCP (Runtime Column Propagation) should
be disabled in the jobs.

Join, Lookup or Merge

One of the most important mistakes that developers make is to not have
volumetric analyses done before deciding to use Join, Lookup or Merge
stages.
IBM DataStage does not know how large the data set is, so it cannot make
an informed choice whether to combine data using a Join stage or a
Lookup stage. Here is how to decide which one to use
There are two data sets being combined. One is the primary or driving
data set, sometimes called the left of the join. The other dataset are the
reference data set or the right of the join.

In all cases, the size of the reference data sets is a concern. If these take
up a large amount of memory relative to the physical RAM memory size of
the computer DataStage is running on, then a Lookup stage might crash
because the reference datasets might not fit in RAM along with everything
else that has to be in RAM. This results in a very slow performance since
each lookup operation can, and typically will, cause a page fault and an
I/O operation.
So, if the reference datasets are big enough to cause trouble, use a join. A
join does a high-speed sort on the driving and reference datasets. This can
involve I/O if the data is big enough, but the I/O is all highly optimized and
sequential. After the sort is over, the join processing is very fast and never
involves paging or other I/O.

Databases
The best choice is to use Connector stages if available for the database.
The next best choice is the Enterprise database stages as these give
maximum parallel performance and features when compared to plug-in
stages. The Enterprise stages are:
DB2/UDB Enterprise
Informix Enterprise
Oracle Enterprise
Teradata Enterprise
SQLServer Enterprise
Sybase Enterprise
ODBC Enterprise
iWay Enterprise
Netezza Enterprise
Avoid generating target tables in the database from the IBM DataStage job
(that is, using the Create write mode on the database stage) unless they
are intended for temporary storage only. This is because this method does
not allow, for example, specifying target table space, and inadvertently
data-management policies on the database can be violated.
When there is a need to create a table on a target database from within a
job, use the Open command property on the database stage to explicitly
create the table and allocate table space, or any other options required.

The Open command property allows to specify a command (for example

some SQL) that will be executed by the database before it processes any
data from the stage. There is also a Close property that allows specifying a
command to execute after the data from the stage has been processed.
(Note that, when using user-defined Open and Close commands, locks
should be specified where appropriate).
Tune the database stages for Array Size and Rows per Transaction
numerical values for faster inserts, updates and selects. Experiment in
changing these values to see what the best performance is for the
DataStage job. The default value used is low and not optimal in terms of
performance.
Finally, try to work closely with the database administrators so they can
examine the SQL-statements used in DataStage jobs. Appropriate indexes
on tables can deliver a better performance of DataStage queries.
Also try to examine if the job is faster when the indexes are dropped
before data loading and recreated after loading data into the tables.
Recreation of the indexes also takes some time, so test if this has a
performance gain or a performance loss on the total process chain.

CONCLUSION
Performance tuning can be a labor intensive and quite costly process. That
is exactly the reason why care for optimization and performance should be
taken into account from the beginning of the development process. With
the combination of best practices, performance guidelines and past
experience, the majority of performance problems can be avoided during
the development process.
If performance issues still occur even when performance guidelines have
been taken into account during development, then these issues can be
tackled and analyzed using the available, discussed tools such as
Resource Estimation and Performance Analysis functionalities.
LOOPING IN TRANSFORMER STAGE DATASTAGE 8.5 : EXAMPLE 2
Performing aggregation using a Transformer:

Input:Below is the sample data of three students, their marks in two

subjects, the corresponding grades and the dates on which they were
graded.

Output:Our requirement is to sum the marks obtained by

each student in a subject and display it in the output

Step 1: Once we have read the data from the source we

have to sort data on our key field. In our example the key
field is the student name

Once the data is sorted we have to implement the looping

function in transformer to calculate the aggregate value
Before we get into the details, we need to know a couple
of functions
SaveInputRecord(): This function saves the entire
record in cache and returns the number of records
that are currently stored in cache

 LastRowInGroup(input-column): When a input key

column is passed to this function it will return 1 when
the last row for that column is found and in all other
cases it will return 0
To give an example, lets say our input is
Student

Code

ABC

ABC

ABC

DEF

For the first two records the function will return 0 but
for the last record ABC,3 it will return 1 indicating
that it is the last record for the group where student
name is ABC
GetSavedInputRecord(): This function returns the
record that was stored in cache by the function
SaveInputRecord()
Back to the task at hand, we need 7 stage variables to
perform the aggregation operation successfully.
1. LoopNumber: Holds the value of number of records
stored in cache for a student
2. LoopBreak: This is to identify the last record for a
particular student
3. SumSub1: This variable will hold the final sum of marks
for each student in subject 1
4. IntermediateSumSub1: This variable will hold the sum
of marks until the final record is evaluated for a student
(subject 1)
5. SumSub2: Similar to SumSub1 (for subject 2)
6. IntermediateSumSub2: Similar to IntermediateSumSub1
(for subject 2)
7. LoopBreakNum: Holds the value for the number of times
the loop has to run

Below is the screenshot of the stage variables

We also need to define the Loop Variables so that the loop

will execute for a student until his final record is identified

To explain the above use of variables When the first record comes to stage variables, it is saved
in the cache using the function SaveInputRecord() in first
stage variableLoopNumber
The second stage variable checks if it is the last record for
this particular student, if it is it stores 1 else 0
The third SumSub1 is executed only if the record is the
last record
The fourth IntermediateSumSum1 is executed when the
input record is not the last record, thereby storing the
intermediate sum of the subject for a student
Fifth and sixth are the same as 3 and 4 stage variables
Seven will have the first value as 1 and for the second
record also if the same student is fetched it will change to
2 and so on
The loop variable will be executed until the final record for
a student is identified and the GetSavedInputRecord()
function will make sure the current record is processed
before the next record is brought for processing.

Finally your transformer should look like this

What the above logic does is for each and every record it
will send the sum of marks scored by each student to the
output. But our requirement is to have only one record per
student in the output.
So we simply add a remove duplicates stage and add the
student name as a primary key
Once done our job design is done it will look like this

Run the job and the output will be according to our initial
expectation

We have successfully implemented AGGREGATION using

TRANSFORMER Stage
LOOPING IN TRANSFORMER STAGE DATASTAGE 8.5 : EXAMPLE 1

Looping in a Transformer was new feature that was introduced in

DataStage 8.5. Now we dont have to design complex logic to
perform looping functions on input data.

Rather than going on about what is new and what

variables or functions have been added to achieve Looping
in DataStage, we will look at a couple of examples that
will explain all the new functionalities in a simple and easy
way.

Example 1: How to convert a single row into multiple rows ?

Now you can argue that this is possible using a pivot
stage. But for the sake of this article lets try doing this
using a Transformer!
Below is a screenshot of our input data
City

State

Name1

Name2

Name3

xy

FGH

Sam

Dean

Winchester

We are going to read the above data from a sequential file

and transform it to look like this
City

State

Name

xy

FGH

Sam

xy

FGH

Dean

xy

FGH

Winchester

So lets get to the job design

Step 1: Read the input data

Step 2: Logic for Looping in Transformer

In the adjacent image you can see a new box called Loop
Condition. This where we are going to control the loop
variables.
Below is the screenshot when we expand the Loop
Condition box

The Loop While constraint is used to implement a

functionality similar to WHILE statement in
programming. So, similar to a while statement need to
have a condition to identify how many times the loop is
supposed to be executed.
To achieve this @ITERATION system variable was
introduced. In our example we need to loop the data 3
times to get the column data onto subsequent rows.
So lets have @ITERATION <=3

Now create a new Loop variable with the name LoopName

The derivation for this loop variable should be

If@ITERATION=1ThenDSLink2.Name1ElseIf@ITERATION=2ThenDSLink2.Name2
ElseDSLink2.Name3

Below is a screenshot illustrating the same

Now all we have to do is map this Loop variable LoopName

to our output column Name

Lets map the output to a sequential file stage and see if

the output is a desired.

After running the job, we did a view data on the output

stage and here is the data as desired.

Making some tweaks to the above design we can

implement things like
Adding new rows to existing rows
Splitting data in a single column to multiple rows and
many more such stuff..

PARALLEL DEBUGGING IN
DATASTAGE 8.5
IBM has added a new debug feature for DataStage from
the 8.5 version. It provides basic debugging features for
testing/debugging the job design.

This feature is used from the designer client. So lets jump

into creating a simple job and start debugging it!

As you can see the above job design is very simple; I have
a row generator stage that will generate 10 records for
the column number

And in the transformer Ive hard-coded a column called

name with the value ABCDEFG

The final stage is the peek stage that we all have been
using for debugging our job design all these years.
Now that we understand the job desing, well start
debugging it.
Add breakpoints to links
Right click on the link where you wish to check/debug
the data and the following drop down menu appears

 Select the option, Toggle Breakpoint

Once selected a small icon appears on the link as
shown in the below screen shot

We can also edit the Breakpoint, to do so we have to

right click on the link again and select Edit
Breakpoints. Following which the following popup
will be displayed

By default the breakpoint will be activated for every

row. If the need arises, we can change this to any
value and the debugger will pause the flow of records
as and when it reaches that number
Ex: If we set the value for Every N Rows to 5, the
debugger will display every record that is a multiple
of 5, i.e., 5th records, 10th record, 15th record an so
on..
For the sake of this example well change the value to
2

We are done setting up the breakpoints for the debugger,

so lets compile our job now. Once compiled, click on debug
menu option and select GO. Or simply press F5

The following popup appears and we are asked to run our

job. Go ahead and run it -

Screenshot of job running in debug mode

Now our job is running in debug mode and as soon as the

2nd record passes through the link (DSLink10) the details
of that particular record will be displayed in the debugger
window for our needs

As you can see in the above screenshot, the data for that
particular link is displayed along with the corresponding
column name.
Once we are done analyzing the data we can request the
debugger to either go to the next record of run till the end

without hitting the breakpoints by clicking on the run

button on the top left hand corner of the debugger screen

Debugging based on a condition

We saw until now how to set the debugger to break at a
particular record count. Now lets select the option to
break when a condition is satisfied.
In the Edit Breakpoint menu, we also have the option to
select expression ( shown in the above screen shots).
Select that option and enter a expression/condition which
matches your needs.
For the sake of this example, Ill have the below
expression

Now as per my condition, the debugger should pause the

job when it encounters 6 in the column number
As you can see below the debugger paused the job when it
saw the value 6 for the column number and showed the
details for the other columns as well.

Select the Run to End option on the debugger window

and the job will finish and wait for the next user input.

Close the window and go to the menu option debug. In

that select Clear All Breakpoints. This will remove all
breakpoints that you have set in your job.

DATASTAGE COMMON
ERRORS/WARNINGS AND SOLUTIONS
3
1. While connecting Remote Desktop, Terminal server
has been exceeded maximum number of allowed
connections
SOL: In Command Prompt, type mstsc /v: ip address of
server /admin
OR
mstsc /v: ip
address /console
2. SQL20521N. Error occurred processing a conditional
compilation directive near string. Reason code=rc.
Following link has issue description:
http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r7/index.jsp?
topic=%2Fcom.ibm.db2.luw.messages.sql.doc%2Fdoc
%2Fmsql20521n.html
3. SK_RETAILER_GROUP_BRDIGE,1: runLocally() did not
reach EOF on its input data set 0.
SOL: Warning will be disappeared by regenerating SK
File.
4.
While connecting to Datastage client, there is no
response, and while restarting websphere services,
following errors occurred
[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./stopServer.sh server1 -user
wasadmin -password Wasadmin0708
ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
/opt/ibm/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/default/logs/
server1/stopServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the default profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: server1
ADMU0111E: Program exiting with error:
javax.management.JMRuntimeException:
ADMN0022E: Access is denied for the stop operation on
Server MBean because of insufficient or empty
credentials.
ADMU4113E: Verify that username and password
information is on the command line
(-username and -password) or in the
<conntype>.client.props file.
ADMU1211I: To obtain a full trace of the failure, use the
-trace option.

ADMU0211I: Error details may be seen in the file:

/opt/ibm/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/default/logs/
server1/stopServer.log
SOL: Wasadmin and XMeta passwords needs to be reset
and commands are below..
[root@poluloro01 bin]# cd
/opt/ibm/InformationServer/ASBServer/bin/
[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./AppServerAdmin.sh -was -user
wasadmin
-password Wasadmin0708
Info WAS instance /Node:poluloro01/Server:server1/
updated with new user information
Info MetadataServer daemon script updated with new user
information
[root@poluloro01 bin]# ./AppServerAdmin.sh -was -user
xmeta -password Xmeta0708
Info WAS instance /Node:poluloro01/Server:server1/
updated with new user information
Info MetadataServer daemon script updated with new user
information
5.
The specified field doesnt exist in view adapted
schema
SOL: Most of the time The specified field: XXXXXX does
not exist in the view adapted schema occurred when we
missed a field to map. Every stage has got an output tab if
used in the between of the job. Make sure you have
mapped every single field required for the next stage.
Sometime even after mapping the fields this error can be
occurred and one of the reason could be that the view
adapter has not linked the input and output fields. Hence
in this case the required field mapping should be dropped
and recreated.
Just to give an insight on this, the view adapter is an
operator which is responsible for mapping the input and
output fields. Hence DataStage creates an instance of
APT_ViewAdapter which translate the components of the
operator input interface schema to matching components
of the interface schema. So if the interface schema is not
having the same columns as operator input interface
schema then this error will be reported.
DATASTAGE COMMON ERRORS/WARNINGS AND SOLUTIONS 2

1. No jobs or logs showing in IBM DataStage Director Client,

however jobs are still accessible from the Designer Client.

SOL: SyncProject cmd that is installed with DataStage

8.5 can be run to analyze and recover projects
SyncProject -ISFile islogin -project dstage3 dstage5 Fix
2. CASHOUT_DTL: Invalid property value
/Connection/Database (CC_StringProperty::getValue, file
CC_StringProperty.cpp, line 104)
SOL: Change the Data Connection properties manually in
the produced
DB2 Connector stage.
A patch fix is available for this issue JR35643
3. Import .dsx file from command line
SOL: DSXImportService -ISFile dataconnection DSProject
dstage DSXFile c:\export\oldproject.dsx
4. Generate Surrogate Key without Surrogate Key Stage
SOL: @PARTITIONNUM + (@NUMPARTITIONS *
(@INROWNUM 1)) + 1
Use above Formula in Transformer stage to generate a
surrogate key.
5. Failed to authenticate the current user against the
selected Domain: Could not connect to server.
RC: Client has invalid entry in host file
Server listening port might be blocked by a firewall
Server is down
SOL: Update the host file on client system so that the
server hostname can be resolved from client.
Make sure the WebSphere TCP/IP ports are opened by the
firewall.
Make sure the WebSphere application server is running.
(OR)
Restart Websphere services.
6. The connection was refused or the RPC daemon is not
running (81016)

RC: The dsprcd process must be running in order to be

able to login to DataStage.
If you restart DataStage, but the socket used by the
dsrpcd (default is 31538) was busy, the dsrpcd will fail to
start. The socket may be held by dsapi_slave processes
that were still running or recently killed when DataStage
was restarted.
SOL: Run ps -ef | grep dsrpcd to confirm the dsrpcd
process is not running.
Run ps -ef | grep dsapi_slave to check if any dsapi_slave
processes exist. If so, kill them.
Run netstat -a | grep dsprc to see if any processes have
sockets that are ESTABLISHED, FIN_WAIT, or CLOSE_WAIT.
These will prevent the dsprcd from starting. The sockets
with status FIN_WAIT or CLOSE_WAIT will eventually time
out and disappear, allowing you to restart DataStage.
Then Restart DSEngine.
to reboot the system.

(if above doesnt work) Needs

7. To save Datastage logs in notepad or readable format

SOL: a) /opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/DSEngine (go
to this directory)
./bin/dsjob -logdetail project_name job_name
>/home/dsadm/log.txt
b) In director client, Project tab Print select print to
file option and save it in local directory.
8. Run time error 457. This Key is already associated
with an element of this collection.
SOL:

Needs to rebuild repository objects.

a)

Login to the Administrator client

b)

Select the project

c)

Click on Command

d)

Issue the command ds.tools

e)

Select option 2

f)
g)

Keep clicking next until it finishes.

All objects will be updated.

9. To stop the datastage jobs in linux level

SOL:

ps ef

| grep dsadm

To Check process id and phantom jobs

Kill -9 process_id
10. To run datastage jobs from command line
SOL:

cd /opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/DSEngine

./dsjob -server $server_nm -user $user_nm

$pwd -run $project_nm $job_nm

-password

11. Failed to connect to JobMonApp on port 13401.

SOL: needs to restart jobmoninit script (in
/opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server/PXEngine/Java)
Type

sh jobmoninit start $APT_ORCHHOME

Add 127.0.0.1 local host in /etc/hosts file

(Without local entry, Job monitor will be unable to use the
ports correctly)
12. SQL0752N. Connect to a database is not permitted
within logical unit of work CONNECT type 1 settings is in
use.
SOL: COMMIT or ROLLBACK statement before requesting
connection to another database.

USAGE OF PIVOT STAGE

I couldnt find an example of the DataStage pivot stage
and its not very obvious how to use it. Thats why Ive
created this page. It shows an example of how you use it.
Input link
The input link has 11 columns. One for the jobname and 10
for used functions.

Output link
The output link has two columns. The jobname and one for
the function names. Per input row, there are 10 rows
outputted. Even if the fields are NULL. Divide the
fieldnames with spaces, not with any other delimiter.

DATASTAGE PARALLEL ROUTINES 3: TO CHECK IF A GIVEN DATE IS VALID OR NOT

Requirement: To check if a given date is valid or not.

Datastage has a built in function (IsValid) which can check
if a date is valid or not, syntax to this is
IsValid('DATE',StringToDate(<DateString>,"%mm/%dd/%yyyy"))

For example if we have to test for string 01/01/1999 the

syntax will be
IsValid('DATE',StringToDate("01/01/1999","%mm/%dd/%yyyy"))

If the date is valid date, it will return one else zero. But, if
we have the date as 1/1/1999 though the date is valid it
will return 0, as date and month fields have only one digit.
Therefore, we will create a Parallel Routine, which will
take date in various format viz. mm/dd/yyyy, m/dd/yyyy,
mm/d/yyyy, mm/dd/yy, m/d/yy etc and return it in a fixed
format of mmddyyyy, which we can use in the function
specified above.
C/C++ Code:
The code written below takes a date string in any of the
formats mentioned above and returns a date string in
mmddyyyy format (if the year is provided in two digits yy
then it will return 19nn if nn>=50 and 20nn if nn<50 as
the year part).
//FileName:date_format.cpp
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

char*date_format(charstr[20])
{
char*fst,*lst,date[10];
intlen,decade;
len=strlen(str);
fst=strchr(str,'/');
lst=strrchr(str,'/');

//handlingthedatepart
if((fststr)==1)
{
strcpy(date,"0");
strncat(date,str,1);
}
elseif((fststr)==2)
{
strncpy(date,str,2);
}
else
return("Invalid");

//handlingthemonthpart
if((lstfst1)==1)
{
strcat(date,"0");
strncat(date,fst+1,1);
}
elseif((lstfst1)==2)
{
strncat(date,fst+1,2);

}
else
return("Invalid");

//handlingtheyearpart
if((len(lststr)1)==2)
{
decade=atoi(lst+1);
if(decade>=50)
{
strcat(date,"19");
}
else
{
strcat(date,"20");
}
strncat(date,lst+1,2);
}
elseif((len(lststr)1)==4)
{
strncat(date,lst+1,4);
}

else
return("Invalid");
return(date);
}

Create the .o file (date_format.o) for the above code by

following the steps mentioned in this post.
Creating a Parallel Routine
Open a Parallel Routine and give appropriate values, a
screen shot is shown below for reference
General tab for dateformat parallel routine

Arguments tab for dateformat parallel routine.

As we are passing a date string as input we have added a

parameter here.
Save and Close it.
Usage in Datastage Job
We have created a simple job to demonstrate of the
Parallel Routine dateformat which we have just created.

The job has three stages:

1.SAMPLE_DATES_inp stage provides sample dates for
testing.

2.MASTER_TRANSFORMER_tra stage calls the parallel

routine.
3.OUT_ldr loads the data into a tab delimited file.
The figure shows the sample data in SAMPLE_DATES_inp

The figure shows the properties of the

MASTER_TRANSFORMER_tra stage

Various transformation rules are clearly seen, the place

where dateformat is called is underlined in red color
The figure shows the data loaded in the output file.

DATE_IN: this column consists of all the records from the

input file as it is.
sample_dates_inp.DATE_IN

DATE_VALID: this column show the value returned by the

IS_VALID function without using the parallel routine
dateformat created by us.
IsValid('DATE',StringToDate(sample_dates_inp.DATE_IN,"%mm/%dd/%yyyy"))

MODIFIED_DATE: this column shows the date returned by

routine dateformat when DATE_IN is given as the input.
dateformat(sample_dates_inp.DATE_IN)

MODIFIED_DATE_VALID: this column show the value

returned by the IS_VALID function AFTER using the parallel
routine dateformat created by us.
IsValid('DATE',StringToDate(dateformat(sample_dates_inp.DATE_IN),"%mm%dd
%yyyy"))

We can see that all date formats have been identified as

valid dates after using the routine.
Let us see one more usage of Datastage parallel routines
in my next post.

DATASTAGE COMMON
ERRORS/WARNINGS AND SOLUTIONS
1
1.
While running ./NodeAgents.sh start command
getting the following error: LoggingAgent.sh process
stopped unexpectedly
SOL:

needs to kill LoggingAgentSocketImpl

Ps ef | grep LoggingAgentSocketImpl (OR)
PS ef |
grep Agent (to check the process
id of the above)
2.
Warning: A sequential operator cannot preserve the
partitioning of input data set on input port 0
SOL: Clear the preserve partition flag before Sequential
file stages.
3.
Warning: A user defined sort operator does not
satisfy the requirements.

SOL: Check the order of sorting columns and make sure

use the same order when use join stage after sort to joing
two inputs.
4.
Conversion error calling conversion routine
timestamp_from_string data may have been lost.
xfmJournals,1: Conversion error calling conversion routine
decimal_from_string data may have been lost
SOL: check for the correct date format or decimal format
and also null values in the date or decimal fields before
passing to datastage StringToDate,
DateToString,DecimalToString or StringToDecimal
functions.
5.

To display all the jobs in command line

SOL:
cd/opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server/DSEngine/bin
./dsjobljobs<project_name>

6.
Error trying to query dsadm[]. There might be an
issue in database server
SOL:

Check XMETA connectivity.

db2 connect to xmeta (A connection to or activation of

database xmeta cannot be made because of BACKUP
pending)
7.
DSR_ADMIN: Unable to find the new project
location
SOL: Template.ini file might be missing in
/opt/ibm/InformationServer/Server.
Copy the file from another severs.
8.
Designer LOCKS UP while trying to open any stage
SOL:

Double click on the stage that locks up datastage

Press ALT+SPACE
Windows menu will popup and select Restore
It will show your properties window now
Click on X to close this window.
Now, double click again and try whether properties
window appears.
9.
Error Setting up internal communications (fifo
RT_SCTEMP/job_name.fifo)

SOL:

Remove the locks and try to run (OR)

Restart DSEngine and try to run (OR)

Go to
/opt/ibm/InformationServer/server/Projects/proj_name/
ls RT_SCT* then
rm f RT_SCTEMP
then try to restart it.
10.
While attempting to compile job, failed to invoke
GenRunTime using Phantom process helper
RC:

/tmp space might be full

Job status is incorrect
Format problems with projects uvodbc.config file
SOL:
a)
clean up /tmp directory
b)
DS Director JOB clear status file
c)
confirm uvodbc.config has the following
entry/format:
[ODBC SOURCES]
<local uv>
DBMSTYPE = UNIVERSE
Network = TCP/IP
Service = uvserver
Host = 127.0.0.1

DATASTAGE ERROR CODES

CODE

ERROR TOKEN

DESCRIPTION

DSJE_NOERROR

No InfoSphere DataStage API error has

occurred.

-1

DSJE_BADHANDLE

Invalid JobHandle.

-2

DSJE_BADSTATE

Job is not in the right state (compiled,

not running).

-3

DSJE_BADPARAM

ParamName is not a parameter name

in the job.

-4

DSJE_BADVALUE

Invalid MaxNumber value.

-5

DSJE_BADTYPE

Information or event type was

unrecognized.

-6

DSJE_WRONGJOB

Job for this JobHandle was not started

from a call to DSRunJob by the

CODE
0

ERROR TOKEN
DSJE_NOERROR

DESCRIPTION
No InfoSphere DataStage API error has
occurred.
current process.

-7

DSJE_BADSTAGE

StageName does not refer to a known

stage in the job.

-8

DSJE_NOTINSTAGE

Internal engine error.

-9

DSJE_BADLINK

LinkName does not refer to a known

link for the stage in question.

-10

DSJE_JOBLOCKED

The job is locked by another process.

-11

DSJE_JOBDELETED

The job has been deleted.

-12

DSJE_BADNAME

Invalid project name.

-13

DSJE_BADTIME

Invalid StartTime or EndTime value.

-14

DSJE_TIMEOUT

The job appears not to have started

after waiting for a reasonable length of
time. (About 30 minutes.)

-15

DSJE_DECRYPTERR

Failed to decrypt encrypted values.

-16

DSJE_NOACCESS

Cannot get values, default values or

design default values for any job
except the current job.

-99

DSJE_REPERROR

General engine error.

-100

DSJE_NOTADMINUSER

User is not an administrator.

-101

DSJE_ISADMINFAILED

Failed to determine whether user is an

administrator.

-102

DSJE_READPROJPROPERTY

Failed to read property.

-103

DSJE_WRITEPROJPROPERTY

Property not supported.

-104

DSJE_BADPROPERTY

Unknown property name.

-105

DSJE_PROPNOTSUPPORTED

Unsupported property.

-106

DSJE_BADPROPVALUE

Invalid value for this property.

-107

DSJE_OSHVISIBLEFLAG

Failed to get value for OSHVisible.

-108

DSJE_BADENVVARNAME

Invalid environment variable name.

CODE

ERROR TOKEN

DESCRIPTION

DSJE_NOERROR

No InfoSphere DataStage API error has

occurred.

-109

DSJE_BADENVVARTYPE

Invalid environment variable type.

-110

DSJE_BADENVVARPROMPT

No prompt supplied.

-111

DSJE_READENVVARDEFNS

Failed to read environment variable

definitions.

-112

DSJE_READENVVARVALUES

Failed to read environment variable

values.

-113

DSJE_WRITEENVVARDEFNS

Failed to write environment variable

definitions.

-114

DSJE_WRITEENVVARVALUES

Failed to write environment variable

values.

-115

DSJE_DUPENVVARNAME

Environment variable being added

already exists.

-116

DSJE_BADENVVAR

Environment variable does not exist.

-117

DSJE_NOTUSERDEFINED

Environment variable is not userdefined and therefore cannot be

deleted.

-118

DSJE_BADBOOLEANVALUE

Invalid value given for a boolean

environment variable.

-119

DSJE_BADNUMERICVALUE

Invalid value given for an integer

environment variable.

-120

DSJE_BADLISTVALUE

Invalid value given for a list

environment variable.

-121

DSJE_PXNOTINSTALLED

Environment variable is specific to

parallel jobs which are not available.

-122

DSJE_ISPARALLELLICENCED

Failed to determine if parallel jobs are

available.

-123

DSJE_ENCODEFAILED

Failed to encode an encrypted value.

-124

DSJE_DELPROJFAILED

Failed to delete project definition.

-125

DSJE_DELPROJFILESFAILED

Failed to delete project files.

-126

DSJE_LISTSCHEDULEFAILED

Failed to get list of scheduled jobs for

project.

CODE

ERROR TOKEN

DESCRIPTION

DSJE_NOERROR

No InfoSphere DataStage API error has

occurred.

-127

DSJE_CLEARSCHEDULEFAILED

Failed to clear scheduled jobs for

project.

-128

DSJE_BADPROJNAME

Invalid project name supplied.

-129

DSJE_GETDEFAULTPATHFAILED

Failed to determine default project

directory.

-130

DSJE_BADPROJLOCATION

Invalid path name supplied.

-131

DSJE_INVALIDPROJECTLOCATION

Invalid path name supplied.

-132

DSJE_OPENFAILED

Failed to open UV.ACCOUNT file.

-133

DSJE_READUFAILED

Failed to lock project create lock

record.

-134

DSJE_ADDPROJECTBLOCKED

Another user is adding a project.

-135

DSJE_ADDPROJECTFAILED

Failed to add project.

-136

DSJE_LICENSEPROJECTFAILED

Failed to license project.

-137

DSJE_RELEASEFAILED

Failed to release project create lock

record.

-138

DSJE_DELETEPROJECTBLOCKED

Project locked by another user.

-139

DSJE_NOTAPROJECT

Failed to log to project.

-140

DSJE_ACCOUNTPATHFAILED

Failed to get account path.

-141

DSJE_LOGTOFAILED

Failed to log to UV account.

-201

DSJE_UNKNOWN_JOBNAME

The supplied job name cannot be

found in the project.

1001

DSJE_NOMORE

All events matching the filter criteria

have been returned.

1002

DSJE_BADPROJECT

ProjectName is not a
known InfoSphere DataStage project.

1003

DSJE_NO_DATASTAGE

InfoSphere DataStage is not installed

on the system.

1004

DSJE_OPENFAIL

The attempt to open the job failed

perhaps it has not been compiled.

CODE

ERROR TOKEN

DESCRIPTION

DSJE_NOERROR

No InfoSphere DataStage API error has

occurred.

1005

DSJE_NO_MEMORY

Failed to allocate dynamic memory.

1006

DSJE_SERVER_ERROR

An unexpected or unknown error

occurred in the engine.

1007

DSJE_NOT_AVAILABLE

The requested information was not

found.

1008

DSJE_BAD_VERSION

The engine does not support this

version of the InfoSphere
DataStage API.

1009

DSJE_INCOMPATIBLE_SERVER

The engine version is incompatible

with this version of the InfoSphere
DataStage API.

API error codes in numerical order

ERROR NUMBER

DESCRIPTION

39121

The InfoSphere DataStage license has expired.

39134

The InfoSphere DataStage user limit has been reached.

80011

Incorrect system name or invalid user name or password

provided.

80019

Password has expired.

API Communication Layer Error Codes

IBM REDBOOK CORNER

Below are a list of redbooks that are available on the IBM
site for topics related to Datastage. Its pretty useful for
the person who wants to know more. Check it out
Information Server Installation and Configuration Guide
This IBM redbook publication provides suggestions, hints
and tips, directions, installation steps, checklists of

prerequisites, and configuration information collected

from a number of Information Server experts. It is
intended to minimize the time required to successfully
install and configure Information Server.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp4596.html?
Open
Preparing for DB2 Near-Realtime Business Intelligence
This IBM redbook is primarily intended for use by IBM
Clients and IBM Business Partners. The purpose of the
redbook is to discuss the topic of preparing for nearrealtime business intelligence (BI). In addition, it is to
provide information that will help convince you that
DB2, and other IBM and IBM Business Partner products,
can be used today to implement a near-realtime BI
environment.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246071.html?
Open
Dimensional Modeling: In a Business Intelligence
Environment
A redbook on BI and what it means today, with good
concepts on data modelling
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247138.html?
Open
SOA Solutions Using IBM Information Server
This IBM Redbooks publication documents the
procedures for implementing IBM Information Server and
related technologies using a typical financial services
business scenario. It is aimed at IT architects, Information
Management specialists, and Information Integration
specialists responsible for developing IBM Information
Server on a Microsoft Windows 2003 platform.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247402.html?
Open
IBM InfoSphere DataStage Data Flow and Job Design
This IBM Redbooks publication documents the
procedures for implementing IBM InfoSphere

DataStage and related technologies using a typical retail

industry scenario. It is aimed at IT architects, Information
Management specialists, and Information Integration
specialists responsible for developing IBM Information
Server on a Microsoft Windows 2003 platform.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247576.html?
Open
Deploying a Grid Solution with the IBM InfoSphere
Information Server
This IBM Redbooks publication documents the
migration of an IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Version 8.0.1 parallel framework implementation on a Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) AS 4 platform to a high
availability (HA) grid environment.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247625.html?
Open
InfoSphere DataStage Parallel Framework Standard
Practices
In this IBM Redbooks publication, are present
guidelines for the development of highly efficient and
scalable information integration applications with
InfoSphere DataStage (DS) parallel jobs. InfoSphere
DataStage is at the core of IBM Information Server,
providing components that yield a high degree of freedom
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247830.html?
Open

DATASTAGE PARALLEL ROUTINES 2

In the previous post, we have seen how to write custom
C/C++ code. In this post we will see how to call it in
DataStage.
We will link the .o file created earlier to the parallel
routine in DataStage. From the File menu in the DataStage
designer, select parallel routine, it should look something
like below.

GENERAL tab of a Parallel Routine

Description of various fields in the General tab:

Routine name: The name of the routine as it will appear in
the DataStage Repository.
Category: The name of the category where the routine is
stored in the Repository. If you do not enter a name in this
field when creating a routine, the routine is created under
the main Routines branch.
External subroutine name: The C function that this routine
is calling (must be the name of a valid routine in a shared
library).
Library Path: The path where the .o file is located.
Type: keep it as External Function.
Object Type: keep it as Object.
Return Type: Choose the type of the value that the
function will return.

ARGUMENTS tab of a Parallel Routine

Under the arguments tab enter the names of all the

parameters that the function takes as input with their
corresponding types. (as our sample code does not take
any input parameters leave this blank). Once you have
entered the appropriate values save and close the Parallel
Routine. Now this routine can be called in Transformer like
any other regular function.

DATASTAGE PARALLEL ROUTINES 1

Sometimes it may be difficult to implement certain
functionality in DATASTAGE directly, in such cases we can
use parallel routine to build custom functions in C/C++
and call them in datastage. These functions can be called
like any other built in datastage function for e.g
TRIM(),IntegerToString() etc.

This series of posts explains in detail the process of

creating a routine with the help of examples.But before
coding anything, please check out the post compiler
specification.
Coding in C/C++:
First we will write a C++ code, convert it to .obj file then
we will link it to a Parallel Routine in the DataStage.
Sample Code:
Write a code and test it, if it is working fine then replace
the main with a new function name
A sample C++ code to display HELLO WORLD is shown
below
#include<stdio.h>
intmain()
{
char*s="helloworld"
printf("%s",s);
return1;
}

After writing the code you can compile it in UNIX BOX

using the command
/usr/vacpp/bin/xlC_rOqspill=32704<FILENAME>

For e.g if the file name is helloworld.cpp then to compile it

you will have to type
/usr/vacpp/bin/xlC_rOqspill=32704helloworld.cpp

Once it is successfully compiled u can run it by

typing a.out in the UNIX BOX. On running it should
displayhello world on the screen. Now that the code has
been tested and is running fine remove main from the
code and change its return type to CHAR*, this is because,

this code when called from DataStage can return the

string.
After making the changes the above code will look like
this:
#include<stdio.h>
char*hello()
{
char*s="helloworld"
returns;
}

Now you will have to create an obj file for the above code
that can be done by using the command
/usr/vacpp/bin/xlC_rOcqspill=32704<FILENAME>

In this case it will be

/usr/vacpp/bin/xlC_rOcqspill=32704hellworld.cpp

If the code is correct the command will create a file

named helloworld.o in the same folder.
In next post in this series, we will create a DataStage
routine and link it to the object code that we developed.

COMPILER SPECIFICATION
IN DATASTAGE
One of the pre-requisites to writing Parallel rotines using
C/C++ is to check for the compiler specification. This post
guides in seeing the C/C++ compiler available in our
installation. To find compiler, we need to login into
Administrator and go to the path below

DataStage > Administrator > Properties > Environment

> Parallel > Compiler
Step 1: Log in to Data Stage Administration.

Step 2: Click on the Projects tab.

Step 3: Click on the Properties tab

Step 4: Click on Environment.

Step 5: Select the compiler option under Parallel tab.

Step 6: Compiler specification of datastage is present

here.

.cp
p

In Case Of GNU compiler we compile a cpp code like this

<Compiler Name> < Compile option> < cpp File name>
e.g. g++otest.cpp

Compiling command for datastage routine will be:/usr/vacpp/bin/xlC_r -O -c -qspill=32704 test

This command will create an object file test.o

[Disclaimer: - The Compiler name and options are
installation dependent.]

DATASTAGE LEARNINGS-4:
REUSABILITY IN DATASTAGE
Below are some of the ways through which reusability can
be achieved in DataStage.
Multiple Instance Jobs.
Parallel Shared Container
After-job Routines.
Multiple-Instance Jobs:
Generally, in data warehousing, there would be
scenarios/requirement to load the maintenance tables in
addition to the tables in which we load the actual data.
These maintenance tables typically have data like
1.Count of records loaded in the actual target tables.
2.Batch Load Number/Day on which the load occurred
3.The last processed sequence id for a particular load
This information can also be used for data count
validation, email notification to users. So, for loading
these maintenance tables, it is always suggested to
design a single multiple-instance job instead of different
jobs with the same logic. In the Job Properties tab, check
the option Allow Multiple Instance. The job activity
which attach a multiple-instance job shows an additional
tab Invocation Id .So we can have different job
sequences triggering the same job with different
invocation ids. Note that a job triggered by different

sequences with same invocation id will abort either one or

both of the job sequences.

Parallel Shared Container:

A shared container would allow a common logic to be
shared across multiple jobs. Enable RCP at the stage
preceding the Shared container stage.For the purpose of
sharing across various jobs, we will not propagate all the
column metadata from the job into the stages present in
shared container. Also ,ensure that jobs are re-compiled
when the shared container is changed.
In our project, we have used shared container for
implementing the logic to generate unique sequence id for
each record that is loaded into the target table. [We will
discuss different ways to generate sequence id (one-up
number) in later section.]

After-job Routines:
After/Before job subroutines are types of routines which
run after/before the job to which the routine is attached.
We might have a scenario where in we shouldnt have any
of the input records to be rejected by any of the stages in
the job. So we design a job which have reject links for
different stages in the job and then code a common afterjob routine which counts the number of records in the
reject links of the job and aborts the job when the count
exceeds a pre-defined limit.

This routine can be parameterised for stage and link

names and can then be re-used for different jobs.

DATASTAGE LEARNINGS-3: USAGE

OF APT_OLD_BOUNDED_LENGTH
For variable-length fields, the parallel engine always allocates the
space equivalent to their maximum specified lengths. This is
because the engine can easily determine the field boundaries
without having to look for delimiters, which will ease the CPU
processing. However, the I/O operations will be costlier. Therefore,
if there are many values, which are much shorter than their
maximum length, then there is lot of unused space, which moves
around between the operators, datasets and fixed-width files. This
is a huge performance hit for all stages especially sort stage,
which consumes a lot of scratch space, buffer memory, CPU
resources. This is even more dangerous if we have many of such
columns.
This is common for fields like address, where lengths allocated are
much higher than the average length of an address. One way to
prevent this scenario is by setting the environmental
variableAPT_OLD_BOUNDED_LENGTH.
Disadvantages: Some parallel datasets generated with
InfoSphere DataStage 7.0.1 and later releases require more
disk space when the columns are of type VarChar when compared
to 7.0. This is due to changes added for performance
improvements for bounded length VarChars in 7.0.1.
Set APT_OLD_BOUNDED_LENGTH to any value to revert to pre7.0.1 storage behavior when using bounded length varchars.
Setting this variable can have adverse performance effects. The
preferred and more performant solution is to use unbounded
length VarChars (dont set any length) for columns where the

maximum length is rarely used, rather than set this environment

variable
DATASTAGE LEARNINGS-1: RESTARTABILITY IN JOB SEQUENCE

MAR
Below are the important points to be taken care of, for
proper restartability to be implemented in Job Sequence
Checkpoint information has to be maintained and
sequence has to be made restartable. So, the option
Add checkpoints so sequence is restartable in the
Job Sequence Properties, should be checked. Also
only then we would find the option Do not
checkpoint run under the Job tab in each of the
job activities present in the job sequence.
The option Do not checkpoint run in job activity
should not be checked because if another job later in
the sequencer fails, and the sequencer is restarted,
this job will not rerun. However if the logic demands,
then it has to be checked.
The option Reset if required, then run has to be
chosen in the job activity so that when an aborted
sequence is re-run then, the aborted job(due to
which sequence is aborted) will re-run successfully.
Below are the screenshots :

DATASTAGE LEARNINGS-2: SORT

OPERATION IN DATASTAGE
DataStage provides two methods for parallel sorts:
Link Sort : This is used when we use a keyed partitioning
method when using any other stage (i.e lookup, join, remove
duplicate etc)
Sort Stage : This is used when we intend to implement a
sort operation using a separate sort stage
By default, both methods use the same internal sort package
(Tsort operator)
When compared to Sort Stage1, Link sort provides fewer options
but makes maintenance of job easier. Therefore, it is better to
prefer Link Sort unless we need to use options present only in Sort
Stage. Two of the commonly used options are Sort Key mode,
Restrict Memory Usage.
Sort Key mode: This is used in a scenario wherein we need to
subgroup/subsort an already sorted/grouped data on a different
key/s(secondary keys). Note that all key columns must be defined
in sort stage. Reused sort keys must be specified with Dont sort
(Previously sorted) or Dont sort (Previously Grouped) mode
accordingly. New sort keys are specified with Sort Mode.

Key points to remember while using sort key mode:

All the Keys with the Dont Sort(Previously Sorted)/
(Previously Grouped ) property must be specified before
the new key sortkey(Sort Mode).
Key column order for the above keys must match the key
columns and order defined in the previously-sorted input
dataset.

Link Sort : This is used when we use a keyed partitioning method

in any other stage. Here the various options available are as
follows :
Stable Sort : This preserves the order of non-key columns in
each sort group.However ,unless needed this option has to
be disabled since it incurs additional overhead in the sort
algorithm.
Unique Sort : Enable this option to ensure that , if multiple
records have identical sorting key values ,only one of them
is retained.If stable sort is set , then the first record is
retained.
Other options include sort direction(asc/desc) , case
sensitivity and position of nulls (before/after) if the column is
nullable.

Restrict Memory Usage: Sort is a particularly expensive task

which requires CPU, memory, and disk resources. The Sort
operator implements a segmented merge sort which invariably
uses the scratch disk space. So if input data is huge, then there is
a chance that the scratch space is not enough for sorting. In that
case, we have the option to increase the buffer used for sort. The
default buffer is 20MB /node.
FIND DATASTAGE JOBS FROM COMMAND LINE

USING DSJOB COMMAND IN DATASTAGE, WE CAN FIND JOB AND

ITS LOCATION.

This script uses two parameters: 1.ProjectName

2.JobName
#!/bin/ksh

.$DSHOME/dsenv
proj=$1
jobname=$2
#Youhavetosearchwhereexactlyyourprojectisplaced.
#Inourcaseitisinbelowmentionedpath
cd/data/projectlib/$proj
echoLocationforthejob$jobnameis
$DSHOME/bin/uvshSELECTCATEGORYFROMDS_JOBSWHERENAME=$jobname;

ACCESSING DATASTAGE LATEST

LOGS IN UNIX
FEBRUARY 28, 2013

To get datastage job log from UNIX command line using

dsjob command
#!/bin/ksh
PARMDIR=/home/dsadm/testdir
.$DSHOME/dsenv
cd$DSHOME/bin
PROJECT_NAME=datastage_test
JOB_NAME=DS_Tesing_of_logs
##Gettingthefirstandlasteventid
start=`dsjoblogsumtypeSTARTEDmax2$PROJECT_NAME$JOB_NAME|cutf1`
echo$start
dsjoblogdetail$PROJECT_NAME$JOB_NAME$start>
$PARMDIR/output_log_new.txt

Why Entire partition is used in LOOKUP stage ?

Entire partition has all data across the nodes So while matching(in lookup) the records all data
should be present across all nodes.
For lookup sorting is not required.so when we are not using entire partition then reference data
splits into all nodes. Then each primary record need check with all nodes for matched reference
record.Then we face performance issue.If we use entire in lookup then one primary record needs
to look into 1 node is enough.if match found then that record goes to target otherwise it move to
reject,drop etc(based on requirement)no need check in another node.In this case if we are running
job in 4 nodes then at a time 4 records should process.
Note:Please remember we go for lookup only we have small reference data.If we go for big data
it is performance issue(I/O work will increase here) and also some times job will abort.
What is stable sort?
Since keeping track of relative record location means more work, setting Stable to "False" will
speed up performance.
Stable sort means "if you have two or more records that have the same exact keys, keep them in
the same order on output that they were on input".

What are HLD and LLD?

HLD: It refers to the functionlity to be achieved to meet the client requirement. Precisely
speaking it is a
diagramatic representation of clients operational systems,staging areas, dwh n
datamarts. also how n what frequency
the data is extracted n loaded into the target database.
LLD: It is prepared for every mapping along with unit test plan. It contains the names of
source definitions, target
definitions, transformatoins used, column names, data types, business logic written n
source to target field
matrix, session name, mapping name.
How to handle values in Sequential file stage?
Open Sequential File---> Go to Format--->click on Field Defaults--->bottom right side you
will find AVAILABLE Properties to ADD, Under that select, "NULL FIELD VALUE" and give
the value as " 0" [zero]. You'll get the Null records in your output sequential file.
Have you ever used or use RCP option in your project?
Yes, to Load Data from Multiple Sources to Target Tables/Files with out Much
Transformation i.e Straight Load.
How do you protect your project?
In Administrator

Can aggregator and transformer stage used for sorting data? How
Yes , in Transformer , I want to take count in stage Variable for rec the records should be
sorted.

What are XML files? How do you read data from XML files and which stage to
be used?

Using XML input file Stage.

How do you pass filename as the parameter for a job?

Using Job Properties

What are stages in sequences?

Job Activity , Expection Handler , Terminator, Exec Command, Wait for a File, Mail
Notification
what is the main diffrence between keychange column and cluster key change
column in sort stage
create key change column generates while sorting the data..It generate one for first
record and zero for rest of the records by group wise..
cluster key column generates on sorted data when sort mode is donot sort

FEATURES OF DATASTAGE | DATASTAGE FEAUTURES

Datastage Features are
1) Any to Any ( Any Source to Any Target )
2) Platform Independent.
3) Node Configuration.
4) Partition Parallelism.
5) Pipeline Parallelism.
1)Any to Any
That means Datastage can Extrace the data from any source and can loads the data into the any
target.
2) Platform Independent
The Job developed in the one platform can run on the any other platform. That means if we designed
a job in the Uni level processing, it can be run in the SMP machine.
3 )Node Configuration
Node Configuration is a technique to create logical C.P.U
Node is a Logical C.P.U
4)Partition Parallelism
Partition parallelim is a technique distributing the data across the nodes based on the partition
techniques. Partition Techniques are
a) Key Based
b) Key Less
a) Key based Techniques are
1 ) Hash 2)Modulus 3) Range 4) DB2
b) Key less Techniques are
1 ) Same 2) Entire 3) Round Robin 4 ) Random

5) Pipeline Parallelism
Pipeline Parallelism is the process, the extraction, transformation and loading will be occurred
simultaneously.
Re- Partitioning: The distribution of distributed data is Re-Partitioning.
Reverse Partitioning: Reverse Partitioning is called as Collecting.
Collecting methods are
Ordered
Round Robin
Sort Merge
Auto

WHAT IS COMPILER IN DATASTAGE | COMPILATION PROCESS IN DATASTAGE

Compilation is the process of converting the GUI into its machine code .That is nothing but machine
understandable language.
In this process it will checks all the link requirements, stage mandatory property values, and if there
any logical errors.
And Compiler produces OSH Code.

WHAT IS MODELING OF DATASTAGE | MODELING OF DATASTAGE

Modeling is a Logical and physical representation of Source system.
Modeling have two types of Modeling Tools
They are
ERWIN AND ER-STUDIO
In Source System there will be a ER-Model and
in the Target system there will be a ER-Model and Dimensional Model
Dimension:- The table which was designed for the client perspective. We can see in many ways in the
Dimension tables.
And there are two types of Models.
They are
Forward Engineering (F.E)
Reverse Engineering (R.E)
F.E:- F.E is the process starting the process from the scratch for banking sector.
Ex: Any Bank which was required Datawarehouse.
R.E:- R.E is the process altering existing model for another bank.

HOW DOES HASH PARTITION WORKS IN DATASTAGE

Hash Partition technique is used to send the rows with same key column values to the same partition.
In Datastage, partition techniques are usually distributed into two types. They are
a) Key based partition Technique

b) Key Less Partition Technique

In Key based partition technique
a)Hash Partition Technique
b)Modulus
c)Range
d)DB2
In Key less partition technique, they are
a)Same
b)Entire
c)Round Robin
d)Random
Example for Hash partition technique:
If we use a hash partition technique and if we have a sample data as below
e_id,dept_no
1,10
2,10
3,20
4,20
5,30
6,40
Data will partitioned as below
In 1st partition
10,10
In 2nd Partition
20,20
In 3rd Partition
30
In 4th Partition
40

DIFFERENT BETWEEN HASH AND MODULUS TECHNIQUE

Hash and Modulus techniques are Key based partition techniques.
Hash and Modulus techniques are used for different purpose.
If Key column data type is textual then we use has partition technique for the job.
If Key column data type is numeric, we use modulus partition technique.
If one key column numeric and another text then also we use has partition technique.
if both the key columns are numeric data type then we use modulus partition technique.

WHAT IS PARTITION PARALLELISM

Partition Parallelism is a technique of distributing the records across the nodes
based on different partition techniques.
Partition techniques are very important to get the good performance of the job.
We need to select right partition technique for the right stage.
Partition techniques are
Key based Techniques And
Key less Techniques

Key based Techniques are

a) Hash
b) Modulus
c) Range
d) DB2
Key Less Techniques are
a) Same
b) Entire
c) Round Robin
d) Random

PARTITIONS IN DATASTAGE
Partition Techniques are used in datastage to get good performance.
They are different types of Partition Techniques in datastag. They are
a) Key Based Partition Techniques
b) Key Less Partition Techniques
Key Less Techniques are

1) Same
2) Entire
3) Round Robin
4) Random
a) Same: This technique is used in oder to do not alter the existing partition technique in the previous
stage.
b) Entire: Each Partition gets the entire dataset. That is rows are duplicated.
c) Round Robin :In Round Robin Technique rows are evenly distributed among the Partition.
d) Random: Partition a row is assigned to is Random.

KEY BASED PARTITIONED TECHNIQUES | PARTITIONING TECHNIQUES

Key Partitioned Techniques are
1) Hash
2) Modulus
3) Range
4) DB2
Hash:-- In Hash Partitioning Technique, Rows with same Key Column values go to the same partition.
Hash is the technique often used in the datastage.
We Hash Partitioning technique when the key column data type is text.
Modulus: --- It Assigns each rown of an input dataset to partition , as determined by a specified
numeric Key column.
And we use Modulus Partition technique, when the key column data type is numeric.
If one key column is numeric and another is text , the also we will go with the Hash Partitioning
technique.
Modulus Partition technique can be performed only on the Numbers.
Range: Range Partition technique is similar to the Hash Partition technique.
But the partition mapping is user determined and partitions are ordered.
Rows are distributed according to the values in one or more key fields, using a range map.
Db2: Db2 Partitioning technique matches db2 EEE Partitioning.

PERFORMANCE TUNING IN DATASTAGE

It is more important to do the performance tuning in any job of datastage.
If Performance of the Job taking too much time to compile, we need to modify the job design. So that
we can good performance to the Job.
For that
a) Avoid using Transformer stage where ever necessary. For example if you are using Transformer
stage to change the column names or to drop the column names. Use Copy stage, rather than using
Transformer stage. It will give good performance to the Job.
b)Take care to take correct partitioning technique, according to the Job and requirement.
c) Use User defined queries for extracting the data from databases .
d) If the data is less , use Sql Join statements rather then using a Lookup stage.
e) If you have more number of stages in the Job, divide the job into multiple jobs.

WHAT IS ETL PROJECT PHASE | PROJECT PHASE WITH ETL TOOL( DATASTAGE)
ETL Project contains with four phases to implement the project.
ETL Means Extraction Transformation Loading
ETL is the tool used to extract the data
Transformation the Job
And to Load the Data
It is used for Business Developments
And four phases are
1) Data Profiling
2) Data Quality
3) Data Transformation
4) Meta data management
Data Profiling:Data Profiling performs in 5 steps. Data Profiling will analysis weather the source data is good or dirty
or not.
And these 5 steps are
a) Column Analysis
b) Primary Key Analysis
c) Foreign Key Analysis
d) Cross domain Analysis
e) Base Line analysis

After completing the Analysis, if the data is good not a problem. If your data is dirty, it will be sent for
cleansing. This will be done in the second phase.
Data Quality:Data Quality, after getting the dirty data it will clean the data by using 5 different ways.
They are
a) Parsing
b) Correcting
c) Standardize
d) Matching
e) Consolidate
Data Transformation:After competing the second phase, it will gives the Golden Copy.
Golden copy is nothing but single version of truth.
That means , the data is good one now.

HOW DOES HASH PARTITION WORKS IN DATASTAGE

Hash Partition technique is used to send the rows with same key column values to the same partition.
In Datastage, partition techniques are usually distributed into two types. They are
a) Key based partition Technique
b) Key Less Partition Technique
In Key based partition technique
a)Hash Partition Technique
b)Modulus
c)Range
d)DB2
In Key less partition technique, they are
a)Same
b)Entire
c)Round Robin
d)Random
Example for Hash partition technique:
If we use a hash partition technique and if we have a sample data as below
e_id,dept_no
1,10
2,10
3,20
4,20
5,30
6,40
Data will partitioned as below
In 1st partition
10,10

In 2nd Partition
20,20
In 3rd Partition
30
In 4th Partition
40
job. They are 1. APT_CONFIG_FILE
2. APT_RECORD_COUNT
3.
APT_DUMP_SCORE
How to create user defined environment variable (parameter)?u can create parameter in 2 ways
1.job level params
2.project level params.Job-Level: when u want to create job level params ,go to job properties and
use it.
Project -Level :when u want to create project level, go to DS-Admin and click on environment variable
and define which parameter u need and open design go to job properties and call those params
(which u defined in DS admin) in job properties and use it.
30 jobs are running in unix.i want to find out my job.how to do this? Give me command?
ps -ef|grep PID
how to move project from developement to uat?
By using the Datastage Manager we can move the project from Dev to Uat. Through datastage
manager Export the project into your local machine as .dsx format (project.dsx) from DEV server. The
same .dsx (project.dsx) import into UAT server by using the datastage manager.
How to do error handling in datastage?
Error handling can be done by using the reject file link.what are the errors coming through job needs
to be capture in sequential file and that file needs to be fetch in job which will load this exceptions or
errors in database.
How can u Call the Shell Scripting/Unix Commands in Job Sequence?
There are two scenarios where u myt want to call a script
Scenario 1(Dependency exists between script and a job): Where a job has to be executed first then
the script has to run, upon completion of script execution only the sec job has to be invoked. In this
case develop a sequencer job where first job activity will invoke the first job then using Execute
command activity call the script u would desire to invoke by typing "sh <script name>" in the
command property of the activity, then with the other job activity call the second job.
Scenario 2: (Script and job are independent) : In this case right in your parallel job say job1, under job
properties u can find "After-job subroutine" where u need to select "ExecSH" and pass the script
name which you would like to execute. By doing this once the job1 execution completes the script
gets invoked. The job succeeding the job1 say job2 doesnt wait for the execution of the script.

WHAT IS OLAP ( ONLINE ANALYTICAL PROCESS)

Online Analytical Process (OLTP) is a characterized by relatively low volume of transactions. Actually
the queries are often very complex. In the OLAP System response time more. In OLAP Database
there is Aggregated, historical Inf. Data , stored in multi-dimensional schemas.

WHAT IS OLTP ? USES OF OLTP?

OLTP is nothing but Online Transaction Processing.
It will be characterized by a large number of short online transactions. The main emphasis for OLTP
system is to put on very fast query processing.In order to get the data faster to the end-users. And we
use the Online transaction process for the fast process. And Oltp system is used for data integrity in
multi access environments, and effectiveness measured by number of transactions per second.
WHAT IS RCP?
RCP is nothing but runtime column propagation. When we send the data from source to the target,
some times we need to send only required columns . In this time, if we like to send only required
columns to the target we can do it by enabling the RCP Option.

WHAT IS RCP | WHAT IS RUNTIME COLUMN PROPOGATION

RCP is nothing but Runtime Column Propagation.

When we run the Datastage Jobs, the columns may change from one stage to another
stage. At that point of time we will be loading the unnecessary columns in to the
stage, which is not required. If we want to load the required columns to load into
the target, we can do this by enabling a RCP.
If we enable RCP, we can sent the required columns into the target.

HOW TO REMOVE SPECIAL CHARACTERS DATA AND LOAD REST OF THE DATA

Here we are going to know how to remove Special characters data rows and load rest of the rows into
the target.
Some times we get the data with special characters added for some of the rows.
If we like to remove those special characters mixed rows in the column. We can use Alphafunction.
Alpha Function is used for this Job.
If we use "Alpha" function. It will drop the special characters mixed rows and loads the rest of the rows
into the target.
So you can take sequential file to read the data and you can take Transformer stage to apply business
logic.
In Transformer stage in Constrain you can write the Alpha function.
And Drag and Drop into the Target. .
Then Compile and Run.

Datastage Common Errors-Warnings and resolution

1)When we use same partitioning in datastage transformer stage we get the following
warning in 7.5.2 version.
TFCP000043
2
3
input_tfm: Input dataset 0 has a partitioning method other
than entire specified; disabling memory sharing.
This is known issue and you can safely demote that warning into informational by adding this
warning to Project specific message handler.
2) Warning: A sequential operator cannot preserve the partitioning of input data set on
input port 0
Resolution: Clear the preserve partition flag before Sequential file stages.
3)DataStage parallel job fails with fork() failed, Resource temporarily unavailable
On aix execute following command to check maxuproc setting and increase it if you plan to
run multiple jobs at the same time.
lsattr -E -l sys0 | grep maxuproc
maxuproc
1024
Maximum number of PROCESSES allowed per user

True

4)TFIP000000
3
Agg_stg: When checking operator: When binding input
interface field CUST_ACT_NBR to field CUST_ACT_NBR: Implicit conversion
from source type string[5] to result type dfloat: Converting string to number.
Resolution: use the Modify stage explicitly convert the data type before sending to aggregator
stage.
5)Warning: A user defined sort operator does not satisfy the requirements.
Resolution:check the order of sorting columns and make sure use the same order when use
join stage after sort to joing two inputs.
6)TFTM000000
2
3
Stg_tfm_header,1: Conversion error calling conversion
routine timestamp_from_string data may have been lost
TFTM000000
1
xfmJournals,1: Conversion error calling conversion routine
decimal_from_string data may have been lost
Resolution:check for the correct date format or decimal format and also null values in the
date or decimal fields before passing to datastage StringToDate,
DateToString,DecimalToString or StringToDecimal functions.
7)TOSO000119
2
3
Join_sort: When checking operator: Data claims to already
be sorted on the specified keys the sorted option can be used to confirm this. Data will

be resorted as necessary. Performance may improve if this sort is removed from the
flow
Resolution: Sort the data before sending to join stage and check for the order of sorting keys
and join keys and make sure both are in the same order.
8)TFOR000000
2
1
Join_Outer: When checking operator: Dropping
component CUST_NBR because of a prior component with the same name.
Resolution:If you are using join,diff,merge or comp stages make sure both links have the
differnt column names other than key columns
9)TFIP000022
1
oci_oracle_source: When checking operator: When binding
output interface field MEMBER_NAME to field MEMBER_NAME: Converting a
nullable source to a non-nullable result;
Resolution:If you are reading from oracle database or in any processing stage where
incoming column is defined as nullable and if you define metadata in datastage as nonnullable then you will get above issue.if you want to convert a nullable field to non nullable
make sure you apply available null functions in datastage or in the extract query.
Null function in oracle:NVL,NVL2
Datastage:IsNull,NullToEmpty,NullToZero