SAS Warehouse Administrator 2.3 Metadata API Reference, 2nd edition

309 Pages·2004·2.24 MB·English

by  The SAS Technical Team Writers

SAS/Warehouse Administrator® 2.3
Metadata API
Reference
Second Edition
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SAS/WarehouseAdministrator®2.3MetadataAPIReference, Second Edition. Cary,NC:SASInstituteInc.
SAS/Warehouse Administrator®2.3Metadata APIReference, Second Edition
Copyright ©2004, SASInstituteInc., Cary,NC, USA
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Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Metadata API 1
Changes and Enhancements 1
Prerequisites 4
What is Metadata? 4
What is the SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata API? 5
What Can I Do with the SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata API? 5
How the Metadata API Works 5
Identifying Metadata 7
Reading Metadata: A Simple Example 8
Metadata Repositories 10
Learning to Use the Metadata API 12
Naming Conventions Used in This Manual 12
Where Metadata API Classes and SLISTS are Stored 12
Chapter 2 Metadata API Class 13
Overview of the Metadata API Class 13
Using the Metadata API Class 14
Introduction to Metadata API Methods 14
Index to Metadata API Methods 16
Chapter 3 SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata Types 51
Overview of SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata Types 51
Metadata Type Inheritance 52
Using Metadata Types 53
Index to SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata Types 70
Using the Metadata Type Dictionary 73
Appendix 1 Sample Metadata API Code 273
Appendix Overview 273
Read Metadata Code Sample 273
Write Metadata Code Sample 277
Appendix 2 Metadata Type Inheritance Tree 281
SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata Type Inheritance Tree 281
Appendix 3 Recommended Reading 285
Recommended Reading 285
Glossary 287
Index 295
iv
1
C H A P T E R
1
Introduction to the Metadata
API
ChangesandEnhancements 1
Prerequisites 4
WhatisMetadata? 4
WhatistheSAS/WarehouseAdministratorMetadataAPI? 5
WhatCanIDowiththeSAS/WarehouseAdministratorMetadataAPI? 5
HowtheMetadataAPIWorks 5
IdentifyingMetadata 7
ReadingMetadata: ASimpleExample 8
MetadataRepositories 10
SettingtheActiveMetadataRepository 11
LearningtoUsetheMetadataAPI 12
NamingConventionsUsedinThisManual 12
WhereMetadataAPIClassesandSLISTSareStored 12
Changes and Enhancements
This section describes changes to the SAS/Warehouse Administrator metadata API
after Release 2.0.
(cid:0) You can add and update the PATH property for the WHEFILE type.
(cid:0) You can now use the metadata API to add, update, and delete process objects. For
example, you can write a metadata API program that creates a data store and also
creates all of the processes that are required to extract, transform, and load
information into that data store. The following metadata types have been updated
to support this feature:
(cid:0) WHCOLUMN
(cid:0) WHCOLDTL
(cid:0) WHCOLDAT
(cid:0) WHCOLODD
(cid:0) WHCOLOLP
(cid:0) WHCOLTIM
(cid:0) WHCTRNFM
(cid:0) WHEFILE
(cid:0) WHEXTATR
(cid:0) WHINDEX
(cid:0) WHOLAP
(cid:0) WOLPDIM
2 ChangesandEnhancements Chapter1
(cid:0) WOLPHIR
(cid:0) WOLPCRS
(cid:0) WOLPCUB
(cid:0) WHPHYSTR
(cid:0) WHDMSST
(cid:0) WHSASSTR
(cid:0) WHPOBJECT
(cid:0) WHJOB
(cid:0) WHGRPJOB
(cid:0) WHEVENT
(cid:0) WHTFILE
(cid:0) WHTXTFIL
(cid:0) WHSCRFIL
(cid:0) WHTXTCAT
(cid:0) WHNOTE
(cid:0) WHSRCCAT
(cid:0) WHJOBCAT
(cid:0) WHDW
(cid:0) WHDWENV
(cid:0) WHINFO
(cid:0) WHINFOFL
(cid:0) WHTABLE
(cid:0) WHDATTBL
(cid:0) WHDETAIL
(cid:0) WHLDETL
(cid:0) WHODDTBL
(cid:0) WHODTTBL
(cid:0) WHSUMTBL
(cid:0) WHOLPSTC
(cid:0) WHGRPOLP
(cid:0) WHOLPTBL
(cid:0) WHOLPMDD
(cid:0) WHTBLPRC
(cid:0) WHTBLMAP
(cid:0) WHTBLREC
(cid:0) WHTBLUSR
(cid:0) WHTBLXFR
(cid:0) WHPROCES
(cid:0) WHPRCMAN
(cid:0) WHPRCMAP
(cid:0) WHPRCREC
(cid:0) WHPRCUSR
IntroductiontotheMetadataAPI ChangesandEnhancements 3
(cid:0) WHPRCXFR
(cid:0) WHPRCLDR
(cid:0) WHLDRDAT
(cid:0) WHLDRDTL
(cid:0) WHLDREXT
(cid:0) WHLDRINF
(cid:0) WHLDRIMF
(cid:0) WHLDRLDT
(cid:0) WHLDRMDB
(cid:0) WHLDRODD
(cid:0) WHLDRODT
(cid:0) WHLDRSUM
(cid:0) WHLDOTBL
(cid:0) WHLDOMDD
(cid:0) WHLDOPRX
(cid:0) WHPRCSPR
(cid:0) WHPRCPST
(cid:0) WHSUBSET
(cid:0) WHROWSEL
(cid:0) The TABLE OPTIONS property of the WHDBMSST type has a new sublist—the
APPEND sublist. The APPEND sublist contains any SAS/ACCESS LIBNAME
dataset optionsthat are usedto createor loadthe table, such as BULKLOAD=yes.
(cid:0) Load process options for warehouse tables, such as GENERATION LEVEL and
DROP INDEXES, are now surfaced through the WHPRCLDR type and all of its
subtypes. For example, you can write a SAS/Warehouse Administrator add-in that
reads the load options that are specified in a table’s load process and uses these
options to load the corresponding table.
(cid:0) The operating system and SAS version that are associated with a given host are
now available through the WHHOST property. For example, you can write a
SAS/Warehouse Administrator add-in that reads the host metadata that is
associated with a given data store and then uses these values to generate code
that is appropriate for the operating system and SAS version.
(cid:0) You can now write OLAP objects through the metadata API. The following types
have been updated:
(cid:0) WHMDDSTR
(cid:0) WHOLPSTC
(cid:0) WHGRPOLP
(cid:0) WHOLPTBL
(cid:0) WHOLPMDD
(cid:0) WHCOLOLP
(cid:0) WHOLPDIM
(cid:0) WHOLPHIR
(cid:0) WHOLPCRS
(cid:0) WHOLPCUB.
4 Prerequisites Chapter1
(cid:0) Metadata for columns that are selected using point and click in the Expression
Builder and that are used in either a WHERE clause or a row selector is now
surfaced through the WHSUBSET and WHROWSEL types. For example, you can
write a SAS/Warehouse Administrator add-in that reads the column metadata that
is associated with a WHERE clause or a row selector and uses this metadata to
generate the appropriate code.
(cid:0) You can now update the EXTENDED ATTRIBUTES property and other properties
in the WHCOLTIM type. For example, you can use an add-in tool to add data
mining attributes to a _LOADTM column, export the metadata for the table to
Enterprise Miner and analyze the _LOADTM column in Enterprise Miner.
(cid:0) The usage notes for the _UPDATE_METDATA_ method have been expanded. For
details, see “Using _UPDATE_METADATA_” on page 46.
Prerequisites
To get the most out of this manual, you should be familiar with
(cid:0) SCL (SAS Component Language), a programming language that controls SAS/AF
applications and provides complete object-oriented programming constructs for
creating an entire object-oriented application in SCL
(cid:0) the SAS/AF software development environment
(cid:0) SCL applications that use FRAME entries
(cid:0) the SAS application whose metadata you want to read or write.
To use the metadata API, you will need the following SAS products in addition to
API software:
(cid:0) Base SAS software, Release 6.12 or later
(cid:0) SAS/AF software
(cid:0) SAS/GRAPH software—if you need to modify or write API software that includes a
GUI
(cid:0) the SAS application whose metadata you want to read or write, such as
SAS/Warehouse Administrator, Release 1.2 or later.
SCL applications that use the metadata API must run under Release 6.12 or later of
SAS.
What is Metadata?
Metadata is information that is internal to an application that describes elements in
the application, such as tables and columns. Metadata can be divided into two main
categories:
Physical metadata
specifies a set of software instructions that describe an application element.
For example, the physical metadata for a SAS table might specify a certain
number of rows and columns, with certain data transformations applied to some
columns.
Business metadata
specifies text that describes the content or purpose of an application element.
IntroductiontotheMetadataAPI HowtheMetadataAPIWorks 5
For example, the business metadata for a SAS table might describe the purpose
of the table and contact information for the person responsible for the accuracy of
the information in the table.
Most SAS/Warehouse Administrator metadata contains information about data
sources, data stores, and the jobs that extract, transform, and load source data into the
warehouse data stores. SAS/Warehouse Administrator metadata is stored in two or
more metadata repositories.
What is the SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata API?
It is a set of software tools that enable programmers to write applications that access
metadata in SAS/Warehouse Administrator.
What Can I Do with the SAS/Warehouse Administrator Metadata API?
Using the metadata API, you can write programs that read, add, update, or delete
the metadata in SAS/Warehouse Administrator—without going through the user
interface. You can write SCL applications that
(cid:0) publish HTML pages that contain the current metadata for a SAS/Warehouse
Administrator group or data store
(cid:0) change path names in metadata
(cid:0) copy a table’s metadata (in order to create a similar table, for example)
(cid:0) add columns to a table
(cid:0) update a column attribute
(cid:0) add tables and other objects that are defined by metadata
(cid:0) use the API in a SAS macro to generate a LIBNAME statement.
How the Metadata API Works
Figure 1.1 on page 6 illustrates how client applications written in SCL use the
metadata API to read or write metadata from SAS applications.