1 Overview

Enterprise DQ for Product (EDQP) Application Studio Data Service Applications (DSAs) leverage semantic knowledge to enable data centric business applications by controlling the flow of data and processes for a given task. DSAs are powerful composite applications that facilitate information standardization and transformation so that the information can be understood and consumed by downstream applications. DSAs handle the challenge of using knowledge in data centric business applications. DSAs control the flow of data and processes for a given task. Where the data lens holds detailed knowledge of specific data and products, the DSA is a much broader tool that deals with such things as defining inputs and outputs and routing data from one processing step to the next.

The Application Studio is a graphical user interface (GUI) tool that you use to build DSAs. Using drag-and-drop techniques, you define and sequence the elements of a process, which include some or all of the following:

Pre-Processing Steps:: These steps allow you to do preliminary tasks, like setting up temporary database tables.
Input Data Sources:: DSAs can accept input from Excel worksheets, text files, database tables, or XML files.
Processing Steps:: These are the basic units of work performed by a DSA, and they are contained in objects called Transformation and Decision Maps. These maps contain some combination of Core Processing Steps and Alternative Processing Steps:

Core Processing Steps—The core processing steps are the foundation of transforming data. These steps are used to define how the input data will be manipulated in preparation for output formatting. You can add as many core processing steps as needed to transform your data effectively.
Alternative Processing Steps—An alternative step receives exceptions from the core step that feeds into it or from other alternate steps. Alternative steps are added in the same way that core steps are added. They are then connected to core steps by selecting and holding the core step then dragging and dropping it onto the alternative step.

There are two basic types of maps that can be used in a DSA, Transformation Maps and Decision Maps:

Transformation Maps—The standard maps for content transformation to define how the data is processes and reformed. Transformation Maps perform a wide range of tasks, including calls to data lenses, updates of database tables and string manipulation. Broadly speaking, Transformation Maps serve as core steps that are executed as part of the normal process flow or as alternative steps that perform exception handling.
Decision Maps—Contain branch points similar to the 'if, then, else' functionality of programming languages. These maps use the quality metrics for each record as branch points to transfer control to different data lenses, classification schemas, other databases, etc. to extract or modify other information needed for the definition of a business process.

Both types of maps are predicated on the use of a data lens and while a Transformation Map can use only one data lens, a Decision Map can use multiple data lenses.

Outputs:: DSAs can output data in a variety of forms compatible with many destinations, including Excel worksheets, text files, database tables, XML files, or e-mail messages. One DSA can (and very often does) include multiple outputs defined at various points in the process flow.
Post-Processing Steps:: These steps allow you to define clean-up tasks, such as dropping temporary database tables or performing other end-of-job tasks.

Starting the Software

You start your Oracle DataLens Server, and then use the Welcome Launch Pad to start the Application Studio by clicking the Application Studio button. For details, see Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Getting Started.

Understanding the Client Workspace

The Application Studio graphical user interface (GUI) provides the client workspace used to create and manage a DSA. It is comprised of two separate GUI workspaces:

The DSA Builder is the default when the Application Studio is opened, that allows you to build a DSA.
The Transformation Map Builder allows you to construct the output processing instructions for the DSA.

Surrounding text describes appwkspace.png.

This section describes the following client workspace functionality:

"Frame Functionality"
"Menus and Toolbars"
"DSA Menu and Toolbar Explained"
"Task Panes"
"DSA Component Tree Pane"
"Graphical DSA Builder Pane"

Frame Functionality

The Application Studio client workspace frame contains useful information and interactive functions including the following:

Title Bar: Indicates the current application and open DSA or Transformation Map.
Status Field: Provides the status of the DSA or Transformation Map one line at a time. Though this field cannot be resized, the scroll arrows on the right-hand side can be used to view all available status information.
Show: Changes the view between the DSA Builder and Transformation Map Builder client workspaces.
Application Switch: Returns you to the last EDQP application used.
Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Launch Pad: This button opens the Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Launch Pad so that you can select other applications.
Time and Date: The time is displayed and when you hover over this field, the date displays.
Memory Cache: Indicates the amount of memory cache currently used and the total amount allowed. You can dump the memory cache by clicking on the trash can icon in this interactive field. This functionality does not appear in the Transformation Map Builder workspace.

Note:
This feature is only used for system diagnosis and should not be used unless requested by Oracle Support.

Menus and Toolbars

The Application Studio menus and toolbars allow easy access to the most frequently used Application Studio functions. Though the set of toolbar buttons remains the same during user interface operation the buttons are enabled or disabled based the current state of you interface and options set. Buttons displayed with shades of gray are disabled. Full-color buttons are enabled. All toolbar buttons are standard push buttons, requiring a single click of the mouse to activate.

The Application Studio GUI menus provide access to most Application Studio functions. All of the buttons on the toolbar have a corresponding menu command, which are indicated on each menu with the button icon displaying adjacent to the command. The set of menu commands remains the same during the GUI operation.

Menu commands are enabled or disabled based on the current state of the DSA; commands that are dimmed are unavailable. Some menu commands perform functions that are more complex and are indicated by an ellipsis symbol (...). These commands open dialog boxes to collect information needed to complete the requested function. Menu commands that toggle user functions are preceded by a check mark.

DSA Menu and Toolbar Explained

The DSA menus and toolbar are the main client workspace and the default when the Application Studio is opened. The following briefly describes the DSA toolbar buttons from left to right:

Tip:

The tooltips appear when you rest your mouse pointer on a menu item, button, tab, icon, or similar content.

The following sections briefly describe each of the DSA menu commands and corresponding buttons:

File Menu

New… Creates a new DSA for building reports about your enterprise data. Open… Opens a DSA from a local drive version of the map; it does not check out a new copy from the Oracle DataLens Server. Recent DSAs Lists the recently edited DSAs, allowing you to quickly open one of them. Close Closes the open DSA and saves it locally.
Save Saves the open DSA to your local disk. This does not perform a check-in or save the DSA to the Oracle DataLens Server.
Save As Allows you to save the current DSA to a new name.
Save Image Allows you to save an image of the design panel or the entire application dialog as a JPEG file.
Export Attributes for Local DSA Creates a`.csv` file containing detailed attribute information for the Item Definition Transformations used in the current DSA. In other words, all Item Definitions known to all data lenses that are known to the DSA are exported. This export process is performed on the open version of the DSA as stored on the local machine.
Export Attributes for Deployed DSA Creates a `.csv` file with detailed attribute information for the Item Definition Transformations used in the deployed version of the current map. In other words, all Item Definitions known to all data lenses known the DSA are exported.
Import Referenced Transformation Maps See "Importing and Exporting Maps".
Export Local Package Exports the entire open DSA, including data lenses, into a single zipped file. This allows you to easily transport and share DSAs outside of the application.
Import Package Imports an exported local package file.
Delete Deletes the local copy of the current DSA. This has no effect on deployed or selected-in copies of the current DSA in the Oracle DataLens Server.
Delete Old DSAs… Deletes local copies of read-only DSAs. This is particularly useful in cleaning up completed DSAs at the end of a project.
Exit Exits the Application Studio application; a prompt is given for unsaved changes.

Edit Menu

Create/Edit Lens Group Allows you to create and modify groups of data lenses for use in all of your DSA. See "Creating or Editing a Data Lens Group".
Edit Global Variables Allows you to change variables globally in SQL statements in your DSA. See "Modifying Global DSA Variables".
Edit Description Allows you to edit the description for the open DSA. This is the description displayed on the DSA page in the Oracle DataLens Server.
Change DB Connection Allows you to select a new database connection for the open DSA. All database connections in all DSA steps are automatically updated.

View Menu

View My Tasks Allows you to view any tasks that are scheduled to run or have run. See "View My Tasks". Show All Lines Works as a toggle and when selected, all of the connecting lines between inputs, transformations, and outputs in the Graphical DSA Builder pane are active. When this option is not selected, only the connecting lines for the selected node are active and ghosting is activated if set in the application options. See "Modifying Application Studio Options". Show Transformation Map Builder Works as a toggles allowing you to switch the display between the main DSA map and the Transformation Map.
View Paths Creates an XML report showing all possible paths through the current map that is displayed in your default browser.
View Attributes for Local DSA Displays an alphabetized list of all attributes associated with all Item Definition Transformation nodes used in any of the steps in the current (local) DSA. This report includes only the Item Definitions for the open version of the DSA, as stored on the local machine; it does not include any selected or deployed versions of the same DSA. The report can be saved in `.csv` format using the Save button, and then providing a file name and save location.
View Attributes for Deployed DSA Displays a list of attributes associated with all Item Definition Transformation nodes used in any of the steps in the deployed version of the open DSA. This report includes the Item Definitions for the deployed version of the DSA, which can differ from the local version of the DSA. The report can be saved in `.csv` format using the Save button, and then providing a file name and save location.
View Local Dependencies Displays a list of all data lenses referred to by the local version of the current (local) DSA and shows the DSAs that use each of those lenses. The report shows the lens name, local revision number, deployed revision number, and whether the lens is locked.
View Production Dependencies Displays a list of all data lenses referred to by the deployed version of the open DSA and shows the DSAs that use each of those lenses. The report shows the lens name, current (local) revision number, the development, QA, and the production Oracle DataLens Server revision numbers, and whether the lens is locked or not. Revision number columns may indicate that the lens is not deployed.
View Native DB Connections Displays the details for the current DSA database connection including the driver, test string, and usage information.
View Server Information Displays the name and port information for the Oracle DataLens Server to which the current user is connected.
View Check-In History Displays a list of the DSAs that the current user has selected including the comments regarding the check-in.
View My Check-Outs Displays a list of the DSAs that the current user has checked out.
View All Check-Outs Displays a list of the DSAs that all users have checked out by user id.
View DB Connections Tree Displays the database connections used by each step and map in the DSA in a graphical hierarchical structure. This includes pre-processing and post-processing steps.

DSA Menu

Check-In Allows you to check-in a DSA file into your Oracle DataLens Server repository. Each time you check a DSA into the Oracle DataLens Server, the DSA revision number is incremented. See "Checking In a DSA". Check-Out Allows you to check out a local copy of a DSA from the current Oracle DataLens Server for review, maintenance, or as a new DSA. See "Checking Out a DSA".
Validate Validates the entire DSA and informs you of any issues found or that no problems were found. See "Validating a DSA".
Test Data Service Application Allows you to test the DSA with a single line input. See "Testing a DSA".
Check-In Package Allows you to check-in both the current (local) DSA and all lenses associated with it. See "Checking In DSA Packages".
Check-Out Package Allows you to checkout both the desired DSA and all lenses associated with that map all at once. See "Checking Out DSA Packages".

Tools Menu

Open Oracle Governance Studio… Starts the EDQP Governance Studio. See Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Governance Studio Reference Guide. Open Oracle DataLens Knowledge Studio… Starts the EDQP Knowledge Studio. See Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Knowledge Studio Reference Guide.
Open Oracle DataLens Task Manager… Starts the EDQP Task Manager. See Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Task Manager Reference Guide. Open Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Launch Pad… Starts the Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Launch Pad so that you can start other applications and the Enterprise DQ for Product Oracle DataLens Server Administration Web pages.
Open Web Job Runner… Launches the Job Runner function of the Oracle DataLens Server in a browser. This submits a single job to run immediately.
Open Web Job Scheduler… Launches the Job Scheduler function of the Oracle DataLens Server in a browser. This schedules a job for deferred execution unlike the immediate execution of the Job Runner. For more information about how to use the Job Runner, see Oracle Enterprise Data Quality for Product Data Oracle DataLens Server Administration Guide.
DSA Options Allows you to set the option to make the DSA an ultra-high priority DSA for super fast, single-line requests to the Oracle DataLens Server.
Options Allows you to set options for global use in the DSA workspace. See "Decision Map Options".
Set Test Server Identifies the Oracle DataLens Server to be used for DSA testing. See "Setting the Test Server".

Help Menu

Product Guide

Opens a list of Enterprise DQ for Product documents for your selection in a browser.

Help About

Provides information regarding the product including the version number and a link to view third party product licenses.

Icon Help

Explains each of the icons that can appear in the Application Studio.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts that can help make the Application Studio easier to use:

Function	Shortcut Key
New DSA	Ctrl-N
Open DSA	Ctrl-O
Save	Ctrl-S
Validate	Ctrl-V

Task Panes

The interactive task panes allow you to perform actions specific to the type of pane and these actions are described throughout this reference.

DSA Component Tree Pane

This task pane contains all of the components necessary for building a DSA. These components are categorized into the hierarchical tree structure with the main folder indicting the name of the current DSA or 'No Data Service Application' to indicate that there is no DSA open. The sub-folders of any DSA are as follows:

Process Steps: Contains the main components to transform data.
Data Input: Contains the nodes used to indicate one of the three methods that data is communicated to the DSA: text, a database, or an XML file.
Data Output: Contains the nodes to form how the data is output from the Application Studio.
Output Adapters: Contains the nodes to output XML information to correspond with XML input data.
Pre-Post Processing Steps: Contains the steps that can be used before and after the data is processed.
Defined Processing Steps: Lists all of the processing steps defined for the current DSA. This folder is helpful in locating processing steps in large, complex DSAs that do not easily fit into the Graphical DSA Builder pane.
Unused Transformation Maps: Lists any transformation maps that you have created in the current DSA or imported, and are not assigned to a processing step. This folder acts as a container for maps that you are either in the process of developing or have imported from other DSAs. Importing maps allows you to re-use maps originally developed for other DSAs.

Graphical DSA Builder Pane

The Graphical DSA Builder pane is a free-form building pane into which you can drag and drop steps from the DSA Component Tree pane. It is from these steps that transformation and decision maps are built thereby transforming your data.

The small up and down arrows between the panes on the left-hand side allow you to resize the panes. In addition, you can fully expand either pane to see more data by clicking on an arrow, which makes the pane inactive. To redisplay the inactive pane, click the opposite arrow and the pane reappears.

Context-Sensitive Menus

There are various context-sensitive (shortcut) menus that appear in the Application Studio panes when you right-click on data within a pane. The contents of these menus are described throughout this reference though may contain the following standard options:

Expand Node: Expands all sub-nodes (steps, database queries, etc.) of the selected node in a hierarchical manner.
Show All Lines / Save Image: These menu functions operate as previously described.
Add Global Algorithm Transform: Begins the process of creating a global algorithm transform for use in Transform Maps throughout the DSA. See "Using Global Transform Maps".
Import Local Transform Map: Allows you to import a locally exported Transform Map. See "Importing and Exporting Maps".
Import Local Referenced Transform Maps: This is the quick access of the Edit menu option of the same name. See "Importing and Exporting Maps".

Starting the Application Studio

If this is the first time you have started the Application Studio, the client workspace appears blank as in the following figure; otherwise, the results from the last job run are displayed:

Surrounding text describes appwkspace1.png.

The status field at the bottom of the Application Studio client workspace provides information about any DSAs you load in the white field, and the date and time, and memory usage are displayed in the grey fields. The status field is blank until you have created your first Application Studio project, at which time the status of your project is displayed.