Viewing or Updating Table Metadata

Problem

You want to view or update the metadata for a table that you have registered in SAS Data Integration Studio.

Solution

You can access the properties window for the table and change the settings on the appropriate tab of the window. The following tabs are available on properties windows for tables:
  • General
  • Columns
  • Indexes
  • Keys
  • Parameters
  • Physical Storage
  • Notes
  • Extended Attributes
  • Authorization
Use the properties window for a table to view or update the metadata for its columns, keys, indexes, and other attributes. You can right-click a table in any of the trees on the SAS Data Integration Studio desktop or in the Job Editor window. Then, click Properties to access its properties window.
Note that updates that you make to the metadata about the table affect all other users of that table's metadata. However, the physical table is not actually updated until you run a job process that actually updates that table. In the case of existing physical tables, in order to make the physical table match the metadata, it is necessary to drop and recreate the table. These changes can have the following consequences for any jobs that use the table:
  • Changes, additions, or deletions to column metadata are reflected in all of the jobs that include the table.
  • Changes to column metadata often affect mappings. Therefore, you might need to remap your columns.
  • Changes to keys, indexes, physical storage options, and parameters affect the physical external file and are reflected in any job that the includes the table.
You can use the impact analysis and reverse impact tools in SAS Data Integration Studio to estimate the impact of these updates on your existing jobs.