DELTA LOAD IN SAP MDM

I in this blog will be discussing the importance of Delta import in MDM . This feature is handled  through default import actions of the IMPORT MANAGER and on effective use can enhance, filter and control over the delta Load.

DELTA LOAD: This is a more acquainted term for people who belong to ETL world . During data load the data is generally loaded in batches and once the first batch is loaded, Then any new incoming data or changed  data in the existing will be termed as delta load and will be loaded in consecutive batches.

Here I am considering a Scenario through which I will be displaying this challenge handled in MDM. Just have  a look at the source created  below. There is no such field which can be claimed to be primary  key of the table. In this case  the Import action can be leveraged to  strengthen the DELTA Load.

The fig. below  presents the scenario before the first import . It’s clearly visible that the “active” grid shows 11 records to be importing which is the total no of records buffered or read.

Note: But records will be actually imported as per the uniqueness of the matching field.The staus of which can be viewed in the “Import Status” tab

Note : During the first import there’s no use of keeping the included fields separate coz they doesn’t have any effect on the  import but they do have an impact on the second import. On importing such, the records will get imported as per the uniqueness of the  leading field in the “Matching Fields “list.

Upon combining the  fields , at least the  maximum of the combined uniqueness would be imported irrespective of the order in which they are included and combined. 

Now Let’s have a look at the source which is to be used for the second import . This is actually some new records  added  to the  initial table  as well as some changed existing records.

During Second Import..

Match Type  :  Match Type may be of four different kinds namely 1)none  2)exact 3)partial 4) Conflict . It shows the nature of match of the individual records on the source side  with respect to the destination side with the field/fields  in the “matching fields“ as reference .

Note : The  Match type  feature is  not case sensitive . It compares only the text not the case of the text.  None  :  If the matching field/fields  of the source record  does not match with the destination record .

Exact  :  If the matching field of the source record  completely matches with the destination record.

Partial : It comes to effect  only if  more than one field is taken for matching field as individual (not combined) and  it signifies that out of the (n) no. of matching fields taken into account , at least one field is empty(null)  in the source side and other field values  on the source side matches with the  corresponding destination side .

Conflict  :  It’s same as partial but here  at least one  matching field  value  in the source side does not match  with the destination side and other field values  on the source side matches with the  corresponding destination side .

The previous snapshot shows different responses under grid “Match Class” & “Match Type “ upon selecting “vehicle_name” as matching field on the second import. Now the significance of these grids will be explained.

 Match Class : Match class represents the status of the match of  individual records on the source side  with respect to the destination side with the field/fields  in the “matching fields“ as reference . 

In this case compare the source withrespect to  the data imported in to the data manager  it’s evident that when u compare the matching field (vehicle_name ) of the incoming records with the records of the data manger  there are  5 records  whose vehicle_name  already occurs in the data manager and occurs once . They falls under the category “single” and match type “Exact”  .  The no .of records  which match  from the source side are displayed in the “active”  grid .

There  are  3 records  which as per the matching field match with more than  I record of the destination side. They fall under the category “Multiple” .

There are again 2 kinds of  options provided in the “Matching Fields” tab in the Import Manager . The user may include more than one field in the “Matching Fields”  tab and can have them as “individual” or “as combination” both of  which in fact have different impact and response.

 This options separately decides the fate of  delta import.

CASE1:

 In the fig below the “Vehicle_name” and “Onroad_price” are added individually.

Thus  now the system will compare this two fields separately. It can be seen in the “Record matching”  that the  record which is conflicting have the value (Vehname) “pulsar 125” which is new when compared to the destination values but again the value(showroomprice)”53000” was already present in the data manger due to the first import.

The comparison of the values of the source against the destination side can also be viewed in the import manager in the “matching destination records” grid . As explained earlier since single means the record has one match against it ,thus that record from the destination side is displayed in the grid below and the value marked in red is the conflicting value and the value marked in green is the matching value as per the the fields provided in the “Matching fields list” .

Conflicting files must be imported because they might be just the update of the exisiting record . They can be parked for later imports as suggested by the Data stewards and can be updated by choosing the option “update mapped fields only”.

CASE2:

Now let’s consider the second case where the fields are combined and the change will be evident. Now the response can very well be compared. The files which were initially under “Single-Conflict” and “Multiple-Exact” have come under “None-None” because now the system is treating the two fields as a single record so even partial match will not do .Either Match Type status  will be “None” or “Exact”.

Conclusion:

The MDM consultant and the Data Steward have to design the Matching fields skillfully and strategically to take a decision on the DELTA  during the consecutive loads.