IDERA ER/Studio import bridges reference

About the ER/Studio bridges

The IDERA ER/Studio Data Architect bridge imports metadata from IDERA ER/Studio Data Architect, versions 5.1 to 10.

The IDERA ER/Studio Business Architect bridge imports metadata from IDERA ER/Studio Business Architect, Version 1.5.

Both bridges import logical data models and physical data models in DM1 files that are produced by their respective ER/Studio tools.

To use the latest version of the bridge, you must install the prerequisite software.

Naming ER/Studio models

By default, ER/Studio applies the name Logical to logical models that you create. You can change the name by changing the diagram name for the model in ER/Studio. To change the name, in ER/Studio, select File > Diagram Properties. When you import logical models into InfoSphere Information Server, the models are named according to the diagram name that you specify for each.

When you generate DBMS-specific physical models from a logical model in ER/Studio, specify a name for each physical model.

Preserving traceability information

ER/Studio provides where-used traceability information for logical and physical objects within the tool. The generated physical objects store the name of the logical objects that they were derived from. ER/Studio uses logical name-matching to implement traceability. The bridge attempts to use similar name-matching to create implementation relationships between logical model assets and physical model assets that are imported together. Once you generate a physical model within ER/Studio, you should not alter the names of the logical assets. If you change the names of logical objects within ER/Studio, the name-matching will no longer work and implementations relationships will not be established.

Import parameters

The IDERA ER/Studio bridges use the following import configuration parameters.

File location

Required. Choose whether to browse for the import file on the local computer or on the metadata interchange server.

File

Required. Browse to select the DM1 file to import.

Model selection

DM1 files are composed of one logical model and one or more physical models. You can generate multiple physical models that are DBMS-specific.

If you select Logical model the logical model is imported.

If you select Physical model, use the parameter Physical model name to specify the name of a generated physical model to import. If you do not specify a name, the first physical model that is found in the file is imported.

If you select All models, the bridge imports the logical model and all of the physical models. The bridge attempts to create implementation relationships between logical assets and the physical assets that were generated from them.

Physical model name

If you specify Physical model for the Model selection parameter, type the name of the physical model to import.

IMPORTANT: To determine the correct physical model name to specify, open the DM1 file in ER/Studio and use the physical name that is displayed there. If you specify an incorrect name, or if you specify the file name, the import fails. If you do not specify a name, the first physical model that is found in the DM1 file is imported.

During the import, the bridge logs the list of physical models that are found within the DM1 file.

Import user-defined properties (UDPs)

An attachment in ER/Studio is a user-defined property (UDP) that is usually defined with a property definition object that has a default value. Objects that the property applies to might also specify an explicit value for this property. The objects might specify no value at all, in which case the default value of the property definition applies. InfoSphere® Information Server supports importing UDPs only by appending the property name and value to the description property of the object. To append the property name and value, even if implicit, to the description property of an object, select In description, migrate default values. If you select any other value for this parameter, the UDP information is not imported.

Import parent schemas

Specifies if parent schemas for tables and views are imported. Accept the default value, True. InfoSphere Information Server relies on the identity of the parent schemas to create the identity of tables and other assets.

Qualify table names

For imports of physical data models, select this option to add the owner name to the table name, in the form owner_name.table_name. The owner name is added only for those tables where an owner name is specified in the source file.

Select this option if the design tool allows you to create tables with the same name in the same model. Otherwise, the tables with the same name are created as duplicate design tables when they are imported into the metadata repository.

Metadata consistency check

Perform a consistency check on the selected metadata before it is imported into the metadata repository. It is possible to save metadata in source tools in ways that cause problems when the assets are imported into the metadata repository or used in other tools. For example, a foreign key might have no connection to a primary key or to an alternate key. In some cases, the metadata might be so semantically inconsistent that the bridge cannot import it.

The metadata consistency check returns warnings and errors in the log file.

Basic check

The default. Performs the minimum consistency checks necessary to validate the metadata, including checking for missing relationships and foreign keys that are not connected to primary or alternate keys.

In some cases, the basic check might be more rigorous than necessary and you can ignore certain errors or warnings.

Detailed check

Performs the basic check plus more advanced semantic checks specific to the type of metadata that is imported. This level can be used when the source tool does not have the ability to validate the metadata.

No check

Use with extreme caution. Selecting this option could result in the import of duplicates or invalid identities and might cause serious problems with your use of suite tools and the metadata repository.

If an asset description already exists

Specify what action to take if an imported asset matches an existing asset in the metadata repository. You can keep the existing description, or overwrite the existing description with the description of the imported asset.

If either description is null, the non-null description is used, regardless of which option you specify. The default behavior is to replace the existing description.