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Workday User Guide
Last Updated: 2025-11-28
Create a Data Change Task

Create a Data Change Task

Security:
  • Prism: Manage File Containers
     domain in the Prism Analytics functional area when uploading a file.
  • Prism: Manage Connection
     domain in the Prism Analytics functional area to use a source connection.
  • Any of these security requirements:
    • Prism: Tables Owner Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Prism: Tables Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Table Owner
       permission on the table.
    • Table Editor
       permission on the table.
    • Can Delete Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Insert Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Truncate Table Data
       permission on the table.
    • Can Update Table Data
       permission on the table.
You can change the rows of data in a table by creating and running a data change task. You can:
  • Insert new rows.
  • Update specific rows based on a key field.
  • Delete specific rows based on a key field.
  • Insert new and update existing rows in the same activity, known as an upsert operation.
How you change the rows in the table depends on the operation you select, such as upsert or delete, and the source data. The source you specify must contain the rows you want to change in the table, such as new rows to insert, or existing rows to update or delete.
To create, edit, or view a data change task on a target table, you must have permission on the target table. Example: To create a data change task using the upsert operation, you must have both insert and update permission on the target table.
  1. Access the
    Data Catalog
     report.
  2. Select
    Create
    Data Change Task
    .
    You can change the data change task name at the top of the left side panel.
  3. On the
    Source
     step, select the source that contains the data you want to change in the target table.
    Workday uses the file upload source type by default. Click
    Change Connection
     to select a different source type. As you select a source type, consider:
    Option Description
    File Upload
    Select 1 or more delimited files.
    When you upload multiple files, each file must use the same schema. Workday supports RFC 4180-compliant delimited files. For more information, see RFC 4180.
    When you select file upload as the source type, configure the
    Source Options
     to define how to parse the file.
    Amazon Redshift
    Select an Amazon Redshift connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select an Amazon Redshift table using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a table, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (`) around each Redshift table, catalog, and schema. You can edit the expression to refine the query further. The backtick characters are optional, but Workday adds them automatically just in case an Amazon Redshift table, schema, or catalog uses a SQL key word.
    When you run a data change task with an Amazon Redshift connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Amazon Redshift using basic authentication (username and password) or the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) credentials configured on the connection.
    • Retrieves the data defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    Amazon S3
    Select an Amazon S3 connection.
    When you use an Amazon S3 connection, you define:
    • The objects to read when the data change task runs.
    • The source schema so Workday knows how to read each object.
    When you run a data change task with an Amazon S3 connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Amazon using the access key credentials configured in the connection.
    • Retrieves the objects defined in the data change task
      Object Pattern
       field.
    • Uses the parsing options defined in the data change task
      Source Options
       step to read the objects retrieved from the S3 bucket.
    Azure Synapse
    Select an Azure Synapse connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select an Azure Synapse table using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a table, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (
    `
    ) around each Azure Synapse table, schema, and database. You can edit the expression to refine the query further. The backtick characters are optional, but Workday adds them automatically just in case an Azure Synapse table, schema, or database uses a SQL key word.
    When you run a data change task with an Azure Synapse connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Azure Synapse using the authentication configured on the connection.
    • Retrieves the objects defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    Azure Blob
    Select an Azure Blob connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select a CSV file using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a CSV file, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (`) around each CSV file. You can edit the expression to select data from the CSV file.
    When you run a data change task with an Azure Blob connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Azure Blob using the authentication configured on the connection.
    • Retrieves the objects defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    When you select
    Azure Blob
     as the source type, Workday adds a new
    Source Settings
     option to the
    Source
     step. You can click
    Add Setting
     in
    Source Settings
     to override the source settings.
    For information on the different settings available in source settings that you can override, see Reference: Data Change Task Source Settings.
    BigQuery
    Select a BigQuery connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select a BigQuery table using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a table, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (`) around each BigQuery table, catalog, and schema. You can edit the expression to refine the query further. The backtick characters are optional, but Workday adds them automatically just in case a BigQuery table, schema, or catalog uses a SQL key word.
    When you run a data change task with a BigQuery connection, Workday:
    • Connects to BigQuery using Google Service Account Key authentication configured on the connection.
    • Retrieves the data defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    Google Cloud Storage
    Select a Google Cloud Storage connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select a CSV file using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a CSV file, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (`) around each CSV file. You can edit the expression to select data from the CSV file.
    When you run a data change task with a Google Cloud Storage connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Google Cloud Storage using Google Service Account Key authentication configured on the connection.
    • Retrieves the data defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    When you select
    Google Cloud Storage
     as the source type, Workday adds a new
    Source Settings
     option to the
    Source
     step. You can click
    Add Setting
     in
    Source Settings
     to override the source settings.
    For information on the different settings available in source settings that you can override, see Reference: Data Change Task Source Settings.
    Data Catalog
    Select an existing dataset or table.
    Salesforce
    Select a Salesforce connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select a Salesforce object using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    . When you select an object, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement. You can edit the expression to refine the query further.
    When you run a data change task with a Salesforce connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Salesforce through BasicAuth or OAuth depending on how the connection is configured.
    • Retrieves objects defined by the SQL query in the
      Source Object
       section.
    SFTP
    Select an SFTP connection that connects to an SFTP server containing 1 or more delimited files.
    When the SFTP connection contains multiple files, each file must use the same schema. Workday supports RFC 4180-compliant delimited files. For more information, see RFC 4180.
    For SFTP sources, you must also upload 1 local delimited file that uses the same schema as the files on the SFTP server. Workday uses the uploaded file to determine how to parse the SFTP files. Workday doesn't load the data from the uploaded file to the table.
    You can override the default directory and file pattern of an SFTP connection.
    When you select SFTP as the source type, configure the
    Source Options
     to define how to parse the uploaded file.
    Snowflake
    Select a Snowflake connection.
    Define the data to retrieve when the data change task runs. You can select a Snowflake table using the
    Select
     button or enter a SQL SELECT statement in the
    Query Expression
    .
    When you select a table, Workday populates the
    Query Expression
     with the appropriate SQL statement and places backtick characters (
    `
    ) around each Snowflake table, catalog, and schema. You can edit the expression to refine the query further. The backtick characters are optional, but Workday adds them automatically just in case a Snowflake table, schema, or catalog uses a SQL key word.
    When you run a data change task with a Snowflake connection, Workday:
    • Connects to Snowflake using basic or Key Pair authentication, depending on how the connection is configured.
    • Retrieves the data defined by the SQL Query Expression or Source Object.
    Workday Report
    Select an existing Workday custom report.
    Workday displays reports that meet the eligibility requirements for importing into tables. See Concept: Creating Reports to Import into Tables and Datasets.
    In the
    Prompts
     section, select how to specify the values for prompts defined in the report:
    • Specify Value. Select 1 or more values from the list.
    • Determine Value at Runtime. Select an option from the list that Workday uses to determine the prompt value based on some context, such as the current date or current user.
    You can select
    Reset from Report
     to update all prompts and prompt settings with those defined in the report definition. You can use this button when there's a change in the custom report prompt settings that needs to be reflected in the data change task. If you previously changed a prompt value in the data change task, you need to change it again.
    Workday displays most dependent prompts. Workday does not display prompts dependent on other prompts using Time field data.
  4. On the
    Source Options
     step, define how to parse the data in the files you uploaded for file upload or SFTP sources.
    2. Review the fields Workday created based on the parsed file, and modify the fields if necessary.
      Select a field in the list and view the field details in the inspector panel on the right side. You might need to:
      • Change the
        Field Type
         when Workday assigns the wrong field type. Workday assigns the field type based on the first few rows only. Example: Workday assigns the Numeric field type to a field with ZIP code data because the example rows that it evaluates only contain numerals. However, based on your knowledge of the source data, you know that some ZIP code values contain letters or a hyphen, so you change the field type to Text.
      • Change other field attributes based on the field type to ensure that Workday correctly parses the data, such as Digits Before, Digits After, or Date Format.
  5. On the
    Target
     step, select the target table that contains the data you want to change.
    (Optional) You can also create a table using the schema defined in the
    Source
     step, by clicking the
    Create Table from Source Schema
     button (Security:
    Prism Datasets: Create
     domain).
    Workday defines the table schema using the source schema. You can also:
    • Select a field as an External ID.
    • Select any required fields.
    For more information on creating tables, see Steps: Create a Table Manually.
  6. Select the target operation to perform on the target table using the source data.
    Option Description
    Insert
    Workday keeps the existing data in the table and adds the new data in the source. This operation is also known as Append.
    Truncate and Insert
    Workday deletes the existing data in the table and replaces it with the data in the source. This operation is also known as Replace.
    Delete
    Workday deletes a row from the table when it matches a row in the source.
    Update
    Workday updates a row in the table when it matches a row in the source.
    To select this operation, you must use a table where you configured 1 field as the external ID.
    Upsert
    Workday updates a row in the table when a matching row already exists and inserts the row when it doesn’t exist.
    To select this operation, you must use a table where you configured 1 field as the external ID.
  7. On the
    Mapping
     step, select a field in the target table to use as the operation key for delete, update, or upsert operations.
    You can specify 1 of these target table fields:
    • The field configured as the external ID in the table: You can use this field for delete, update, or upsert operations.
    • WPA_LoadID: You can use this field for delete or update operations only.
    • WPA_RowID: You can use this field for delete or update operations only.
  8. Select a source field for each target field that you want to modify. Workday requires that you map any field used as the operation key.
    Workday lists the source fields that are compatible for a specific target field. If Workday doesn't list a source field you want, verify the source field attributes, such as the digits before, digits after, or business object. You can navigate to the
    Source Options
     step to change the field attributes for file upload and SFTP sources.
    You can click
    Reset Matches
     to revert all mappings you changed to the simple match algorithm that Workday uses by default. The simple match algorithm:
    • Is case insensitive.
    • Ignores spaces.
    • Ignores underscore characters.
    • Matches on the field API name.
    • Won't match fields with different field types.
  9. On the
    Review
     step, verify the information. You can go back to any previous step and make any correction if necessary.
  10. Click
    Finish
     and select
    Run Without Saving
    ,
    Save and Run Now
    , or
    Save
    .
When you save the data change task, Workday creates the data change task object and displays it on the
Data Change Tasks
 tab of the
Data Catalog
 report.
When you run the data change task, Workday starts a data change activity to change the data in the table based on the data in the source. You can view the data change activity progress and history on:
  • The
    Activities
     tab of the
    View Table Details
     report. To fix errors on a table following a data change, download the error file from the data change activity. Workday only creates an error file for data change activities that use a file upload as the source.
  • The
    Data Change Activities
     tab of the
    Data Catalog
     report.
  • The
    Prism Management Console
     report. You can view an active dashboard of all Prism-related activities for the last 180 days. For more information, see Concept: Prism Management Console.
  • The
    Prism Activities Monitor
     report. You can view a detailed list of all types of Prism-related activities for a given date range.
To fix errors on a table following a data change, download the error file from the data change activity on the
Activities
 tab of the
View Table Details
 report. Workday only creates an error file for data change activities that use file upload or SFTP sources.

This content is not part of the Workday Administrator Guide.