Overview of using Pentaho Spoon

You must first create the source and destination tables and establish the corresponding mappings. Next, you must identify variables that need to be passed into the transform and add these variables to the transform business object or form. Then, you can use Pentaho Spoon and the following steps to define and maintain transforms.

Tip: It might not be necessary to perform all of the following steps. The steps that are required depend on whether you are defining or maintaining a transform.
  • Run the spoon.bat or kettle.exe file by opening Spoon. Select No Repository as you do not need to use one.
  • Either open an existing XML file, that was downloaded to the file system by using the Transform Form, or use File > New > Transformation to create a new transform.
  • Define the JNDI settings for the local database. Use TRIRIGA® as the connection name. Set the database connection in the tool by using View > Database Connections > New. When the transform is run by the workflow, the connection is overwritten with the application server’s connection information.
  • Use the Design menu to lay out the transform as follows:
    • Extract rows from the tables by using Design > Input > Table Input.
    • Make sure that all row fields have values when used in a calculation with Design > Transform > Value Mapper.
    • Use Design > Transform > Calculator for calculations.
    • Provide the sequencing for the destination rows with Design > Lookup > Call DB Procedure by using the NEXTVAL stored database procedure.
    • Use Scripting > Modified JavaScript Value and other steps to transform data as necessary.
    • Identify the table to which the rows are output with Design > Output > Table Output
    • Map the fields by Generated Mappings against Target Step.
  • Link steps by using View > Hops and lay out the transform, step-by-step.
  • Test thoroughly by using execute, and other available utilities. Testing makes sure that the process is accurate and that the expected rows are returned and transformed appropriately.
  • Save the transform by using File > Save. Do not save to the repository. Instead, set the file type to XML and save with the .ktr file extension. If you do not set the file type, the default is Kettle transform, which saves an XML file with the .ktr file extension.