metaxml - Teradata Meta Data Services

metaxml

Purpose

The metaxml utility is used to import data from an XML formatted file into the MDS repository or to export metamodels or meta data objects from the repository to an XML file.

The export of metadata objects is not intended to be used in a bulk operation mode. For a source object or metamodel object collection with many hundreds (or thousands) of destination objects, the request can run for a considerable amount of time.

Requirements

Be familiar with the XML specification. Refer to the following web site:

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml

If the Teradata MDS development kit is installed, there are sample XML files located in a sample\xml subdirectory below the Teradata MDS Installation directory. For detailed installation information, see the see the Teradata Metadata Services Installation Guide (B035-3045).

For complete details on creating MDS XML files, see the Teradata Meta Data Services Programmer Guide (B035‑3047).

The metaxml utility requires the MSXML 4.0 or 6.0 parser. The parser can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/

To export an object collection, a supported version of the Java JRE must be installed, and have its JVM DLL path added to the user's PATH environment variable through the Control Panel.

Supported JREs are from Oracle: 1.6.0 update 3 or later, and from IBM (WebSphere/Eclipse): 1.6. The JRE (or JDK) used for MetaXML must be a 32-bit version since the underlying C++ code is 32-bit. Use of a 64-bit JRE or JDK will cause errors.

The JVN DLL needed is located in JRE_HOME\bin\client for Oracle and JRE_HOME\bin/j9vm for IBM. Please ensure the proper folder is added to your PATH variable.

Running metaxml from MetaBrowse or MetaManager

To run metaxml from MetaBrowse or MetaManager:

1 From the main window, click Tools > Import > MetaXML.

The Locate the XML file to import dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to locate the file.

2 To import data from the XML file into the MDS repository, select the file and click Open.

Restrictions

The metaxml utility is available only on Windows and can be run by any MDS user.

When the metaxml utility is started through either MetaManager or MetaBrowse, only the import function is available.

Examples

The following command line example shows the metaxml import usage.

metaxml import mds_user mds_password xml_file

Table 16: metaxml Import Input Parameters  

Parameter	Description
import	The import command indicates that metaxml is to be used to import (that is, load) data into the repository from an XML file.
mds_password	The password of the MDS user.
mds_user	The name of a valid Meta Data Services repository user.
xml_file	The name of the XML file to be imported.

The following command line example shows the metaxml export usage to export metamodels or meta data objects out of the repository.

metaxml export mdsUser mdsPassword {-ocoll <objectID> | -mcoll <AIM_name> -model <name>}-ofile <XML output file> [-v] [-l <label>]

Table 17: metaxml Export Input Parameters 

Parameter	Description
export	Indicates that metaxml is to be used to export a metamodel definition (not metadata) from the repository into an XML file.
mds_password	Password of the MDS user.
mds_user	Name of a valid Meta Data Services repository user.
-ocoll objectID	Identifies the Object ID of the repository object from which to start the export. This object, and all its destination collection objects, will be included in the resulting XML file.
AIM_Name	Identifies the name of the AIM (metamodel) whose objects will be exported. Every object from each class in the AIM will be exported into the resulting XML file, and all object associations will be identified. Note: Object associations to/from classes within other metamodels will be ignored with a warning displayed to that effect.
-model name	Identifies the name of the meta model to export. All classes, class properties and relationships of the named meta model will be included in the resulting XML file
-ofile XML output file	Identifies the XML file name into which the objects will be exported. If the filename is not fully qualified, the file will be created in the current directory. If the file exists, it will be over-written without warning.
-v	(Optional) Requests that the utility output more verbose information to the console. The utility shows only a minimal amount of progress information if not used. Note: Parameter is ignored when exporting metamodels with the -model parameter.
-l label	(Optional) Specifies the name of the label to use in finding the object versions to export. When used, only the particular version of each object in the destination collection which has the label applied, if any, will be exported to the output file. In a versioned repository, if the source object itself does not have the label applied to any of its versions, no objects will be exported, and a warning message will indicate this. When no label is specified, the latest (or “published”) version of each object is exported. Note: Parameter is ignored when exporting metamodels with the -model parameter.