Select Values

The Select Values step can perform all the following actions on fields in the PDI stream:

• Select fields

• Remove fields

• Rename fields

• Change data types

• Set length and precision

General

• Step name: Specify the unique name of the Select Values step on the canvas. You can customize the name or leave it as the default.

Select & Alter tab

Use this tab to select fields, optionally rename them, and set length and precision.

Column	Description
Fieldname	Name of the field from the input stream.
Rename to	New name of the field. Leave blank to keep the original name.
Length	Field length.
Precision	Number of floating point digits for number fields.

• Select Get fields to select to add all fields from the input stream.

• Select Edit mapping to open the Edit Mapping dialog.

• Select Include unspecified fields, ordered by name to include any input fields that are not explicitly listed.

Edit Mapping dialog

Use the Edit Mapping dialog box to define multiple mappings between source and target fields.

Edit Mapping supports only one target output step.

Option	Description
Source fields	Incoming fields available to map.
Target fields	Target fields/columns available to map.
Add	Adds the selected source/target combination to Mappings.
Delete	Removes a mapping and returns the fields to the selection lists.
Mappings	The resulting source-to-target mappings.
Auto target selection?	Select to map to a target automatically.
Hide assigned source fields?	Select to hide source fields after they are mapped.
Auto source selection	Select to automatically select a source field when you select a target.
Hide assigned target fields?	Select to hide target fields after they are mapped.
Guess	Automatically matches fields and populates Mappings.

Remove tab

Use this tab to remove fields from the input stream.

• Select Get fields to remove to populate the list with incoming fields.

Removing fields can slow processing because internal field order changes.

Meta-data tab

Use this tab to rename fields, convert data types, and set length/precision.

If you renamed a field on the Select & Alter tab, the name you use in Fieldname on the Meta-data tab must match the renamed value.

Column	Description
Fieldname	Name of the incoming field (or the renamed value from Select & Alter).
Rename to	New name of the field. Leave blank to keep the current name.
Type	Data type for the field.
Length	Field length.
Precision	Number of floating point digits for number fields.
Binary to normal?	Set to Y or N to convert a string to a numeric data type when appropriate.
Format	Format mask. See Common Formats.
Date format lenient?	Set to N to accept only strictly valid date values. Set to Y to attempt to correct invalid dates when possible.
Date locale	Locale for date conversions. Leave blank to use the system default.
Date time zone	Time zone for date conversions. Leave blank to use the system default.
Lenient number conversion	Set to Y to parse numbers until a non-numeric character is encountered (no error). Set to N to report an error for invalid numbers.
Encoding	Text encoding. Leave blank to use the system default.
Decimal	Decimal point character (. or ,).
Grouping	Thousands separator character (. or ,).
Currency	Currency symbol.

Select Get fields to change to import fields from previous steps.

For more information, see Understanding PDI data types and field metadata.

Examples

The design-tools/data-integration/samples/transformations directory contains the following example transformations:

• Select values - some variants.ktr

• Select Values - copy field values to new fields.ktr

Metadata injection support

All fields of this step support metadata injection. You can use this step with ETL metadata injection to pass metadata to your transformation at runtime.