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Defining Sourcing Queries for Disconnected Analytics

The sourcing query is an Analytics request, created in Siebel Answers and stored in the Siebel Analytics Web Catalog on the network. Your sourcing queries design is linked to the disconnected database table schema and should be based on how your business is organized.

A unique identifier differentiates sourcing queries from the other queries stored in the Web Catalog. You create the sourcing queries in Siebel Answers (Siebel Analytics Web) on the enterprise server and run them to populate the SQL Anywhere database on disconnected machines. For instructions about how to create requests in Siebel Answers, see Analytics Web Online Help.

Figure 17 illustrates how sourcing queries populate the disconnected tables from the Siebel Analytics Server repository. When a mobile user downloads application data, Disconnected Analytics Application Manager executes the sourcing queries on the Siebel Analytics Web Server. Siebel Analytics Web runs the sourcing queries and compresses the data for downloading to the laptop. The download operation and the subsequent load into the disconnected SQL Anywhere database is performed by Disconnected Analytics Application Manager.

Data is downloaded to a disconnected machine using sourcing queries and the Siebel Disconnected Analytics Application Manager. The administrator or mobile user creates sourcing queries that download data for a specific application. Sourcing queries are created in Siebel Answers, stored in the Siebel Analytics Web Catalog, and executed from the application configuration file that is run by the Disconnected Analytics Application Manager.

When a mobile user requests a download (synchronization), Disconnected Analytics Application Manager sends the request to the Siebel Analytics Web Server. Siebel Analytics Web uses this sourcing query to the Analytics Server to obtain data and package it into a data set. Siebel Analytics Web returns the application data to the mobile user's disconnected database and populates the disconnected database tables.

Figure 17.  Disconnected Analytics Sourcing Queries Populate the Disconnected Tables

Each sourcing query has a corresponding table in the SQL Anywhere database. The number, type, and order of columns in the sourcing query must correspond exactly to the number, type, and order of columns in the SQL Anywhere database table to which it corresponds. For example, if the Store table for the retail database described in Creating and Testing Tables and Indexes in the SQL Anywhere Database contains the following columns, the sourcing query for this table needs to contain the same four columns in this exact order:

• Integer identifier
• Thirty-character name
• Twenty-character city location
• Two-character state abbreviation

NOTE:  Sourcing queries can contain global filters (global filters apply to every mobile user) that the administrator adds to the source query. Additionally, mobile users can choose their own filter parameters on certain columns. To allow users to choose their filters, the administrator needs to add the appropriate columns during application configuration. For more information, see the descriptions for <filterables> and <formula> tags in Creating the Disconnected Application Configuration File.

After creating a sourcing query, analytics administrators can test their sourcing queries by executing them from within Siebel Analytics Web. For more information, see Analytics Web Online Help.