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Creating and Administering Columns and Keys in a Physical Table

Each table in the Physical layer of the Administration Tool has one or more physical columns.

The Columns, Keys, and Foreign Keys tabs in the Physical Table dialog box allow you to view, create new, and edit existing columns, keys, and foreign keys that are associated with the table.

The following list describes the buttons that appear in the tabs:

This section contains the following tasks:

Creating and Editing a Column in a Physical Table

If the column is imported, the properties of the column are set automatically.

If you are connecting to a multidimensional data source, columns cannot be imported. Therefore you need to manually create all elements of a cube table, including columns.

NOTE:  Except when stated otherwise, the characteristics and behavior of a physical cube column is the same as for other physical columns.

To create or edit a physical column

  1. In the Physical layer of the Administration Tool, perform one of the following steps:
    • To create a physical column, right-click a physical table and select New Physical Column from the shortcut menu.
    • To create a physical cube column for a multidimensional data source, right-click a physical cube table, select New Object, Physical Cube Column.
    • To edit an existing physical column, double-click the icon for the physical column that you want to edit.
  2. In the Physical Column dialog box, type a name for the physical column.

    For XML data sources, this field will store and display the unqualified name of a column (attribute) in an XML document.

  3. In the Type field, select a datatype for the physical column.

    For multidimensional data sources, select DOUBLE for measures or VARCHAR for all other columns.

  4. If applicable, specify the length of the datatype.

    For multidimensional data sources, if you select VARCHAR, you need to type a value in the Length field.

  5. Select the Nullable option if the column is allowed to have null values.

    The option Nullable in the Physical Columns dialog box indicates whether null values are allowed for the column. The datatype list indicates the datatype of the columns. This information is imported from the database when the column is imported to the Physical layer. It is generally safe to change a nullable value to a not nullable value in a physical column. Making the value nullable allows null values to be returned to the user, which is expected with certain functions and with outer joins. Use caution in changing the datatype values, however; setting the values to ones that are incorrect in the underlying data source might cause unexpected results.

    If there are any datatype mismatches, correct them in the repository or reimport the columns with mismatched datatypes. If you reimport columns, you also need to remap any logical column sources that reference the remapped columns. The datatypes of logical columns depend on the datatypes of physical columns which are their sources. The Siebel Analytics Server will furnish these logical column datatypes to client applications.

  6. (Optional) The External Name field will store and display the fully qualified name of a column (attribute) in an XML document.

    An external name is required if the same name (such as STATE) is used in multiple hierarchies.

NOTE:  A new physical cube column is created as a measure by default. To change this, see Adding and Administering Hierarchies in the Physical Layer for a Multidimensional Data Source.

Specifying a Primary Key for a Physical Table

Use the Physical Key dialog box to specify the column or columns that define the primary key of the physical table.

To specify a primary key for a physical table

  1. In the Physical layer of the Administration Tool, right-click a physical table and choose Properties.
  2. In the Physical Table dialog box, click the Keys tab.
  3. In the Keys tab, click New.
  4. In the Physical Key dialog box, type a name for the key.
  5. Select the check box for the column that defines the primary key of the physical table.
  6. To add a column to the Columns list:
    1. Click Add.
    2. In the Browse dialog box, select the column, and then click OK.

      The column you selected appears in the Columns list of the Physical Key dialog box.

  7. (Optional) Type a description for the key.

Deleting a Physical Column For All Data Sources

You delete a physical column in the same way for all data sources.

NOTE:  A physical cube column belongs to a physical cube table. If you delete a cube column from the physical layer, the column data will not be available for queries.

To delete a physical column from the Physical layer

  1. In the Physical layer of the Administration Tool, locate the column that you want to delete.
  2. Right-click the column and select Delete.

 Siebel Analytics Server Administration Guide
 Published: 11 March 2004