The masking task uses a set of built-in dictionary files or the custom dictionaries that you create. When you configure a substitution masking operation, you select a dictionary that contains substitute values. The masking task performs a lookup on the dictionary selected and replaces the source data with data from the dictionary.
When you install or upgrade the Secure Agent in a runtime environment, the masking task downloads and saves the dictionary files to the following location:
You cannot edit or rename these files, but you can change the content within the specified file structure.
Note: The data in the dictionary files is test data.
Themasking task downloads the following dictionary files:
•informatica_mask_address.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_american_express.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_diners_club.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_american_express.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_diners_club.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_discover.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_jcb.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_master_card.dic
•informatica_mask_cc_visa.dic
•informatica_mask_countries.dic
•informatica_mask_email.dic
•informatica_mask_female_first_names.dic
•informatica_mask_first_names.dic
•informatica_mask_job_position.dic
•informatica_mask_last_names.dic
•informatica_mask_male_first_names.dic
•informatica_mask_states.dic
•informatica_mask_streets.dic
•informatica_mask_uk_ni.dic
•informatica_mask_us_telephone.dic
•informatica_mask_us_towns.dic
•informatica_mask_us_ssn.dic
•informatica_mask_us_zipcode.dic
•dict.csv
•defaultValue.xml
If you want to use a custom flat file dictionary, you must add a connection to the flat file dictionary. If there are multiple Secure Agents in a runtime environment, you must also copy the custom dictionary file to the following location:
You can use any of the flat file formats, such as .txt, .dic, and .csv. There is no limit on the maximum number of fields that can be present in a flat file dictionary. All the fields must have a column header, and the fields must be separated by a comma. The structure within the file must contain a sequential number and a value separated by a comma. A file can contain more than two columns. When you configure a substitution rule with custom dictionaries, you can select the dictionary column. To support non-English characters, you can use different code pages from a flat file connection when you configure a substitution rule with custom dictionaries.
The following text is a sample from a flat file dictionary that you can use to mask the credit card numbers:
You can also use relational dictionaries to perform custom substitution masking. Create a connection to the relational database that contains the dictionary tables. To use the dictionary in a masking task, add the dictionary connection to the task. You can then select the required table and column to use in a masking rule.