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Oracle® Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Administration Console
11g Release 1 (11.1.1)

Part Number E14849-04
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7 Defining and Managing Parameters

This chapter explains how parameters are used in DAC as well as instructions for defining and managing parameters.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Overview of Parameters

This section contains the following topics:

What Are Parameters and How Are They Used in DAC?

In an ETL process, a parameter represents an attribute that is not hard coded or sourced from the transactional system. Parameters provide flexibility so that you can adapt ETL processes to fit your business requirements.

The following examples illustrate a few of the ways you can use parameters in ETL processes:

  • A parameter is set by default in Oracle BI Applications to track changes on dimension tables. If you do not want to track changes on a particular table, you can change the parameter value "Y" (yes) to "N" (no). This is an example of a parameter that uses the text data type.

  • Fact tables tend to be large. For testing purposes, in a development or QA environment, you might want to retrieve data for only one year, whereas in a production environment, you might want to retrieve data for ten years. You can define a parameter that specifies the date from which data needs to be extracted from the transactional system and change this value when the ETL process is run in different environments. This is an example of a parameter that uses the timestamp data type.

  • The ETL start time is an example of a runtime parameter that you can define at the source system, task, or execution plan level. Runtime parameters use predefined DAC variables to access attribute values that vary for different ETL runs. See "About DAC Variables" for more information.

  • Performance can be enhanced by defining parameters using database-specific syntax to write query hints. DAC passes database-specific parameters to the Informatica Source Qualifier as a SQL override.

You can define static or runtime parameters in the DAC repository (using the DAC Client) to apply to source systems, tasks, or execution plans. You can also define parameters whose values come from outside of DAC, such as from external relational sources that DAC accesses through SQL interfaces, or from external technology stacks that DAC accesses through a Java API interface.

In addition, some parameters used by Oracle BI Applications are defined by the user in the Oracle BI Applications Configuration Manager. See Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Applications for information about the parameters that are defined in the Configuration Manager. Also, depending on your environment, some predefined parameters used by Oracle BI Applications may be held in flat files named parameterfileDW.txt and parameterfileOLTP.txt, which are stored in the directory <Domain_Home>\dac\Informatica\parameters\input. Oracle recommends that you do not modify these parameter flat files. Instead, if you need to customize the value of the parameters, you can define new parameters in the DAC repository.

How DAC Handles Parameters at Runtime

During an ETL execution, DAC reads and evaluates all parameters associated with that ETL run, including static and runtime parameters defined in DAC, parameters held in flat files, and parameters defined externally to DAC. DAC consolidates all the parameters for the ETL run, deduplicates any redundant parameters, and then creates an individual parameter file for each Informatica session. This file contains the evaluated name-value pairs for all parameters, both static and runtime, for each workflow that DAC executes. The parameter file contains a section for each session under a workflow. DAC determines the sessions under a workflow during runtime by using the Informatica pmrep function ListObjectDependencies.

The naming convention for the parameter file is

<Informatica foldername>.<workflow instance name>.<primary source name>.<primary target name>.txt

DAC writes this file to a location specified in the DAC system property InformaticaParameterFileLocation. The location specified by the property InformaticaParameterFileLocation must be the same as the location specified by the Informatica parameter property $PMSourcefileDir.

Note:

Informatica Services must be configured to read parameter files from the location specified in the DAC system property InformaticaParameterFileLocation. You must set the Informatica parameter $PMSourceFileDir (accessible from Informatica Administrator) to match the location specified in InformaticaParameterFileLocation.

Types of Parameters Supported by DAC

DAC supports the following types of parameters:

  • Global External Parameters

    Global external parameters are defined in an external technology stack outside of DAC, such as a relational database that has a thin client implementation. This type of parameter enables non-DAC users to define parameters for use in ETL processes. DAC consumes global external parameters through either a SQL interface or an external Java implementation.

    You can define global external parameters that apply to 1) all tasks in all source system containers; 2) all tasks reading from a data source; or 3) specific tasks reading from a data source.

    Global external parameters return name-value pairs of Text or Timestamp data types from source or target databases.

    You can view existing global external parameters and define new ones in the Global External Parameters dialog, which is accessible on the Tools menu, by selecting Seed Data and then External Parameters. For instructions on defining global external parameters, see "Defining a Global External Parameter".

    Java interfaces related to global external parameters are defined in dac-external-parameters.jar, which is stored in the Oracle_Home\dac\lib directory. Javadocs provide information about the interfaces and methods, and are located in the <Oracle_Home>\dac\documentation\External_Parameters\Javadocs directory.

  • Source System Parameters

    Source system parameters apply to all tasks in a source system container. You can view existing source system parameters and define new ones in the Source System Parameters tab in the Design view.

  • Task Parameters

    Task parameters apply to one particular task in a source system container. You can view existing task parameters and define new ones in the Parameters subtab of the Task tab in the Design view.

  • Execution Plan Parameters

    Execution plan parameters apply to all tasks associated with a particular execution plan. You can view existing execution plan parameters and define new ones in the Execution Parameters subtab of the Execution Plans tab in the Execute view.

Rules of Precedence

DAC evaluates the hierarchy of precedence for parameters as follows:

  1. Execution plan parameters take precedence over all other parameters.

  2. Task parameters take precedence over source system parameters and global external parameters.

  3. Source system parameters take precedence over global external parameters.

For example, if the same parameter is registered as a source system parameter and as a task parameter, DAC will evaluate the value of the task parameter. Similarly, if the same parameter is registered as a source system parameter and as a global external parameter, DAC will evaluate the value of the source system parameter.

Parameter Data Types

Parameters can have one of the following data types:

Text

Applies to source system and task parameters. The value for the parameter is defined as text. You can use the Text data type for both static and runtime parameters.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the Text data type, see "Defining a Text Type Parameter".

DB Specific Text

Applies to source system and task parameters. The value for the parameter is defined as database-specific text. This parameter should be used only if you have a heterogeneous database environment and the parameter value needs to be different for the different database types. DAC evaluates the text string based on the source or target database type. If you do not specify database-specific text, DAC returns the default value.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the DB Specific Text data type, see "Defining a Database-Specific Text Type Parameter".

Timestamp

Applies to source system and task parameters. The value for the parameter is defined as a timestamp. You can use the Timestamp data type for both static and runtime parameters. A static timestamp can be any time that is constant. A runtime timestamp parameter is a variable for which the value is supplied by DAC at runtime. You can define the timestamp in one of multiple formats or define a custom format. You can also use SQL to fetch any value that can be fired against the specified logical database connection. DAC executes the SQL against a data source that maps to the specified logical connection and then formats the resulting value in the specified format. A SQL statement specified for a given timestamp parameter can include nested DAC parameters. For information about nested parameters, see "Nesting Parameters within Other Parameters".

For instructions on defining a parameter using the Timestamp data type, see "Defining a Timestamp Type Parameter".

SQL

Applies to source system and task parameters. DAC retrieves the value for the parameter from a database using user-defined SQL.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the SQL data type, see "Defining a SQL Type Parameter".

JavaScript

Applies to source system and task parameters. DAC fetches the value for the parameter using user-defined JavaScript.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the JavaScript data type, see "Defining a JavaScript Type Parameter".

Multi-Parameter Text

Applies to source system and task parameters. The value for the parameter is defined as name-value pair strings using user-defined SQL.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the Multi-Parameter Text data type, see "Defining a Multi-Parameter Type Parameter".

Multi-Parameter Timestamp

Applies to source system and task parameters. The value for the parameter is defined as timestamps in name-value pairs using user-defined SQL.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the Multi-Parameter Timestamp data type, see "Defining a Multi-Parameter Type Parameter".

External-Parameter Text

Applies to source system parameters only. The value for the parameter is defined using a parameter producer Java API. The External-Parameter Text data type enables you to create a library and classes to implement the DACTextParameterProducer interface.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the External-Parameter Text data type, see "Defining an External Type Parameter".

External-Parameter Timestamp

Applies to source system parameters only. The value for the parameter is defined using a parameter producer Java interface. The External-Parameter Timestamp data type enables you to create a library and classes to implement the DACTimestampParameterProducer interface.

For instructions on defining a parameter using the External-Parameter Timestamp data type, see "Defining an External Type Parameter".

Global Multi-Parameter Text or Timestamp

Applies to global parameters only. The value for the parameter is defined as name-value pairs using user-defined SQL.

For instructions on defining a global parameter, see "Defining a Global External Parameter".

Static Versus Runtime Parameter Values

Source system and task parameters that have either a Text or Timestamp data type can be specified as either static or runtime. The values of static parameters are user defined and are not necessarily constant for all ETL processes. For example, static parameter values can be the result of a SQL query or the evaluation of a JavaScript. The values for runtime parameters are provided by DAC and pertain to runtime data. Such values are used in the ETL logic but cannot be predicted, such as process ID, last refresh timestamp, ETL start timestamp, and so on.

Predefined Parameters in Oracle BI Applications

Oracle BI Applications uses predefined parameters for Informatica tasks. The parameters are specific to Informatica sessions. Some of the predefined parameters are held in text files named parameterfileDW.txt and parameterfileOLTP.txt, which are stored in the directory <Domain_Home>\dac\Informatica\parameters\input. Other predefined parameters are held in DAC. The parameters held in DAC are specific to the different source system containers.

Oracle recommends that you do not modify the parameter text files. Instead, if you need to customize the value of the parameters, you can define parameters in the DAC repository at either the source system level or the task level.

Nesting Parameters within Other Parameters

You can nest any parameter definition within another parameter definition. For example, you could nest a runtime text parameter that returns the current run ID within a where clause of a SQL parameter, or you could use database specific text inside another parameter of the text or SQL data types. Parameters that are nested within other parameters must use the prefix @DAC_.

Below is an example of a text parameter that returns the current run ID placed in a where clause of a SQL parameter.

SELECT VALUE FROM PARAM_TEST
WHERE ROW_ID=`@DAC_p1'

Note:

Avoid circular nesting, such as parameter A nested within parameter B, which is nested within parameter A. In such situations, DAC randomly picks one of the parameters in the circle and evaluates it as an empty string.

Parameter Load Type Property

The Load Type property enables you to define parameter values that are specific to the type of load the ETL process is carrying out, that is, a full load or an incremental load. This property can be useful for performance tuning. Note that this property does not apply to global external parameters.

About DAC Variables

DAC contains predefined variables that act as a mechanism to allow parameters to access various ETL-specific and task-specific information. These variables are available when you define a runtime parameter of the Text and Timestamp data types. When you define a runtime parameter and select a DAC variable, the variable gets wrapped inside the parameter and returns the information specified by the variable.

DAC Variables for the Text Data Type

The following variables are available when you define a runtime parameter of the Text data type.

DAC Variables for the Timestamp Data Type

The following variables are available when you define a runtime parameter of the Timestamp data type.

Defining Parameters

This section provides instructions for defining parameters based on the data type.

Defining a Text Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define a parameter using the Text data type. This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a Text data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select Text as the Data Type.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Select one of the following options:

    • Static. Specifies a value that remains constant for all ETL runs.

    • Runtime. Specifies the value will be provided by DAC during the execution of the task.

  7. If you selected the Static option, enter a text value in the text window, and click OK.

  8. If you selected the Runtime option, select a DAC Variable from the list, and click OK.

  9. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a Database-Specific Text Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define a parameter using the DB Specific Text data type. This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a database-specific text data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select DB Specific Text as the Data Type.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Select one of the following Connection Type options:

    • @DAC_SOURCE_DBTYPE. Specifies a source database connection.

    • @DAC_TARGET_DBTYPE. Specifies a target database connection.

  7. To define a parameter specific to all database types:

    1. Click in the Default field to open the Default text box.

    2. Enter the parameter definition, and click OK.

  8. To define a parameter specific to a particular database type:

    1. Click in the appropriate database type field to open the text box.

    2. Enter the parameter definition, and click OK.

  9. Click OK to close the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  10. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a Timestamp Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define a parameter using the Timestamp data type. This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a Timestamp data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select Timestamp as the Data Type.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Select one of the following options:

    • Static. Specifies a value that remains constant for all ETL runs.

    • Runtime. Specifies the value will be provided by DAC during the execution of the task.

    • SQL. Enables you to define the parameter using SQL.

  7. If you selected the Static option:

    1. Click in the Date field to open the Date dialog.

    2. Enter a data and time, click OK.

  8. If you selected the Runtime option:

    1. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

    2. Select a Variable from the list.

    3. From the Function list, select a format to which DAC will convert the date. If you select Custom, enter a custom date format.

      If you select SQL Syntax or SQL Syntax (Date Only), select a Connection Type.

  9. If you selected the SQL option:

    1. Click in the SQL field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

    2. Select a Logical Data Source from the list.

    3. Enter the parameter definition and click OK.

  10. Click OK to close the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  11. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a SQL Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define a parameter using the SQL data type. This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a SQL data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select the SQL as the Data Type.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Select a Logical Data Source.

  7. Enter the parameter definition as a SQL statement, and click OK.

  8. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining an External Type Parameter

The External parameter data types enable you to define parameters using Java APIs to retrieve text or timestamp values from a source or target database. You implement the parameter producer interfaces by creating libraries and classes. During an ETL process, parameters received from the API are added to the DAC metadata.

Note: Producer code examples are available in the DAC\documentation\public directory.

Text Interface

The External-Parameter Text data type uses the DACTextParameterProducer interface to return string values. The interface maps data source number IDs, database types, JDBC connections, and initialization parameters.

The DACTextParameterProducer interface is as follows:

public interface DACTextParameterProducer {

     /**
      * Populating external parameters
      *
      * @param runtimeContext - runtime properties like DNS id to type map
      * @param jdbcConnection
      * @throws  DACParameterProducerException
      */
     public void init(Map<Object, Object> runtimeContext
          ,java.sql.Connection jdbcConnection) throws 
          DACParameterProducerException;
     /**
      * @param dsnId
      * @param taskName
      * @return all parameters (global, dsn-specific and dsn-task specific)
        that apply to a given task
      * @throws DACParameterProducerException
      */
     public Map<String, String> getParameters(int dsnID
          ,String taskName) throws DACParameterProducerException;

     /**
      * Forcing implementing classes to explicitly implement finalize method.
      * All parameter stores inside are expected to be cleared as a result.
      *
      * @throws Throwable
      */
      public void finalize() throws Throwable;
}

Note: DAC forces DACTextParameterProducer to implement the finalize method.

Defining an External-Parameter Text Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define an External-Parameter Text data type parameter.

Note: Producer code examples are available in the DAC\documentation\public directory.

To define an External-Parameter Text data type parameter

  1. Create a valid Java archive with one or more classes that will implement the DACTextParameterProducer interface.

    In this procedure, "abc.paramproducer.jar" is used as an example for the archive name.

  2. Add the archive to the DAC\lib directory.

  3. For DAC installations on Windows, add the archive to the set DACLIB entry in the config.bat file.

    For example, the set DACLIB entry would look similar to the following after adding the archive named abc.paramproducer.jar:

    set DACLIB=.\DAWSystem.jar;.;.\lib\wsclient_extended.jar;.\lib\wls-jse-client-wsm-dependencies.jar;.\lib\biacm.paramproducer.jar; .\lib\abc.paramproducer.jar;
    
  4. In DAC installations on UNIX, add the archive to the export DACLIB entry in the config.sh file.

    For example, the export DACLIB entry would look similar to the following after adding the archive named abc.paramproducer.jar:

    export DACLIB=./DAWSystem.jar:.:./lib/wsclient_extended.jar:./lib/wls-jse-client-wsm-dependencies.jar:./lib/biacm.paramproducer.jar:./lib/ abc.paramproducer.jar:
    
  5. If the DAC Server is deployed in WebLogic, copy the archive to the domain's library directory.

  6. Register the producer in the DAC Client.

    1. In the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab.

    2. In the top pane toolbar, click New.

    3. In the Edit subtab, enter a name for the parameter.

    4. Select External-Parameter Text as the Data Type.

    5. Select the appropriate Load Type.

      - Full indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to full load workflows.

      - Incremental indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to incremental load workflows.

      - Both indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to both full and incremental load workflows.

    6. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

    7. Select Logical Data Source from the list.

    8. Enter the full class name for the interface in the External API field.

    9. Click OK.

  7. Click Save in the Edit subtab.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Timestamp Interface

The External-Parameter Timestamp data type uses the DACTimestampParameterProducer interface to return timestamp values. DAC formats the timestamp during the ETL process according to your specifications.

The DACTimestampParameterProducer interface is as follows:

public interface DACTimestampParameterProducer {

     /**
      * Populating external parameters
      *
      * @param runtimeContext - runtime properties like DNS id to type map
      * @param jdbcConnection
      * @throws DACParameterProducerException
      */
     public void init(Map<Object, Object> runtimeContext
          ,java.sql.Connection jdbcConnection) throws
          DACParameterProducerException;
     /**
      * @param dsnId
      * @param taskName
      * @return all parameters (global, dsn-specific and dsn-task specific) that
        apply to a given task
      * @throws DACParameterProducerException
      */
     public Map<String, Timestamp> getParameters(int dsnId
          ,String taskName) throws DACParameterProducerException;

     /**
      * Forcing implementing classes to explicitly implement finalize method.
      * All parameter stores inside are expected to be cleared as a result.
      *
      * @throws Throwable
      */
     public void finalize() throws Throwable;
}

Note: DAC forces DACTimestampParameterProducer to implement the finalize method.

Defining an External-Parameter Timestamp Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define an External-Parameter Timestamp type parameter.

Note: Producer code examples are available in the DAC\documentation\public directory.

To define an External-Parameter Timestamp data type parameter

  1. Create a valid Java archive with one or more classes that will implement the DACTimestampParameterProducer interface.

    In this procedure, "abc.paramproducer.jar" is used as an example for the archive name.

  2. Add the archive to the DAC\lib directory.

  3. For DAC installations on Windows, add the archive to the set DACLIB entry in the config.bat file.

    For example, the set DACLIB entry would look similar to the following after adding the archive named abc.paramproducer.jar:

    set DACLIB=.\DAWSystem.jar;.;.\lib\wsclient_extended.jar;.\lib\wls-jse-client-wsm-dependencies.jar;.\lib\biacm.paramproducer.jar; .\lib\abc.paramproducer.jar;
    
  4. In DAC installations on UNIX, add the archive to the export DACLIB entry in the config.sh file.

    For example, the export DACLIB entry would look similar to the following after adding the archive named abc.paramproducer.jar:

    export DACLIB=./DAWSystem.jar:.:./lib/wsclient_extended.jar:./lib/wls-jse-client-wsm-dependencies.jar:./lib/biacm.paramproducer.jar:./lib/ abc.paramproducer.jar:
    
  5. If the DAC Server is deployed in WebLogic, copy the archive to the domain's library directory.

  6. Register the producer in the DAC Client.

    1. In the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab.

    2. In the top pane toolbar, click New.

    3. In the Edit subtab, enter a name for the parameter.

    4. Select the External-Parameter Text data type.

    5. Select the appropriate Load Type.

      - Full indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to full load workflows.

      - Incremental indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to incremental load workflows.

      - Both indicates the parameter will apply to tasks that are mapped to both full and incremental load workflows.

    6. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

    7. Select a Logical Data Source from the list.

    8. Enter the full class name for the interface in the External API field.

    9. Select the appropriate Function for the timestamp.

    10. Enter a Format for the timestamp.

    11. Click OK.

  7. Click Save in the Edit subtab.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a Multi-Parameter Type Parameter

The Multi-Parameter data types enable you to define parameters that return string or timestamp values as name-value pairs.

This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a Multi-Parameter Text or Timestamp data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select one of the following options as the Data Type.

    • Multi-Parameter Text. This option returns string values as name-value pairs.

    • Multi-Parameter Timestamp. This option returns timestamp values as name-value pairs.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Select a Logical Data Source.

  7. Enter the parameter definition as a SQL statement, and click OK.

  8. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a JavaScript Type Parameter

Follow this procedure to define a parameter using the JavaScript data type. This procedure applies to parameters defined at both the source system and task levels.

To define a JavaScript data type parameter

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To define a source system parameter, in the Design view, click the Source System Parameters tab, and then click New in the toolbar.

    • To define a task parameter, in the Design view, click the Tasks tab, then click the Parameters subtab, and then click New in the bottom pane toolbar.

  2. In the new record field, enter a parameter name in the Name field.

  3. Select the JavaScript as the Data Type.

  4. Click Save to save the record.

  5. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  6. Enter the parameter definition as a JavaScript statement, and click OK.

  7. Click Save.

Note: You can inactivate the parameter by selecting the Inactive check box.

Defining a Global External Parameter

The Global External Multi-Parameter data types enable you to define parameters that return string or timestamp values as name-value pairs.

To define a parameter using the Global Multi-Parameter Text data type

  1. In the DAC Client, on the Tools menu, select Seed Data, Global External Parameters.

    The Global External Parameters dialog is displayed.

  2. In the toolbar, click New.

  3. In the new record field, enter a name for the parameter in the Name field.

  4. Select one of the following Parameter Type options:

    • Global. Returns name-value pairs based on data in the entire repository.

    • By DSN. Returns name-value pairs for a specific data source.

    • By DSN-Task. Returns name-value pairs for a specific data source and task.

  5. Select one of the following options as the Data Type.

    • Global Multi-Parameter Text. This option returns string values as name-value pairs.

    • Global Multi-Parameter Timestamp. This option returns timestamp values as name-value pairs.

  6. Click in the Value field to open the Enter Parameter Value dialog.

  7. Select a Logical Data Source Connection from the drop-down list.

  8. If you selected the Global Multi-Parameter Text data type, enter the parameter definition as a SQL statement.

  9. If you selected the Global Multi-Parameter Timestamp data type, from the Function list, select a format to which DAC will convert the date. If you select Custom, enter a custom date format.