Chapter 6: Task Overview for Users | SAS 9.1.3 ETL Studio: Users Guide

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Preliminary Tasks for Users

After administrators complete the tasks that are described in Chapter 5, "Setup Tasks for Administrators," on page 37, you must perform a number of tasks before you can begin work in SAS ETL Studio.

Start SAS ETL Studio

Start SAS ETL Studio as you would any other SAS application on a given platform. For example, under Microsoft Windows, you can select Start Programs SAS SAS ETL Studio. You can also start the application from a command line. Navigate to the SAS ETL Studio installation directory and issue the

    etlstudio.exe

command.

If you do not specify any options, SAS ETL Studio uses the parameters specified in the etlstudio.ini file. The following sections contain information on options you can specify on the command line or add to the etlstudio.ini file.

Specifying Java Options

To specify Java options when you start SAS ETL Studio, use the –javaopts option and enclose the Java options in single quotation marks. For example, the following command starts SAS ETL Studio on Windows and contains Java options that specify the locale as Japanese:

   etlstudio ---javaopts '-Duser.language=ja -Duser.country=JP'

Specifying the Plug-in Location

By default, SAS ETL Studio looks for plug-ins in a plugins directory under the directory in which the application was installed. If you are starting SAS ETL Studio from another location, you must specify the location of the plug-in directory by using the

   --pluginsDir

option. The syntax of the option is

   etlstudio --pluginsdir <plugin path>

Specifying the Error Log Location

SAS ETL Studio writes error information to a file named errorlog.txt in the working directory. Because each SAS ETL Studio session overwrites this log, you might want to specify a different name or location for the log file. Use the following option to change the error logging location:

 etlstudio --logfile '<filepath/filename>'

Specifying Message Logging

You can specify the server status messages that are encountered in a SAS ETL Studio session by using the

   --MessageLevel level_value

option. Valid values for level_value include the following:

ALL	all messages are logged
CONFIG	static configuration messages are logged
FINE	basic tracing information is logged
FINER	more detailed tracing information is logged
FINEST	highly detailed tracing information is logged. Specify this option to debug problems with SAS server connections.
INFO	informational messages are logged
OFF	no messages are logged
SEVERE	messages indicating a severe failure are logged
WARNING	messages indicating a potential problem are logged

Create a Metadata Profile

A metadata profile is a client-side definition of where the metadata server is located. The definition includes a machine name, a port number, and one or more metadata repositories. In addition, the metadata profile can contain login information and instructions for connecting to the metadata server automatically.

You must open a metadata profile before you can do any work in SAS ETL Studio. This section describes how a user could create a metadata profile for the example data warehouse.

Preparation

After an administrator has created one or more metadata repositories, the administrator provides the SAS ETL Studio user with the following information:

the network name of the metadata server
the port number used by the metadata server
a login ID and password for that server
the name of the repository that should be selected as the default metadata repository for this profile.

Default Metadata Repository

When you create a metadata profile, you specify a default metadata repository for that profile. Typically, the administrator who creates metadata repositories simply tells SAS ETL Studio users which repository to select as the default. As a user, however, you might want to be aware of the effect that the default repository has on your work in SAS ETL Studio. The effect depends on whether you are working with change-managed metadata repositories.

If you are working with change-managed repositories, the default metadata repository must be a project repository that you own. You will use the project repository to check metadata out of and into the repository that is under change management. For the example data warehouse, the main metadata repository (Foundation) is under change-management control. Each user will use his own project repository to check metadata out of and into the foundation repository.

If you are not working with change-managed repositories, you can update objects in any metadata repository that is visible in the tree view on the SAS ETL Studio desktop, but you can add new objects to the default metadata repository only. If you try to add an object to a repository other than the default repository, the new object will be added to the default repository.

Task Summary

SAS ETL Studio users perform these steps to create a metadata profile:

Start SAS ETL Studio. The Open a Metadata Profile window displays.
Select Create a new metadata profile. The Metadata Profile wizard displays.
Click . In the general information window, enter a name for the profile. For the example data warehouse, the name could be etlUser1 Profile.
Click . In the Connection Information window, enter a machine address, port, user name, and password that will enable you to connect to the appropriate SAS Metadata Server.
Click . The wizard attempts to connect to the metadata server. If the connection is successful, the Select Repositories window displays.
In the Select Repositories window, select the appropriate repository as the default metadata repository for this profile. For the example data warehouse, the default repository for a user would be a project repository that would be used to check metadata out of and into the foundation repository.
Click to exit the metadata profile wizard. You are returned to the Open a Metadata Profile window.

Open a Metadata Profile

After a metadata profile has been created, you can open the profile in SAS ETL Studio. You must open a metadata profile in order to do any work in SAS ETL Studio.

Perform these steps to open a metadata profile:

Start SAS ETL Studio. The Open a Metadata Profile window displays.
Select Open an existing metadata profile. The selected profile is opened in SAS ETL Studio.

Another way to open a metadata profile is to start SAS ETL Studio, then select File Open a Metadata Profile from the menu bar.

If you are working with change-managed metadata repositories, see "Working with Change Management" on page 64. Assume that the main metadata repository for the example data warehouse is under change-management control.

If you are not working with change-managed metadata repositories, the following statements apply:

You can update objects in any metadata repository for which you have write authority in the tree view on the SAS ETL Studio desktop.
You can add only new objects to the default metadata repository.
If you try to add an object to a repository other than the default repository, the new object is added to the default repository.

Select a Default SAS Application Server

One of the first tasks that most users will perform in SAS ETL Studio is to select a default SAS application server. A default SAS application server lets you access data, execute SAS code, and perform other tasks that require a SAS server but without having to specify a server each time. Typically, a metadata administrator defines this metadata object and then tells the SAS ETL Studio user which object to select as the default SAS application server.

For the example data warehouse, assume the metadata object for the default SAS application server is called SASMain. For details about SASMain, see "Default SAS Application Server" on page 42.

Perform these steps to select a default SAS application server:

From the SAS ETL Studio menu bar, select File Options to display the Options window.
Select the SAS Server tab.
On the SAS Server tab, select the desired server from the Server drop-down list. The name of the selected server appears in the Server field.
Click to test the connection to the SAS Workspace Server(s) that are specified in the metadata for the server. If the connection is successful, go to the next step. If the connection is not successful, contact the metadata administrator who defined the server metadata for additional help.
After you have verified the connection to the default SAS application server, click to save any changes. The server that specified in the Server field is now the default SAS application server.

You might want to be aware of the impact of selecting a default SAS application server. For details, see "Impact of the Default SAS Application Server in SAS ETL Studio" on page 43.

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