20 data integration interview questions and answers

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Why use Talend over other ETL tools available in the market.

Following are few of the advantages of Talend:

Features Of Talend ETL Tool

What Is Talend?

Talend is an open source software integration platform/vendor.

• It offers data integration and data management solutions.
• This business offers a variety of integration tools and services for enterprise applications, big data, cloud storage, data management, master data management, and data quality.
• But Talend’s first product i. e. More commonly known as Talend, Open Studio for Data Integration by Talend

What is Talend Open Studio?

Talend Open Studio is an open source project that is based on Eclipse RCP. It supports ETL oriented implementations and is generally provided for the on-premises deployment. This acts as a code generator which produces data transformation scripts and underlying programs in Java. It provides an interactive and user-friendly GUI which lets you access the metadata repository containing the definition and configurations for each process performed in Talend.

What is a project in Talend?

‘Project’ is the highest physical structure which bundles up and stores all types of Business Models, Jobs, metadata, routines, context variables or any other technical resources.

Describe a Job Design in Talend.

A Job is a basic executable unit of anything that is built using Talend. It is technically a single Java class which defines the working and scope of information available with the help of graphical representation. It implements the data flow by translating the business needs into code, routines, and programs.

What is a ‘Component’ in Talend?

A component is a functional piece which is used to perform a single operation in Talend. On the palette, whatever you can see all are the graphical representation of the components. You can use them with a simple drag and drop. At the backend, a component is a snippet of Java code that is generated as a part of a Job (which is basically a Java class). These Java codes are automatically compiled by Talend when the Job is saved.

Explain the various types of connections available in Talend.

Connections in Talend define whether the data has to be processed, data output, or the logical sequence of a Job. Various types of connections provided by Talend are:

1. Row: The Row connection deals with the actual data flow. Talend supports the following kinds of row connections: Main Lookup Filter Rejects ErrorRejects Output Uniques/Duplicates Multiple Input/Output
2. Iterate: Using the Iterate connection, a loop can be run on files in a directory, on rows in a file, or on database entries.
3. Trigger: Depending on the trigger’s nature, the Trigger connection is used to establish a dependency between Jobs or Subjobs that are triggered one after the other. Subjob Triggers OnSubjobOK OnSubjobError Run if Component Triggers OnComponentOK OnComponentError Run if These are the two general categories of trigger connections.
4. Link: The ELT mapper component receives table schema data via the Link connection.

Differentiate between ‘OnComponentOk’ and ‘OnSubjobOk’.

Why is Talend called a Code Generator?

Talend provides a user-friendly GUI where you can simply drag and drop the components to design a Job. When the Job is executed, Talend Studio automatically translates it into a Java class at the backend. Each component present in a Job is divided into three parts of Java code (begin, main and end). This is why Talend studio is called a code generator.

What are the various types of schemas supported by Talend?

Some of the major types of schemas supported by Talend are:

1. Repository Schema: Any changes made to this schema will be automatically reflected in all of the jobs using it, allowing it to be reused across numerous jobs.
2. Generic Schema: This schema is used as a shared resource by various types of data sources and is not connected to any specific data source.
3. Fixed Schema: These are the read-only schemas that some of the components will already have defined.

Explain Routines.

Routines are the reusable pieces of Java code. Using routines you can write custom code in Java in order to optimize data processing, improve Job capacity, and extend Talend Studio features.Talend supports two types of routines:

• System routines: You can call these read-only codes directly from any Job.
• Routines that can be customized by users by either developing new ones or adapting existing ones are known as user routines.

Can you define schema at runtime in Talend?

Schemas can’t be defined during runtime. As the schemas define the movement of data, it must be defined while configuring the components.

Differentiate between ‘Built-in’ and ‘Repository’.

What are Context Variables and why they are used in Talend?

Context variables are the user-defined parameters used by Talend which are passed into a Job at the runtime. These variables may change their values as the Job promotes from Development to Test and Production environment. Context variables can be defined in three ways:

1. Embedded Context Variables
2. Repository Context Variables
3. External Context Variables

Can you define a variable which can be accessed from multiple Jobs?

Yes, you can do that by declaring a static variable within a routine. Then you need to add the setter/getter methods for this variable in the routine itself. Once done, this variable will be accessible from multiple Jobs.

What is a Subjob and how can you pass data from parent Job to child Job?

A Subjob can be defined as a single component or a number of components which are joined by data-flow. A Job can have at least one Subjob. To pass a value from the parent Job to child Job you need to make use of context variables.

Define the use of ‘Outline View’ in TOS.

Outline View in Talend Open Studio is used to keep the track of return values available in a component. This will also include the user-defined values configured in a tSetGlobal component.

Explain tMap component. List down the different functions that you can perform using it.

tMap is one of the core components which belongs to the ‘Processing’ family in Talend. It is primarily used for mapping the input data to the output data. tMap can perform following functions:

• Add or remove columns
• Apply transformation rules on any type of field
• Filter input and output data using constraints
• Reject data
• Multiplex and demultiplex data
• Concatenate and interchange the data

Differentiate between tMap and tJoin.

What is a scheduler?

A scheduler is a software which selects processes from the queue and loads them into memory for execution. Talend does not provide a built-in scheduler.

Data Integration – Talend Interview Questions

Describe the ETL Process.

ETL stands for Extract, Transform and Load. It refers to a trio of processes which are required to move the raw data from its source to a data warehouse, a business intelligence system, or a big data platform.

• Accessing data from all storage systems, including RDBMS, Excel files, XML files, flat files, etc., is what this step entails.
• Analyze and apply various functions to the entire set of data in order to transform it into the desired format in this step.
• Load: In this step, the processed data, i. e. Using the fewest resources possible, the extracted and transformed data is then loaded into the database, which is typically the target data repository.

Differentiate between ETL and ELT.

Can we use ASCII or Binary Transfer mode in SFTP connection?

No, the transfer modes can’t be used in SFTP connections. SFTP doesn’t support any kind of transfer modes as it is an extension to SSH and assumes an underlying secure channel.

How do you schedule a Job in Talend?

In order to schedule a Job in Talend first, you need to export the Job as a standalone program. Then using your OS’ native scheduling tools (Windows Task Scheduler, Linux, Cron etc.) you can schedule your Jobs.

Explain the purpose of tDenormalizeSortedRow.

tDenormalizeSortedRow belongs to the ‘Processing’ family of the components. It helps in synthesizing sorted input flow in order to save memory. It combines all input sorted rows in a group where the distinct values are joined with item separators.

Differentiate between “insert or update” and “update or insert”.

insert or update: In this action, first Talend tries to insert a record, but if a record with a matching primary key already exists, then it updates that record.update or insert: In this action, Talend first tries to update a record with a matching primary key, but if there is none, then the record is inserted.

Explain the usage of tContextLoad.

tContextLoad belongs to the ‘Misc’ family of components. This component helps in modifying the values of the active context on the fly. Basically, it is used to load a context from a flow. It sends warnings if the parameters defined in the input are not defined in the context and also if the context is not initialized in the incoming data.

Discuss the difference between XMX and XMS parameters.

XMS parameter is used to specify the initial heap size in Java whereas XMX parameter is used to specify the maximum heap size in Java.

What is the use of Expression Editor in Talend?

From an Expression Editor, all the expressions like Input, Var or Output, and constraint statements can be viewed and edited easily. Expression Editor comes with a dedicated view for writing any function or transformation. The necessary expressions which are needed for the data transformation can be directly written in the Expression editor or you can also open the Expression Builder dialog box where you can just write the data transformation expressions.

Explain the error handling in Talend.

There are few ways in which errors in Talend can be handled:

• For straightforward Jobs, one can rely on Talend Open Studio’s exception-throwing mechanism, which is represented by a red stack trace in the Run View.
• Every component and subjob is required to return a code that initiates further processing. To direct the error to an error handling procedure, use the Subjob Ok/Error and Component Ok/Error links.
• Creating an error handling Subjob that should run whenever an error occurs is the fundamental method of handling errors.

Differentiate between the usage of tJava, tJavaRow, and tJavaFlex components.

How can you execute a Talend Job remotely?

You can execute a Talend Job remotely from the command line. All you need to do is, export the job along with its dependencies and then access its instructions files from the terminal.

Can you exclude headers and footers from the input files before loading the data?

Yes, the headers and footers can be excluded easily before loading the data from the input files.

Explain the process of resolving ‘Heap Space Issue’.

‘Heap Space Issue’ occurs when JVM tries to add more data into the heap space area than the space available. To resolve this issue, you need to modify the memory allocated to the Talend Studio. Then you have to modify the relevant Studio .ini configuration file according to your system and need.

What is the purpose of ‘tXMLMap’ component?

This component transforms and routes the data from single or multiple sources to single or multiple destinations. It is an advanced component which is sculpted for transforming and routing XML data flow. Especially when we need to process numerous XML data sources.

Big Data – Talend Interview Questions

Differentiate between TOS for Data Integration and TOS for Big Data.

Talend Open Studio for Big Data is the superset of Talend For Data Integration. It contains all the functionalities provided by TOS for DI along with some additional functionalities like support for Big Data technologies. That is, TOS for DI generates only the Java codes whereas TOS for BD generates MapReduce codes along with the Java codes.

What are the various Big data technologies supported by Talend?

In TOS for BD, the Big Data family is really very large and few of the most used technologies are:

• Cassandra
• CouchDB
• Google Storage
• HBase
• HDFS
• Hive
• MapRDB
• MongoDB
• Pig
• Sqoop etc.

How can you run multiple Jobs in parallel within Talend?

As Talend is a java-code generator, various Jobs and Subjobs in multiple threads can be executed to reduce the runtime of a Job. Basically, there are three ways for parallel execution in Talend Data Integration:

1. Multithreading
2. tParallelize component
3. Automatic parallelization

What are the mandatory configurations needed in order to connect to HDFS?

In order to connect to HDFS you must provide the following details:

• Distribution
• NameNode URI
• User name

Which service is mandatory for coordinating transactions between Talend Studio and HBase?

Zookeeper service is mandatory for coordinating the transactions between TOS and HBase.

What is the name of the language used for Pig scripting?

Pig Latin is used for scripting in Pig.

When do you use tKafkaCreateTopic component?

This component creates a Kafka topic which the other Kafka components can use as well. It allows you to visually generate the command to create a topic with various properties at topic-level.

Explain the purpose of tPigLoad component.

Once the data is validated, this component helps in loading the original input data to an output stream in just one single transaction. It sets up a connection to the data source for the current transaction.

What component do you need to use to automatically close a Hive connection as soon as the main Job finishes execution?

Using a tPostJob and tHiveClose components you can close a Hive connection automatically.

MCQ – Talend Interview Questions

In Talend Studio, where can you find the components needed to create a job?

1. Repository
2. Run view
3. Designer Workspace
4. Palette [Ans]

In the component view, where can you change the name of a component from?

1. Basic settings
2. Advanced settings
3. Documentation
4. View [Ans]

The HDFS components can only be used with Big Data batch or Big Data streaming Jobs.

1. True
2. False [Ans]

An analysis on Hive table content can be executed in which perspective of Talend Studio?

1. Profiling [Ans]
2. Integration
3. Big Data
4. Mediation

What does an asterisk next to the Job name signify in the design workspace?

1. It is an active Job
2. The Job contains unsaved changes [Ans]
3. The job is currently running
4. The Job contains errors

Suppose you have designed a Big Data batch using the MapReduce framework. Now you want to execute it on a cluster using Map Reduce. Which configurations are mandatory in the Hadoop Configuration tab of the Run view?

1. Name Node [Ans]
2. Data Node
3. Resource Manager
4. Job Tracker [Ans]

How to find configuration error message for a component?

1. Right-click the component and select “Show Problems”
2. Hover over the error symbol within the Designer view [Ans]
3. Open the Errors view
4. Open the Jobs view

What is the process of joining two input columns in the tMap configuration window?

1. Adding a column to another input table by dragging it from the main input table [Ans]
2. Right-clicking one column in the input table and selecting “Join”
3. choosing “Join” from the context menu after right-clicking on two columns in two different input tables.
4. two columns from two different input tables are selected, and they are then moved to the output table.

To import a file from FTP, which of the following are the mandatory components?

1. tFTPConnection, tFTPPut
2. tFTPConnection, tFTPFileList, tFTPGet
3. tFTPConnection, tFTPGet [Ans]
4. tFTPConnection, tFTPExists, tFTPGet

Suppose you have three Jobs of which Jobs 1 and 2 are executed parallelly. Job 3 executes only after Jobs 1 and 2 complete their execution. Which of the following components can be used to set this up?

1. tUnite
2. tPostJob [Ans]
3. tRunJob
4. tParallelize [Ans]

For a tFileInputDelimited component, what is the default field separator parameter?

1. Semicolon [Ans]
2. Pipe
3. Comma
4. Colon

While saving the changes to a tMap configuration, sometimes Talend asks you for confirmation to propagate changes. Why?

1. The source component should have a matching schema because your changes affect the output schema.
2. The target component should have a matching schema because your changes affect the output schema. [Ans]
3. The source component in question should have a matching schema since your changes affect an input schema.
4. Because your changes have not been saved yet

In Talend, how to add a Shape into a Business Model?

1. Click and place it from the palette
2. Drag it from the repository
3. Click in the quick access toolbar
4. Drag and drop it from the palette [Ans]

How do you create a row link between two components?

1. Drag the target component onto the source component
2. After selecting the target component with the right click, click the source component.
3. Drag the source component onto the target component
4. Click the row, the row type, the target component, and finally the source component with the right mouse click [Ans]

Talend Open Studio generates the Job documentation in which of the following format?

1. HTML [Ans]
2. TEXT
3. CSV
4. XML

We can directly change the generated code in Talend.

1. True
2. False [Ans]

What is the default date pattern in Talend Open Studio?

1. MM-DD-YY
2. DD-MM-YY [Ans]
3. DD-MM-YYYY
4. YY-MM-DD

MDM stands for

1. Meta Data Management
2. Mobile Device Management
3. Master Data Management [Ans]
4. Mock Data Management

In order to encapsulate and pass the collected log data to the output, which components must be used along with tLogCatcher?

1. tWarn [Ans]
2. tDie [Ans]
3. tStatCatcher
4. tAssertCatcher

Which component do you need to use in order to read data line by line from an input flow and store the data entries into iterative global variables?

1. tIterateToFlow
2. tFileList
3. tFlowToIterate [Ans]
4. tLoop

tMemorizeRows belongs to which component family in Talend?

1. Misc [Ans]
2. Orchestration
3. Internet
4. File

_________ is a powerful input component which holds the ability to replace a number of other components of the File family.

1. tFileInputLDIF
2. tFileInputRegex [Ans]
3. tFileInputExcel
4. tFileInputJSON

Which component do you need in order to prevent an unwanted commit in MySQL database?

1. tMysqlRollback [Ans]
2. tMysqlCommit
3. tMysqlLookupInput
4. tMysqlRow

A database connection defined in Repository can be reused by any Job within the project.

1. True [Ans]
2. False

Using which component can you integrate personalized Pig code with a Talend program?

1. tPigCross
2. tPigMap
3. tPigDistinct
4. tPigCode [Ans]

tKafkaOutput component receives messages serialized into which data type?

1. byte
2. byte[] [Ans]
3. String[]
4. Integer

Two which two component families do tHDFSProperties components belongs to?

1. Big Data and Misc
2. Orchestration and Big Data
3. File and Big Data [Ans]
4. Big Data and Internet

This component is used to read data from cache memory for high-speed data access

1. tHashInput [Ans]
2. tFileInputLDIF
3. tHDFSInput
4. tFileInputXML

Using which component you can calculate the processing time of one or more Subjobs in the main Job?

1. tFlowMeter
2. tChronometerStart [Ans]
3. tFlowMeterCatcher
4. tStatCatcher

tUnite component belongs which of the following two families?

1. File and Processing
2. Misc and Messaging
3. Orchestration and Messaging
4. Orchestration and Processing [Ans]

Using tJavaFlex how many parts of java-code you can add in your Job?

1. One
2. Two
3. Three [Ans]
4. Four