The' EIQ Server Virtual Data Sources' tab provides functionality for viewing existing Virtual Data Sources, creating new ones, or editing and deleting existing ones. For a description of the concepts behind VDSs and virtual schema views, see SmartData Fabric^® Configurations Introduction.

The tab also allows users to create and edit the standard data model used by VDSs through the 'Edit Business Data Dictionary' button.

Business Data Dictionary

The business data dictionary holds the standard data model information needed for building business data views. Business data views hide data source specific column names and data types from clients. In business data views, columns from a standard data model are mapped against data source specific columns containing corresponding data through a business data view mapping. See the 'Dictionary Mapping' Tab section below for more details regarding mapping.

Business data views provide the following functions:

· Assign a commonly understood meaning to columns (semantic mapping). For example, a column named 'esal' may not mean much to someone unfamiliar with the data source. When it is mapped to a standard data model column named 'Employee Salary', it becomes much more meaningful.

· A data type definition. They define the data in more commonly understood terms.

· A data format definition. They define the format in which the data should be returned for the column.

The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), HL7, FHIR and eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) are examples of standard data models.

The 'Edit Business Data Dictionary' button opens a dialog with the list of columns from a standard data model and their data type details. Users can add, delete, or edit items in the list. They can also import a standard data model from an existing CSV formatted file on the file system or export the list to a file.

A standard data model can be imported in two ways:

1) through the 'Import' feature in the 'Edit Business Data Dictionary' dialog

2) by replacing the default STANDARDNAMES.CSV (comma delimited) file under '\WhamTech\Settings\EIQConfig\' folder in the install path before starting the EIQ Server service for the first time.

Supported data types for these columns include: BIGINT, CHAR, DATE, FLOAT, INT, REAL, SMALLINT, TIME, and TIMESTAMP. The lengths of the data types are generally predetermined and cannot be modified. The CHAR data type length is variable and accommodates up to 256 characters in length.

Defining a New Virtual Data Source

To define a new Virtual Data Source, click "Define New". This opens a dialog for configuring a VDS.

Name:

The name of the virtual data source. This name will be given to the clients in a list of available data sources at SDF query server.

Data Source - EIQ Index Pairs:

For EIQ Indexed Adapter, EIQ Hybrid Adapter, and EIQ Conventional Adapter configurations, the data source is paired with a corresponding EIQ Index (in the case of EIQ Conventional Adapter, EIQ Conventional Adapter Indexes). The pairing notifies the server to execute queries on the EIQ Indexes and go to the corresponding data source only for retrieving results. For EIQ Conventional Adapters, EIQ Conventional Adapter Indexes provide data source schema information and any transforms that need to be applied on the results.

Users click 'Add', select the data source from the combo list (or click 'Register new' to add a new data source), browse by clicking 'Browse', and select the corresponding EIQ Indexes for the data sources.

Note: The data source needs to be registered first as described under the Data Sources tab below.

In an EIQ Conventional Adapter configuration, users must select the "Passthrough command" checkbox so queries can be passed directly to the data source for execution.

For EIQ Federation Server configurations, there is no pairing needed. However, the remote data sources need to be added for a VDS through the same 'Data Source - EIQ Index Pair' dialog. In this case, only a remote data source is selected.

Viewing Index Properties:

Users can view EIQ Index details at any time after configuration by clicking 'View Index'.

Dictionary Mapping Tab

Business data view mapping

Users can map business data view columns to data source columns using a business data view mapping.

In the left pane, users can expand the Virtual Data Source tree hierarchy and select any registered data source name to map a business data view. The column details for this data source are shown in the right pane.

Users can select and double-click on the data source column or right-click and select 'Edit'. A dialog opens where users can select the corresponding standard data model name from the 'Dictionary Name' list.

Note: The 'Dictionary Name' list is dynamically adjusted to display only the business data view column names that match the selected data source column type.

Creating Business Views

Business Views are views created based on the dictionary mapping that define columns that can be queried. Business Views are created under the dictionary mapping tab.

Creating a new view is relatively simple within the 'Define Business View' dialog window. Open this screen by right-clicking within the Business View pane and selecting "New Table...".

Here's a brief breakdown of the various dialog boxes within the window.

Name	The name of the Business View.
Indexed Tables	This dialog lists the names of the indexed data source tables and any materialized views that were created. Selecting a table will display indexed column names in the adjacent dialog.
Indexed Columns	This dialog list the names of the indexed columns, or columns within a materialized view.
JOIN SQL Clause	The SQL clause that specifies any required JOIN rules. For many configurations, this may just be one table.
Mapped Columns	This dialog will show the list of columns that have a dictionary mapping within the view. Only mapped columns will appear here.

Users can create a view by double-clicking the tables and columns necessary to complete the JOIN rule, or a JOIN rule can be copied and pasted into the dialog.

Creating Materialized Views

Materialized Views can be created in the EIQ Server Configuration Tool in a similar fashion as Business Views. Materialized Views are critical to EIQ Hybrid Adapter configurations, as they accelerate query performance while queries are resolved in the adapter. Materialized Views are also created in the 'Dictionary Mapping' tab.

Like with Business Views, users can create Materialized Views by right-clicking the Materialized View pane and selecting "New Indexed View" from the context menu.

Here's a brief breakdown of the various dialog boxes within the window.

Name	The name of the Materialized View.
Indexed Tables	This dialog lists the names of the indexed data source tables and any materialized views that were created. Selecting a table will display indexed column names in the adjacent dialog.
Indexed Columns	This dialog list the names of the indexed columns, or columns within a materialized view.
JOIN SQL Clause	The SQL statement that will define the columns and tables necessary to create the Materialized View. A wide array of SQL commands can be defined here, such as selecting columns as a different name or selecting the sum of one or multiple columns.
Mapped Columns	This dialog will show a preview of the columns that will appear in the Materialized View.

When a Materialized View is created it is inserted into the adapter as a table with mappable columns under an SDF specific schema. Users will need to return to the dictionary mapping screen and preform a dictionary mapping on the Materialized View.

Entity Configuration

Admins can define the entities used in Link Indexing by clicking 'Edit Entity Data' at the bottom of the 'Dictionary Mapping' tab. This opens the 'Edit Entities' dialog which provides features for adding, deleting, and modifying entities.

Entities consist of attributes as represented by business data view column names listed under the Business Data Dictionary. For example, an 'Address' entity is a combination of city, state, and street attributes (as represented by the 'CITY', 'STATE', and 'STREET' columns below).

Building Link Indexes and Master Data

EIQ Federation Server admins can build Link Indexes and/or Master Data for a VDS that federates one or more EIQ Indexed Adapter or EIQ Hybrid Adapter VDSs by clicking 'Build Links\MDM' at the bottom of the 'Dictionary Mapping' tab. This button is disabled unless users select 'Show entity mapping'.

See Link Indexes Help for more details on Link Indexes. See Master Data Help for more details on building Master Data.

Data Sources Tab

Admins use the 'Data Sources' tab to register data sources requiring access through SDF. Registered data sources can either be third-party data sources (Oracle, SQL Server, etc.) or other instances of SDF configurations (EIQ Federation Server, EIQ Indexed Adapter, EIQ Hybrid Adapter, and EIQ Conventional Adapter). Users can view all registered data sources, add a new data source and test the connections, and edit or delete an existing registered data source.

Registering a data source

Users register a data source by clicking 'Add Data Source'. It opens the 'Data Source Registration' dialog containing the following entry fields:

Alias	This name is unique and is used by SDF for this data source. (Required)
ID	This is a data source ID which is unique and specific to the data source.
Data Source Type	The connection driver for the data source. The supported types are: ODBC - Any data source that supports ODBC connections DB2 - For IBM DB2 data sources (data source connections will be through DB2 native client driver) ORACLE - For Oracle data sources (data source connections will be through Oracle native client driver (CLI)) DOCUMENTS - For special data source built through EIQ Server RTI Tool for searching documents on a file system. THUNDERBOLT - For special data sources built through EIQ Server RTI Tool (Native EIQ Non-Virtual Indexes)
Data Source Name	The data source system specific name for the data source. For ODBC connections, this is the data source name (DSN) listed under ODBC Data Source Administrator (see ODBC administration documentation for more details). For ORACLE connections, this is the name of TNS service name (see ORACLE administration documentation for more details).
Connect String	Data source system specific connection string. Not required for ODBC, THUNDERBOLT and DOCUMENTS types.
User Name	If login credentials are required for connecting to the data source, use the user name for the data source system.
Password	If login credentials are required for connecting to the data source, use the password for the data source system.
Schema Name	If the data source requires the schema name in queries, the EIQ Server system will use this value to automatically format SQL commands to the data source accordingly. Oracle data sources require schema name.

Using the 'Test Connection' button verifies that the connection to the data source is working properly.

Registering a remote SDF Configurations as a data source:

EIQ Federation Servers provide a single interface for accessing multiple data sources. In a typical EIQ Federation Server configuration, multiple data sources belonging to remote EIQ Indexed Adapters are registered for access through a VDS. Users can register a remote SDF Configuration as a data source by clicking 'Add Remote Server Data Source'. It opens the 'Remote Server Data Source Registration' dialog containing the following entry fields:

Alias	This name is unique and is used by the SDF for this data source. (Required)
Remote Server Address	The machine name or IP address where the remote EIQ Product server resides.
Remote Data Source	The data source name as registered with the remote server.
User Name	Login username required for connecting to the remote EIQ Product server.
Password	Login password required for connecting to the remote EIQ Product server.
Remote User Details	The user name and password for the proxy user. Proxy user is vital for Federation Server configuration and valid credentials must be used to complete the setup.

Advanced Settings Tab

The 'Advanced Settings' tab provides admins with various options to modify the server behavior. They can select and double-click on any of the items for editing (or select and click 'Change').

A detailed description of each of the settings is provided in the dialog for that setting.

Management Tab

The EIQ Server Configuration Tool provides features for admins to monitor and manage various SDF resources such as:

Connection pools for registered data sources and EIQ Indexes.
Virtual Data Sources.
Client sessions and active statements.

The management functions include taking any selected VDS, registered data source, or EIQ Index online or offline for maintenance operations. Apart from the above resources, admins can also manage users and user privileges. Admins can view the resources (Connection Pool and Virtual Data Sources), client sessions, and users by expanding the tree in the left panel.

Monitoring Resource Usage:

If users select a resource (EIQ Indexes or Data Sources under Connection Pool tree item) node in the left pane, the right pane shows the details. The 'Available' column shows the number of idle connections in the connection pool that are available for the selected resource. The 'Acquired' column shows the number of connections currently in use.

Taking resources Offline and bringing back Online

To make changes to existing EIQ Indexes or to take backups, admins must disconnect any open connections, take indexes offline, and then bring them back online. Similarly, they may take down VDSs and data sources to make configuration changes and bring them back online. An example is when accessing Mainframe Data Files through the WhamTech MDF ODBC Driver. If changes are to be made to the MDF DSN configuration XML file, then the MDF data source must be taken offline first.

Note: Before taking EIQ Indexes or data sources offline, the corresponding VDS must be taken offline.

Taking resources offline:

From the tree in the left pane, admins can select a resource folder (Virtual Data Sources, Connection Pool->EIQ Indexes, Connection Pool->Data Sources). In the right pane, from the list of available resources, admins can select a resource to bring down by right-clicking the desired node and selecting 'Take Offline' from the menu.

If there is a connection in use for the selected EIQ Index, a dialog opens asking whether the user would like to proceed with the 'Take offline' action or not. If the user clicks 'Yes', it will take the index offline. This action might affect client sessions that are still using the index. For example, it may terminate results-retrieval for a query that was being processed.

If the user clicks 'No', no action will be taken.

Taking resources online:

Similarly, admins can bring resources back online by right-clicking the resource and clicking 'Bring Online’.

Note: Before bringing VDSs online, the corresponding EIQ Indexes and data sources need to be brought online.

Monitoring Client Sessions

Users can view a list of all client connections to the server by selecting the 'Client Sessions' folder in the left pane tree. In the right pane, for each connection, information such as the Username, Data Source, status of the connection, IP Address of the client machine, and login time is displayed.

Managing Users and Roles

Admins can manage users, user credentials, and user access roles by selecting the 'Users' tree node. From here, they can view all existing users, add a new user, delete an existing user, and modify user roles.

SDF comes with these pre-configured user roles: public, eiqdeveloper, eiqdataanalyst and eiqadmin. These roles restrict user access to certain types of SDF tools. For more information on access control, see EIQ Data Security and Access Control. New roles can also be added to provide a more finely tuned security grant delegation based on an organization’s needs. ServerAdmins can create new roles using the "Roles" tree node.

Users can then be added to a role by expanding the node for the role, right-clicking the user, and selecting "Add..." from the context menu. Removing a user from a role works the same way.

By selecting a specific user node from the tree, they can also view the details of any connections from that user.

SDF Configurations

The following section gives an outline of major steps required for various SDF configurations.

Configuring an EIQ Indexed Adapter

Using the EIQ Server RTI Tool:

i. Build indexes for a data source.

ii. Optionally, apply data transforms and data cleansing.

Using the EIQ Server Configuration Tool:

i. Register the data source with the EIQ Server.

ii. Create a VDS.

iii. Pair the data source with corresponding EIQ Indexes.

iv. Map standard data model column names to a business data view.

v. Create a Business View to query mapped columns.

EIQ Update Server Configuration Tool (Optional):

i. Setup update tasks for updating EIQ Indexes for the data source.

Clients: Connect to SDF query server and select the VDS (E.g.: from PGAdmin or PSQL).

Configuring an EIQ Conventional Adapter

Using the EIQ Server RTI Tool:

i. Build EIQ Conventional Adapter Indexes for a data source. EIQ Conventional Adapter Indexes are special indexes that contain only the metadata information for the data source and any transforms on results.

ii. Optionally, apply data transforms.

Using the EIQ Server Configuration Tool:

i. Register the data source with the EIQ Server.

ii. Create a VDS.

iii. Pair the data source with corresponding EIQ Conventional Adapter Indexes.

iv. Map standard data model column names to a business data view.

Clients: Connect to SDF query server and select the VDS (e.g. from PGAdmin or PSQL).

Configuring an EIQ Hybrid Adapter

Using the EIQ Server RTI Tool:

i. Build EIQ Indexes for the data source.

ii. Optionally, apply data transforms and data cleansing

Using the EIQ Server Configuration Tool:

i. Register the data source with the EIQ Server.

ii. Create a VDS.

iii. Pair the data source with EIQ Indexes.

iv. Map business data view columns to data source columns using a Business Data View mapping.

v. Create any Materialized Views for accessing source data directly.

vi. Create a Business View to query mapped columns.

EIQ Update Configuration Tool (Optional):

i. Setup update tasks for updating EIQ Indexes for the data source.

Clients: Connect to SDF query server and select the VDS (E.g.: from PGAdmin or PSQL).

Configuring an EIQ Federation Server

Using the EIQ Server Configuration Tool:

i. Register Virtual Data Sources (VDS) from EIQ Indexed Adapters and other EIQ Adapters as data sources with the EIQ Server.

ii. Create a new VDS.

iii. Select one or more registered data sources of "Remote EIQ Server" type (typically EIQ Indexed Adapter VDSs).

iv. Optionally, define entities for Link Indexing, and

v. Initiate Link Index build process.

Clients: Connect to SDF query server and select the VDS (E.g.: from PGAdmin or PSQL)

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