UI Walkthrough - Astera Data Integrator
What is Astera?
Astera is designed to support the integration of complex and high-volume data. It is a powerful ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool that provides connectivity to all leading databases, and flat and hierarchical file sources, and even supports legacy systems such as COBOL.
Moreover, PDF form source, Email source, and Report source enable users to extract data from a PDF file, Email, and Report Models in Astera.
It combines data profiling, data transformation, and data reporting in a single seamless user interface. For further information, watch the Astera Demo or read the Astera Data Integrator product brochure.
Home Screen
The above screenshot shows the start page layout of Astera 7.5. The items on the start page keep varying, however, the menu bar and icon bar abide by the arrangement shown.
On the top-left side of this page, there are some tabs and icons. These are described in the coming sections.
Menu Bar
The Menu Bar contains nine general menu items for the home screen, more items appear in the bar when working with Dataflows and Workflows. Each item expands in a list of options. The names of these items are mostly self-explanatory. A full description of each is as follows:
File
The File menu item has a standard layout and provides the option for:
Creating, opening, and saving a Dataflow, Subflow, Workflow, and a Report Model
Accessing the recently opened files, Dataflows, and Workflows from here
Edit
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The Edit provides options to:
Cut, copy, and paste any file or item on the main screen of Dataflows, Subflows, Workflows, and Report models
Undo and redo any action/task performed
Locate any item on Dataflow, Subflow, and Workflow designer through Find
These options become available when you select an item on the designer.
View
View allows access to various task bars, descriptions, and links for each is given below.
Items | Shortcut-key | Description |
Ctrl + Alt + X | It contains objects essential for performing tasks on Dataflow, Subflow and Workflow designer. | |
Server Explorer | Ctrl + Alt + E | It displays the server connected with Centerprise. |
Ctrl + Alt + L | It verifies dataflow to list any errors and warnings present in the dataflow designer. | |
Ctrl + Alt + T | It displays status of the dataflow as it is being executed. This window also provides links to any error log files and the data profiler files. | |
Ctrl + Alt + W | It displays a sample of records for the selected object. | |
Ctrl + Alt + A | It displays statistical information for a sample of records from the selected object. | |
Thumbnail | Ctrl + Alt + K | It allows the user to select a particular part of the dataflow and focus the designer on that. |
Ctrl + Alt + D | It helps connect to query data on a database server. | |
Ctrl + Alt + P | It displays a tree of items incorporated in a project. | |
Ctrl + Alt + B | It shows trail of all transformations and changes the data has been through. It only works if tasks are performed inside a project. | |
Report Browser | Ctrl + Alt + R | It displays the Model layout when working with Report Model in Centerprise. |
Query Preview | Ctrl + Alt + Q | It displays the query of the execution of a Dataflow and Workflow task. |
Server
The Server menu item has options for setting up a server connection from the Astera client. You have the options for:
Connecting to an existing server
Generating a new cluster database
Upgrading cluster databases in a repository
However, this repository needs to be set up on a server instance first where schedules, logs, and queues are kept.
Items | Description |
It allows you to run your jobs, silently in the background; once, or repetitively according to a selected schedule. | |
It is a way for setting up Centerprise Projects to run on the Scheduler. | |
It shows the execution status and time of tasks. |
For more information, read here.
Tools
The Tools menu tab provides options with which you can:
Change the format of the date
Deactivate, change or extend your license
Manage Database sequences
Project
As the name suggests, the Project menu tab deals with organizing various projects in Astera. You can
Create a new project
Open an existing one
Connect to Source Control systems such as TFS and VSTS for team collaboration on any integration project
Windows
It provides the option to:
Customize windows into a floating and dockable layout
Hide windows
View in a tabular layout
Social
The Social menu item lists the options for:
Direct access to Astera’s Knowledge base
Connecting and interacting with Astera on social and customer support forums
Help
The Help menu lets users access guidelines, videos, and help articles regarding various objects and options available in Astera.
Icon Bar
Dataflows
The above screenshot shows the main screen of a Dataflow. To open a Dataflow, go to File > New > Dataflow. Here, you can see an additional menu item on the Menu Bar – Dataflow. There is also a secondary Icon bar and a Toolbox panel on the left side of the screen.
If the Toolbox is hidden, you can access it by going to View > Toolbox or using the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + X. Toolbox has different categories and we will discuss these categories in detail in the following sections.
You can hide and close the Toolbox panel from these icons 
respectively.
Read more on Dataflows here.
Dataflow Menu Item
The Dataflow menu item provides options that allow users to:
Change the layout of various objects in the dataflow
Expand and collapse the objects’ view in the dataflow
Zoom in and zoom out of the designer
Change Links to orthogonal links
Replace parameter information
Run a task in Data quality mode
You can quickly access these options from the secondary icon bar.
Secondary Icon Bar
Toolbox - Dataflow
The items on the Toolbox are arranged into expandable sections. From each section, objects can be dragged on to the dataflow designer. In this section, we will discuss these items in detail.
Sources
Data is extracted from a source and brought to the Astera client for further transformation and integration. Source objects from the Toolbox can be added to the dataflow designer through a simple drag-and-drop action. Read more on setting up sources here.
The following types of sources are supported by Centerprise:
Items | Extension | Description of Sources |
.cbl | COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) are fixed-width files containing text and/or binary data. | |
.dbo | Database files store data information in a series of tables, table fields, and field data values and organized according to a data model. | |
.csv | Delimited file is a text file that stores data in fields separated by a delimiter. | |
.xls , .xlsx | Excel file is a spreadsheet file. | |
File System item source provides metadata information about files found in a particular folder. | ||
.txt | Fixed length file is a text file in which every field has fixed length. | |
.rmd | Report Source is a file with structured data extracted from an unstructured file using a Report Model. | |
Email Source in Astera Centerprise enable users to retrieve data from emails and process the incoming email attachments. | ||
.sql | SQL (Structured Query Language) Query Source enables the user to retrieve data from a database using SQL query or a stored procedure. | |
.xml | XML (eXtensible Markup Language) stores data in a hierarchical structure. |
Destinations
All these destinations can be added to the dataflow designer through a drag-and-drop interface. Read more on setting up destinations here.
The following destinations are supported by Astera:
Items | Extension | Destinations |
.dbo | Database destination provides the functionality to write data to a database table. Users can control how data is written to a database table. | |
.csv | Delimited file destination provides the functionality to write data to a delimited file with the ability to control the structure and content of the file. | |
.xls , .xlsx | Excel File Destination provides the functionality to write data to Microsoft Excel workbook and does not need Microsoft Excel to be installed on the machine. | |
.txt | Fixed-length file destination object allows user to write data to a fixed-length file. | |
.sql | SQL Statement Destination object offers extra flexibility over database destination objects in applying a custom INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE SQL code that controls what will be written into the destination table. | |
.xml | XML/JSON file destination object allows you to write data to an XML or a JSON file. |
Transformations
Transformations are used to perform a variety of operations on the data as it flows through a dataflow. Astera provides an extensive library of built-in transformations. These transformations are divided into two types:
Single Record level- creates derived values by applying a lookup, function, or expression to fields from a single recordSet level- operates on a group of records and may result in joining, reordering, elimination, or aggregation of records
The above screenshot shows the transformations toolbox as it appears in Astera . A brief description of each is given in the following table:
Items | Transformation type | Description |
Creates aggregations of a dataset, using functions such as Sum, Count, Min, Max, Average, Variance or Standard Deviation. | ||
Applies an | ||
Returns a single, prespecified value for all records. | ||
Returns a single output field from the database lookup table, or a combination of fields in which lookup values matches the incoming values. | ||
Combines several records into a single record. In other words, it transposes rows into columns. | ||
Removes duplicate records from the dataset. | ||
Expression | Defines an expression that can be used to process the incoming value (or values) according to the expression’s logic. | |
Looks for certain specified values in the source data, replaces them with the desired information and stores the replaced values in a file. | ||
Filters out data according to a predefined rule. | ||
Contains a series of built-in mathematical, logical, financial, conversion and encoding functions. | ||
Joins records from two record sets with the help of a join key. It combines fields in the data. | ||
Stores information in the metadata and is used to look for certain values in the source data and replace them with the desired value. | ||
Combines records from two inputs into a single output stream with the same layout as the input streams. | ||
Creates several records from a single record. In other words, it transposes columns into rows. | ||
Passthru | Creates a new dataset based on the elements that were passed to the transformation. | |
Identifies and reconciles new, updated, or deleted entries within an existing data source. | ||
Invokes one or more paths in the dataflow, according to some decision logic expressed as a set of rules. | ||
Makes it easy to add sequences of integer values to your dataset. | ||
Sorts values in the dataset – either in ascending or descending order of some key field(s). | ||
Calls a subflow to run as part of your dataflow. | ||
Matches source data for the criteria specified by the user, and wherever the criteria is met, it replaces the information in the particular field with the desired output. | ||
Enables you to join datasets in a hierarchy and create tree structures. | ||
Combines incoming data from two or more inputs into a single output. It combines rows in the dataset. |
Function Transformations
This item contains the built-in functions provided by Astera . These functions are further classified into various categories (Math, Financial, Date-Time, String, etc.). Read more about using functions in the Functions Glossary.
Data Profiling
Data profiling is essentially related to collecting statistics on fields of data, performing data quality checks on the incoming data, and creating log files for records with errors and warnings.
Resources
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This category contains options that enable users to parameterize the dataflows.
Database Write Strategy
Database Write Strategy is used to perform database write actions such as INSERT, UPDATE, UPSERT, or DELETE. These actions are directly performed in the database table destination. Four different Database Write Strategy options are available in Astera Centerprise.
Text Processors
Text Processors enable the users to:
Resolve data into components and write each component to a different field
Serialize different field components
Learn more about the Delimited Parser here.
Services
Using the SOAP and Rest web services connector, you can easily connect to any data source that uses SOAP protocol or can be exposed via Rest API.
EDI
In this screenshot, you can see the options for EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) supported by Centerprise. EDI is a special file format just like XML and JSON. Here, Source, Destination, Parser and Serializer have the same purpose as defined in the earlier sections.
Subflow
Subflows can be perceived as ‘black boxes’ inside a dataflow, simplifying and streamlining the dataflow design. Subflows can be called in a dataflow by dragging and dropping the subflow transformation object onto the dataflow designer.
Toolbox - Subflow
You can view the Subflow option in the toolbox when you open a subflow. To open a subflow, go to File > New > Subflow.
The Toolbox for a subflow offers similar categories of actions and tasks as for a dataflow with an additional category of a subflow task which expands into two objects shown below.
A short description of these objects is given below.
Workflow
A Workflow is designed to orchestrate an automated and iterative execution of ordered tasks. Tasks are performed according to some predefined path and custom logic. For an in-depth understanding of workflows, refer to this article on working with workflows and the help video.
Toolbox - Workflow Tasks
To open a Workflow, go to File > New > Workflow.
Toolbox for a workflow offers similar categories of actions and tasks as for a dataflow with an additional category of a workflow task which expands into several objects as shown below.
In the screenshot above, you can see a list of tasks that are included in the Workflow Tasks category. A brief note on their purpose is as follows.
Report Model
The objective of a Report Model is to convert unstructured data into a structured format. This unstructured data is normally a text file, a PDF file, or an image file; it can even be an Excel file or a Word file as long as the data stored is unstructured.
The above image represents the main screen of a Report Model in Astera. To open a Report Model, go to File > New >Report Model.
In addition, a vertical panel – Report Browser – that contains Model Layout and Data Export Settings can be seen on the left side of the screen. There is also a toolbar specific to the Report Model interface. Each of these additional attributes is explained in the following sections.
Read more on how to create a Report Model here.
Toolbar - Report Model
Report Browser
It contains features and layout panels for initiating and building an extraction template and exporting extracted data. There are two main panels in a Report Browser:
Model Layout
Data Export Settings
Model Layout
The Model Layout panel serves the purpose of building a layout of data extraction. It contains data regions and fields built according to a custom extraction logic from an unstructured file.
In the figure above, you can see a hierarchical layout of an extraction model with a single instance region as well as collection regions containing multiple fields.
Icons - Model Layout
Data Export Settings
Data Export Settings deals with all the settings related to the export of data into an Excel sheet, a CSV file, or a database table. Depending on the file format it is exported to, this exported data can later be called in a dataflow, subflow, or a workflow through Excel Workbook Source, Delimited File Source, or a Database Table Source.
Icons - Data Export Settings
Scheduler
Astera offers a built-in Scheduler to perform quotidian tasks. The main screen of the Scheduler with options to customize a repetitive task can be seen in the above screenshot. To open the Scheduler window, go to Server > Job Schedules.
Configure the Scheduler by going to the Deployed Job tab; add the status, name, and schedule type. Then, define a file path, server, and the frequency of the scheduled task. It further provides an option to run the scheduled dataflow in a pushdown mode.
Users can also set up email notifications by going to the Notification Email tab and filling in the necessary details.
Understand how to set up a scheduling task through an example here.
An icon tab is highlighted in the screenshot, details of each are as follows:
Deployment
Deployment is a way for setting up Astera Projects to run on the Scheduler. Deployment enables the use of a Config File on a Project Archive (*.car) file, making the selected flow run independent of any local parameters.
To open the Deployment window, go to Server > Deployment.
To configure Deployment; provide a name, an archived copy of the Project file (*.car), an optional file to specify project parameters, and a comment.
Understand how to set up a project deployment through an example here.
An icon tab is highlighted in the screenshot, details of each are as follows:
Job Monitor
Job Monitor allows you to monitor the jobs that are executed on the server. To open a Job Monitor, go to Server > Monitor.
With a Job Monitor, you can observe the job type, job execution server, executed file, duration of the job, its status, error records, etc.
In Job Monitor, a record in green shows a running job, a record in red signifies a job ending with error and a record in blue signifies a job ending with success.
An icon tab is highlighted in the screenshot, details of each are as follows:
Miscellaneous
View > Toolbox, Server Explorer, Data Source Browser, Job Progress, Verify, Data Preview and Quick Profile will generate a shortcut tab of each of these options on the bottom of the Main screen. Moreover, tabs on Level 1 will expand into a vertical panel on the left side of the Main screen whereas tabs on Level 2 will expand into a horizontal panel at the bottom of the screen.
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