Redshift - SCD2
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Overview
Snap Type: | Read | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Description: | This Snap provides the functionality of SCD (slowly changing dimension) Type 2 on a target Redshift table. The Snap executes one SQL lookup request per set of input documents to avoid making a request for every input record. Its output is typically a stream of documents for the Redshift - Bulk Upsert Snap, which updates or inserts rows into the target table. Therefore, this Snap must be connected to the Redshift - Bulk Upsert Snap to accomplish the complete SCD2 functionality. ETL Transformations and Data Flow This Snap enables the following ETL operations/flows:
Input & Output
Modes
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| Prerequisites: |
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| Limitations and Known Issues: | If you use the PostgreSQL driver ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Configurations: | Account & Access This Snap uses account references created on the Accounts page of SnapLogic Manager to handle access to this endpoint. See Configuring Redshift Accounts for information on setting up this type of account. Views:
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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 name of the database schema that contains the table whose data you want to update. Selecting a schema filters the Table name list to only show tables created in the selected schema. If you do not specify a schema in the Schema name field, the Table name field lists out all tables with the name you specify in all schemas in the database. Default value: [None] The values can be passed using the pipeline parameters but not the upstream parameter fields. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Table name | The name of the table that contains the data you want to update. Default value: [None] The values can be passed using the pipeline parameters but not the upstream parameter fields. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Natural key | Required. Names of fields that identify a unique row in the target table. The identity key cannot be used as the Natural key, since a current row and its historical rows cannot have the same natural key value. The values can be passed using the pipeline parameters but not the upstream parameter fields.
Default value: [None] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cause-historization fields | Required. Names of fields where any change in values causes the historization of an existing row and the insertion of a new 'current' row. Example: gold bullion rate Default value: [None] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SCD Fields | Required. Enter the field names you want to use as dimension fields–or select them from the suggestion list. The columns in the table specified in the Table name field above are used to populate the suggestion list.
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| Ignore unchanged rows | Specifies whether the Snap must ignore writing unchanged rows from the source table to the target table. If you enable this option, the Snap generates a corresponding document in the target only if the Cause-historization column in the source row is changed. Else, the Snap does not generate any corresponding document in the target. Default value: Not selected | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Snap Execution | Select one of the three modes in which the Snap executes. Available options are:
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Troubleshooting
| Error | Reason | Resolution |
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| This issue occurs due to incompatibilities with the recent upgrade in the Postgres JDBC drivers. | Download the latest 4.1 Amazon Redshift driver here and use this driver in your Redshift Account configuration and retry running the Pipeline. |
Example
Typical Snap Configurations
Do it Yourself
Task Overview
This example enables us to record and store changing gas prices and see how they change over time. To do so, we need to:
- Insert a table into the Redshift database and gas price data.
- Add new rows of gas price data as they come in and check to see how existing values are historized.
Download and Import Sample Pipelines
Before we start, you need to download, import, and configure the pipelines associated with this example:
- Download the Redshift_Iteration_Initialization_Example ZIP file. It contains two pipelines:
- Redshift_Iteration_Initialization_Example: Creates a DB table with initial data in Redshift. Once this is done, it upserts data into the DB.
- Redshift_Select_Write: Retrieves the latest data from Redshift and writes it to a file, enabling us to see how the data in Redshift changes with every upsert iteration.
- Import the pipelines into SnapLogic and configure the Redshift Snaps with your Redshift account.
Pipeline Properties
The Redshift_Iteration_Initialization_Example pipeline creates a Gas Dimensions (gas_dim_test) table and inserts new gas price values into it. To do so, it needs to initialize the DB using one branch of the pipeline, and then iteratively upsert new data using other branches. To control which branch of the pipeline gets triggered, two parameters must be declared at the pipeline level:
- INITIALIZE: Indicates whether the task being performed is one of initialization.
- SCD2_ITERATION: Indicates whether the task being performed is an iterative upsert.
Later, in the pipeline, we shall use these parameters to create trigger configurations to control when each child pipeline is executed.
Understanding the Sample Pipelines
This section describes the two pipelines used in this example and explains how they work together.
The Redshift_Iteration_Initialization_Example Pipeline
The Redshift_Iteration_Initialization_Example pipeline comprises three pipelines:
- Create DB Table and Upload Initial Data: Creates the DB table and uploads three rows of data.
- Upload Updated Data: Uploads new data associated with the rows created by Pipeline 1 above.
- Truncate DB Table: Clears the contents of the DB table, resetting the pipeline for reuse from scratch.
Create DB Table and Upload Initial Data
This pipeline contains the following Snaps:
| Snap Name | Snap | Purpose | Settings | Comments |
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| Initialization Data | JSON Generator Snap | Contains the initial data for the Gas Dimensions DB table. | Contains the initial upload data: | The data is organized into four columns:
The important thing to note here is that, while gas rates may change, the data in the station_id and zipcode fields will not. Thus, these can be used as key fields later in the pipeline. |
| Check Initialize | Filter Snap | Checks whether the DB table can be created. | Contains the following configuration in the Filter field: | This Snap checks whether the value of the INITIALIZE pipeline parameter is greater than 0. If it is, then the Snap executes the Snaps that follow it; else, it exits. Thus, when we need to create the gas_dim table, we set the INITIALIZE parameter to 1. Once the pipeline completes execution, we change the value of the Initialize parameter to 0. This ensures that the table is not re-created. |
| Map Attributes to Redshift | Mapper Snap | Maps attributes in the input data to column headers that must be created in the Redshift DB. | Contains the following mappings:
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| Create Table in Redshift with Input Data | Redshift - Insert | Creates a DB table in Redshift. | Contains the following settings:
| This creates a table named "gas_dim_test" in the "public" schema in Redshift with the data in the Initialization Data Snap. |
Upload Updated Data
This pipeline updates the data in the gas_dim_test DB table in three iterations. This pipeline contains the following Snaps:
| Snap Name | Snap | Purpose | Settings | Comments |
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Iteration 1 | ||||
| SCD2 Data (Iteration 1) | JSON Generator | Contains the updated data for the gas_dim_test DB table. | Contains the following data: | Iteration 1 updates the data associated with station_id U01. |
| Check Iteration 1 | Filter Snap | Checks whether the first data update iteration should be executed. | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | If, in the pipeline properties, the value of the SCD2_ITERATION parameter is 1, and the value of the INITIALIZE parameter is 0, then this pipeline is executed. |
| Check Not Initialize | Filter Snap | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | ||
Iteration 2 | ||||
| SCD2 Data (Iteration 2) | JSON Generator | Contains the updated data for the gas_dim_test DB table. | Contains the following data: | Iteration 2 updates the data associated with station_id U01 and V01. |
| Check Iteration 2 | Filter Snap | Checks whether the second data update iteration should be executed. | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | If, in the pipeline properties, the value of the SCD2_ITERATION parameter is 2, and the value of the INITIALIZE parameter is 0, then this pipeline is executed. |
| Check Not Initialize | Filter Snap | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | ||
Iteration 3 | ||||
| SCD2 Data (Iteration 3) | JSON Generator | Contains the updated data for the gas_dim_test DB table. | Contains the following data: | Iteration 3 updates the data associated with station_id U01, V01, and C01. |
| Check Iteration 3 | Filter Snap | Checks whether the third data update iteration should be executed. | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | If, in the pipeline properties, the value of the SCD2_ITERATION parameter is 2, and the value of the INITIALIZE parameter is 0, then this pipeline is executed. |
| Check Not Initialize | Filter Snap | Contains the following setting in the Filter expression field: | ||
Processing the Output of the Three Iterations | ||||
| Union | Union Snap | Takes the output from the iteration triggered upline and passes it on to the downstream Snaps. | ||
| Prepare Upload Data | Redshift - SCD2 | Prepares the data collected by the upstream Union Snap. | Contains settings that ensure that the correct DB table is updated, and that the appropriate fields are read the same way as they were created in the pipeline above. Click the screenshot below to review the settings in detail.
| These settings basically instruct Redshift to read the public.gas_dim table as follows:
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| Upsert Updated Data | Redshift - Bulk Upsert | Upserts the data prepared by the Redshift - SCD2 Snap to the gas_dim_test DB table. | Contains the following settings: Key columns: These are the columns used to check for existing entries in the target table:
For the Bulk Upsert Snap to work, at least one Natural key must be included in the Key columns field; else the upsert will fail. | Once this Snap completes execution, the updated data is populated into the DB table, the 'active' column in the row containing the old data is updated to now read 'false', and a new row containing the updated data is added, where the 'active' column reads 'true'. |
Truncate DB Table
Once the simuation is run, and you have seen how the Redshift - SCD 2 and Redshift - Upsert Snaps work together to update and historize DB data as new data arrives, you may want to clear the concerned table to ensure that, when the simulation is run again, an empty table is available.
This pipeline contains the following Snaps:
- Check Iteration 4: Checks whether the fourth iteration should be executed. If the check succeeds, the downstream Snaps are executed; else, the pipeline exits.
- Check Not Initialize: Checks whether the INITIALIZE parameter in the pipeline properties is set to '0'. If the check succeeds, the downstream Snaps are executed; else, the pipeline exits.
Redshift - Execute: Runs the following command on the gas_dim_test table to clear all its contents:
The Redshift_Select_Write Pipeline
Run this pipeline after each iteration to view the updated output.
This pipeline contains the following Snaps:
- Redshift - Select: Reads the contents of the public.gas_dim_test DB table.
- JSON Formatter: Formats the data received from the Redshift - Select Snap as a JSON file.
- File Writer: Saves the JSON data as RS_File.json in the SLDB.
Changes Made to the Public.gas_dim DB Table with Each Iteration
As the values entered in the SCD2_ITERATION and INITIALIZE pipeline parameters change, and as the pipelines are run iteratively, the public.gas_dim_test DB table is created and iteratively updated. This section lists out the contents of the table at the end of each iteration.
| Event | Triggered Pipeline | What Happens Here | Output |
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| Initialization | Create DB Table and Upload Initial Data | The table is created, and data from the Initialization Data Snap is uploaded into it. No. of rows of data: 3 | |
| Iteration 1 | Upload Updated Data | New data corresponding to the U01 station ID is uploaded, the existing row of data is end-dated, and the active status of the existing data is changed to false. The active status of the new data is saved as true. No. of rows of data: 4
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| Iteration 2 | Upload Updated Data | New data corresponding to the U01 and V01 station IDs is uploaded, the existing rows of data are end-dated, and the active status of the existing data is changed to false. The active status of the new data is saved as true. No. of rows of data: 6
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| Iteration 3 | Upload Updated Data | New data corresponding to the C01 station IDs is uploaded, and the active status of the existing data is changed to false. New data corresponding to the U01 and V01 station IDs is uploaded, the existing rows of data are end-dated, and the active status of the existing data is changed to false. The active status of the new data is saved as true. No. of rows of data: 9
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| Iteration 4 | Truncate DB Table | Clears the contents of the gas_dim_test DB table. |
Downloads
Important steps to successfully reuse Pipelines
- Download and import the Pipeline into SnapLogic.
- Configure Snap accounts as applicable.
- Provide Pipeline parameters as applicable.
Snap Pack History
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