Datatypes

The patterns you develop connect one or more database systems and define how data flows between them. In the instance metadata, you can directly use the native data types for the fields of a data model. However, if more than one database system is used (e.g. load from SAP to Snowflake), you have to deal with different type systems. In such a situation one would like to use a harmonized type system for the data types in the instance metadata.

For Informatica mappings, the Informatica type system is a good choice because it can map any native data type into an Informatica data type. Since the other direction (Informatica => Native) is not unique (not bijective), one has to define the mapping of Informatica data types to Native data types here. MetaKraftwerk will remind you to complete the mapping before building a pattern.