Creating a Dataflux Service for use in Data Integration Studio.

JasonSharp — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:02:19 GMT

I put together a version of this guide for internal use and thought it would be useful for people in this community. I have also attached a PDF version that includes a few screenshots.

This is a guide on how to create a Dataflux Data Service that can be used by SAS Data Integration Studio(DI Studio).

The basic process
is:

Define inputs
Create a data service
Set the QKB
Import to the server

Defining Inputs

To setup what inputs the service will accept use the External Data Provider Node found in the Data Inputs Category. In the Properties of the External Data Provider Node for each input the service is going to accept specify the name, type and length. Input names should avoid spaces and dashes(-).

Create Data Service

Create the Data
Service the same way you would a Data Job using a External Data Provider Node as the input. One difference is that you do not specify an output location. Normally you would specify a target as a CSV file, table or something else. AData Service will pass whatever comes out of the last Node to DI Studio. For example a simple Data Service can have just an External Data Provider Node and a Parsing Node. The output of the Parsing Node will be sent to DI Studio.

Quality Knowledge Base(QKB)

The active QKB for the Data Management Server is set in the file app.cfg located on the server at. Different servers may have different locations for this file. For more information search for "qkb/path" in the DataFlux Data Management Server Administrator's Guide http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/dfdmstudio/2.3/DMServer_Admin.pdf:

C:\Program
Files\DataFlux\DMServer\2.1\etc

It is the qkb/path
setting. Currently set as:

qkb/path =
C:\ProgramData\DataFlux\QKB\CI\2011A

Even though there is a default path set on the server, best practice will be to explicitly set the path for the QKB when creating the service. One reason for this is if the default QKB path on the server gets changed it could break the service. For example if the server default is changed from a "CI - Contact Info" QKB to a "PD - Product" QKB a service that parses addresses would not longer work. Another reason to explicitly set the QKB path is you may need to use a QKB other than the server default.

To set the QKB for a node:

Open the Advanced Properties of the node
Edit the value for BF_PATH
Enter the QKB path

Field Name Rules

Spaces and dashes(-) should be avoided in input or output field names. DI Studio does not these characters in field names gracefully.

Import to Server

Once the Data Service has been created and saved follow these steps to import it to the Data Management Server:

Go to the Data Management Servers riser
Click the Import button
Choose the saved Data Service for the folders in your repository and click Next
Choose the Real-Time Data Services folder as the Import Location and click Import
If the Item Already Exists choose the appropriate option from the prompt.
Click Close

Re: Creating a Dataflux Service for use in Data Integration Studio.

art297 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:04:11 GMT

Jason: Thanks for sharing. Can you be talked into posting the same text and materials on a page at sasCommunity.org?

That would definitely make it easier to find, and by more users, than it simply being a post here. Also, that way, it can become a living document, updated and expanded by the user community as needed.

topic Re: Creating a Dataflux Service for use in Data Integration Studio. in SAS Data Management

Creating a Dataflux Service for use in Data Integration Studio.

Re: Creating a Dataflux Service for use in Data Integration Studio.