Teradata FastExport

Owned by Amritesh Singh
Last updated: Jun 11, 2024 by Lakshmi Manda
5 min read

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Snap type:

Read

Description:

This Snap allows you to export data from a Teradata database by providing a table name and configuring the connection. The Snap writes the exported data to the specified file and provides the console output and status code on the output view for any downstream Snap checking for successful execution.

Queries produced by the Snap have the format:

SELECT TOP [limit] * FROM [table] WHERE [where clause] ORDER BY [ordering]


You will need the Teradata Tools & Utilities (TTU) to have access to the Teradata FastExport component.
  • Expected downstream Snaps: A Snap monitoring the exit code to check result status.
  • Expected input: None.
  • Expected output: A single document containing the console output and return status from the external Teradata application.
Prerequisites:

None

Support and limitations:

Works in Ultra Tasks.

Account: 

This Snap uses account references created on the Accounts page of SnapLogic Manager to handle access to this endpoint. See Configuring Teradata Database Accounts for information on setting up this type of account.

Views:
InputThis Snap has at most one document input view. Anything that is immediately substituted by the Snap itself will work, but anything that is used as a substitution in a query will fail.
OutputThis Snap has at most one document output view. FASTLOAD, Binary, and Unformat are all binary and support non-textual fields. (INT, DATE, etc.). Text is fixed-width text, but explicitly only supports text fields.
ErrorThis Snap has at most one document error view and produces zero or more documents in the view.

Settings

Label

Required. The name for the Snap. You can modify this to be more specific, especially if you have more than one of the same Snap in your pipeline.

Schema name



The database schema name. In case it is not defined, then the suggestion for the table name will retrieve all tables names of all schemas. The property is suggest-able and will retrieve available database schemas during suggest values.

Example: SYS

Default value: [None] 

Table name

Required. Name of table to execute a select query on.

Example: people

Default value: [None] 

Where clause

Where clause of select statement. This supports document value substitution (such as $person.firstname will be substituted with the value found in the incoming document at the path). However, you may not use a value substitution after "IS" or "is" word. Please see the examples below.

Examples:

Without using expressions

Using expressions

  • "EMPNO=$EMPNO and ENAME=$EMPNAME"

  • email = $email 

  • emp=$emp

  • "emp='" + $emp + "'"

  • "EMPNO=" + $EMPNO + " and ENAME='" + $EMPNAME+ "'"

Caution

Using expressions that join strings together to create SQL queries or conditions has a potential SQL injection risk and is hence unsafe. Ensure that you understand all implications and risks involved before using concatenation of strings with '=' Expression enabled. 

Default value: [None] 

Order by 

Enter in the columns in the order in which you want to order by. The default database sort order will be used.

Example: 
     name
     email

Default value: [None] 

Limit rows


The number of rows the query should return.

Default value: [None] 

Output fields


Enter or select output field names for SQL SELECT statement. Fields available include:

  • out - console output
  • err - console error output
  • status - exit status (see FastExport reference manual for explanation)
  • script - generated FastExport script if user wants to try running it manually
  • sql - generated SQL statement if there's any question about what was done
  • logtable - name of random logtable used by FastExport application. Logtable names have the form SnapfeUUID where UUID is a standard 'random UUID' with all dashes replaced by underscores. This creates a huge tablename with essentially no chance of collision with an existing file. The logtable is deleted automatically.

To select all fields, leave it at default.

Example: email, address, first, last, etc.

Default value: [None] 

Fetch Output Fields In Schema

Select this check box to include only the selected fields or columns in the Output Schema (second output view). If you do not provide any Output fields, all the columns are visible in the output.
If you provide output fields, we recommend you to select Fetch Output Fields In Schema check box.

Default value: Not selected

Match data types

Conditional. This property applies only when the Output fields property is provided with any field value(s).

If this property is selected, the Snap tries to match the output data types same as when the Output fields property is empty (SELECT * FROM ...). The output preview would be in the same format as the one when SELECT * FROM is implied and all the contents of the table are displayed.

Default value: Not selected

Number of retries

Specify the maximum number of reconnection attempts that the Snap must perform, in case of connection failure or timeout.

Default Value: 0

Retry interval (seconds)


Enter in seconds the duration for which the Snap must wait between two reconnection attempts, until the number of retries is reached.

Default Value: 1

Staging mode

Required when the value in the Number of retries field is greater than 0.

Specify the location to store input documents between retries, from the following options:

  • In memory: The query results are stored in the Snaplex memory. If the query is too large to fit in the memory space, it may cause the Snap to fail, so choose the On disk option.

  • On disk: The query results are stored on the disk in a temporary (tmp) directory that is managed by the SnapLogic platform. This directory is deleted automatically when the Snap terminates.

To disable staging, enter 0 in the Number of retries field.

Default value: In memory
Example: On disk

Fast Export


File Action


Required. Select an action to take when the specified file already exists in the directory. Options available include: Overwrite, Ignore, Error. 

Default value: Error 

FEXP Location

The location of the Teradata FastExport component.

Default value: /usr/bin/fexp  

          Character Set

Select the character set in which data should be encoded when you export data from the Teradata Database. 

Teradata Database allows a character set to be established when invoking the FastExport.

The available options are:

  • Default: When you execute the Teradata FastExport Snap, if you have not used any character set name and not specified any character set in the client system for encoding, then the Snap uses the default specification available in the DBC.Hosts table in the Teradata database system.

  • UTF-8: If you are using the UTF-8 character set encoding on the network-attached platforms or IBM z/OS, then use the UTF-8 character set.

 In general, the command language and the job output should be the same as the client character set used by the job. However, the UTF-8 character set also supports the network-attached platforms that use UTF-16 character set.

Default value:  Default
Example: UTF-8

Output File

Location of exported data file.

If there is a white space, then the path should be in quotes as per the Teradata documentation.

Default value: [None] 

Data Format

Export file format. Possible values are:

  • FASTLOAD
  • BINARY
  • TEXT
  • UNFORMAT

See the Format Syntax Element for the EXPORT command in the Teradata FastExport Reference for detailed information.

Default value: FASTLOAD. 

Date format


Required. Date format used in the output file in text mode. Options available include Integer and Text.

Default value: Integer 

Snap Execution

Select one of the following three modes in which the Snap executes:

  • Validate & Execute: Performs limited execution of the Snap, and generates a data preview during Pipeline validation. Subsequently, performs full execution of the Snap (unlimited records) during Pipeline runtime.

  • Execute only: Performs full execution of the Snap during Pipeline execution without generating preview data.

  • Disabled: Disables the Snap and all Snaps that are downstream from it.

Default Value: Execute only
Example: Validate & Execute


For the Suggest in the Order by columns and the Output fields properties, the value of the Table name property should be an actual table name instead of an expression. If it is an expression, it will display an error message "Could not evaluate accessor:  ..." when the Suggest button is pressed. This is because, at the time the Suggest button is pressed, the input document is not available for the Snap to evaluate the expression in the Table name property. The input document is available to the Snap only during the preview or execution time.

See Also

Snap Pack History

 Click to view/expand
Release Snap Pack VersionDateType  Updates
November 2024main29029 StableUpdated and certified against the current SnapLogic Platform release.
August 2024438patches29017 Latest

Fixed an issue with the Teradata Snaps that caused errors because of invalid account credentials when the username or password included any of the following special characters:

) ( ! \ # $ % ^ & * " ' ? | ; ~ -`

August 2024

main27765

 

Stable

Upgraded the org.json.json library from v20090211 to v20240303, which is fully backward compatible.

May 2024437patches26471 LatestThe jOOQ library for Teradata Snap Pack is upgraded from v3.9.1 to v3.17.3. This upgrade will be part of the GA release on August 14, 2024 (Stable release). Pipelines using the Teradata Snaps are not impacted after the jOOQ upgrade.

May 2024

main26341

 


Stable

Updated and certified against the current SnapLogic Platform release.

February 2024

main25112

 

Stable

Updated and certified against the current SnapLogic Platform release.

November 2023main23721 StableUpdated and certified against the current SnapLogic Platform release.

August 2023

main22460

 


Stable

The Teradata Execute Snap now includes a new Query type field. When Auto is selected, the Snap tries to determine the query type automatically.

May 2023

main21015 

Stable

Upgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.

February 2023main19844 StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
November 2022main18944 Stable

The TPT Insert Snap now creates the target table only from the table metadata of the second input view when the following conditions are met:

  • The Create table if not present checkbox is selected.

  • The target table does not exist.

  • The table metadata is provided in the second input view.

August 2022main17386 StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.29 Patch429patches16235 Latest

Fixed an issue with Teradata Execute Snap where the Snap did not display valid error message when the delete condition is invalid.

4.29main15993 Stable

Enhanced the Teradata FastExport Snap with Character Set dropdown list to support encoding of data when you export data from the Teradata Database.

4.28main14627 StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.27main12833 Stable

Enhanced the Teradata Execute Snap to invoke stored procedures.

4.26main11181 StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.25 Patch425patches11008 Latest

Improved the error messages for all the Snaps in the Teradata Snap Pack where the Snaps fail with a null pointer exception error when the account reference provided is invalid. 

4.25main9554
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.

4.24 Patch

424patches8799 Latest
  • Enhanced the Teradata Execute Snap by adding a new field, Advanced options, which extends support with microsecond precision for TIMESTAMP data type.
  • Fixed an issue in the TPT Load Snap where the Snap failed to load data into the table while creating an output.

  • Fixed an issue with the TPT Load Snap wherein now a null value is loaded as null and empty string is loaded as empty string.

    • This fix may cause existing pipelines to fail if empty string values are expected to be loaded as null.

    • Following are the new configurations:

      • VARCHAR QuotedData= Optional

      • VARCHAR OpenQuoteMark= \”

      • VARCHAR NullColumns= Yes

4.24main8556
Stable

Enhanced the Teradata Select Snap to return only the selected output fields or columns in the output schema (second output view) using the Fetch Output Fields In Schema check box. If the Output Fields field is empty all the columns are visible.

4.23main7430
 
Stable

Fixes the multi-line value issue and issue in the TPT Load Snap where the Snap writes null for both an empty string and null values in the input data. The fix for this issue was to add the following three lines in the script and wrap all the values in double quotes unless they are null while writing the input data into a temp CSV file. 
VARCHAR QuotedData = 'Optional',
VARCHAR OpenQuoteMark = '\"'
VARCHAR NullColumns = 'Yes'

This fix may cause existing pipelines to fail if empty string values are expected to be loaded as null.

4.22main6403
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.

4.21 Patch

421patches6272 Latest

Fixed the issue where Snowflake SCD2 Snap generates two output documents despite no changes to Cause-historization fields with DATE, TIME and TIMESTAMP Snowflake data types, and with Ignore unchanged rows field selected.

4.21 Patch

421patches6144 Latest

Fixed the following issues with DB Snaps:

  • The connection thread waits indefinitely causing the subsequent connection requests to become unresponsive.
  • Connection leaks occur during Pipeline execution.

4.21 Patch

MULTIPLE8841 Latest

Fixed the connection issue in Database Snaps by detecting and closing open connections after the Snap execution ends. 

4.21snapsmrc542

 

StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.20snapsmrc535
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.

4.19 Patch 

db/teradata8414 LatestFixed an issue with the TPT Update Snap wherein the Snap is unable to perform operations when:
  • An expression is used in the Update condition property.
  • Input data contain the character '?'.
4.19snaprsmrc528
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.18snapsmrc523
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.17ALL7402
 
Latest

Pushed automatic rebuild of the latest version of each Snap Pack to SnapLogic UAT and Elastic servers.

4.17snapsmrc515
 
Latest
  • Fixed an issue with the Teradata Execute Snap wherein the Snap would send the input document to the output view even if the Pass through field is not selected in the Snap configuration. With this fix, the Snap sends the input document to the output view, under the key original, only if you select the Pass through field.
  • Added the Snap Execution field to all Standard-mode Snaps. In some Snaps, this field replaces the existing Execute during preview check box.
4.16snapsmrc508
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.

4.15 Patch 

db/teradata6338 Latest

Replaced Max idle time and Idle connection test period properties with Max life time and Idle Timeout properties respectively, in the Account configuration. The new properties fix the connection release issues that were occurring due to default/restricted DB Account settings.

4.15snapsmrc500
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.14snapsmrc490
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.13

snapsmrc486

 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.12

snapsmrc480

 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.11snapsmrc465
 
StableUpgraded with the latest SnapLogic Platform release.
4.10

snapsmrc414

 
Stable

Added Auto commit property to the Select and Execute Snaps at the Snap level to support overriding of the Auto commit property at the Account level.

4.9.0 Patch

teradata3077 Latest

Fixed an issue regarding connection not closed after login failure; Expose autocommit for "Select into" statement in PostgreSQL Execute Snap and Redshift Execute Snap

4.9snapsmrc405
 
Stable
  • Enhanced the Output view of the Snap with Order Summary field that displays the output values (added to the out, err, status, classpath and env fields of the single output view that display the subprocess only).
  • Teradata Export to HDFS Snap supported with Dynamic account.
4.8

snapsmrc398

 
Stable
  • Introduced the TPT Delete, Insert, Load, Upsert and Update Snaps in this release.
  • Introduced Teradata Export to HDFS Snap in this release.
  • Info tab added to accounts.
  • Database accounts now invalidate connection pools if account properties are modified and login attempts fail.
4.7

snapsmrc382

 
Stable
  • Introduced the Teradata FastLoad and Execute Snaps in this release.
  • Migration impact: In Teradata FastExport, the values of the Data Format field have been standardized to be in all caps. Existing pipelines that use the values of Binary, Text, or Unformatted will fail unless the new value of BINARY, TEXT, or UNFORMAT are used.
4.6snapsmrc362
 
Stable

Snap Pack introduced in 4.6.0. This includes only Teradata extract functionality to move data out of Teradata database using the FastExport Utility. It does not include Snaps for load, select, insert, delete, execute or others at this time. It also does not utilize the Teradata Parallel Transporter to extract data.

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