Maintaining Environments

Preparing to Create Local or Remote Warehouse Environments

Before you create a Warehouse Environment, you must do some preparation:

Metadata host configuration

Verify that you have the appropriate hardware and software to implement your Environments, as described in Metadata Host Configuration.

Physical paths

The physical path for the metadata library _MASTER must exist. Each Warehouse Environment and each Data Warehouse within an Environment should have a unique pathname.

You might also want to create a directory structure for the Environment, as described in Creating a Directory Structure for a New Environment.

Creating a Directory Structure for a New Environment

Before you enter the metadata for a new Warehouse Environment, you might want to create a top-level directory and a few typical subdirectories for the Environment. At a minimum, you will need subdirectories for a Warehouse Environment and its Data Warehouses.

Note: Each Warehouse Environment--and each Data Warehouse within an Environment--should have a unique pathname. [cautionend]

Example Directory Structure illustrates one possible directory structure for the Toy Store Environment that is used as the main example in this document.

Example Directory Structure

[Example Directory Structure]

The directory structure in Example Directory Structure is not required. It is simply an example of a valid structure. It is a convenient way to keep metadata, source libraries, scripts, and other elements that are associated with a given Environment together. The directories in the example are as follows:

toystore_1	is a top-level directory that includes some local subdirectories that are associated with the Toy Store Environment. SAS/Warehouse Administrator does not require a top-level directory such as toystore_1, but the combination of a top-level directory structure and the use of relative pathnames in SAS/Warehouse Administrator will make it easier to copy or move a Warehouse Environment--as in a test-to-production scenario.
_env	is the directory for the Toy Store Environment and its metadata repository (reserved libref _MASTER). This library contains host definitions and other metadata shared by all Warehouses and ODD Groups in a given Environment. You should have a unique directory for each Environment in your project.
_infomrt	is a directory for a SAS library that contains the example Information Mart Item and File described in Maintaining Information Marts. You might need Information Mart Items or Files for your project.
_jobinfo-env	is a directory for a Jobs Information library. You do not need such a directory unless you are using SAS/Warehouse Administrator to schedule and track Jobs. A Warehouse Environment and its Data Warehouses can share one Jobs Information library, or they could have separate Jobs Information libraries. For details, see Scheduling Jobs.
_jobinfo-wh	is a directory for another Jobs Information library.
_odd	is a directory where any local tables or views that are associated with Operational Data Definitions (ODDs) can be stored. You could use such a directory if your ODDs create views or output tables.
_scripts	is a directory where any SAS/CONNECT scripts that are unique to this Environment could be stored. The metadata for a remote host definition includes a reference to a SAS/CONNECT script used to establish a connection with that host. You could use such a directory if any warehouse resources are stored on remote hosts.
_wh1	is the directory for the Toy Store Data Warehouse and its metadata repository (reserved libref _DWMD). The _DWMD library is the metadata repository for most of the groups and data stores in a data warehouse or a data mart within the current Environment. You should have a unique directory for each Data Warehouse in your project.
data	is a directory for a SAS library that contains detail data that is local to the SAS/Warehouse Administrator host. Neither data sources nor data stores must be local to the SAS/Warehouse Administrator host.
Holapgrp2	is a directory for a SAS library that contains summary data that is local to the SAS/Warehouse Administrator host.
Source	is a directory where a SOURCE catalog containing user-written routines that are unique to this Environment could be stored. These routines are used to supplement or replace the code that is generated by SAS/Warehouse Administrator. For example, user-written Load Step routines for ODDs could be stored in the SOURCE catalog, because SAS/Warehouse Administrator does not generate Load Steps for ODDs.

Specifying Physical Pathnames in SAS/Warehouse Administrator

The metadata for SAS libraries and other objects in SAS/Warehouse Administrator include a Path field where you specify a pathname for the objects. Remember the following things when specifying a physical path for an object in SAS/Warehouse Administrator:

If the path exists and is local to SAS/Warehouse Administrator, you can use the right arrow button to select the path.
If the path exists and is remote to SAS/Warehouse Administrator, enter the path as it exists on the remote host. (Do not include the remote host name in the path.)
If the path does not exist, you must use operating system commands to create the physical path for the object before you can specify its metadata in SAS/Warehouse Administrator.

Pathname Portability

In general, enter physical pathnames that will be reasonably portable, given the operating systems where these objects will be stored. This will allow you to copy or move these objects to different hosts and minimize any updates to the physical pathnames in the metadata.

The least portable pathname might be one that includes a drive specification, such as d:\Dw_projects\Project-1\_env.

A UNC (Universal Naming Convention) pathname such as \\pchost1\projects\Dw_projects\Project-1\_env is somewhat more portable, as long as the UNC format is appropriate for the host's operating system.

The most portable pathname might be a relative pathname such as .\Project-1\_env. However, you must be sure that the current directory for the SAS session will resolve any relative pathnames for SAS/Warehouse Administrator objects. For details about the possible impact of relative pathnames, see Opening an Environment with a Relative Pathname.

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