SAP BODS - Dataflow Introduction

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Data flow is used to extract, transform and load data from the source to the target system. All the transformations, loading and formatting occurs in dataflow.

Once you define a data flow in a project, this can be added to a workflow or an ETL job. Data flow can send or receive objects/information using parameters. Data flow is named in format DF_Name.

Example of Data Flow

Let us assume that you want to load a fact table in DW system with data from two tables in the source system.

Data Flow contains the following objects −

• Two Source Table
• Join between two tables and defined in Query transform
• Target table

There are three types of objects that can be added to a Data flow. They are −

• Source
• Target
• Transforms

Step 1 − Go to the Local Object Library and drag both the tables to work space.

Step 2 − To add a Query Transformation, drag from the right tool bar.

Step 3 − Join both the tables and create a template target table by right clicking the Query box → Add New → New Template table.

Step 4 − Enter the name of the Target table, Data store name and Owner (Schema name) under which the table is to be created.

Step 5 − Drag the target table in front and join it to the Query transform.

Passing Parameters

You can also pass different parameters in and out of the data flow. While passing a parameter to a data flow, objects in data flow reference those parameters. Using parameters, you can pass different operations to a data flow.

Example − Suppose you have entered a parameter to a table about last updated. It allows you to extract only rows modified since the last update.