User Guide > Data Masking Techniques and Parameters > Email Masking
  

Email Masking

Email masking generates realistic email addresses. You can apply a mask from the masked values of a first and last name. You can apply a constant domain name or create an expression to define the domain. Mask the string datatype with email masking.
You can configure email masking to mask email addresses the same way each time the same user appears in the source data. You can configure an email address from the masked first and last name columns. You can configure email masking as repeatable between workflows, or you can configure email masking to be repeatable in one workflow.
Note: The PowerCenter Integration Service always returns ASCII characters for an email address.

Email Masking Parameters

When you configure email masking, you can configure parameters to mask the user name and the domain name in the email address. You can specify dictionary files that contain the user names and the domain names. You can define an expression that combines names to create realistic email user names.

Email Masking General Parameters

The following table describes the parameters that define how to mask an email address:
Parameter
Description
Repeatable output
Returns the same masked value when you generate a workflow multiple times, or when you generate masked values for a column that is in multiple tables.
Seed
Starting point for creating repeatable output. Enter a number between 1 and 999. Default is 1.
Standard
Replaces an email string with characters. The standard email masking technique does not create realistic domain or user names.
Advanced
Replaces an email string with name and domain values from a dictionary or mapping.
Columns to form email
Indicates where to retrieve the columns to form the email address. Choose one of the following options:
  • - From mapping. Do not use a dictionary for user names. Assign the column names when you assign the rule to source columns.
  • - From dictionary. Mask user names from a dictionary file.

User Name Masking Parameters

The following table describes the parameters that define how to mask the user name in the email address:
Parameter
Description
Dictionary for columns
The dictionary to use when you choose to form an email from a dictionary column. Choose a dictionary that contains first and last names.
Expression
Defines an expression when you select to create an email from a mapping. You can create an expression to define the user name from parts of the first and last names. The column names in the expression do not have to match the source column names. Assign columns to the expression when you assign rules to columns.
First name column
The dictionary column that contains the first name of the email address.
First name length
Length for the first name. For example, you might choose the first letter of the name, or the first 4 letters of the name. Default is 10.
Delimiter
The delimiter between the first and last names of the email address. Choose a period, underscore, or hyphen.
Last name column
Dictionary column that contains the last name of the email address.
Last name length
The length for the last name. For example, you might choose the first 6 characters of the last name. Default is 10.

Domain Name Masking Parameters

The following table describes the parameters that define how to mask the domain name:
Parameter
Description
Constant
A constant value to mask the email address with. Each email address receives the same domain name.
Random
Indicates whether to use a flat file or relational dictionary.
Domain lookup dictionary
The dictionary file to use from the imported sources.
Domain name column
The column that contains a dictionary name in the domain lookup dictionary.