Use the General tab parameters to
define the data to extract.
Extract File
Enter
the name of a new or existing Extract File to store the extracted
data. Extract Files have an .xf extension by
default. If you want to write the Extract File to secondary media,
specify the path to the desired device.
If you do not include a path with the file name, the
default Data Directory specified in Personal Options is used. Network
drives resolve to the appropriate Universal Naming Convention (UNC)
name, as applicable.
You can browse the contents
of an existing Extract File by right-clicking its name and selecting Browse from
the shortcut menu. For details on the Browse Utility, see
the Common Elements Manual.
If you specify
the name of a file that already exists, a dialog prompts you to confirm
that you want to overwrite the file when you run the Extract Request.
To disable this feature, see Personal Options, the Common Elements Manual.
Access Definition
- Local
- Select
this option to create an Access Definition that is stored and can
only be used with the Extract Request.
- Named
- Select this option to specify the name of a new
or existing Access Definition. A named Access Definition can be used
with more than one process request. The name of an Access Definition
is composed of two parts: identifier.name.
- identifier
- Qualifier to identify the Access Definition (1 to 8
characters).
- name
- Name of the Access Definition (1 to 12 characters).
An Access Definition identifies the Start
Table and other tables to be traversed during the Extract, as well as
the relationships that govern traversal paths. You can define an Access
Definition to include:
- Selection criteria for one or more tables.
- A Point and Shoot list. Use Point and Shoot to select
specific rows from a Start Table to begin extracting data.
- Substitution variables to be used with selection
criteria or SQL statements.
- Parameters to select rows based on values in a particular
column in the Start Table.
When you specify the name
of an existing Access Definition in the Extract Request, you can use
the definition as it is, or you can edit it. If changes to database
tables have been made since the last time the Access Definition was
used, the specifications may no longer be valid. If any specification
is invalid, a warning message is displayed when you open, save, or
use the Access Definition.
To edit an Access Definition,
click from the Extract Request
Editor to open the Access Definition Editor.
For details, see the Common Elements Manual.
Items to Extract
Select
the types of objects to extract.
- Data
- Extract data rows only.
- Objects
- Extract object definitions only.
- Both
- Extract data rows and object definitions.
Note: When you select Objects or Both,
you must select types of objects to extract on the Objects tab
or specify explicit objects to extract on the Object List tab,
or both.
Row Limit
Maximum
number of rows to extract. You can specify a row limit if you are
extracting rows by selecting Data or Both.
Clear the Row Limit box to use the maximum
limit. The row limit for an Extract Process is any number from 1 to
the maximum limit specified in Product Options. For more information,
see the Installation and Configuration
Guide.
Database Connections
Increase
the number of concurrent database connections for the Extract Process.
Increasing database connections improves performance when processing
large quantities of data by allowing multiple threads to extract rows
concurrently.
To increase the maximum number of
connections, select an even number from 2 to the site maximum as specified
on the Personal Options dialog. This option is
available only if Maximum Database Connections on
the Database tab of Product Options is 2 or
greater.
Note: - For performance reasons, you can only select an
even number of maximum database connections.
- Increasing the number of database connections to
process small amounts of data may decrease performance, rather than
increase it.
Run Convert after Extract
Select this check box to specify parameters for running
a Convert Process immediately following the Extract Process. When
you select this check box, the Convert tab
in the Extract Request Editor is enabled. Use
the Convert tab to specify whether to use a
named or local Convert Request.
The Convert Process
can transform or mask data in the Extract File. To specify or modify
parameters for the Convert Process, click to display
the Convert Request Editor. See Open the Convert Request Editor.
Generate Statistical Report
This check box is selected by default to include statistical
information in the Extract Process Report. For details, see Statistical Information.
Note: Statistical information may indicate
whether you can improve performance by overriding the default method
(scan or key lookup) of accessing a table. For details, see the Common Elements Manual.
Process File Attachments
Select this check box to extract file attachments specified
in the Access Definition.
Compression Options
Select this box to choose
options for compressing the Extract File or specific tables in the
Extract File. The Compression Options dialog
displays:

This dialog has the
following options:
- Compress Extract File
- Select this check box to compress the Extract File. Next, select
a Compression Model.
- Compression Models:
- Choose the type of compression from this drop-down list:
- Inline Compression
- Data is compressed as it is extracted and before it is written
to the Extract File. Inline Compression has lower I/O and shorter
elapsed time for the Extract, though it requires longer time to be
connected to the database, when compared with Post Compression.
- Post Compression
- Data is compressed after it is extracted and written to the Extract
File. Compared with Inline Compression, Post Compression has a higher
I/O rate and a longer elapsed time for the Extract, though the connection
to the database is for a shorter time.
- Enable Active Compression
- Select this check box to perform compression on an individual
table basis.
- Default Table Threshold:
- Specify the default threshold for compressing the tables in the
Extract File. Choose a value for the percentage of reduction in table
size that you expect compression to achieve. For example, if you specify
a value of 20, Optim compresses
any table in the Extract File that can be reduced in size by 20 percent
or more. Allowable values are 1 - 99.
- Table Threshold:
- Select this box to specify compression options for individual
tables. The Compression Table Threshold dialog
displays:

- Threshold
- For each table, specify ON or OFF for compression or specify a
value for Optim to use as the
compression threshold. If no value is specified for a table, the default
is to set compression on and use the Default Table Threshold.
Allowable values are:
- ON
- Sets compression ON for this table. This is the default. The Default
Table Threshold value is used to determine whether compression
is performed. If no value is specified for Default Table
Threshold, the table is compressed. This is the default.
- OFF
- Sets compression OFF for this table.
- n
- Sets compression ON for this table and uses this value as the
threshold. Allowable values are 1 - 99. The threshold value is the
minimum amount of reduction in size that you expect to achieve by
compressing the table. Enter a value in the range 1 - 99 to set a
threshold value for that table.
Right-click on the line next to
the table name to display these options:
- Clear
- Clears any Threshold column setting for this table. Use Clear
All to clear Threshold column settings for all tables
in this Extract File.
- Compression Off
- Turns off compression for this table. Use Compression
Off All to turn off compression for all tables in this
Extract File. Selecting Compress Off All overrides
any value in the Threshold column.
- Compression On
- Turns on compression for this table. If Default Table
Threshold is specified, that value determines whether
to compress the table. If no Default Table Threshold is
specified, the table is compressed. Use Compression On
All to turn on compression for all tables in this Extract
File. Selecting Compression On All overrides
any value in the Threshold column.