After exploring the SAP Data Services Designer and its primary objects, the next step is learning how to connect to your data sources and targets.
Watch the following video to understand the various methods for connecting to your data storage.
Datastore Creation Workflow
Using a datastore typically involves three main steps:
Establish a connection to the data source.
Import metadata from the data source.
Incorporate the datastore metadata into a data flow to read from or write to the data source.
Datastore Metadata
To use tables or other objects within a data flow, you must import their metadata after creating the datastore. This metadata includes table and column names, data types, and primary keys.
Using Imported Objects
In SAP Data Services, imported objects serve two primary roles:
- As a source object: SAP Data Services uses the datastore connection details to access and load data into the data flow.
- As a target object: SAP Data Services sends processed data from the data flow to the target. Depending on the configuration, it then uploads this data to the database or application using the datastore connection.
The most efficient way to import metadata is by browsing. Locate the object you wish to import on the External Metadata tab of the Datastore Explorer, right-click it, and select Import.
If browsing is not feasible, you can also import objects manually by name.
Datastore Maintenance
Regular datastore maintenance ensures that the connections between SAP Data Services and your data sources remain functional and accurate.
When external metadata changes (such as modified column names), re-importing the metadata is recommended. This process updates the repository metadata to align with the current external source, following a similar workflow to the initial import.
Watch this video to learn how to maintain and update your metadata.
Reconcile vs. Reimport
- Reconcile: Compares external metadata with repository metadata to identify differences. It identifies changes but does not update the repository.
- Reimport: Overwrites the repository metadata with the current external metadata. Note that any manual changes made to the metadata within SAP Data Services will be lost.
To update database-level changes (such as a new server location or database name), use the Edit Datastore screen. Note that certain attributes, such as the datastore name, database type, and version, cannot be edited and may require you to recreate the datastore.
Datastore Configurations
A single datastore can hold multiple sets of configuration information.
While using multiple configurations adds complexity, it provides greater flexibility when moving objects between different environments or database instances.
For detailed information on datastore and system configurations, refer to the SAP Help Portal: Multiple datastore configurations | SAP Help Portal
Summary
In this lesson, you learned about SAP Data Services datastores.
- Datastores store connection information to databases and applications, enabling SAP Data Services to access metadata like table structures and data types.
- There are three main steps for using datastores: Establish connection to data source, import metadata, and incorporate into data flows for reading/writing data.
- Metadata import methods include browsing the External Metadata tab or manually importing objects by name from the datastore.
- Regular maintenance ensures accuracy. Use reconcile to identify metadata changes and re-import to update repository metadata with current external source information.
- Multiple configurations provide flexibility for moving objects between different environments or database instances within a single datastore.