11.2 Use Variables in a Data Flow

You can use variables in a data flow by using them as a filter definition. You can refer to variables in a data flow using the format #<variable_name>. During execution the variable is substituted by the value.

When you execute the data flow, the Variable values page appears that displays the list of variables that you have added to the data flow. You can choose to use the current value, the default value, or set a custom value for each variable. Note that the custom value is applied only to the current run of the data flow. The custom value does not persist for any subsequent sessions.

Here is an example of the use of a variable in a data flow:

Description of the illustration variables_in_data_flows.png

In this example, the data flow uses the variable DEVICE_TYPE as a step with the filter condition set as follows:

MOVIESALES_CA.DEVICE = '#DEVICE_TYPE'

The variable is quoted because the substituted value needs to be quoted. Since the variable value is substituted during execution, you can use it for many use cases such as in the transformation expression in the mapping.