Copying, Promoting, Importing, Exporting, and Analyzing Your Metadata

Tools for Copying, Promoting, Importing, Exporting, and Analyzing Metadata

The SAS Intelligence Platform includes several tools to assist you in copying, promoting, importing, exporting, and analyzing your metadata. The following table lists each tool, the purpose of each tool, the tool's location in SAS Management Console (if applicable), and a reference for documentation about the tool:

Tools for Managing Metadata Repositories

Tool Name	Purpose	Location in SAS Management Console	Documentation Reference
Metadata server backup and recovery facility	Copy all of your metadata repositories, the repository manager, and the contents of the metadata server's configuration directory to or from the configured backup location.	Metadata ManagerMetadata UtilitiesServer Backup	Backing Up and Recovering the SAS Metadata Server
Import Metadata and Export Metadata1	Copy metadata for relational data and DBMSs to and from external sources.	Metadata ManagerActive ServerImport Metadata and Metadata ManagerActive ServerExport Metadata	About the Metadata Manager Import and Export Wizards
Export SAS Package and Import SAS Package2	Promote individual objects or groups of objects from one location to another, either on the same metadata server or a different metadata server. You can also include associated physical content in the promotion.	In the Folders tab, right-click a folder and select Export SAS Package or Import SAS Package.	Promotion Tools Overview and SAS Management Console Help
Copy, Paste, and Paste Special	Copy and paste a group of objects or folders into a target folder on the same metadata server.	In the Folders tab, right-click a folder and select Copy. Then right-click another folder and select Paste or Paste Special.	SAS Management Console Help
SAS Migration Utility	Populate a SAS deployment with metadata, associated physical data, and configuration information from an existing deployment.	Not applicable. The utility is executed from a command line.	Performing SAS 9.3 to SAS 9.3 Migration
Metadata Analyze and Repair	Run selected tests on metadata to locate common problems, and (when possible) repair problems that are found.	Metadata ManagerActive ServerAnalyze/Repair Metadata	Analyzing and Repairing Metadata
1SAS Data Integration Studio enables you to perform this function with change analysis. The change analysis feature enables you to compare imported metadata to existing metadata in the repository and selectively apply changes. For details, see the product Help for SAS Data Integration Studio.
2This feature is also available in SAS Data Integration Studio and SAS OLAP Cube Studio.

About the Metadata Manager Import and Export Wizards

The Metadata Manager Import and Export Wizards enable you to copy metadata for relational data and DBMSs to and from external sources. To use this feature, you must license and install the appropriate SAS Metadata Bridge. For information about SAS Metadata Bridges, contact your SAS representative.

You can import and export relational metadata in any format that is accessible with a SAS Metadata Bridge. Relational metadata includes the metadata for the following objects: tables, columns, indexes, and keys (including primary keys and foreign keys). This feature is useful when you have created a data model using other data warehousing software, and you want to import it for use with SAS; or when you have created a data model in SAS, and you want to export it for use with other data warehousing software.

To export metadata, expand the Metadata Manager node in SAS Management Console, right-click the Active Server node, and select Export Metadata. In the Metadata Export Wizard, you specify the export format, navigate to the folders that contain the table objects to be exported, and select the tables. You then specify the path and filename to which the metadata is to be exported.

To import metadata, expand the Metadata Manager node in SAS Management Console, right-click the Active Server node, and select Import Metadata. In the Metadata Export Wizard, you specify the import format, specify the path and filename that contains the metadata to be imported, and specify the library to which the metadata is to be imported.

For more information about using the wizards, see the Help for SAS Management Console. Error messages generated by the wizards are written to SASMCErrorLog.txt, which is located in one of the following paths:

On Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 systems: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\SAS\SASManagementConsole\9.3
On other Windows systems: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\SAS\SASManagementConsole\9.3
On UNIX systems: user's-home-directory/SAS/SASManagementConsole/9.3

Note: SAS Data Integration Studio provides enhanced Import and Export wizards to copy metadata for relational data and DBMSs to and from external sources. These wizards provide a change analysis capability that enables you to compare the imported metadata to existing metadata in the repository and selectively apply changes. For details, see the product Help for SAS Data Integration Studio.