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WarehouseArchitect - User's Guide

Part 3 WarehouseArchitect Model

Chapter 20: Reverse Engineering

Chapter 20
Reverse Engineering

About this chapterThis chapter describes WarehouseArchitect reverse engineering functions.

Generating a WAM from an existing database

Some database objects can have an owner, with access restricted by a password. You can still model these objects in a WAM, although access to the data remains protected.

You can reverse engineer the following types of owner-dependent objects from a database:

Owner-dependent objects

Tables

Triggers

Views

Synonyms

System tables

Procedures

You can reverse engineer the following types of objects that do not have an object owner, but that are particular to the database.

Non-proprietary objects

Tablespaces

Storages

User datatypes

Users

These object types appear in a tree view in the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box. If an object type is not supported by the DBMS, it will not appear in the tree view.

Filters and options for reverse engineering

FiltersYou can restrict database objects to reverse engineer by selecting an owner or a database qualifier. Your selection acts as a filter to limit the number of objects you reverse engineer. If you change a filter after you make object selections, you can change back to the original filter without losing your owner-specific or qualifier-specific object selections.

However, if you want to reverse engineer objects from multiple owners, you should select All as a filter. When you select All from the Owner dropdown listbox, objects belonging to all database owners are listed in the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box. You can then select the objects you want to reverse engineer, regardless of their database owner.

The available filters are:

Filter	Description
Qualifier	Database-dependent table qualifier (prefix to table name)
Owner	Retrieve tables belonging to a specific user

Reverse optionsReverse engineering options are DBMS-dependent and object-dependent. You must select an object in the tree view to display or modify its reverse options. Unavailable options appear grayed.

You can select the reverse options for the following object types:

Object	Option
Table	Indexes Checks Physical options Primary keys Foreign keys Alternate keys
View	Reverse as table

Reverse engineering database objects to a WAM

Adding objects to a WAMYou can reverse engineer objects to a new WAM, or you can add objects to an existing WAM. If you do not want to add objects to an existing WAM, you can select the New Window checkbox in the dialog box that appears after you select the File→Reverse Engineering menu item.

If you reverse engineer database objects that already exist in a WAM, a confirmation box asks you if you want to replace the existing objects.

Automatic archivingIf you want to archive your WAM after you reverse engineer objects from the database, you can select the Automatic Archive checkbox from the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box.

If you select the Automatic Archive checkbox, a dialog box appears after the reverse engineering is complete. From this dialog box, you choose a filename and path for the WAM that you want to archive.

Selection and sorting techniquesYou can use standard multiple object selection and sorting techniques for objects that appear in the listview of the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box. You can hold down the CTRL or SHIFT keys to select multiple items in the listview.

If you select multiple items, you can use the Selected checkbox to place or remove checkmarks in front of each of the selected items. You can sort the listview items by clicking on the column heading that you want to use as the sort key.

• To reverse engineer database objects to a WAM:
  1. Select File→Reverse Engineering.

     The Reverse Engineering dialog box appears.

     

  2. Select a DBMS from the dropdown listbox.

  3. Click the radio button labeled Using An ODBC Driver.

  4. Click OK.

     A dialog box asks you to identify a data source and connection parameters.

     

     You can add a data source by clicking the Add button and selecting Setup configuration parameters.

     For information on configuring a data source, see the chapter "Database Creation and Modification."

  5. Select a data source from the dropdown listbox.

  6. Type your user name and password.

  7. Click Connect and, if prompted by your data source, enter additional connection parameters.

     The Reverse Engineering Options dialog box appears.

     

  8. Select a filter.

     For information about filters for database objects, see "Filters and options for reverse engineering".

  9. Select object types to reverse engineer from the tree view.

  10. Select objects to reverse engineer from the listview.

  11. Click OK.

      A message window reports the progress of the generation.

  12. Click OK.

      The new WAM appears in the WAM window.

Generating a WAM from a database creation script

• To generate a WAM from a script:
  1. Select File→Reverse Engineering.

     The Reverse Engineering dialog box appears.

     

  2. Select a database from the dropdown listbox.

  3. Click the radio button labeled Using a Script File.

  4. Select New Window if you want to create a new WAM.

     or

     Clear New Window if you want to merge new objects into the open WAM.

  5. Click OK.

     A standard file open dialog box appears.

  6. Select a script file and click OK.

     A message box shows generation progress.

     

  7. Click OK.

     The new WAM appears in the WAM window.