Rule Specifications and Mapplets
You generate one or more mapplets from a rule specification. A mapplet describes the data operations that an Informatica application can perform on the business data. A developer adds the mapplet to a mapping. A mapping is a run-time object that connects to a data source and applies the mapplet logic to the data source.
You create a mapplet in the Model repository. The Model repository is the storage database for mappings, mapplets, and other assets in the Informatica domain.
A mapplet contains transformations. A transformation defines an operation to analyze or update data. Each rule statement in a rule specification defines at least one transformation in the mapplet.
A mapplet can contain other mapplets. If you define a complex rule specification, the mapplet that you generate contains multiple mapplets in a hierarchal structure. Each mapplet is a separate object in the Model repository. Because a mapplet can contain other mapplets, you can add a mapplet to a rule specification. Select the mapplet when you configure a rule statement. The mapplet that you generate from the rule specification contains a reference to the mapplet that you added to the rule statement.
Add a mapplet to a rule statement in the following cases:
- •The mapplet contains function logic that the organization approves for all Analyst tool users.
- •The mapplet contains complex function logic. You use the mapplet so that you do not have to define the logic in the current rule specification.
- •The mapplet contains function logic that you cannot configure in the Analyst tool. For example, the mapplet contains address validation logic.
After a mapping runs, the developer can send you the data output from the mapping. You can evaluate the data output to determine if the data source conforms to the business rule that the rule specification describes. Alternatively, the developer or another user can run a profile on the mapping output. A profile is an asset that describes the data patterns in a data set. You can evaluate the profile to determine the conformity of the business data to the business rule. You can create and run a profile in the Analyst tool.
Rules and Guidelines for Rule Specifications and Mapplets
The purpose of a rule specification is to define one or more mapplets that an Informatica developer can apply to the business data. You generate the mapplets from the rule specification. You can also add the logic of another mapplet to the rule specification that you create.
Consider the following rules and guidelines when you work with mapplets and rule specifications:
- •A mapplet is a reusable object. You can add a mapplet to multiple rule specifications.
- •When you generate multiple mapplets from a rule specification, each mapplet appears as a unique object in the Model repository.
- •To view the list of mapplets in the Model repository, select the Rules option from the Assets view in the library workspace. A rule is a mapplet that you can use with other assets in the Analyst tool. The mapplets that you create appears as rules in the library.
To a Developer tool user, rules and mapplets are the same type of object.
- •A Developer tool user cannot view the rule specifications that you create in the Model repository.
- •The Analyst tool and the Developer tool use application services to read and write objects in the Model repository and to run mappings on data. The Analyst tool uses the Analyst Service to read and write rule specifications, reference tables, and mapplets. The Developer tool uses the Data Integration Service to run mappings.
If you cannot perform an operation in a rule specification, ask an administrator to verify your permissions on the application services.