Informatica PowerCenter Repository Tables

I am sure every PowerCenter developer either has an intention or necessity to know about the Informatica metadata tables and where information is stored etc. For the starters, all the objects that we create in Informatica PowerCenter - let them be sources, targets, mappings, workflows, sessions, expressions, be it anything related to PowerCenter, will get stored in a set of database tables (call them as metadata tables or OPB tables or repository tables).

* I want to know all the sessions in my folder that are calling some shell script/command in the Post-Session command task.
* I want to know how many mappings have transformations that contain "STOCK_CODE" defined as a port.
* I want to know all unused ports in my repository of 100 folders.

In repositories where you have many number of sessions or workflows or mappings, it gets difficult to achieve this with the help of Informatica PowerCenter client tools. After all, whole of this data is stored in some form in the metadata tables. So if you know the data model of these repository tables, you will be in a better position to answer these questions.

Before we proceed further, let me clearly urge for something very important. Data in the repository/metadata/OPB tables is very sensitive and that the modifications like insert or updates are to be made using the PowerCenter tools ONLY. DO NOT DIRECTLY USE UPDATE OR INSERT COMMANDS AGAINST THESE TABLES.

Please also note that there is no official documentation from Informatica Corporation on how these tables act. It is purely based on my assumption, research and experience that I am providing these details. I will not be responsible to any of the damages caused if you use any statement other than the SELECT, knowing the details from this blog article. This is my disclaimer. Let us move on to the contents now.
There around a couple of hundred OPB tables in 7.x version of PowerCenter, but in 8.x, this number crosses 400. In this regard, I am going to talk about few important tables in this articles. As such, this is not a small topic to cover in one article. I shall write few more to cover other important tables like OPB_TDS, OPB_SESSLOG etc.
We shall start with OPB_SUBJECT now.

OPB_SUBJECT - PowerCenter folders table

This table stores the name of each PowerCenter repository folder.

Usage: Join any of the repository tables that have SUBJECT_ID as column with that of SUBJ_ID in this table to know the folder name.

OPB_MAPPING - Mappings table

This table stores the name and ID of each mapping and its corresponding folder.

Usage: Join any of the repository tables that have MAPPING_ID as column with that of MAPPING_ID in this table to know the mapping name.

OPB_TASK - Tasks table like sessions, workflow etc

This table stores the name and ID of each task like session, workflow and its corresponding folder.

Usage: Join any of the repository tables that have TASK_ID as column with that of TASK_ID/SESSION_ID in this table to know the task name. Observe that the session and also workflow are stored as tasks in the repository. TASK_TYPE for session is 68 and that of the workflow is 71.

OPB_SESSION - Session & Mapping linkage table

This table stores the linkage between the session and the corresponding mapping. As informed in the earlier paragraph, you can use the SESSION_ID in this table to join with TASK_ID of OPB_TASK table.

OPB_TASK_ATTR - Task attributes tables

This is the table that stores the attribute values (like Session log name etc) for tasks.

Usage: Use the ATTR_ID of this table to that of the ATTR_ID of OPB_ATTR table to find what each attribute in this table means. You can know more about OPB_ATTR table in the next paragraphs.

OPB_WIDGET - Transformations table

This table stores the names and IDs of all the transformations with their folder details.

Usage: Use WIDGET_ID from this table to that of the WIDGET_ID of any of the tables to know the transformation name and the folder details. Use this table in conjunction with OPB_WIDGET_ATTR or OPB_WIDGET_EXPR to know more about each transformation etc.

OPB_WIDGET_FIELD - Transformation ports table

This table stores the names and IDs of all the transformation fields for each of the transformations.

Usage: Take the FIELD_ID from this table and match it against the FIELD_ID of any of the tables like OPB_WIDGET_DEP and you can get the corresponding information.

OPB_WIDGET_ATTR - Transformation properties table

This table stores all the properties details about each of the transformations.

Usage: Use the ATTR_ID of this table to that of the ATTR_ID of OPB_ATTR table to find what each attribute in this transformation means.

OPB_EXPRESSION - Expressions table

This table stores the details of the expressions used anywhere in PowerCenter.

Usage: Use this table in conjunction with OPB_WIDGET/OPB_WIDGET_INST and OPB_WIDGET_EXPR to get the expressions in the Expression transformation for a particular, mapping or a set.

OPB_ATTR - Attributes

This table has a list of attributes and their default values if any. You can get the ATTR_ID from this table and look it up against any of the tables where you can get the attribute value. You should also make a note of the ATTR_TYPE, OBJECT_TYPE_ID before you pick up the ATTR_ID. You can find the same ATTR_ID in the table, but with different ATTR_TYPE or OBJECT_TYPE_ID.

OPB_COMPONENT - Session Component

This table stores the component details like Post-Session-Success-Email, commands in Post-Session/pre-Session etc.

Usage: Match the TASK_ID with that of the SESSION_ID in OPB_SESSION table to get the SESSION_NAME and to get the shell command or batch command that is there for the session, join this table with OPB_TASK_VAL_LIST table on TASK_ID.

OPB_CFG_ATTR - Session Configuration Attributes

This table stores the attribute values for Session Object configuration like "Save Session log by", Session log path etc.