Changing the default data type mapping

Why changing the default data type mapping?

There are two data types in the database component schema: the Talend type and the DB type. When retrieving the table schema, there is always a default Talend type to map to the real DB type. Also, there is a default DB type to map to the Talend type on the DB schema, when linking a non-DB component to a DB output component. You can modify the default data type mapping for your project rather than changing it manually every time.

A Talend type is an intermediate Java type, mapped for each data type of different databases. These default data type mappings are configured in an XML file. Each kind of database has a separate mapping configuration file. For example, the file mapping_Mysql.xml maps MySQL data types to Talend types.

Changing the default data type mapping

To change the default data mapping, you will have to change the preferences of your project. In the portion shown below of the mapping for a MySQL database, the DB type DECIMAL will map to the Talend type Float by default when retrieving the table schema.

...
<dbToTalendTypes>
                ...
   <dbType type="DECIMAL">
                    <talendType type="id_Float" default="true" />
                    <talendType type="id_Double"/>
                    <talendType type="id_BigDecimal"/>
                    </dbType>
                ...

Procedure

Open a Talend project.
On the toolbar of the Studio main window, click File > Edit Project Properties from the menu bar to open the [Project Settings] dialog box.
In the tree view of the dialog box, expand General and select Metadata of Talend Type to open the relevant view.
Double-click the mapping_Mysql to edit the file and change the default mapping.

In this example, map the DB type DECIMAL to the Talend type BigDecimal by default as follows:

...<dbToTalendTypes>
...
<dbType type="DECIMAL">
<talendType type="id_Float" />
<talendType type="id_Double"/>
<talendType type="id_BigDecimal" default="true" />
</dbType>
...

Click OK to save your changes.