Simulating projects interactively

To run the entire project interactively, select Run | Interactive Trace. If you choose to simulate your project interactively, you can stop the simulation at any point, and select Run | Step or Run | Step Through to manually step through the remaining project components.

StepsSimulating projects interactively

  1. To start a simulation, click Start on the toolbar. When you click Start:

    • All components of the project are initialized.

    • All connections within the project are validated.

    • All pre-SQL statements in the projects are executed.

    • Data for all static lookup components is retrieved and cached. Any change of data in lookup tables during simulation is not reflected in the simulation process.

  2. Select a component and click the Step icon on the toolbar to execute the component.

    Stepping a component means executing or processing a single component. The data records that are processed during a single step are the records currently populating the IN-ports of the component.

    If a component is stepped multiple times and no other components are stepped in between, the number of records received or forwarded remains constant. Many components can be stepped from both inside the component and outside in the project view.

  3. View the data flow on the connecting link or within the component.

    • To view data throughout transformation, examine the link between components or the ports of a component. Other components such as the Data Calculator and the Data Splitter include built-in preview capabilities.

    • To view data on the connecting link, right-click and select Preview.

    • To view data currently at the port, right-click the port, and select Preview.

      NoteThe Preview option is disabled when there are no processed records or when no simulation data is available.

    • To view data from inside the component, double-click the component, or click the Rule icon in the Property window. Use this option to see the impact of transformation rules from within components, such as the Data Calculator or the Data Splitter.

  4. Modify and initialize the component.

    After you modify a component, you can reinitialize the component to continue simulating the data flow. You need not restart a complete simulation for the current project,

    1. Double-click the component to modify its properties in the Properties window.

    2. Save the changes.

    3. Right-click the component and select Initialize.

    NoteInteractive Trace does not perform postprocessing tasks, such as executing post-SQL statements on DB components.

Steps Setting the trace delay

You can control the simulation rate by setting the simulation interactive trace delay option.

  1. Select File | Preferences | Engine.

  2. Modify the value in the Rate of simulation field. You can enter values between 10 and 9999 milliseconds. The default value is 250 milliseconds.