Data Mediation › Data Import › Data Profiles

Data Profiles

Every data profile has one data source. The data profile contains a definition of the data feed of the external data. The profile also contains the initial aggregation logic in the form of a SQL statement. This initial aggregation logic is specified during profile definition. A data source may consist of an ASCII file (fixed-length, or delimited) or a database query. For database queries, multiple physical database resources (tables, databases) can be combined into a single result set and is considered a single data source.

One set of fields exist per profile. Consider the size of the returned dataset to determine how to deal with portions of the total data so that you can perform loads, unloads, and aggregations in smaller sets.

Unique initial aggregation logic (normalizing and aggregating raw data) indicates a unique profile. However, given the same data source and fields you can copy an existing profile to create a profile without having to redefine the source information. An example of an appropriate time to use this technique is if given a single data source, aggregation logic varies based on some field value.

The following are the various types of profiles for Data Mediation:

• Metric Data—Usage event data for the cost allocation process of Accounting Component. This type of profile loads data into temporary or event tables based on the completeness of the usage event data.
• Reference Lookup Data—Data contains reference data for lookup purposes. Data is loaded into reference tables.

If necessary, usage event data can be normalized or aggregated, preparing it for the aggregation process and cost allocation process using an SQL query or procedure defined in the profile.

To import data using Data Mediation

1. Go to Accounting, Data Mediation, Data Management.
2. Click Import Data.
3. Select the appropriate Data Type of the profile.
4. Select the import format: Database Table Import or Advanced Database Import.
5. Select the appropriate import profile for the data to be imported.

   You can specify a filter and description.

6. Click Import Now.