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Celonis Product Documentation

Parameters - Data Integration

Parameters help you to reuse certain elements in multiple places. They also can be used as a central repository for items that can be modified in Data Jobs. There are two types of Parameters:

  • Data Pool Parameters: they are stored on a Data Pool level and can be used in all Tasks of the Data Pool. They are accessible through the main menu item "Data Pool Parameters".

  • Task Parameters: every Task (e.g. Extraction or Transformation) can have one or multiple Parameters of different types. They can either have a literal value or they can reference a Data Pool Parameter of the same data type.

Creating and Modifying Data Integration Parameters

The following screenshots only cover Task Parameters as Data Pool parameters almost work the same. It is highlighted if that is not the case.

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  1. Task Parameters are accessible by clicking on the Parameter tab in either Extractions or Transformations.

  2. The table shows you the key information for each Parameter.

  3. You can create a new Parameter by clicking on the New Parameter button. This opens a configuration modal.

  4. By clicking on either the row or the "open" entry in the context menu of a Parameter you can open its configuration.

  5. After a confirmation dialog, a Parameter can be deleted. There is a difference between Data Pool and Task Parameters here:

    1. Data Pool Parameters can only be deleted if they are not used as part of any Task Parameter. If they are still in use, you will see a list of these instances when you try to delete the Parameter.

    2. If Task Parameters are deleted, you need to make sure that all instances where they are used are replaced with either another Parameter or a value. If you leave the placeholders of a deleted Parameter in the Task configuration, the Data Job will fail.

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  1. The placeholder is the technical name of the Parameter. Whenever you would like to use the Parameter, you need to use the syntax <%= placeholder %>. The placeholder has to be unique among the Parameters of the Task and it cannot contain any spaces or special characters.

  2. The name of the Parameter is the "pretty" name of the Parameter which can contain spaces and special characters.

  3. Use the description to specify how the Parameter is used.

  4. The type of the Parameter defines who can see it and whether it is static or dynamic:

    1. private (static): Only Admins of the Data Pool can see and edit this Parameter (default)

    2. public (static): Admins of the Data Pool can see and edit this Parameter and while installing a Process Connector from the Marketplace the Parameter can be edited.

    3. dynamic: Only visible to admins of the Data Pool and dynamically generated from the existing data. Three additional fields: table, column, and operation type define how the parameter value gets calculated. For Data Pool Parameters also the Data Connection, on which the table is stored, has to be selected. The following three operation types are possible:

      1. FIND_MAX: The parameter will be set to the maximum value of the specified column of the specified table.

      2. FIND_MIN: The parameter will be set to the minimum value of the specified column of the specified table.

      3. LIST: The parameter will be set to a list of the distinct values of the specified column of the specified table.

  5. The data type of a Parameter can be one of the following. The list types always consist of at least one element. In the usage section below you find a description on how they are replaced when used.

    1. date

    2. double (a real floating-point type)

    3. integer

    4. text

    5. double list

    6. integer list

    7. text list

  6. The value of the Parameter can either be entered in this window or if it is a Task Parameter you can reference a Data Pool Parameter. Please note that the drop-down will only show Data Pool Parameters of the same data type. This means: if you select double as data type you will only see Data Pool Parameters of type double in the drop-down. In case the drop-down is empty does not mean that no Data Pool parameter exists.

Using Data Integration Parameters

Data Pool Parameters can only be used by referencing them in a Task Parameter. Task Parameters can be used directly in Extractions and Transformations. You can use a Parameter by employing the following syntax:

<%= placeholder %>

The spaces before and after the placeholder term are optional.

This placeholder will then be replaced by the Parameter value. For a non-list data type, the value is pasted in as is. For lists, the placeholder is replaced by brackets and commas. For a text lists single quotes are used around the entries.

Note regarding text Parameters

Please note that Parameters with the data type "text" will be replaced with the text value without added quotes. Text lists however are replaced with single quotes, commas, and brackets (see example section below).

Examples

param1 of data type "integer list" with the values 1,2 and 3.

(1, 2, 3) -- replacement value of <%= param1 %>
Table1.IntegerColumn IN <%= param1 %> -- usage of the parameter with an INT column and the operator IN

param2 of data type "text list" with the values val1, val2 and val3.

('val1', 'val2', 'val3') -- replacement value of <%= param2 %>
Table1.StringColumn IN <%= param2 %> -- usage of the parameter with a (N)VARCHAR column and the operator IN