The most comprehensive and automated tool for setting up a database in the ATG platform is the Database Initializer. This tool guides you through the steps of specifying a DataSource and a set of ATG modules; then, based on what you specify, the Database Initializer runs the scripts that create the database tables and populate them with data.
Typically, you run the Database Initializer when you are switching your ATG applications over from using a SOLID database to a production-quality database management system. You can also use the Database Initializer to create tables in or add data to the database when you add new modules or applications to your ATG installation.
The Database Initializer can run three types of files:
DDLGen files encode table and index information in an XML format. DDLGen files can contain both generic and database-specific information, with conditional logic for handling the differences between different database systems.
SQL script files contain SQL commands for creating tables and indexes, or for populating tables with data. SQL script files serve a similar purpose to DDLGen files, but the SQL files do not have conditional logic, so different versions of these files are typically needed for different database systems.
Repository template files are the same files used by the
startSQLRepositorytool to import and export data in SQL repositories. Repository template files encode data based on the repository structure (rather than the underlying database), so the same files can be used with any supported database system.
Note: While the Database Initializer can create all of the tables needed by ATG applications, your target database may require other initialization steps (such as the creation of accounts and tablespaces, and installation and configuration of JDBC drivers) before you can use the Database Initializer to create the ATG tables.
