4.4.1 RDA, Data Sources

Abbreviations, used in the manual:

RDA - Reference Data Administration

RDAD - Reference Data Administration Designer

FW - Form Wizard

Data Source is a connection set up to a Data Base in which the managed tables are located.

In RDAD module navigate to the left side menu and select "Reference Data Admin -> Settings -> Data Sources":

Note: the RDA module supports RDBMS Data Sources only. 

The following Data Base types are supported: 

• AS400
• DB2
• H2
• INFORMIX
• MSSQL
• MySQL
• NETEZZA
• ORACLE
• Postgres
• Redshift
• SAPHANA
• Snowflake
• Sybase
• Teradata
• Vertica

In the Data Sources grid you can add a new Data Source or manage existing Data Source(s).

Adding a new Data Source:

In the Data Sources grid click "Add Data Source" button and fill in all required details:

Name - choose the name for the Data Source. It is recommended to choose the name according to the relevant system and not including the environment (e.g. dev/prod), keeping the object ready for Deploy when working with different environments in quilliup product (i.e. DWH is a connection to the Data Warehouse pointing to the relevant connection in each environment).

Driver - choose a value from the list of native drivers (JDBC based) for different supported DB types. According to the driver you use, you will be asked to fill in relevant information.

Use Kerberos for connection - you could mark this option after choosing a Driver type (available for SQL Server and Teradata). Kerberos enables secure connections to Data Sources through strong authentication and encryption, ensuring authorized access and enhancing network security:

Kerberos details are defined in the Administration module under "System Settings -> System Properties -> Kerberos Details". Please refer to the detailed manual: System Properties

Use Isolation - this option appears only when the chosen database is DB2, MSSQL, or Postgres. Selecting this enables transaction isolation levels for the Data Source, ensuring that changes to the database are isolated and do not affect other transactions until committed. For more information on isolation levels, please refer to IBM documentation on isolation levels.

JDBC connection string - when checked => a new field "Connection string" will appear, please insert the appropriate JDBC connection string regarding chosen driver type:

Use Query Banding - available for Teradata DB, this feature allows setting query attributes for tracking and performance tuning by associating queries with user or application context.

Host - IP address or hostname for connection server.

Port - relevant port number.

Username - username that will be used for DB connection. It is highly recommended to provide a designated user to the application. 

Password - user's password for DB connection.

Database name - relevant DB name that will be used for the connection.

Filter by - the filter will restrict the tables list within the connection. The application client is constrained to retrieve a list of tables under the connection up to 2000. If your connection exceeds that number of tables, it is advisable to utilize the filter and establish a designated connection (e.g., by schema or prefix).

Test Connection - validates that the connection works properly and returns the correct number of tables.

Assigned Projects - the Data Source must be assigned to the relevant Project(s). When assigned, a Data Source will appear in the Data Sources list in the Project's FW(s). A Data Source can be assigned or removed from a Project also on Project's definition level. Administrators can also restrict specific roles from accessing a Data Source(s) at the Project Role Permissions level.

Existing Data Sources:

In the Data Source grid, there are multiple grid options:

Bulk Operations:

It is possible to select as many Data Sources as needed and apply the actions Copy, Update and Delete as shown in the image below.

Bulk Copy:

Select multiple Data Sources and click "Copy" to duplicate them. You can adjust the properties for the new Data Sources as needed. Below is a sample screenshot:

The chosen suffix has been added to the newly created Data Sources:

Bulk Update:

Select multiple Data Sources and click "Update" to modify their settings simultaneously. Kindly note that the "Driver type" and "Assigned Projects" fields are not editable by default unless the checkbox labeled 'No change' is unchecked. Below is a sample screenshot:

Deploy:

At least one Data Source should be selected in order to proceed with deployment. It is possible to select multiple Data Sources and use the deployment tool as a bulk operation. 

Detailed manual: How to implement Deploy/Import

Deploy All:

All selected items will be deployed to the chosen environment.

Projects button:

A quick way to assign a Data Source to a Project is by clicking "Projects" button as shown below:

Test Connection button in the grid:

A quick way to test connection details to a certain Data Source is by pressing the "Test Connection" button. A message pops up in the top-right corner mentioning whether the connection is successful or not. In case it is successful, the numbers of the found tables is mentioned in the message as well as seen below:

Edit Data Source:

Clicking the Data Source name or the pencil icon (as seen in the image below) will display the Data Source details:

Copy Data Source:

When clicking the copy sign (as shown in the image below), the Data Source is being copied and it is possible to change the properties for the new Data Source:

Delete Data Source:

When clicking the delete icon (as shown in the image below), the Data Source will be permanently deleted:

Note:
When using the ADB JDBC driver, be aware that issues may arise when handling non-ASCII characters. 
To prevent potential problems, it is recommended to configure the system to use UTF-8 encoding. 
You can do this by adding the following parameter to the service.bat file:

-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8

This configuration ensures that the system can effectively process non-ASCII characters during database interactions.