The NORMALIZATION operator is used to standardize data in GRAVITY projects by converting values to a single, common reference unit.
In integration processes, it is common to encounter data representing the same quantities (e.g., weight, length, volume, price) expressed in different units—kilograms, grams, liters, pieces, currencies, and so on. The NORMALIZATION operator enables the automatic conversion of these values to a uniform unit using a set of conversion factors defined in an external data source (e.g., a database table or a reference file).
As a result, this operator:
- facilitates further comparison, grouping, and analysis of data,
- ensures logical consistency of the data stream on the output data bus,
- automates unit conversion according to defined logic (e.g., “1 kg = 1000 g”, “1 EUR = 4.50 PLN”).
The NORMALIZATION operator can be used wherever there is a need to standardize data coming from different sources or expressed in different unit formats.
An example of a GRAVITY project using the NORMALIZATION operator:
OPERATOR CONFIGURATION
When configuring the operator, you must specify:
- the column from the input data bus to be normalized (COLUMN FOR NORMALIZATION); this is the column that will be transformed,
- the normalization column (NORMALIZATION COLUMN), which contains the unit of measure,
- the name of the normalization unit (NORMALIZATION VALUE), which describes the universal reference unit.
When configuring the operator, you must also specify the basis for conversion:
- external data used as the basis for conversion (the data is provided by the END OF PATH OBJECT operator as the result of another processing stream),
- a column from END OF PATH (END OF PATH NORMALIZATION COLUMN) — a column containing the measure value, used to join the normalization data with the input data stream of the operator’s data bus.
- a column from END OF PATH (END OF PATH CONVERTER COLUMN), which contains the conversion multiplier; the output value is the product of the input value and the multiplier.
An example of a normalization action:
