Features

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SAS ETL Studio supports a number of features that enable you to manage large data warehousing projects. The following table lists the basic features. For an overview of the latest features, see the following table.

Table 2.2: SAS ETL Studio Features

Feature	Related Documentation
A metadata architecture that complies with the Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM). Enables SAS ETL Studio to share metadata with other applications.	See the SAS Open Metadata Architecture documentation on the SAS OnlineDoc CD or on the http://support.sas.com Web site.
Import and export of metadata in Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) format. Optional bridges are available for other formats. Enables SAS ETL Studio to import and export metadata about sources and targets.	See "Metadata Import and Export" on page 11.
Optional Data Surveyor wizards that provide access to the metadata in enterprise applications from SAP, Siebel, Oracle, and other vendors.	See the online Help for the Data Surveyor wizards in SAS ETL Studio, if installed.
Source control for metadata. Supports team-based development of ETL process flows.	See "Working with Change Management" on page 64.
Metadata access control by user and group.	See the SAS Intelligence Platform: Planning and Administration Guide.
Metadata backup.	See the SAS Metadata Server: Setup Guide.
Multi-tier support for processes that flow across multiple servers.	See "Multi-Tier Support" on page 11.
Optional, integrated SAS data quality software for data cleansing and data analysis.	See "Integrated SAS Data Quality Software" on page 12.
Support for OLAP data stores.	See Chapter 11, "Creating Cubes," on page 161.
Support for user-written components.	See "User-Written Components" on page 12.
Job scheduling.	See "Job Scheduling" on page 12.
Multiple work environments—separate environments for development, testing, and production, for example.	See metadata promotion and metadata replication in the SAS Management Console: User's Guide.

Metadata Import and Export

SAS ETL Studio is a SAS Open Metadata Architecture application. It can easily share metadata repositories with other SAS Open Metadata Architecture applications, such as SAS Management Console, SAS Enterprise Miner, SAS Information Delivery Portal, SAS OLAP Administrator, and the metadata LIBNAME engine.

SAS ETL Studio also provides metadata import and export wizards from its Shortcut Bar and the Tools menu. These wizards enable you to perform the following tasks:

• exchange metadata with applications that support the Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM)

• import or export metadata using one of the optional Meta Integration Model Bridges (MIMB) from Meta Integration Technology, Inc.

For example, you can use the metadata importer wizard to import a data model in CWM format or in a format for which you have the appropriate Meta Integration Model Bridge. In SAS ETL Studio, you could view the properties of each table in the model and verify that the appropriate metadata was imported. The tables could then be used in SAS ETL Studio jobs.

For details about the metadata import and export wizards, see the SAS Management Console: User's Guide.

To import or export metadata in formats other than CWM, additional software from Meta Integration Technology must be installed. Meta Integration Technology is a SAS software partner. For information about obtaining and installing their software, see http://www.metaintegration.net/Products/MIMB/Description.html. You can also request an evaluation license key from this location.

Change Management Facility

SAS ETL Studio enables you to create metadata objects that define sources, targets, and the transformations that connect them. These objects are saved to one or more metadata repositories. In SAS ETL Studio, the change management facility enables multiple SAS ETL Studio users to work with the same metadata repository at the same time—without overwriting each other's changes. For details, see "Working with Change Management" on page 64.

Multi-Tier Support

SAS ETL Studio provides N-tier support for processes that flow across multiple servers, as described in "The SAS Intelligence Platform" on page 8. SAS ETL Studio uses a combination of SAS Integration Technologies software and SAS/CONNECT software to access SAS servers.

SAS servers provide two critical services:

• Data services—access to data using SAS software, including the SAS/ACCESS products for access to DBMS data.

• Compute services—submission of SAS code to other machines running SAS and retrieval of the results.

SAS ETL Studio's multi-tier support includes support for implicit data transfers using the UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD procedures, explicit data transfers using a Data Transfer transformation template, or both. (A Data Transfer transformation template is one of the templates that is provided in the Process Library. For an overview of the Process Library, see "Process Library Tree" on page 107.)

Support is included for scripted signon for SAS/CONNECT. SAS ETL Studio will generate script assignments in its generated code.

Integrated SAS Data Quality Software

The Process Library in SAS ETL Studio contains two data quality transformation templates: Create Match Code and Apply Lookup Standardization. These templates enable you to increase the value of your data through data analysis and data cleansing.

The prerequisites for these templates are described in "Prerequisites for SAS Data Quality" on page 51. After the prerequisites have been met, you can drag and drop the templates into process flow diagrams.

User-Written Components

SAS ETL Studio enables you to do the following:

• Specify user-written code for an entire job or a transformation within a job. For a summary of this task, see "Creating Jobs That Retrieve User-Written Code" on page 116.

• Drag a User-Written transformation template from the Process Library and drop it into the process flow diagram for a job. You can then update the default metadata for the transformation so that it specifies the location of user-written program.

• Use the Transformation Generator wizard to create your own SAS code transformation templates and add them to the Process Library. After a transformation template has been added to the Process Library, you can drag and drop it into any job. For a description of this wizard, see "Transformation Generator Wizard" on page 112.

The online Help for SAS ETL Studio provides additional information about working with user-written components. To display the relevant Help topics, do the following:

1. From the SAS ETL Studio menu bar, select Help Contents. The online Help window displays.

2. In the left pane of the Help window, select Task Overviews SAS ETL Studio Task Reference User-Written Components and SAS ETL Studio.

You can also do the following:

• Use the Java programming language to create your own plug-ins for SAS ETL Studio. You can create Java-based transformation templates, source designer wizards, target designer wizards, and new object wizards. For details about creating your own Java plug-ins, see Appendix 2, "Building Java Plug-ins for SAS ETL Studio," on page 189.

Job Scheduling

After users define one or more jobs in SAS ETL Studio, they can submit the jobs for immediate execution. Administrators can also make jobs available for scheduling in another application. For example, after a job has been deployed, an administrator can use the Schedule Manager plug-in to SAS Management Console to schedule the deployed job to run at specified date and time or when a specified event occurs. For details about deploying jobs and scheduling jobs, see "Jobs Can Be Scheduled" on page 102.

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