Risk departments have a lot of complex SQL queries in their data warehouses and data marts. But sometimes it’s really difficult to find the right level of detail. Manta Flow can help.
“When we present Manta Flow to potential customers, most of them are happy that we can reduce very complex SQL statements to a few simple rectangles connected by arrows”, explains Lukas Hermann, our Director of Engineering. “They need to be able to quickly understand what source tables their SQL queries read, what target tables they fill, what columns are involved in computing a particular column and how.”
The Usual
For example, let’s look at just two ordinary insert statements moving data from a stage to a datamart and to a report:
It could take you quite a while to analyze which columns are involved in the computation. But with Manta Flow it is really easy to see, including all the statements involved:
*Click the image above to expand*
This is perfectly sufficient for all business analytics in data warehouse environments. All the unnecessary details like exactly how data is computed, filtered, aggregated, or ordered are hidden. And if you want to go deeper, Manta Flow can easily show the SQL code of the statements where you find the full detail.
The Raw
However, some analysts (particularly from the aforementioned risk departments) say that their SQL statements are really huge, including many subselects, complex expressions, etc., so the jump between the clear picture and the SQL code is too big. Therefore, they would like to see all the computation steps in a similar simplified format, and they ask if Manta Flow can handle it, if it has all the information necessary to show it.
The answer is that Manta Flow has the most detailed information possible about each part of the statement, but so as not to disturb you with what are in most cases useless details, it filters the information to the best level of detail. If you want to see everything including expressions, conditions, aggregations, etc., it’s possible to configure or completely turn off the filtering. Manta Flow is able to show you unfiltered information, but still keep you in the loop and oriented within your own systems.
See? It’s possible to show the SQL code in the precise position of each part of the statement shown.
If you’d like to try something like that yourself, just let us know in the form on the right. Also, do not forget to follow us on Twitter.