Teradata Reference

Understanding the SAS Federation Server Driver for Teradata

The SAS Federation Server Driver for Teradata provides Read and Update access to Teradata database tables and creates tables that can be accessed by both SAS Federation Server and Teradata.
The SAS Federation Server Driver for Teradata supports most of the FedSQL functionality. The driver also supports an application's ability to submit native Teradata SQL statements.
The SAS Federation Server Driver for Teradata is a remote driver, which means that it connects to a server process to access data. The process might be running on the same machine as SAS Federation Server, or it might be running on another machine in the network.

Connection Options for Teradata

Overview

To access data that is hosted on SAS Federation Server, a client must submit a connection string, which defines how to connect to the data. The data service connection arguments for a Teradata database include connection options and advanced options.

Connection Options

Connection options are used to establish a connection to a data source. Specify one or more connection options when defining a data service using the CREATE DATA SERVICE DDL statement.
The following connection options are supported for a Teradata database.
Option
Description
CATALOG
CATALOG=catalog-identifier;
Specifies an arbitrary identifier for an SQL catalog, which groups logically related schemas. Any identifier is valid (for example, catalog=tera).
Note: You must specify a catalog.
DATABASE
DATABASE=database-name;
Specifies the Teradata database. If you do not specify DATABASE=, you connect to the default Teradata database, which is often named the same as your user ID. If the database value that you specify contains spaces or non-alphanumeric characters, you must enclose it in quotation marks.
DRIVER
DRIVER=TERA;
Identifies the data service to which you want to connect, which is a Teradata database.
Note: You must specify the driver.
SERVER
SERVER=server-name;
Specifies the Teradata server identifier.

Advanced Options

The following advanced options are supported for Teradata database.
Option
Description
ACCOUNT
ACCOUNT=account-ID;
Specifies an optional account number that you want to charge for the Teradata session.
CT_PRESERVE
CT_PRESERVE = STRICT | SAFE | FORCE | FORCE_COL_SIZE
Allows users to control how data types are mapped. Note that data type mapping will be disabled when CT_PRESERVE is set to STRICT. If the requested type does not exist on the target database, an error is returned. The options are:
  • STRICT The requested type must exist in the target database. No type promotion will occur. If the type does not exist, an error is returned.
  • SAFE Target data types will be upscaled only if they will not result in a loss of precision or scale. When character encodings are changed, the new column size will be recalculated to ensure all characters can be stored in the new encoding.
  • FORCE This is the default for all drivers. The best corresponding target data type will be chosen, even if it could potentially result in a loss of precision or scale. When character encodings are changed, the new column size will be recalculated to ensure all characters can be stored in the new encoding.
  • FORCE_COL_SIZE This option is the same as FORCE, except that the column size for the new encoding will be the same as the original encoding. This can be used to avoid <i>column size creep</i> that has been seen in some cases, but it means that the resulting column might be too large or too small for the target data.
DEFAULT_ATTR
DEFAULT_ATTR=(attr=value;...)
DEFAULT_ATTR is used to specify connection handle or statement handle attributes supported for initial connect-time configuration. Where attr=value corresponds to any of the options below:
  • CURSORS=n- Connection handle option. This option controls the driver’s use of client side result set cursors. The possible values are 0, 1 or 2.
    0 Causes the driver to use client side static cursor emulation if a scrollable cursor is requested but the database server cannot provide one.
    1 Causes the driver to always use client side static cursor emulation if a scrollable cursor is requested. The database server’s native cursor will never be used.
    2 (Default) Causes the driver to never use client side static cursor emulation if a scrollable cursor is requested. The database server’s native cursor will be used if available – otherwise the cursor will be forward only.
    Example: DEFAULT_ATTR=(CURSORS=2)
  • USE_EVP=n— Statement handle option. This option optimizes the driver for large result sets. The possible values are 0 (OFF) or 1 (ON), which is the default. Example: DEFAULT_ATTR=(USE_EVP=0)
  • XCODE_WARN=n - Statement handle option. Used to warn on character transcoding errors that occur during row input or output operations. Possible values are 0 (returns an error), 1 (returns a warning), or 2 (ignore transaction errors). Example: DEFAULT_ATTR=(XCODE_WARN=1)
DRIVER TRACE
DRIVER_TRACE='API | SQL | ALL';
Requests tracing information, which logs transaction records to an external file that can be used for debugging purposes. The SAS Federation Server driver writes a record of each command that is sent to the database to the trace log based on the specified tracing level, which determines the type of tracing information. The tracing levels are:
  • ALL Activates all trace levels.
  • API Specifies that API method calls be sent to the trace log. This option is most useful if you are having a problem and need to send a trace log to Technical Support for troubleshooting.
  • DRIVER Specifies that driver-specific information be sent to the trace log.
  • SQL Specifies that SQL statements that are sent to the database management system (DBMS) be sent to the trace log. Tracing information is DBMS specific, but most SAS Federation Server drivers log SQL statements such as SELECT and COMMIT.
Default: Tracing is not activated.
Note: If you activate tracing, you must also specify the location of the trace log with DRIVER_TRACEFILE=. Note that DRIVER_TRACEFILE= is resolved against the TRACEFILEPATH set in ALTER SERVER. TRACEFILEPATH is relative to the server's Content Root location.
(Optional) You can control trace log formatting with DRIVER_TRACEOPTIONS=.
Interaction: You can specify one trace level, or you can concatenate more than one by including the | (OR) symbol. For example: driver_trace='api|sql' generates tracing information for API calls and SQL statements.
DRIVER TRACE FILE
DRIVER_TRACEFILE=‘filename';
Used to specify the name of the text file for the trace log. Include the filename and extension in single or double quotation marks. For example: driver_tracefile='\mytrace.log'
Default: The default TRACEFILE location applies to a relative filename, and it will be placed relative to TRACEFILEPATH.
Requirement: DRIVER_TRACEFILE is required when activating tracing using DRIVER_TRACE.
Interaction: (Optional) You can control trace log formatting with DRIVER_TRACEOPTIONS=.
DRIVER TRACE OPTIONS
DRIVER_TRACEOPTIONS=APPEND | THREADSTAMP | TIMESTAMP;
Specifies options in order to control formatting and other properties for the trace log:
  • APPEND Adds trace information to the end of an existing trace log. The contents of the file are not overwritten.
  • THREADSTAMP Prepends each line of the trace log with a thread identification.
  • TIMESTAMP Prepends each line of the trace log with a time stamp.
Default: The trace log is overwritten with no thread identification or time stamp.
PASSWORD
PASSWORD=password;
Specifies a Teradata password. The password must correlate to your USER= value. The alias is PWD=.
Note: You must specify the PASSWORD= option.
ROLE
ROLE=security-role;
Specifies a security role for the session.
USER
USER=user-id;
Specifies a Teradata user ID. If the ID contains blanks or national characters, enclose it in quotation marks. The alias is UID=.
Note: You must specify the USER= option.
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