Prepare Data with Transformation Rules

Preparation sets are available on request. To enable this feature for your environment, contact your Customer Success Manager.

Use preparation sets in Ataccama ONE to standardize and transform your data without leaving the source catalog item. Configure transformation rules with instant preview, then publish when you’re ready to produce a new transformation catalog item from the result.

About preparation sets

A preparation set lets you apply transformation rules to a source catalog item, preview the result, and publish a new catalog item that holds the transformed data.

Three concepts come together in a preparation set:

Source catalog item: The dataset you’re starting from. The source is never modified — the preparation set produces a separate output.
Transformation rules: Reusable pieces of standardization logic from a shared rule library. See Transformation Rules for what rules are, how they’re authored, and when to use them.
Transformation catalog item: A new catalog item created when you publish, containing the transformed data. See Transformation Plan Types for how it fits alongside other transformation output types.

You can create multiple preparation sets on a single source catalog item to produce different standardized outputs for different consumers.

Typical use cases include:

Standardizing date formats across a dataset before using it in reports or analytics.
Trimming whitespace and fixing casing inconsistencies in string columns.
Filling missing values with defaults to ensure completeness before applying data quality rules.
Standardizing phone numbers, postal codes, or other structured values to a consistent format.
Preparing different versions of the same dataset for different downstream consumers.

Create a preparation set

A new preparation set is an empty named container. Nothing happens to your data until you add rules and publish an output.

Go to the catalog item you want to transform.
Open the Prepare data tab.
Select Add preparation set.
Enter a Name and optional Description for the preparation set.
Select Create.

The preparation set is created and ready for rules to be added.

Add transformation rules

You select rules from a shared rule library and apply them to your preparation set. Rules apply in the order you add them, so the sequence matters — for example, trim whitespace before standardizing casing. If the rule you need doesn’t exist yet, author it first (see Transformation Rules).

On the Prepare data tab, open the preparation set.
Select Add transformation rule.
In the Apply transformation rule dialog, select or search for a transformation rule from the library.
Configure the rule parameters. The available parameters depend on the individual rule. You can also see a preview of new, unchanged, and removed attributes.
Select Apply.

Repeat to add multiple rules. You can view the full sequence of applied rules, reorder them to change the transformation sequence, and remove any rule from the list.

Preview the output

Before publishing, you can preview how the rules will affect your data. The preview reflects the current rule configuration and lets you verify the output before committing.

Two preview modes are available:

Preview final output: Shows the combined result of all applied rules.
Preview by rule: Shows the effect of each individual rule, so you can see exactly what each rule contributes to the transformation.

Select Generate preview to compute the preview, and Regenerate preview to refresh it after adding or changing rules.

Create the output

Publish the preparation set, then select Create output to produce a transformation catalog item. The Create output button is unavailable until at least one rule is added.

The dialog has three steps:

Select columns: Choose which columns to include in the output.

A teal badge marks columns created or modified by a rule. All columns are selected by default. Select Next step when done.
Name & description: Enter an Output name and optional description.

The name is prefilled from the preparation set name. Select Next step when done.
Review & export: Review the output configuration (output type, name, number of columns, and number of rules), then select Create.

ONE creates a new transformation catalog item based on the rules in the preparation set. The Transformation rules tab of the new catalog item is read-only and links back to the source preparation set.

The source catalog item is not modified. Creating an output produces a separate catalog item, and your original data remains unchanged.

Modify a preparation set

You can continue to edit a preparation set after creating an output. Publish your changes before generating a new output so they take effect.

Use transformed data

After publishing, the output catalog item is available like any other catalog item. You can:

Profile the data.
Apply data quality rules.
Use it in reports or analytics.
Export it to other systems.

If transformation rules don’t cover your use case, you can apply more complex logic using transformation plans.