Skip to main content
Documentation
Documentation
Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Create a Data Change Task

Create a Data Change Task

Security:
  • Prism: Manage File Containers
     domain in the Prism Analytics functional area when uploading a file.
  • Any of these security requirements:
    • Prism: Tables Owner Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Prism: Tables Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Table Owner
       permission on the table.
    • Table Editor
       permission on the table.
    • Can Delete Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Insert Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Truncate Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Update Table Data
       permission on the table.
You can change the rows of data in a table by creating and running a data change task. You can:
  • Insert new rows.
  • Update specific rows based on a key field.
  • Delete specific rows based on a key field.
  • Insert new and update existing rows in the same activity, known as an upsert operation.
How you change the rows in the table depends on the operation you select, such as upsert or delete, and the source data. The source you specify must contain the rows you want to change in the table, such as new rows to insert, or existing rows to update or delete.
To create, edit, or view a data change task on a target table, you must have permission on the target table. Example: To create a data change task using the upsert operation, you must have both insert and update permission on the target table.
  1. Access the
    Data Catalog
     report.
  2. Select
    Create
    Data Change Task
    .
    You can change the data change task name at the top of the left side panel.
  3. On the
    Source
     step, select the source that contains the data you want to change in the target table.
    Workday uses the file upload source type by default. Click
    Change Connection
     to select a different source type. As you select a source type, consider:
    Option Description
    Data Catalog
    Select an existing dataset or table.
    File Upload
    Select 1 or more delimited files.
    When you upload multiple files, each file must use the same schema. Workday supports RFC 4180-compliant delimited files. For more information, see RFC 4180.
    When you select file upload as the source type, configure the
    Source Options
     to define how to parse the file.
    SFTP
    Select an SFTP connection that connects to an SFTP server containing 1 or more delimited files.
    When the SFTP connection contains multiple files, each file must use the same schema. Workday supports RFC 4180-compliant delimited files. For more information, see RFC 4180.
    For SFTP sources, you must also upload 1 local delimited file that uses the same schema as the files on the SFTP server. Workday uses the uploaded file to determine how to parse the SFTP files. Workday doesn't load the data from the uploaded file to the table.
    When you select SFTP as the source type, configure the
    Source Options
     to define how to parse the uploaded file.
    Workday Report
    Select an existing Workday custom report.
    Workday displays reports that meet the eligibility requirements for importing into tables. See Concept: Creating Reports to Import into Tables and Datasets.
  4. On the
    Source Options
     step, define how to parse the data in the files you uploaded for file upload or SFTP sources.
    2. Review the fields Workday created based on the parsed file, and modify the fields if necessary.
      Select a field in the list and view the field details in the inspector panel on the right side. You might need to:
      • Change the
        Field Type
         when Workday assigns the wrong field type. Workday assigns the field type based on the first few rows only. Example: Workday assigns the Numeric field type to a field with ZIP code data because the example rows that it evaluates only contain numerals. However, based on your knowledge of the source data, you know that some ZIP code values contain letters or a hyphen, so you change the field type to Text.
      • Change other field attributes based on the field type to ensure that Workday correctly parses the data, such as Digits Before, Digits After, or Date Format.
  5. On the
    Target
     step, select the target table that contains the data you want to change.
  6. Select the target operation to perform on the target table using the source data.
    Option Description
    Insert
    Workday keeps the existing data in the table and adds the new data in the source. This operation is also known as Append.
    Truncate and Insert
    Workday deletes the existing data in the table and replaces it with the data in the source. This operation is also known as Replace.
    Delete
    Workday deletes a row from the table when it matches a row in the source.
    Update
    Workday updates a row in the table when it matches a row in the source.
    To select this operation, you must use a table where you configured 1 field as the external ID.
    Upsert
    Workday updates a row in the table when a matching row already exists and inserts the row when it doesn’t exist.
    To select this operation, you must use a table where you configured 1 field as the external ID.
  7. On the
    Mapping
     step, select a field in the target table to use as the operation key for delete, update, or upsert operations.
    You can specify 1 of these target table fields:
    • The field configured as the external ID in the table: You can use this field for delete, update, or upsert operations.
    • WPA_LoadID: You can use this field for delete or update operations only.
    • WPA_RowID: You can use this field for delete or update operations only.
  8. Select a source field for each target field that you want to modify. Workday requires that you map any field used as the operation key.
    Workday lists the source fields that are compatible for a specific target field. If Workday doesn't list a source field you want, verify the source field attributes, such as the digits before, digits after, or business object. You can navigate to the
    Source Options
     step to change the field attributes for file upload and SFTP sources.
    You can click
    Reset Matches
     to revert all mappings you changed to the simple match algorithm that Workday uses by default. The simple match algorithm:
    • Is case insensitive.
    • Ignores spaces.
    • Ignores underscore characters.
    • Matches on the field API name.
    • Won't match fields with different field types.
  9. On the
    Review
     step, verify the information. You can go back to any previous step and make any correction if necessary.
  10. Click
    Finish
     and select
    Run Without Saving
    ,
    Save and Run Now
    , or
    Save
    .
When you save the data change task, Workday creates the data change task object and displays it on the
Data Change Tasks
 tab of the
Data Catalog
 report.
When you run the data change task, Workday starts a data change activity to change the data in the table based on the data in the source. You can view the data change activity progress and history on:
  • The
    Activities
     tab of the
    View Table Details
     report. To fix errors on a table following a data change, download the error file from the data change activity. Workday only creates an error file for data change activities that use a file upload as the source.
  • The
    Data Change Activities
     tab of the
    Data Catalog
     report.
  • The
    Prism Activities Monitor
     report. You can view a detailed list of all types of Prism-related activities for a given date range.
  • The
    Prism Activities Dashboard
     report. You can view an active dashboard of all Prism-related activities for the last 180 days. You can also see live updates to the status of activities and their run times.
To fix errors on a table following a data change, download the error file from the data change activity on the
Activities
 tab of the
View Table Details
 report. Workday only creates an error file for data change activities that use file upload or SFTP sources.