Tip 1: Bulk Binding

In row mode, use bulk binding for reads and writes. Bulk
binds improve the performance of PL/SQL statements. This
feature significantly increases loading performance.
Tip 2:Foreign Key Constraint Manipulation
In set mode, manipulate foreign key constraints so that
rows are inserted faster while still preserving referential
integrity.
Tip 3: Faster loading from Remote Tables Using the
Inline View Technique
OWB automatically detects the common scenario where
one or more custom transformations are applied to
multiple, joined tables that are located in a remote database.
First join the tables in the source database and then apply
the transformation functions on the (much reduced) result
set in the target database. OWB forces the join on the
remote database by means of an inline view. On average
this feature brings a fivefold performance increase.
Tip 4: Partition Exchange Loading
Partition Exchange Loading enables parallel loading of data
into partitioned tables, and avoids implicit index
maintenance by loading a temporary table and then
switching it with a partition. It is particularly efficient at
loading data into a target table that already holds a large

amount of data. This technique can be up to ten times faster

than conventional partition loading.
Tip 5: Automated Bitmap index creation
Bitmap indexing increases performance by enabling star
query transformation. Warehouse Builder automates the
process of creating bitmap indexes to speed up the design
of a performance index scheme.
Tip 6: ltrim and rtrim
Use ltrim & rtrim while loading the records from the flat
file to the staging table itself. This will avoid adding them
in the Joins while going for subsequent Mappings
Tip 7: Set Based Inserts
Wherever set-based inserts are involved, direct path insert
should be invoked using the /*+ APPEND */ optimizer
hint. Direct-path insert is one of the most effective tools the
Oracle ETL developer has available. By avoiding logging
of the inserts, transformation runtimes can be reduced.
Tip 8: Trailing Null cols
Use trailing null cols while invoking the SQL*Loader
otherwise it will give an error Record Not Found till the
end of the file.

Tip 9: Set based Implementation

In the Type 2 SCD approach ,where you need to look for
the existence of data in the target before inserting, if you
use set-based, and run the package you will get an ORA04091 error stating "Table XXX is mutating,
trigger/function may not see it." This error occurs because
you are inserting into, and the function is selecting from,
the target table in the same set-based statement. (fig1)
Though ,the mapping will function properly when deployed
as a row-based package, the performance of the row-based
implementation may be unacceptable when considering the
volume of rows being processed and the size of the ETL
window.
So, an alternative approach is available that will allow you
to deploy the mapping using a set-based implementation.
First, you will need to create a staging table that looks
exactly like the target table; then, substitute the staging
table for the target table in the mapping. The Type 2 SCD
function will still do the lookup on the target table, but the
inserts will be redirected to the staging table. A second
mapping will then be required that inserts the new rows in
the staging table into the target table.

FIGURE 1
BAD PRACTICE

SOURCE

Function
Accessing
TARGET

Other
transfor
mations

TARGET
(set based
insert)

GOOD PRACTICE
Mapping 1

SOURCE

Function
Accessing
TARGET

Other
transfor
mations

Mapping 2

STAGING

TARGET

STAGING
TABLE (set
based insert)

Tip10: Repository installation

Its always a good practice to install the OWB repository
and Run Time Audit tables in different schemas for better
administration.
Tip 11: Hardware
The server hosting INFOMATICA gives good performance
when minimum 128 MB RAM is used. The same is the
case for the client side also.
Tip 12: init.ora configuration
In init.ora file on the server, the value of max open cursor
should be more than 300.
Tip 13: Projects
If the staging and target tables are residing in two different
instances, then its better to have two different projects to
handle this logic.

Tip 14: Mappings Configuration Setup:

The following should be the configuration parameters for
PL/SQL mappings and SQL*Loader mappings to obtain the
best performance:
For PL/SQL mappings
Option Name
Value
Deployable
True
Step type
PL/SQL
Default operating
Set based fail over to row based For
mode
Update statements this doesnt
works. So it need to be Row based
(Target only)
Generate bulk
False for the mappings processing
processing
less no. Of records,
true for mappings processing large
number of rows (sales fact)
Bulk size
100 This value has to be matched
with Commit Frequency if not it
gives a warning. So for facts this
value will be 1000.
Default audit level
Complete
Commit Frequency
100 for dimensions, 1000 for Sales
Fact
Generate analyze
False
table statement
Max no. Of errors
50
Bulk processing
True
Analyze table
Default value

statistics

For SQL*Loader mappings

Option Name
Value
Deployable
False
Step type
SQL*Loader
Bad file name,
Keep blanks
discard file name, log
file name
Discard max
0
Continue load
False (Applicable only for direct
mode)
NLS character set
Default value
Direct Mode
False
Operation
True
Recoverable
Parallel load
False (applicable only for mode)
Error Allowed
99999 (means no limit)
Records to skip
0 (for sales fact it will have some
value as the initial rows have row
count, total sales, total qty etc. It
will be 1 for all the dims, lookups
and facts as Column names exist in
the file which needs to be skipped.
Records to load
0 (means load all)
Rows per commit
100
(No. Of rows in bind
array)

Read size
Bind size (maximum
size in bytes for bind
array)
Read buffers
Preserve blanks
Database file name
Delimited record file
termination
Control file name
Audit
Default purge group

0
40000
0
False
Leave empty
Leave blank
Leave blank
True
wb

Note: Some of the points mentioned above have been taken

from secondary sources like OracleMetalink.