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Workday User Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Data Change Tasks

Concept: Data Change Tasks

A data change task is a Prism Analytics object that defines how to change the data in a Prism Analytics table using data from a specified source. You can save data change tasks and run them at any time.
Create a data change task to output the transformed data from a derived dataset into a table. Example: You have a base dataset with data from a custom report, and you have a derived dataset that transforms the data in the base dataset. You can create a data change task that uses data from the derived dataset and loads it into a table.
You specify a data operation type, such as insert or delete, that instructs how to use the data in the source to change the table rows. You can create 1 or more data change tasks per table.
You create, edit, and manage data change tasks from the Data Catalog. Access the
Data Change Tasks
tab on the
Data Catalog
report to view all data change tasks you have permission on.
To create, view, or edit a data change task for a specific table, you must have permission to modify data in that table. Example: To create a data change task on the Claims table using the upsert operation, you must have permission to insert and update data in the Claims table.
You can:
  • Run a data change task on a schedule, or manually on an ad hoc basis.
  • Edit the data change task, such as change the operation type or field mapping, before you run it.
  • Delete the data change task.
  • View the data change activities to see the number of rows affected by the data change task and to download any failed rows.
You can use data change tasks to define these components:
Component
Description
Source
The object that contains the data that you want to load into the target table. Example: A delimited file that you upload, or an SFTP server, or a Data Catalog object, such as a dataset.
Depending on the source type, you might need to define additional source options, such as parsing options.
Target table
The table with the data you want to change using the source data.
You can only create a data change task using an existing table in the Data Catalog.
Target operation
The data operation to perform on the target table using the source data. Workday lists the operations supported for the selected source type.
You can specify:
  • Insert
  • Delete
  • Truncate and Insert
  • Update
  • Upsert
Mapping
The specifications for matching source fields to the target table fields.
You can match a source field to 1 or more target table fields.

Data Change Activities

When you run a data change task, Workday generates a data change activity. Each data change activity modifies the data in the table, based on the operation specified in the data change task and the data in the source.
You can view previously run data change activities on:
  • The
    Data Change Activities
    tab on the
    Data Catalog
    report. The Data Change Activities tab displays all activities for all data change tasks and tables.
  • The
    Activities
    tab on the
    View Table Details
    report. The Activities tab displays all activities for that table, both from data change activities and other data load activities. Example: You might have a different data load activity if you created the table from a file upload.
  • The
    Prism Activities Dashboard
    report in the
    Data Catalog
    . The report displays all activity for the last 180 days. You can also download error reports from the report.