This is a follow-on to my previous question about FOR EACH SMO Enumerator. I now have a working FOR EACH SMO Enumberator. I set it up to loop through the tables in my data base and put the name of the table in a variable User::TableName.
Now comes the problem. I want to use each table name as the Source in a Data Flow Control Task that simply uses the table Name as the Source and an Excel Spreadsheet as the Destination. In setting up the Source for the Data Flow Task I can't find a place to say that the Source is a Variable and that it can be found in User::TableName.
Can you tell me how to do this. I tried going into the properties of the Destination Connection Manager and setting the Connection String to User::TableName, but this doesn't seem to work.
Thanks,
Dick
Related
How can several files be produced in a single SSIS package? I have created one that produces a single file, but have no idea how to produce several ones.
The package I produced uses variables to know which data to retrieve, and an expression in the flat file connection manager to assign the correct name to the file (which is based on variables).
The single package I created retrieves the city for which I want the sales data (New York) and the month (September 2020) as variables/parameters, and uses them to extract the appropriate data. Example of SQL statement executed:
select * from table1 where City = ? and Period = ??
It then uses those to build the name for the file to be exported and sends it to a folder. But how do you do that to produce several files within the same package? How can I make the same SSIS package produce another file for Chicago - July 2020, another for Denver - June 2020, and another for San Diego - March 2020?
I plan to have a table that indicates what needs to be produced.
ExampleRow1: Chicago, Sep 2020, Produce=Yes.
ExampleRow2: Miami, Jan 2020, Produce=Yes.
So the SSIS package would need to use that info to produce a file, and then do it again, and again, until there is nothing more to produce. Is this even possible? I know a foreach loop container can help, but not sure if it can handle so many variables changing. This is pretty much the first package I create, that's why I am this ignorant. Thanks in advance!
Right now, you have it working correctly for the value of your two SSIS variables (City and Period) and you have it parameterized so I wouldn't discount that as your first SSIS package. People struggle with far easier tasks
What you need to do is connect the orchestrator/driver table into your package. Here's how we're going to do that.
Create an SSIS variable called rsObject of type Object. This is going to hold a recordset object aka the results of our query.
Execute SQL Task
Add an Execute SQL Task to the Control Flow. Call it "SQL Get Driver Data" You'd use a query like
SELECT T.City, T.Period FROM dbo.ExtractSetup AS T WHERE T.Produce = 1;
Change the default of No Result Set to Full Result Set. That tells SSIS to expect a table shaped return object but something needs to catch that incoming data.
In the Results tab, you now need to map the results into an SSIS variable. Assuming an OLE DB type connection manager, you'll select User::rsObject in the Variable list and then 0 as the recordset name (doing this from memory so specifics might be a slightly off)
Save and run that task. Assuming no errors, when the package runs we have a, potentially empty, set of data in our recordset object. Let's do something with that.
Shredding the data
The name I generally see applied to getting data out of enumerable objects in SSIS is called "shredding the data". The implementation of that is an Foreach Enumerator - one of the most powerful tools in your toolkit.
Drag a ForEach Loop Container onto the canvas. Drag the connector line (precedent constraint) from the "SQL Get Driver Data" to our new ForEach Loop Container. I'd name it "FELC Shred Results" to indicate my intent.
Double click the Task and change the default enumerator type from File System to "Ado.net recordset" This has no bearing on whether you used an OLE, ODBC or ADO.NET connection manager to populate the table-like object. If it's a table, use ADO.NET Recordset.
Specify our variable [User::rsObject] as the source of the Recordset object.
The last thing we need to do is configure what we should do with the current row in the enumerator. That's in the Mapping tab. Here you'll add two parameters and this will be a zero based ordinal system. Choose [User::City] (or whatever you've named your City variable) for your first entry and map that to column name 0. Add a row and use User::Period and map that to column 1
The final step is to take the existing logic (Data Flow Task and whatever else is variable dependent) and move it into the FELC. That's literally drawing a box around it with the mouse to highlight everything and hold the left mouse button and drag it into the FELC.
Hit F5 and you should have 2 files generated.
Problem.
I regularly receive a feed files from different suppliers. Although the column names are consistent the problem comes when some suppliers send text files with more or less columns in there feed file.
Furthermore the arrangement of these files are inconsistent.
Other than the Dynamic data flow task provided by Cozy Roc is there another way I could import these files. I am not a C# guru but i am driven torwards using a "Script Task" control flow or "Script Component" Data flow task.
Any suggestion, samples or direction will greatly be appreciated.
http://www.cozyroc.com/ssis/data-flow-task
Some forums
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic525799-148-1.aspx#bm526400
http://www.bidn.com/forums/microsoft-business-intelligence/integration-services/26/dynamic-data-flow
Off the top of my head, I have a 50% solution for you.
The problem
SSIS really cares about meta data so variations in it tend to result in exceptions. DTS was far more forgiving in this sense. That strong need for consistent meta data makes use of the Flat File Source troublesome.
Query based solution
If the problem is the component, let's not use it. What I like about this approach is that conceptually, it's the same as querying a table-the order of columns does not matter nor does the presence of extra columns matter.
Variables
I created 3 variables, all of type string: CurrentFileName, InputFolder and Query.
InputFolder is hard wired to the source folder. In my example, it's C:\ssisdata\Kipreal
CurrentFileName is the name of a file. During design time, it was input5columns.csv but that will change at run time.
Query is an expression "SELECT col1, col2, col3, col4, col5 FROM " + #[User::CurrentFilename]
Connection manager
Set up a connection to the input file using the JET OLEDB driver. After creating it as described in the linked article, I renamed it to FileOLEDB and set an expression on the ConnectionManager of "Data Source=" + #[User::InputFolder] + ";Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Extended Properties=\"text;HDR=Yes;FMT=CSVDelimited;\";"
Control Flow
My Control Flow looks like a Data flow task nested in a Foreach file enumerator
Foreach File Enumerator
My Foreach File enumerator is configured to operate on files. I put an expression on the Directory for #[User::InputFolder] Notice that at this point, if the value of that folder needs to change, it'll correctly be updated in both the Connection Manager and the file enumerator. In "Retrieve file name", instead of the default "Fully Qualified", choose "Name and Extension"
In the Variable Mappings tab, assign the value to our #[User::CurrentFileName] variable
At this point, each iteration of the loop will change the value of the #[User::Query to reflect the current file name.
Data Flow
This is actually the easiest piece. Use an OLE DB source and wire it as indicated.
Use the FileOLEDB connection manager and change the Data Access mode to "SQL Command from variable." Use the #[User::Query] variable in there, click OK and you're ready to work.
Sample data
I created two sample files input5columns.csv and input7columns.csv All of the columns of 5 are in 7 but 7 has them in a different order (col2 is ordinal position 2 and 6). I negated all the values in 7 to make it readily apparent which file is being operated on.
col1,col3,col2,col5,col4
1,3,2,5,4
1111,3333,2222,5555,4444
11,33,22,55,44
111,333,222,555,444
and
col1,col3,col7,col5,col4,col6,col2
-1111,-3333,-7777,-5555,-4444,-6666,-2222
-111,-333,-777,-555,-444,-666,-222
-1,-3,-7,-5,-4,-6,-2
-11,-33,-77,-55,-44,-666,-222
Running the package results in these two screen shots
What's missing
I don't know of a way to tell the query based approach that it's OK if a column doesn't exist. If there's a unique key, I suppose you could define your query to have only the columns that must be there and then perform lookups against the file to try and obtain the columns that ought to be there and not fail the lookup if the column doesn't exist. Pretty kludgey though.
Our solution. We use parent child packages. In the parent pacakge we take the individual client files and transform them to our standard format files then call the child package to process the standard import using the file we created. This only works if the client is consistent in what they send though, if they try to change their format from what they agreed to send us, we return the file.
In SSIS, i want to read data from a flat file(Flat File Source) and assign certain column values to a variable in SSIS (like IDNo). I need this ID to retrive other information like email and other details to send email dynamically later in the process.
I did some reasearch i found that Script Component is one of the way to assign values to variables, but in our environment script component is not available. Is it possible to do that if so, can some one please provide me a sample. thanks.
You don't necessarily need script component to achieve this.
Read your IDs to a recordset (that would be a variable of type Object):
Create a variable of type Object.
In Data Flow Task create a Recordset Destination.
Pick your variable in VariableName dropdown.
Create Foreach Loop Containter:
Choose Foreach ADO Enumerator in Enumerator setting.
As ADO object source variable pick your recordset variable from the dropdown list
In Variable Mappings assign your email variable with index 0
Send the emails from the loop using email variable as an expression in Send Email Task.
Why is script component not available? It'd make things easier and help to avoid some problems; I don't use mail task anymore in favour of script task, because I ran to some problems with it in the past.
Hope this helps.
I am working with SSIS 2008. I have a select query name sqlquery1 that returns some rows:
aq
dr
tb
This query is not implemented on the SSIS at the moment.
I am calling a stored procedure from an OLE DB Source within a Data Flow Task. I would like to pass the data obtained from the query to the stored procedure parameter.
Example:
I would like to call the stored procedure by passing the first value aq
storedProdecure1 'aq'
then pass the second value dr
storedProdecure1 'dr'
I guess it would be something like a cycle. I need this because the data generated by the OLE DB Source through the stored procedure needs to be sent to another destination and this must be done for each record of the sqlquery1.
I would like to know how to call the query sqlquery1 and pass its output to call another stored procedure.
How do I need to do this in SSIS?
Conceptually, what your solution will look like is an execute your source query to generate your result set. Store that into a variable and then you'll need to do iterate through those results and for each row, you'll want to call your stored procedure with that row's value and send the results into a new Excel file.
I'd envision your package looking something like this
An Execute SQL Task, named "SQL Load Recordset", attached to a Foreach Loop Container, named "FELC Shred Recordset". Nested inside there I have a File System Task, named "FST Copy Template" which is a precedence for a Data Flow Task, named "DFT Generate Output".
Set up
As you're a beginner, I'm going to try and explain in detail. To save yourself some hassle, grab a copy of BIDSHelper. It's a free, open source tool that improves the design experience in BIDS/SSDT.
Variables
Click on the background of your Control Flow. With nothing selected, right-click and select Variables. In the new window that pops up, click the button that creates a New Variable 4 times. The reason for clicking on nothing is that until SQL Server 2012, the default behaviour of variable creation is to create them at the scope of the current object. This has resulted in many lost hairs for new and experienced developers alike. Variable names are case sensitive so be aware of that as well.
Rename Variable to RecordSet. Change the Data type from Int32 to Object
Rename Variable1 to ParameterValue. Change the data type from Int32 to String
Rename Variable2 to TemplateFile. Change the data type from Int32 to String. Set the value to the path of your output Excel File. I used C:\ssisdata\ShredRecordset.xlsx
Rename Variable 4 to OutputFileName. Change the data type from Int32 to String. Here we're going to do something slightly advanced. Click on the variable and hit F4 to bring up the Properties window. Change the value of EvaluateAsExpression to True. In Expression, set it to "C:\\ssisdata\\ShredRecordset." + #[User::ParameterValue] + ".xlsx" (or whatever your file and path are). What this does, is configures a variable to change as the value of ParameterValue changes. This helps ensure we get a unique file name. You're welcome to change naming convention as needed. Note that you need to escape the \ any time you are in an expression.
Connection Managers
I have made the assumption you are using an OLE DB connection manager. Mine is named FOO. If you are using ADO.NET the concepts will be similar but there will be nuances pertaining to parameters and such.
You will also need a second Connection Manager to handle Excel. If SSIS is temperamental about data types, Excel is flat out psychotic-stab-you-in-the-back-with-a-fork-while-you're-sleeping about data types. We're going to wait and let the data flow actually create this Connection Manager to ensure our types are good.
Source Query to Result Set
The SQL Load Recordset is an instance of the Execute SQL Task. Here I have a simple query to mimic your source.
SELECT 'aq' AS parameterValue
UNION ALL SELECT 'dr'
UNION ALL SELECT 'tb'
What's important to note on the General tab is that I have switched my ResultSet from None to Full result set. Doing this makes the Result Set tab go from being greyed out to usable.
You can observe that I have assigned the Variable Name to the variable we created above (User::RecordSet) and I the Result Name is 0. That is important as the default value, NewResultName doesn't work.
FELC Shred Recordset
Grab a Foreach Loop Container and we will use that to "shred" the results that were generated in the preceding step.
Configure the enumerator as a Foreach ADO Enumerator Use User::RecordSet as your ADO object source variable. Select rows in the first table as your Enumeration mode
On the Variable Mappings tab, you will need to select your variable User::ParameterValue and assign it the Index of 0. This will result in the zerotth element in your recordset object being assigned to the variable ParameterValue. It is important that you have data type agreement as SSIS won't do implicit conversions here.
FST Copy Template
This a File System Task. We are going to copy our template Excel File so that we have a well named output file (has the parameter name in it). Configure it as
IsDestinationPathVariable: True
DestinationVarible: User::OutputFileName
OverwriteDestination: True
Operation: Copy File
IsSourcePathVariable: True
SourceVariable: User::TemplateFile
DFT Generate Output
This is a Data Flow Task. I'm assuming you're just dumping results straight to a file so we'll just need an OLE DB Source and an Excel Destination
OLEDB dbo_storedProcedure1
This is where your data is pulled from your source system with the parameter we shredded in the Control Flow. I am going to write my query in here and use the ? to indicate it has a parameter.
Change your Data access mode to "SQL Command" and in the SQL command text that is available, put your query
EXECUTE dbo.storedProcedure1 ?
I click the Parameters... button and fill it out as shown
Parameters: #parameterValue
Variables: User::ParameterValue
Param direction: Input
Connect an Excel Destination to the OLE DB Source. Double click and in the Excel Connection Manager section, click New... Determine if you're needing 2003 or 2007 format (.xls vs .xlsx) and whether you want your file to have header rows. For you File Path, put in the same value you used for your #User::TemplatePath variable and click OK.
We now need to populate the name of the Excel Sheet. Click that New... button and it may bark that there is not sufficient information about mapping data types. Don't worry, that's semi-standard. It will then pop up a table definition something like
CREATE TABLE `Excel Destination` (
`name` NVARCHAR(35),
`number` INT,
`type` NVARCHAR(3),
`low` INT,
`high` INT,
`status` INT
)
The "table" name is going to be the worksheet name, or precisely, the named data set in the worksheet. I made mine Sheet1 and clicked OK. Now that the sheet exists, select it in the drop down. I went with the Sheet1$ as the target sheet name. Not sure if it makes a difference.
Click the Mappings tab and things should auto-map just fine so click OK.
Finally
At this point, if we ran the package it would overwrite the template file every time. The secret is we need to tell that Excel Connection Manager we just made that it needs to not have a hard coded name.
Click once on the Excel Connection Manager in the Connection Managers tab. In the Properties window, find the Expressions section and click the ellipses ... Here we will configure the Property ExcelFilePath and the Expression we will use is
#[User::OutputFileName]
If your icons and such look different, that's to be expected. This was documented using SSIS 2012. Your work flow will be the same in 2005 and 2008/2008R2 just the skin is different.
If you run this package and it doesn't even start and there is an error about the ACE 12 or Jet 4.0 something not available, then you are on a 64bit machine and need to tell BIDS/SSDT that you want to run in 32 bit mode.
Ensure the Run64BitRuntime value is False. This project setting can be found by right clicking on the project, expand the Configuration Properties and it will be an option under Debugging.
Further reading
A different example of shredding a recordset object can be found on How to automate the execution of a stored procedure with an SSIS package?
I will be creating flatfiles and based on the data in the batch, it might be necessary to split the data into an undetermined number of files.
I can make the connection string dynamic with an expression, but that is only evaluated when the package starts. I'd like to change that expression to include a '-a' or '-b' in the filename.
Alternately, if I have to create new connection manager objects at run time on demand, how do I go about that?
First determine your naming scheme for the output files and come up with an expression formula in your head
Put the Data Flow Task in a loop.
Within this Data Flow Task, define the source and destination. Destination being the Flat File Destination. Read the source and add some derived column that sets a value to another variable that you'll later use in the Filename expression.
Connect the Flat File Destination to a Connection Manager. First define some path but then add an Expression to define a Connection String based on your File Name scheme (Path + Filename + extension). Now this Filename is tricky. You'll have to put IIF statements based on the values you've got from Source
1) create grobal variable(a variable is created within the scope of a package) and assign it to the file name property.
2) change the variable during the looping.
EDITED
see for more details...
You can access the data set in a script (in the script component) and write out to a set of files based on your criteria.