Informatica CAI R42 Professional flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Service process

A synchronous CAI process type that accepts a request and returns a reply to the caller; the caller blocks until the process completes or faults, making it suitable for real-time API-style integrations.

Process (asynchronous) type

A CAI process type that starts and runs without returning a reply to the caller; used for long-running, event-driven, or fire-and-forget work where the caller does not wait for completion.

Guide process

An interactive CAI process type that orchestrates human tasks through wizard-style screens; it collects user input step by step and is used for guided data entry or approval workflows.

Service Connector

A CAI design-time asset that defines how to call an external service: its endpoint, operation, request and response schemas, and security. Processes invoke connectors as service steps.

App Connection

A reusable CAI asset holding authentication credentials and endpoint metadata for a SaaS or on-premises application, referenced by connectors so credentials are not hard-coded in each process.

Decision step

A CAI step that evaluates one or more conditional expressions and routes execution down the matching outgoing path; each path has a condition, and an optional default path handles no match.

Parallel Paths step

A CAI step that splits execution into concurrent branches which run simultaneously; a join step later merges them, and variables written on separate branches must be reconciled at the join.

For Each loop

A CAI loop that iterates over a collection, binding each element to a loop variable; the number of iterations equals the collection size, and an empty collection executes zero iterations.

While loop

A CAI loop that repeats while a boolean condition remains true; the condition is evaluated before each iteration, so a condition that is initially false skips the loop body entirely.

Catch step

A CAI fault-handling step attached to a process or a specific step; when a fault occurs it intercepts the fault, exposes fault details as variables, and runs recovery logic instead of terminating.

Throw step

A CAI step that raises a fault explicitly, either a built-in fault type or a custom fault with a message and code, transferring control to the nearest matching Catch handler.

Human Task step

A CAI step that pauses process execution and creates a task for a user or group; the process resumes only after the task is completed, with the outcome captured in output variables.

Subprocess call

A CAI step that invokes another process as a reusable unit; it can run synchronously (caller waits for the reply) or asynchronously, and inputs and outputs must be mapped explicitly.

Input parameter

A typed process variable declared as an input; for a Service process it forms part of the request contract, and required inputs cause validation failure if the caller omits them.

Output parameter

A typed process variable declared as an output; for a Service process it defines the reply payload returned to the caller when the process completes successfully.

Assignment step

A CAI step that sets variable values using expressions, constants, or functions; it is the standard way to initialize, transform, or accumulate data between service calls.

Expression language

The syntax CAI uses inside steps to reference variables, call built-in functions, and build conditions; expressions are evaluated at runtime and can concatenate, compare, and transform values.

Wait/Timer step

A CAI step that delays execution for a fixed duration or until a specified time; used for polling intervals, retry backoff, or aligning with downstream batch windows.

Notification step

A CAI step that sends an email or message alert during process execution; commonly used to signal failures, approvals, or completion to operators or business users.

Process console

The CAI runtime monitoring view showing process instances, their status, step-level history, variable values, and fault details; used for troubleshooting and replaying failed instances.

Package and deploy

CAI release model: assets are bundled into a package, and the package is deployed to a runtime environment; redeploying a prior package version performs a rollback.

REST endpoint exposure

A Service process can be published as a REST endpoint; CAI generates the URL from the process name and environment host, and the input/output parameters map to the JSON request and response.

SOAP endpoint exposure

A Service process can be published as a SOAP endpoint with a generated WSDL; input and output parameters map to XML message elements defined by the operation schema.

Connection vs connector

A connection stores credentials and endpoint metadata for a system; a connector defines the operations and schemas used to call that system. Connectors reference connections at design time.

Synchronous subprocess

A subprocess invocation where the parent process waits for the child to finish and receives its output parameters before continuing to the next step.

Asynchronous subprocess

A subprocess invocation where the parent starts the child and continues immediately without waiting; the child's results are not returned to the parent inline.

Fault variable

A runtime variable populated inside a Catch step containing fault details such as error message, code, and originating step; used to log, transform, or rethrow the error.

Required input validation

When a Service process declares an input parameter as required, a request missing that value fails validation before process logic runs, returning an error to the caller.

Loop variable scope

The loop variable in a For Each step is scoped to that loop; after the loop ends, the last assigned value may be referenced only if the implementation exposes it outside the loop.

Parallel branch join

After parallel branches complete, a join step merges execution; variables assigned on different branches must be combined deliberately because branch write order is not guaranteed.

Process instance status

Runtime states shown in the process console, typically running, completed, failed, and waiting on a human task; status drives monitoring and replay decisions.

Reusable subprocess design

Extracting shared logic into a subprocess with typed inputs and outputs reduces duplication; callers map parameters at each call site, and changes propagate to all callers on redeploy.