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Creating transformation templates

Managing identical or highly similar transformation logic across a complex system landscape can quickly lead to code sprawl and maintenance overhead. For example, if you need to extract "Create Sales Order" events from five different regional SAP systems, duplicating the same SQL script five times introduces significant validation and testing risk.

Transformation templates solve this by introducing a "Master Blueprint" architecture. Designing a template allows you to centralize your core CeloSQL logic while maintaining development flexibility:

  • Inheritance by design: Any structural or logic updates made to the master template automatically cascade to all deployed instances simultaneously, ensuring global consistency.

  • Localized overrides: While instances inherit the template’s core logic, individual instances can be safely customized with unique data source connections, specific parameter values, or minor localized script overrides.

  • Standardized engineering: Enforce identical attribute mapping, filtering rules, and key generation logic across your engineering team to keep your data model predictably structured.

Creating transformation templates

To create a transformation template using the Objects and Events dashboard::

  1. Click Transformations.

  2. Select Templates.

  3. Click Create Template.

    create_templates.png

  4. Select the object or event to create the transformation template for and then click Next.

    select_object_transformation.png

  5. In the left-hand schema tree of the SQL editor workspace, select the target attribute or relationship you want to define for the template.

    • Celonis transformations can’t be renamed.

    • Custom transformations are given an autogenerated name.

    select_attribute_in_SQL_editor.png

  6. Data source: Select the main data source for the business data in the Data source section. Queries run on this data source unless a data connection parameter is used.

    select_data_source.png

  7. Parameters: If your template script utilizes variables, assign values or connection overrides in the Parameters section of the side panel.

    parameters.png

    • Global parameters: belong to the workspace. You supply their values in the transformation editor.

    • Local parameters: belong to your script. You supply their values in the transformation editor.

    • Data connections: are specific data connections in the data pool. They override the default data source for the transformation.

  8. Script: In the central SQL editor canvas, write your reusable CeloSQL transformation logic.

    • Only one overwrite per script type is allowed.

    • Extension scripts must populate all custom attributes or relationships for an object.

    • Each script opens with a generated SQL template. Remove comments and build a SELECT statement that maps source columns to target attributes.

    • Ensure object and event IDs are unique.

    Script_section.png

  9. Validate script: Click Execute query selection (or use the validation shortcut) and review the Preview pane to verify that your source columns map cleanly without database errors.

    • Insert source columns using the Data Source explorer.

    • Use NULL for unmapped attributes and double quotes for source column names if needed.

    preview_SQL.png

  10. Click Save.

    The template is validated and locked into your workspace. It is now globally available to select as a blueprint when creating new object or event transformations.

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