Sorter Transformation in Informatica

Sorter Transformation in Informatica

Sorter transformation is an active and connected transformation used to sort the data. The data can be sorted in ascending or descending order by specifying the sort key. You can specify one or more ports as a sort key and configure each sort key port to sort in ascending or descending order. You can also configure the order of the ports in which the integration service applies to sort the data.

The sorter transformation is used to sort the data from relational or flat file sources. The sorter transformation can also be used for case-sensitive sorting and can be used to specify whether the output rows should be distinct or not.

Creating Sorter Transformation

Follow the below steps to create a sorter transformation

1. In the mapping designer, create a new mapping or open an existing mapping
2. Go the toolbar->Click on Transformation->Create
3. Select the Sorter Transformation, enter the name, click on create and then click on Done.
4. Select the ports from the upstream transformation and drag them to the sorter transformation. You can also create input ports manually on the ports tab.
5. Now edit the transformation by double clicking on the title bar of the transformation.
6. Select the ports you want to use as the sort key. For each selected port, specify whether you want the integration service to sort data in ascending or descending order.

Configuring Sorter Transformation

Configure the below properties of sorter transformation

• Case Sensitive: The integration service considers the string case when sorting the data. The integration service sorts the uppercase characters higher than the lowercase characters.
• Work Directory: The integration service creates temporary files in the work directory when it is sorting the data. After the integration service sorts the data, it deletes the temporary files.
• Distinct Output Rows: The integration service produces distinct rows in the output when this option is configured.
• Tracing Level: Configure the amount of data needs to be logged in the session log file.
• Null Treated Low: Enable the property, to treat null values as lower when performing the sort operation. When disabled, the integration service treats the null values as higher than any other value.
• Sorter Cache Size: The integration service uses the sorter cache size property to determine the amount of memory it can allocate to perform sort operation

Performance improvement Tip

Use the sorter transformation before the aggregator and joiner transformation and sort the data for better performance.

Sorter Transformation Examples

1. Create a mapping to sort the data of employees on salary in descending order?

2. Create a mapping to load distinct departments into the target table?