Understanding Foreign Tables

Foreign tables are text files, or any other files or tables, that are not recognized by Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne software. However, they must reside in a database that is supported by JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, such as:

• Oracle

• Access

• IBM i

• SQL Server

Before you can work with foreign tables in Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Table Conversion Design Aid, you must define the database to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. This definition is created when you set up an ODBC data source or an Oracle Call Interface (OCI) data source that points to the database where the foreign tables reside.

You must also add a data source in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne that points to the ODBC or OCI data source that you defined. For each ODBC data source, database instance, or library that contains foreign tables, you must set up an environment. The environment points to the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne data source, which in turn points to the database or library. In addition, you must set up an ODBC mapping from the data source to the environment.

Note: When you work with foreign tables, you must discuss database permissions with a database administrator. Your JD Edwards EnterpriseOne user ID (or, if you are using the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne security server feature, the database user to which it maps) might need to be changed to give you permissions to use the tables in the foreign database. Without these permissions, you cannot view the foreign tables in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Table Conversion Design Aid. Under certain conditions, the table conversion engine must create temporary tables in the output environment and requires create-and-drop permissions for the database.