Text Data Sources allow the user to obtain information from ASCII files that contain a row for each register, and columns for each of the fields corresponding to the register. Access to these Data Sources provides a means of extracting data from any system without direct access via JDBC/ODBC.
Defining Text Data Sources
Use the Add File command or the Insert File command to define a text data source.
To define Text Data Sources, you must be on the File System branch within Sources, or on any of the Text Data Sources already defined.
To define a text data source:
- Select the Sources branch in the Design tree.
- Select the Text Data Source branch.
- To add a data source after the existing data sources, choose the Add File command. The data source is added and the Properties pane for the data source displays.
OR
To insert a data source after an existing data source, select the data source and choose the Insert File command. The data source is added and the Properties pane for the data source displays.
- Complete the information on the Description, General and Input Set tabs of the Properties pane.
- After you define the text data source, you must add fields to the definition. See Adding Fields to a Text Data Source.
Notes
- Changes made in the Property pane apply when you leave the pane or perform another operation in O3 Designer.
Adding Fields to a Text Data Source
After you have added a text data source, you must define the fields in the source.
To add fields to a text data source:
- Select the Sources branch in the Design tree.
- Select the Text Data Source branch.
- Choose the Fields tab of the Properties pane.
- To autofill the fields, choose the Autofill button. The fields populate and you can edit them if you wish.
- To add a field, choose the New Field button. A new row adds to the table.
- Complete the Name, Field Number and Type fields.
- To continue adding fields, repeat steps 5 and 6.
Notes
- Use the Preview button to preview the content of the text source. This does not display all records in the file.
- Changes made in the Property pane apply when you leave the pane or perform another operation in O3 Designer.
The Text Data Source Property Pane
The property pane for text data sources includes four tabs:
- Description
- General
- Fields
- Input Sets
The Description Tab
Property |
Description |
Name |
Enter the data source name. |
Description |
Enter a description of the data source. |
A Sample of the Description Tab in the Text Data Source Properties pane
The General Tab
Property |
Description |
Dimension |
Turn this checkbox on to indicate that the Data Source contains information for use in creating Dimensions (or Building Metada phase). The cube creation module, O3 Builder, uses this information to decide whether the source is relevant for Dimension creation or if it is only a Measures source. |
Verify Before Construction |
Turn this checkbox on to verify the existence of the file in the specified directory before proceeding with the cube build. If verification fails, the building process is interrupted with the following build completion status: UNAVAILABLE SOURCE: <source name> You can define a build action for this status. See the Building Action Tab. |
Access Path |
Define the file name and access path for the Data Source or choose the Browse button and use the Browse Files dialog box to select the access path and file name. It's possible to use a parameter for the path or file name. |
Decimal Separator |
Enter the decimal separator used in source files, or choose one from the drop-down list |
File Format |
Indicate whether the file format is fixed width or if the file uses delimiters. If it is a delimited file, indicate the field delimiter by selected a predefined delimiter or indicating a customized delimiter. |
Skip Lines |
When extracting data from a source for the cube, you can exclude a specified number of initial lines in the file. In general, we advise that you include the field names in the first line of the files, as a means of simplifying their subsequent definition using the Autofill feature. In this case, the option indicates that the first line should be skipped when loading as it does not contain significant data. |
Tuples by record |
It indicates that a number of "n" tuples must be generated in the cube from each data source record. The default value is 1. See About Tuples by Record. |
A Sample of the General Tab in the Text Data Source Properties pane
The Fields Tab
Property |
Description |
Fields |
Use the New Field button to add a field, indicating the file columns; that is, the record fields to use later on in the definition of Dimensions and Measures. For each field, declare the field name, the column number within the file and the field's data type. When choosing a field name, bear in mind that all references to the field made in the definition of the model take place through the name you declare here. Data types are: String, Integer, Double, and Date. |
Autofill |
Use the Autofill option to automatically fill in the fields with their corresponding column numbers. The field values of the first row of the file will be used as field names. All data types default to String. Once you autofill the fields, you can further customize the Data Source configuration by changing names, and revising data types. |
Preview |
Use the Preview button to preview the contents of the text source. This does not display all records in the file. |
Local Table |
If you turn on the Local Table check box, the property pane updates to include the Key and Include Field columns for each field. You can enter the table name. For each field it should be indicated if it's part of the table and if it‘s part of its key. See About Local Tables. |
There are several different date formats to choose from for date fields. Be sure the selected date format matches the text file contents. For example:
- DD/MM/YY is Day/Month/Year
- DDMMYY is DayMonthYear
- MM/DD/YYYY is Month/Day/Year
A Sample of the Fields Tab in the Text Data Source Properties pane
The Input Sets Tab
Property |
Description |
|
Input Set |
|
A list of input sets displays. Turn on the check box for each input set to include the data source in. See About Input Sets. |
A Sample of the Input Sets Tab in the Text Data Source Properties pane