You can view and edit field metadata such as the type, precision, and scale for parameterized source, target, and lookup objects with certain connection types. You can view and edit field metadata in mapping tasks .
To view and edit field metadata in a mapping task, expand the Field Data Types area on the appropriate page of the mapping task editor. You configure source and lookup field metadata on the Sources page and target field metadata on the Targets page.
If you edit field metadata in the task and the field metadata changes after the task is saved, Data Integration uses the updated metadata. Typically, the is the desired behavior. However, if the task uses a flat file connection and you want to retain the metadata used at design time, enable the Retain existing fields at runtime option.
To see if a connector supports field metadata configuration, see the help for the appropriate connector.