---
description: The session object is a set of instructions that instructs Informatica how and when to move the data from source to targets. A session object is a task, just like other tasks that we create in workflo
title: "Session Properties in Informatica: Complete Tutorial"
image: https://www.guru99.com/images/session-properties-in-informatica.png
---

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**⚡ Smart Summary**

Session properties in Informatica control how and when the Integration Service moves rows from source to target, covering commit points, log files, memory allocation, error handling and the connections a mapping uses at run time.

- 🔘 **Session basics:** A session is a task tied to one mapping, which cannot be swapped once assigned.
- ☑️ **Treat source rows as:** Insert, Update, Delete and Data driven decide whether rows are added, changed or removed.
- ✅ **Primary key:** Update and delete runs require a primary key on the target table before the changes apply.
- 🧪 **Test load:** Rows are read from the source but never written, so a mapping is verified safely.
- 🛠️ **Memory tuning:** The Config Object tab exposes buffer block size and sequential buffer length for performance work.
- 📦 **Load type:** Bulk load skips the database log for speed, while normal load keeps recovery possible.

Read More

![Session Properties in Informatica](https://www.guru99.com/images/session-properties-in-informatica.png)

A session is a set of instructions that tells Informatica how and when to move the data from sources to targets.

A session is a task, just like the other tasks that we create in Workflow Manager. Any session you create must have a [mapping](https://www.guru99.com/mappings-informatica.html) associated with it.

A session can have a single mapping at a time and once assigned, it cannot be changed. To execute a session task, it must be added to a [workflow](https://www.guru99.com/workflows-informatica.html).

A session can be a reusable object or non-reusable. When you create a session in Task Developer, then it can be reused, but when you create a session in Workflow Designer, then it is non-reusable.

A reusable session can be added to multiple workflows.

## Properties of Session

Using the properties of the session you can configure various characteristics of the session like pre and post [SQL](https://www.guru99.com/sql.html) scripts, log file name and path, memory properties, etc.

You can also override mapping properties in the session properties. In this section, we will discuss the following important properties of the session.

- Treat source rows as
- Commit Interval
- Session log file Property
- Test Load Property
- Log options
- Error Handling
- Source/Target Properties
- Connections

**Step 1)** Open the session “s\_m\_emp\_emp\_target” in Task Developer, which we created in the earlier tutorial.

[![Session s\_m\_emp\_emp\_target listed in the Task Developer workspace]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje1.png)

**Step 2)** Double-click the session icon inside Task Developer to open the Edit Task window.

[![Edit Task window opened for the session from Task Developer]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje2.png)

**Step 3)** Inside the Edit Task window, click the Properties tab.

[![Properties tab selected in the Edit Task window of the session]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje3.png)

**Step 4)** In the Properties tab, Informatica shows the properties of the session.

[![Full list of session properties displayed under the Properties tab]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje4.png)

## Treat Source Rows As Property

This property allows you to define how the source data affects the target table. For example, you can define that the source record should be inserted or deleted from the target.

This property has four options –

- Insert
- Update
- Delete
- Data driven

All four options sit in one drop-down beside the property name.

[![Treat source rows as drop-down listing the Insert, Update, Delete and Data driven options]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje5.png)

- When this property is set to insert, the source data will be marked to be inserted. It means the data will only be inserted.
- When the property is set to update, the target data will be updated by the source data. For updating of data, a primary key needs to be defined in the target table.
- When the property is set to delete, the source data which is already present in the target will be deleted from the target table. For this property to execute and apply the changes, the primary key should be defined in the target table.
- With the property set to Data driven, Informatica checks what source records are marked. If the source records are marked as insert in a mapping, then records will be inserted into the target. If records are marked as update in the mapping, then the records will be updated in the target. So the operation performed at the target depends on how records are handled inside the mapping.

Data driven is the option to choose when the mapping holds an Update Strategy transformation, because that transformation flags every row individually.

**Don't Miss:**

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- [Router Transformation in Informatica: Multiple Conditions Example](https://www.guru99.com/router-transformation-informatica.html)

## How to Make Treat Source Rows – Delete

**Step 1)** In the Properties tab of the session task:

1. Select the “Delete” option in “Treat source rows as”
2. Select the OK button

[![Delete chosen in the Treat source rows as property of the session]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje6.png)

**Step 2)** To define a primary key in the target table, open Informatica Designer.

1. Open Target Designer
2. Double-click the “emp\_target” table

[![emp\_target table opened from Target Designer inside Informatica Designer]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje7.png)

This will open an “Edit Table” window for our target table.

**Step 3)** In the edit window of the target table:

1. For the EmpNo column, select the key type as “primary key” from the drop-down menu, and
2. Select the OK button.

[![EmpNo column set to primary key in the Edit Table window of emp\_target]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje8.png)

**Step 4)** Save the changes in Informatica and execute the workflow for this mapping.

When you execute this mapping, the source records which are already present in the target will get deleted.

## Commit Interval – Property

This property defines the interval after which Informatica makes a commit operation to the target table.

For example, if you are inserting 20,000 records in a target table, and you define commit interval as 5,000, then after every 5,000 insertions of records in the target, a commit operation will be performed.

The default interval is 10,000 rows, and the commit type can be set to target based or source based.

[![Commit type and commit interval fields shown in the session Properties tab]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje9.png)

## Session Log File Name & Session Log File Directory

Configure this property to modify

- Default session log file name and
- Path of the log file

The $PMSessionLogDir\\ is an Informatica variable and on Windows it points to the following default location “C:\\Informatica\\9.6.1\\server\\infa\_shared\\SessLogs”.

[![Session log file name and session log file directory fields in the session properties]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje10.png)

## Enable Test Load

Using this property, you can test your session and mappings. When you use this feature and execute the sessions, records are fetched from the sources but they do not get loaded into the target. So this feature helps in [testing](https://www.guru99.com/software-testing.html) the correctness of mappings, parameter files and the functioning of various transformations inside the mapping.

If you enable this feature, then there is another property – Number of Rows to Test – which should be configured for the number of records you want to be fetched from the source for the test load.

[![Enable test load check box with the Number of Rows to Test field beside it]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje11.png)

## Memory Properties

Memory properties give us the flexibility to fine tune the memory allocated to Informatica for performance optimizations. When there are heavy bottlenecks and performance is poor, then you can try to improve the performance using the memory properties.

To configure memory properties, click the Config Object tab of the Edit Task window. It will open another window where you can configure the changes.

[![Config Object tab selected in the Edit Task window of the session]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje12.png)

In this section, you can configure the memory properties. For example, default buffer block size, sequential buffer length, etc. Changes to these properties determine how much memory should be allocated to Informatica services for their operation.

[![Default buffer block size and sequential buffer length fields under the Config Object tab]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje13.png)

## Log Options

In this property section, you can configure the log properties of the session. You can set how many logs you want to save for a session and the maximum size of the session log file.

[![Log options group showing the save session log settings and the maximum log file size]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje14.png)

## Error Handling

In this section, you can configure the error properties for the session.

Using Stop on errors, you can configure after how many errors the session has to be stopped.

Using Override tracing, you can override the mapping tracing levels.

You can also configure the behaviour of the session for various errors encountered, for example stored procedure error, pre-post SQL error, etc.

[![Error handling group of the Config Object tab with the stop on errors field]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje15.png)

## Mapping and Source/Target Properties

In the Mapping tab of the Edit Task window, you can configure the properties of the mapping and of its sources, targets and transformations. Table names can be overridden and table name prefixes applied here, and the transformation properties set inside the mapping can be reviewed and overridden as well. It is a single place to review all of them.

[![Mapping tab of the Edit Task window listing sources, targets and transformations]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje16.png)

## Connection Properties in Mapping

Using this property, you can define database connections for the sources and targets.

[![Relational connection browser used to set the source and target connections]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje17.png)

## Source Properties

In this section, you can configure the properties related to the source of the mapping. You can configure pre and post SQL scripts for the source.

Using the SQL query property, you can override the SQL for the source. You can also override the source table name in this section.

[![Source properties pane showing the SQL query and source table name overrides]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje18.png)

## Target Properties

In this section, you can configure the details of the target. You can define whether the target load has to be a bulk load or a normal load.

| Target load type | What it means for the run |
| --- | --- |
| Normal | Rows are written through the database log, so the load is slower but database recovery after a failure is possible. |
| Bulk | The redo log buffers are bypassed, so the load is faster, but recovery of the failed load is not available. |

You can also define the property to truncate the target table before populating it, so the table is emptied first and the load runs afterwards. This property is useful when we create mappings for stage load.

We can also define target table pre SQL and post SQL. Pre SQL is the piece of SQL code which will be executed before performing insert in the target table, and post SQL code will be executed after the load of the target table is completed.

[![Target properties pane with the target load type, truncate option and pre and post SQL fields]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje19.png)

## Success or Failure of Session Task

When a workflow holds multiple sessions, one or more of them can fail while the rest succeed, which raises the question of what the workflow status should be. To handle such conditions, Informatica provides a failure specific property inside the workflow. To configure such behaviour –

**Step 1)** Open the workflow “wkf\_run\_command”, which we created earlier.

[![Workflow wkf\_run\_command opened in Workflow Manager with its command and session tasks]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje20.png)

**Step 2)** Double-click the command task. This will open the Edit Task window.

1. Select the General tab
2. Select the check box against the property “fail parent if this task fails”
3. Select the OK button

[![Fail parent if this task fails selected on the General tab of the command task]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje21.png)

**Step 3)** Double-click the session task. This will open the Edit Task window.

1. Select the General tab
2. Select the check box against the property “fail parent if this task fails”
3. Select the OK button

[![Fail parent if this task fails selected on the General tab of the session task]()](https://www.guru99.com/images/informatica/083115_1004_SessionObje22.png)

**Step 4)** Save the changes using the Ctrl+S shortcut.

When you execute this workflow after making the above changes, if any of the tasks fails the workflow status will be set to failed, so you can identify that during the execution of your workflow some of its tasks have failed.

## FAQs

🔁 Can one reusable session be added to several workflows?

Yes. A session created in Task Developer is reusable and can be placed in many [workflows](https://www.guru99.com/workflows-informatica.html). One created in Workflow Designer stays non-reusable and belongs to that workflow alone.

🗝️ Why does a delete or update run need a primary key on the target?

The Integration Service builds the WHERE clause of the generated UPDATE or DELETE statement from the key columns. Without a primary key on the target definition, no row matches and nothing changes.

🧭 What does the Update Strategy transformation change about row handling?

It flags each row as insert, update, delete or reject inside the [transformation](https://www.guru99.com/introduction-transformations-informatica-and-filter-transformation.html) pipeline, which is why the session must run with Data driven selected.

🧾 What is a target load order group used for?

It groups a source qualifier with the targets it feeds, so related tables load in a chosen sequence and parent rows are in place before child rows arrive.

🐢 Where should tuning start when a session runs slowly?

Read the session log for the busy percentages of the reader, transformation and writer threads. The busiest thread is the real bottleneck, and only then do buffer settings deserve attention.

📌 Can connection names be changed at run time without editing?

Yes. Connection names, source directories and mapping parameters are read from a parameter file at run time, so one object runs across development, test and production untouched.

🤖 How does AI help tune ETL session performance?

Machine learning models in modern ETL platforms profile run history, predict which stage becomes the bottleneck and recommend partitioning or memory changes, replacing manual trial and error.

🧑‍💻 Can GitHub Copilot help write pre and post SQL scripts?

Yes. Copilot drafts the [SQL](https://www.guru99.com/sql.html) that runs before or after a load, such as index drops, truncate statements and audit inserts. Each generated statement still needs schema review.

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