Bookshelf v7.5.2: Linking Batches

You may require running consecutive batches from the Siebel_DW_REP folder and the Custom_Folder. For example, you may customize your Data Warehouse and wish to link a batch in the custom folder (in the Siebel_DW_Rep repository) to one of the standard batches such as Refresh_Extract_Siebel_DW_Dimensions. The Informatica Session Manager does not allow you to schedule sessions from two different folders. Therefore, to start the customization batch defined in your custom folder upon completion of a standard batch such as: Full_Load_Siebel_DW or Refresh_Extract_Siebel_DW_Dimensions, you must use Informatica's pmcmd utility. You may also link the Full_Extract_Siebel_DW and the Full_Load_Siebel_DW batches to load your initial Siebel Data Warehouse.

Linking Example

If the following command is entered on the Post Session Commands and Email On Success of the last session, it executes a batch named Custom_Batch in the Custom folder.

"$PMRootDir\bin\PMCMD" start %INFA_USER %INFA_PASSWORD 4001 Custom:Custom_BATCH 0 0

The environment variables %INFA_USER and %INFA_PASSWORD hold the Informatica user name and password.

4001 is the port number. If your Informatica Server listens on a different port then use the appropriate port.

Custom:Custom_BATCH is the name of the Custom_BATCH in the Custom folder.

The first 0 means it is a batch and the second is for the nowait option.

For detailed information on how to use "pmcmd," refer to the Informatica documentation.

Environment Variables

You must set up environment variables to start a session or batch. Environment variables are strings that contain information such as account name, drive, path, or file name. Environment variables control the behavior of various programs. In the case of linking batches, use an environment variable to control the behavior of Informatica.

Account passwords must be encrypted when used in environment variables. Informatica provides the pmpasswd utility to encrypt them. For example, if the account password is Administrator, you would issue this command:

Informatica PowerMart Password Encryption Utility
Encrypted string -->]T288<ibjbpoq9okq<--

The text between the "-->" and the "<--" symbols is the encrypted password. If the encrypted text includes a special character, such as the "<" in this example, then use quotation marks around the text when creating the environment variable. For example, in AIX or Solaris you would use this command:

where PMPASS is the name of the environment variable you are creating. On Windows, use the Control Panel to define the environment variable (Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Environment).

Create one environment variable for the account name and password in a command. For example, if the account name for your repository is Administrator, and the account password is also Administrator, you would create an environment variable for each, like this (for AIX and Solaris):

When using pmcmd, you specify a command, the environment variable for the account name, the environment variable for the password, and any other parameters the command requires. All environment variables must be proceeded by "%" to signify to pmcmd that the value that follows is an environment variable. For example, the ping command requires the account name, password, and a machine identifier, like this:

pmcmd is starting.
Connecting to pmserver at ...
[Transport: TCP/IP, Address: 10.1.21.23, Port: 8159]
pmcmd exiting with successful value for ping

When starting the next batch with pmcmd, do not use wait mode or the final session will hang.