4 Workflow

You can export a workflow, save it as an XML file, and then import it into another project.

1. In the Data Miner tab, expand Connection and click the project under which the workflow is created.
2. Right-click the workflow that you want to export and click Export. The Save dialog box opens.
3. In the Save dialog box, navigate to the location where you want to export the workflow and click Save. The workflow is saved as an XML file.

   Note:

   The default directory to save the workflow is the system default directory for saving documents. You can change this directory.

To import a workflow, you must meet the requirements related to workflow compatibility, permissions, user account related rights.

The account from which the workflow is exported is encoded in the exported workflow.

Before you import or export a workflow, ensure that Oracle Data Miner versions are compatible.

You can build and modify workflows using the Workflow Editor. The Workflow Editor is the tool to modify workflows.

If Oracle Data Miner detects that some tables or views are missing from the imported schema, then it gives you the option to select another table.

Table Selection Failure

Several controls are available as icon in the top border of a workflow, just below the name of the workflow.

In the Properties pane, you can view and change information about the entire workflow or a node in a workflow.

1. Right-click the node and select Go to Properties. The corresponding Properties pane opens. For example, if you select a Data Source Node, then in the Properties pane, the details of the Data Source node is displayed.
2. Use the Search field to find items in Properties.
3. Click the icon to open the editor for the item that you are viewing.
4. Use the options in the context menu to perform additional tasks.

The context menu options depend on the type of the node. It provides the shortcut to perform various tasks and view information related to the node.

You may encounter interruption in network connection while running a workflow.

A workflow is locked when it is opened, or one or all its nodes are running.

Use the Create Schedule option to define a schedule to run a workflow at a definite time and date.

1. Start Date: Select a date to set as the start date of the schedule. Click to select a date.
2. Repeat: Select any one of the following options:

   • None: To schedule the workflow to run only once at the defined time.

   • Every Day: To schedule the workflow to run daily at the specified time.

   • Every Week: To schedule the workflow to run weekly at the specified time.

   • Custom: To customize your workflow schedule, click Custom. This opens the Repeat dialog box, where you can set how frequently the workflow should run.

3. End Repeat: You can select any one of the following options:

   • None: To continue running the workflow every hour.

   • After: Select a number by clicking the arrows. This runs the workflow every hour, and would stop after the number of hours you have selected here. For example, if you select 8, then the workflow will run every hour, and after 8 hours, it will stop.

   • On Date: Select a particular date by clicking the calendar icon.

4. Select Use Existing Schedule, and select a schedule from the drop-down list if you want to schedule the workflow as per the selected schedule.

   • Click to edit the selected schedule in the Schedule dialog box.

   • Click to add a new schedule. You can also edit the selected schedule, and add it here.

   • Click to delete the selected schedule.

5. Click OK.

1. Frequency: Select an option to set how frequently your workflow should run.

   • Repeat Hourly

   • Repeat Daily

   • Repeat Weekly

   • Repeat Monthly

   • Repeat Yearly

2. Every: The values in this field depends on the option that you select in the Frequency field. For example, if you select 2 in the Every field and Hourly in the Frequency field, then the workflow will run every 2 hours. If you select 2 in the Every field and Daily in the Frequency field, then the workflow will run every 2 days. Select an option as applicable.
3. Click OK.

1. The Frequency field displays Hourly.
2. In Every field select a number by clicking the arrow. This number determines after how many hours the workflow should run. For example, if you select 5, then after every 5 hours, your workflow will run.
3. Click OK. This takes you to the Create Schedule dialog box.

1. The Frequency field displays Daily.
2. In Every field select a number by clicking the arrow. This number determines after how many days the workflow should run. For example, if you select 5, then after every 5 days, your workflow will run.
3. Click OK. This takes you to the Create Schedule dialog box.

1. The Frequency field displays Weekly.
2. In Every field, select a number by clicking the arrow. This number determines after how many weeks the workflow should run. For example, if you select 2, then after every 2 weeks, your workflow will run.
3. Select the days of the week on which you want to run the workflow.
4. Click OK. This takes you to the Create Schedule dialog box.

1. The Frequencyfield displays Monthly.
2. In Every field, select a number by clicking the arrow. This number determines after how many months the workflow should run. For example, if you select 2, then every 2 months, your workflow will run.
3. In the Days of Month section, select either of the following options:

   • Each: To select a date on which you want your workflow to run. For example, if you select 26, then on the 26th of every month, the workflow will run.

   • On the: To select on which days of the month you want to run your workflow. For example, if you select First and Monday, from the two drop-down lists respectively, then on every first Monday of the month, your workflow will run.

4. Click OK. This takes you to the Create Schedule dialog box.

1. The Frequency field displays Yearly.
2. In Every field, select a number by clicking the arrow. This number determines after how many years the workflow should run.
3. Select the months of the year, on which the workflow should run.
4. Click OK. This takes you to the Create Schedule dialog box.

1. In the Name field, the name of the selected workflow schedule is displayed. This is a non-editable field.
2. In the Start Date field, click to select a different date.
3. In the Repeat field, select a different repeat option. To customize, select Custom and make necessary edits in the Repeat dialog box.
4. In the End Repeat field, you may select any one of the following options:

   • Never: To continue running the workflow schedule indefinitely.

   • On Date: Click to select a particular date on which to end the running of the workflow.

5. Click OK.

1. In the Name field, provide a name for the workflow schedule.
2. Click OK.

Ensure that all script files are generated using UTF8 character set.

Scripts have variable definitions that provide object names for the public objects created by the scripts.

The Master Script is responsible for calling all underlying scripts in order. So, the variable definitions must be defined in the Master Script.

The variable Object Types enables you to change the name of the object names that are input to the scripts, such as tables or views, and models. By default, these names are the original table or view, and model names.

All generated scripts should be put under the same directory.

Scripts Generated is a kind of deployment where several general scripts such as master script, cleanup script and so on are generated.

If you run generated scripts using either SQL*Plus or SQL Worksheet, and require input from users, then you must run a command before the generated SQL.

You can connect two or more nodes by using the Linking nodes option.

1. In the Components pane, expand the Linking Nodes section.
2. Click Link. Move the cursor to the source node and click. From the source node, drag the link that appears to the target node, and click again.

   • If the link is valid, then clicking the target node creates the link.

   • If the link is invalid, then the line does not terminate. To end the link process without completing a link, either press ESC or click in the Components pane.

In the Node Connection dialog box, you can link two or more nodes.

1. In the Components pane, expand the Linking Nodes section.
2. Click the Link icon and press ENTER. This opens the Select Source And Destination For A New Link dialog box.
3. Select the source node in the Source List and the target node in the Destination List.

   The Source List lists all the nodes in the workflow. The Destination List lists the allowed target nodes for the selected node.

4. Click OK.

You can change the position of a node in a workflow.

Use the Connect option in the diagram menu to link two or more nodes.

1. Select the source node in the workflow.
2. In Data Miner menu bar, click Diagram and select Connect.
3. Move the cursor from the source node to the target node and click again.

   • If the link is valid, then clicking the target node creates the link.

   • If the link is invalid, then the line does not terminate. To end the link process without completing a link, press ESC.

You can delete an existing link, by selecting the link and pressing the DELETE key.

You can cancel a link while you are linking it, by pressing the ESC key.

Use the Connect option to link nodes in a workflow.

1. Right-click a node and click Connect. Alternately, go to Diagram and click Connect.
2. Use the cursor to draw a line from this node to the target node.
3. Click to establish the connection. Note the following:

   • You can create only valid connections.

   • You can create only one connection between any two nodes.

   • You can remove a connection by pressing the ESC key.

Use the Run option to execute the tasks specified in the nodes that comprise the workflow.

Use the Force Run option to rerun one or more nodes that are complete.

Force Run deletes any existing models before building them once again.

To select more than one node, click the nodes while holding down the Ctrl key.

You can Force Run a node at any location in a workflow. Depending on the location of the node in the workflow, you have the following choices for running the node using Force Run:

• Selected Node

• Selected Node and Children (available if the node has child nodes)

• Child Node Only (available if the node one or more child nodes)

• Selected Node and Parents (available if the node has parent nodes)

Use the Create Schedule option to define a schedule to run a workflow at a definite time and date.

1. Start Date: Select a date to set as the start date of the schedule. Click to select a date.
2. Repeat: Select any one of the following options:

   • None: To schedule the workflow to run only once at the defined time.

   • Every Day: To schedule the workflow to run daily at the specified time.

   • Every Week: To schedule the workflow to run weekly at the specified time.

   • Custom: To customize your workflow schedule, click Custom. This opens the Repeat dialog box, where you can set how frequently the workflow should run.

3. End Repeat: You can select any one of the following options:

   • None: To continue running the workflow every hour.

   • After: Select a number by clicking the arrows. This runs the workflow every hour, and would stop after the number of hours you have selected here. For example, if you select 8, then the workflow will run every hour, and after 8 hours, it will stop.

   • On Date: Select a particular date by clicking the calendar icon.

4. Select Use Existing Schedule, and select a schedule from the drop-down list if you want to schedule the workflow as per the selected schedule.

   • Click to edit the selected schedule in the Schedule dialog box.

   • Click to add a new schedule. You can also edit the selected schedule, and add it here.

   • Click to delete the selected schedule.

5. Click OK.

Use the Edit option to edit the default settings of a node.

Nodes have default algorithms and settings. When you edit a node, the default algorithms and settings are modified. You can edit a node in any one of the following ways:

• Edit nodes using the Edit dialog box

• Edit nodes through Properties UI

Use the View Data option to view the data contained in a Data node.

Use the View Models option to view the details of the models that are built after running the workflow.

Use the Generate Apply Chain to create a new node that contains the specification of a node that performs a transformation.

If you have several transformations performed in sequence, for example, Sample followed by a Custom transform, then you must select Generate Apply Chain for each transformation in the sequence.You must connect the individual nodes and connect them to an appropriate data source.

Generate Apply Chain helps you create a sequence of transformations that you can use to ensure that new data is prepared in the same way as existing data. For example, to ensure that Apply data is prepared in the same way as Build data, use this option.

The Generate Apply Chain option is not valid for all nodes. For example, it does not copy the specification of a Build node.

Use the Show Event Log option to view information about events in the current connection, errors, warnings, and information messages.

Clicking the Show Event Log option opens the View and Event Log dialog box.

Use the Deploy option to deploy a node or workflow by creating SQL scripts that perform the tasks specified in the workflow.

1. Right-click a node and select Deploy.
2. Select any one of the deployment options:

   • Selected node and dependent nodes

   • Selected node, dependent nodes, and child nodes

   • Selected node and connected nodes

3. After selecting the deployment option, the Generate SQL Script wizard opens. In the wizard, enter details for the following:

The Show Graph option opens the Graph Node Editor.

Use the Cut option to remove the selected object, which could be a node or connection.

You can also delete objects by selecting them and pressing DELETE on your keyboard.

Use the Copy option to copy one or more nodes and paste them into the same workflow or a different workflow.

1. Select the nodes to copy. To select several nodes, hold down the Ctrl key when you click the nodes.

   The selected node is highlighted. In this example Classification is selected. The other node is not selected.

   
2. Right-click and select Copy from the context menu. Alternately, you can press Ctrl+C to copy the selected nodes.

Use the Paste option to paste the copied object in the workflow.

Use the Extended Paste option to preserve node and model names while pasting them.

Use the Select All option to select all the nodes in a workflow.

Use the Performance Settings option to edit Parallel settings and In-Memory settings of the nodes.

Use the Toolbar Action option to select actions in the toolbar from the context menu.

Use the Show Runtime Errors to view errors related to node failure during runtime. This option is displayed only when running of the node fails at runtime.

The Event Log opens with a list of errors. Select the error to see the exact message and details.

Use the Show Validation Errors option to view validation errors, if any.

This option is displayed only when there are validation errors. For example, if an Association node is not connected to a Data Source node, then select Show Validation Errors to view the validation error No build data input node connected.

You can also view validation errors by moving the mouse over the node. The errors are displayed in a tool tip.

Use the Save SQL option to generate SQL script for the selected node.

1. Right-click the node and click Save SQL.
2. Select any one of the options to save the generated SQL script:

   • SQL to Clipboard

   • SQL to File

   • SQL Script to Clipboard

   • SQL Script to File

   When you save to a file, the system provides a default location. You can browse to change this location. You can also create a folder for scripts.

   The saved SQL includes SQL generated by the current node and all of its parent nodes that are data providers. The SQL lineage ends when it encounters a node that represents persisted objects, such as tables or models.

   The generated script does not generate all behavior of the node. The script does not create any objects. For example, if you select Save SQLfor a Create Table node, then it does not generate a script to create the table. Instead, it generates a script to query the created table.

Use the Validate Parents option to validate all parent nodes of the current node.

To validate parent nodes of a node, right-click the node and select Validate Parents.

You can validate parent nodes when the node is in Ready, Complete and Error state. All parent nodes must be in completed state.

Use the Compare Test Results option to view and compare test results of models that are built successfully.

Use the View Test Results option to view the test results of the selected model. This option is applicable only for Classification and Regression models.

Use the Go to Properties option to open the Properties pane of the selected node.

Use the Navigate option to view the links available from the selected node.

Navigate displays the collection of links available from this node. Selecting one of the links selects the link and the selected link is highlighted in the workflow. The link itself has context menu options as well so you can right click and continue with the Navigate option. You can also use the arrow keys to progress to the next node.