Creating a Data Source

A data source provides a connection to one or more other models for mappings and (in the PDM) can also provide a connection to a database. You are prompted to create a data source with a wizard the first time you open the Mapping Editor or click the Create Mapping tool on an object property sheet Mappings tab.

On the Data Source Identification page, enter an appropriate name for the data source, and then specify an access type, which, for PDM data sources, controls the types of queries available in the Mappings pane, and the availability of forward (Source > Target) and reverse (Target > Source) mappings. You can choose between:
- Read/Write – Enables Criteria, Select, Insert, Update and Delete queries.
- Read-Only - Enables Criteria and Select queries. You can only create forward mappings, and the data source is not displayed during reverse mapping (see Creating Reverse Mappings).
- Write-Only - Enables Criteria, Insert, Update and Delete queries. You can only create reverse mappings, and the data source is not displayed during forward mapping.
Select the type of the model to use as the data source, and click Next to go to the Source Model Selection page.

Select one or more models from the list of open models in the workspace, and then:

For data sources created from an object's Mapping tab - click Finish to create the data source and open a selection dialog to choose the external object to map to.
For data sources created from the Mapping Editor - click Next to go to the Options page. By default, the Create default mappings option, which creates mappings where possible based on shared names, is selected. Click Finish to create the data source and proceed to the Mapping Editor.

To view or edit a data source's properties, double-click its Browser or list entry. The property sheet tabs and fields listed here are those available by default, before any customization of the interface by you or an administrator.The General tab contains the following properties:

Property	Description
Name/Code/Comment	Identify the object. The name should clearly convey the object's purpose to non-technical users, while the code, which is used for generating code or scripts, may be abbreviated, and should not normally include spaces. You can optionally add a comment to provide more detailed information about the object. By default the code is generated from the name by applying the naming conventions specified in the model options. To decouple name-code synchronization, click to release the = button to the right of the Code field.
Model Type	Specifies the type of the models referenced in the data source.
Access type	For PDM data sources, controls the types of queries available in the Mappings pane, and the availability of forward and reverse mappings.
Keywords	Provide a way of loosely grouping objects through tagging. To enter multiple keywords, separate them with commas.

The following tabs are also available:

Models - Lists the models associated with the data source. Use the Add Models tool to add models open in the current workspace.
Database Connection - [for data sources created in a PDM] Contains the parameters needed to connect to the database associated with the data source. Click the Select a Data Source tool to specify an ODBC data source or connection profile (see Connecting to a Data Source).
Cost - [for data sources created in a PDM that supports lifecycle modeling] Lets you specify the cost per GB of storage for the data source along with the compression rate, which is used to estimate the relative size of the data once it has been loaded to the data warehouse (where 100% indicates no compression).
Data Movement (Lifecycle) - [for data sources created in a PDM that supports lifecycle modeling] Lets you define parameters to connect to a remote database, whose data will be loaded into the warehouse.

Note: For information about the Create Data Source and Add Model to Data Source tools available in the Mapping Editor, see Mapping Editor Tools.