<EXTERNAL-DATA> - Intergraph I-Data Integrator - Help - Hexagon PPM

Defines new, external datasets, such as databases or spreadsheets containing data that is to be integrated with the Isogen data. This section can also reference IDF, PCF, and POD data files so that additional datasets can be generated. The <EXTERNAL-DATA> section is processed after the Isogen data has been read into recordsets and before the <GENERATED-DATA> section is processed.

The <EXTERNAL-DATA> section of the configuration file can contain a number of <DBLINK>, <PCF>, <IDF>, and <POD> tags. Each <DBLINK> tag defines a table in an external data source that is to become a new I-Data Integrator dataset. Each <PCF>, <IDF>, or <POD> tag defines a folder containing PCF, IDF, and POD files, respectively. These external data files are automatically read and the data in them loaded into new I-Data Integrator recordsets.

<DBLINK>

<DBLINK PROVIDER="ODBC;DSN=MDP_ANSI"
TABLE="mto_ansi.pdtable_12"
RECORDSET="SegmentData"/>

The <DBLINK> tag contains three attributes.

• PROVIDER specifies a string that contains the parameters needed to link to the external data. This string is as defined by Microsoft for connecting to the specified data source. The strings and their associated data source are listed below.

  • ODBC;DSN=MDP_ANSI specifies any ODBC data source created using the Control Panel > Data Sources (ODBC) application. In the example above, MDP_ANSI is the name of the data source being defined.

  • Excel 8.0;Database=filename specifies the link to an Excel spreadsheet.

  • MS Access;Database=filename specifies the link to an Access database.

• TABLE specifies the table in the external data source that is to become a new dataset.

• RECORDSET specifies the name of the recordset.I-Data Integrator

<PCF>, <IDF> or <POD>

<PCF PATH='C:\SampleProj\SampleProject\Inputs' SCANMODE='Recursive'>
<!-- Different types of data can be extracted into record sets -->
<EXTRACT DATA="PIPELINE" RECORDSET="PCF_PIPELINES"/>
<EXTRACT DATA="COMPONENTS" RECORDSET="PCF_COMPONENTS" />
<EXTRACT DATA="MATERIALS" RECORDSET="PCF_MATERIALS" />
<EXTRACT DATA="CONNECTIONS" RECORDSET="PCF_CONNECTIONS" />
</PCF>

The <PCF>, <IDF>, and <POD> tags define sets of piping data files to be used as a recordset. The <PCF> and <IDF> tags have three attributes, whereas the <POD> tag has only the first two attributes.

A configuration file can contain one of each of these three tags.

• PATH defines the folder to be searched for files with the relevant extension (.pcf, .idf, or .pod). All piping data files with the correct extension found in this folder are read, and the data found in them is loaded into the specified recordset(s).

• SCANMODE controls which folders are searched. When set to Recursive, the software scans all of the sub-folders below the one specified by the PATH attribute. If omitted, the software searches only the specified by the PATH attribute. When set to Linked, the software uses the <IDI> tags in the report files to determine which input files have been run. The <IDI> tags are added to the report files using the IDIPost.exe ISOGEN post-processor. This does not work for POD files.

  For more information about the Isogen post-processor, see Configure the Software.

• READTYPE controls how the software reads IDFs and PCFs. In previous versions of the software, setting READTYPE to POD forced the software to read each IDF or PCF as a POD file. In the current version of the software, IDFs and PCFs are automatically translated to POD format before being read. To prevent this, and retain the old format for IDFs and PCFs, you must set this attribute to PCF.

Each <PCF>, <IDF>, and <POD> tag can contain up to four <EXTRACT> tags. The input files contain four types of data.

• Pipeline or Header contains information that applies to the whole pipeline specified in the <PCF>, <IDF>, and <POD> tags.

• Component contains information about the individual components found in the <PCF>, <IDF>, and <POD> tags.

• Materials contains item codes and item descriptions.

• Connections contains information on adjacent pipelines.

Each <EXTRACT> tag contains a single attribute.

• RECORDSET defines the name by which the external dataset is known in I-Data Integrator.