Using the Promotion Tools

Special Considerations for Promoting Metadata From SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2

About Promoting Metadata From SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2

You can export a package from a SAS 9.1.3 metadata server and import it to a SAS 9.2 metadata server. This feature is useful in the following situations:

You are upgrading from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2, but you chose not to use the migration utility that is provided in the SAS Deployment Wizard. (See Overview of Migrating Content to SAS 9.2 in the SAS Intelligence Platform: 9.1.3 to 9.2 Migration Guide.)
You are running SAS 9.1.3 and SAS 9.2 in parallel, and you want to update your SAS 9.2 system with new content that you created in SAS 9.1.3.

The following topics outline the special considerations for promoting metadata from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2.

Types of Objects That Can Be Promoted from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2

In SAS 9.1.3, only the following types of objects can be exported: data explorations, deployed jobs, documents, external files, folders, generated transformations, information maps, jobs, jobs flows, libraries, mining results, notes, reports, stored processes, and tables. (In SAS 9.2, a larger number of object types can be imported and exported.)

Ensuring the Correct Software Version When Exporting from SAS 9.1.3

If you use BI Manager in SAS Management Console to perform the export, then the SAS 9.1.3 environment must have SAS Foundation Services 1.4. To check for this version:

On Windows, go to Settings Control Panel Add or Remove Programs and find the entry for SAS Foundation Services 1.4.
On UNIX machines, go the home directory of the user who maintains the SAS installation. Enter the following command:

more vpd.properties | grep Foundation

The following string should be present in the output that is displayed:

SAS Foundation Services 1.4

If you use SAS Data Integration Studio to perform the export, then you must have SAS Data Integration Studio 3.4. To check the version, click Help

About SAS Data Integration Studio, and make sure that Version=3.4 is displayed in the window.

Moving SAS 9.1.3 Tables and Libraries to Folders

If you use SAS Management Console to export tables and libraries from a SAS 9.1.3 system, the tables and libraries must be in folders. To move them to folders, right-click the BI Manager node and select Collect Ungrouped Library Metadata. BI Manager places pointers to the libraries and tables in a folder called Shared Data, from which you can perform the export.

Special Considerations for Promoting Prompts from SAS 9.1.3

When you import a prompt from a SAS 9.1.3 system, the following special considerations apply:

The default values for multiple-value prompts are saved in reverse order.
If the prompt's static (custom) list of values contains a row that is invalid in SAS 9.2 (for example, if a row contains blank or null unformatted values), then the row is deleted.
If the prompt's static (custom) list of values contains duplicate formatted values, then each formatted value is appended with its corresponding unformatted value, which is enclosed in square brackets ([]).

Promoting OLAP Cubes from SAS 9.1.3

To promote OLAP cubes from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2, use the ExportCubes and ImportCubes batch tools. These tools are included in the second maintenance release for SAS 9.2. For detailed instructions, see "Importing and Exporting SAS OLAP Cubes" in the SAS OLAP Server: User's Guide.

If you have not installed the second maintenance release for SAS 9.2, then follow the instructions in SAS Usage Note 36842 to promote your OLAP cubes.

Converting Data Explorations That Have Been Promoted from SAS 9.1.3

In the November 2010 release of SAS 9.2, SAS Web OLAP Viewer is discontinued. After you have promoted your data explorations from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2, you can convert the bookmarks in your data explorations to SAS reports. The reports can then be viewed and edited using SAS Web Report Studio 4.3.

To ensure that the data explorations can be converted successfully, do the following when you promote them:

Import the information maps on which the data explorations depend to the same path in which they were located in the SAS 9.1.3 environment.

Or, if you choose to import the information maps to a different location, import the information maps first and then import the data explorations in a separate package. When you import the data explorations, make sure to specify the correct location for the information maps.
Rebuild any OLAP cubes that the data explorations depend on.

To perform the conversion, follow the manual steps that are described in Manually Convert Data Explorations to Reports in the SAS Intelligence Platform: 9.1.3 to 9.2 Migration Guide.

Promoting Portal Content from SAS 9.1.3

To promote portal pages, page templates, portlet instances, and the portal's application and user permissions trees from SAS 9.1.3, use the content promotion tool for the SAS Information Delivery Portal 4.3. See Promoting Portal Content in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Web Application Administration Guide.

Using the Batch Import Tool to Import Metadata from SAS 9.1.3

You can use the batch import and export tools only with a SAS 9.2 metadata server. You can use the batch import tool to import a package that was created in SAS 9.1.3. For details, see Using the Batch Import Tool to Import a Package that Was Created in SAS 9.1.3.

CAUTION:: Use of the batch import tool to import SAS 9.1.3 packages can result in a significant number of broken metadata associations, such as tables with no associated library, jobs with missing tables, transformations within jobs with missing mappings, and expressions within mappings with missing columns.
As a best practice, you should use the batch import tool to import a SAS 9.1.3 package only if the resources associated with the imported objects have the same values in the two environments. Otherwise, it is strongly recommended that you use the Import SAS Package wizard in either SAS Management Console or SAS Data Integration Studio.

Top of Page