Configuring SQL Database System Connections

Prerequisites
The following items must be addressed before performing this procedure:
  • Obtain and record the numeric identifier of the SQL Database system connection definition from the Agentry Editor.
  • Obtain or create the user ID and password to be used to connect the Agentry Server to the database system.
  • Obtain information on, or create and configure the necessary connection settings on the host system for the Agentry Server. This may be the System Data Source Name within ODBC for a SQL Server database, or the Local Net Service Name for an Oracle database.
  • Determine whether or not users will be authenticated during synchronization via security information provided by the database.
  • Perform a publish from the Agentry Editor to the Agentry Server. This will create the initial configuration sections for the SQL Database system connection that will then be modified further in this procedure.
Task
This procedure provides the steps for configuring the Agentry Server to connect with a database back end system using SQL for synchronization. This procedure provides a typical implementation example. Certain settings within the [SQL-n] section may be modified in relation to implementation-specific behaviors or needs. These items can include:
  • User Authentication and Security.
  • User auditing requirements and related settings.

These functional areas and optional behaviors are provided in the information on these topics. Changes to the system connection sections in the Agentry.ini file should always be made using the SAP Control Center.

  1. This process begins by publishing the application project from the Agentry Editor to the Agentry Server. This will create the section [SQL-n] for the SQL Database system connection. It will also automatically add the proper option to the [System Connections] section.
  2. Start the SAP Control Center. Connect to the system where the SAP Mobile Platform with the running Agentry Server is installed.
  3. In the navigation pane of SAP Control Center, expand the Applications node and select the Agentry application.
  4. In the administration pane, click the Configurations tab.
  5. Select the section SQL-n, where n corresponds to the system connection definition in the Agentry application project. Click the Properties button above the list of configuration sections.

    This displays a list of the settings for the system connection to a database.

  6. Edit the settings on this screen to allow the Agentry Server to connect to a database system.
    In this list the settings are set as shown in most cases, regardless of the implementation environment. The following lists those settings that are set specific to the environment, along with a description of their values:
    • disconnectFromDB, disconnectTime, and reconnectTime: These three settings are used when the Agentry Server should disconnect from the database once every 24 hours to allow for any batch processing. When disconnectFromDB is set to true, the Agentry Server will log out of the database server at the time specified by disconnectTime. It will log back in at reconnectTime. Users will not be able to synchronize their Clients during the period when the Agentry Server is logged out of the database.
    • enableAuthentication, enablePreviousUserAuthentication: Setting these options to true will enable the back end authentication functionality, requiring users to be authenticated against the database in order to perform synchronization. At least one system connection within a given application must perform back end authentication.
    • dbConnectionName, dbConnectionUserID, dbConnectionPassword: These three options configure the database to which the Agentry Server is to connect and the user ID and password to use. The dbConnectionName setting contains either the ODBC System DSN (MS SQL Server) or Local Net Service Name (Oracle) representing the database server.
    • dbConnectionType: This option is set to either ODBC or Oracle. ODBC is set when the connection between the Agentry Server and the database is made over ODBC, as is the case with MS SQL Server. Oracle is set for connections to an Oracle database server.
  7. If multiple SQL Database system connections are defined for the application, repeat the preceding steps for each such connection type. When the system connections have been modified as needed, click the [Apply] button to apply the changes to the Server. Click [OK] to apply the changes and close the Edit Configuration Settings screen.

The Agentry Server will be configured to open and maintain a connection with the target database. The Agentry Server will make this connection when the changes are applied. The application being deployed will be able to synchronize data using ANSI SQL with the database for both upstream and downstream purposes. Based on configuration options, users may also be authenticated against this database system.

Next
Once this procedure has been completed successfully, the following additional tasks may need to be performed:
  • Additional configuration tasks related to the application’s synchronization with the target database may need to be performed. These can include modifications to the query initialization (SqlBe.ini) file and the query constants (oracle_sd.ini or sqlserver_sd.ini) files.
Parent topic: Configuring Back End Communications