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The Omnidex Environment Catalog is the starting point for constructing an Omnidex application. It is the primary source of information used by Omnidex to access a database and the Omnidex indexes.
An Environment Catalog is a collection of information, objects that include descriptions of databases, tables, columns and indexes, as well as Omnidex specific information like optimization options and configuration details. Omnidex uses this information to determine how to access the databases. It can also store supplemental information about the databases, that can enhance Omnidex's ability to optimize queries.
The Environment Catalog is both a superset and subset of information about the database. It is a superset of database information because a single Environment Catalog can contain information about multiple databases, including databases from different database management systems. However, it contains only a subset of the information tracked in the database management system about each of those databases, limited to the few details required by Omnidex.
Omnidex is aware only of the objects defined in the Environment Catalog. Any databases, tables, columns, etc… not defined in the Environment Catalog do not exist, as far as Omnidex is concerned, providing a fundamental level of security.
In the case of flat-file databases, the Environment Catalog plays a special role. Since plain flat-files rarely have meta-data stored in them, Omnidex acts as the database management system, using the Environment Catalog to describe the tables and columns and their relationships to each other, there by allowing standard SQL, ODBC and JDBC access to the data.
An Omnidex Environment begins as an environment source file, a text file containing all the environment definitions, then is compiled into a binary file, the Environment Catalog used by Omnidex.
The best way to create an environment source file is to use the Omnidex utility OAHELPER. OAHELPER, can automatically generate an environment source file for most RDBMSs including Oracle, Informix, DB2 and SQL Server. Alternatively, you can create an environment source file by hand using any text editor.
If you have an existing Omnidex Environment Catalog, you can use the Omnidex utility OADECOMP, to decompile the binary file into an editable source file.
When the environment source file is complete, you must use the Omnidex utility OACOMP to compile the environment source file into a binary file, the Environment Catalog.
An environment file is divided into several statements beginning with the ENVIRONMENT statement. The general environment layout is as follows:
The ENVIRONMENT declaration contains overall configuration settings and is followed by one or more DATABASE statements. Each DATABASE declaration describes the basic database characteristics and access instructions, followed by a series of TABLE statements. Each TABLE declaration describes the table including its physical location, key constraints and a series of COLUMN statements. Each COLUMN declaration describes the database column, including data type and length. INDEX statements describing the native indexes in the database, follow the TABLE declarations. This sequence is then repeated, in this order, for each database being described in this environment.
The following is a simple example Environment source file with a single database and a single table:
Environment start_env Database start Type flatfile table sales_facts column odx_seq_ID datatype INTEGER column acct datatype CHAR(10) column amount datatype INTEGER
Statements in an environment catalog must follow a certain hierarchy. For example, COLUMN definition statements must follow the TABLE definition statement that defines the table to which the columns belong.
See the individual statement topics for specific details.
Syntax Convention [ ] Optional syntax
{ } Required, choose one from the set.
option1 | option2 - Choose option1 or option2
option1 / option2 - option1 and option2 have the same meaning, both work.
ENVIRONMENT environment_name
[VERSION "string"]
[TITLE "string"]
[SET
[WILDCARDS any_char, single_char, single_digit]
[OMNIDEX SENTINEL character]
[OPTIMIZATION "options"]
[ESCAPE character]
[SQL_SYNTAX {OMNIDEX | OMNIDEX_PLUS}]
[CENTURY_THRESHOLD n]
]>
Optional. This is a string of up to 32 characters that defines a version number for the Environment file. VERSION is used for informational purposes only. It in no way affects the application or how Omnidex behaves against the environment.
Optional. This is a string of up to 80 characters that describes the Environment file. TITLE is used for informational purposes only. It in no way affects the application or how Omnidex behaves against the environment.
Optional. The keyword SET is a section identifier for the SET section of the ENVIRONMENT definition. The following Environment settings are established through SET:
Must contain three different wildcard characters, separated by commas, from the following set: *!#%@^~{}'|?[]\/
Defaults * (asterisk) any string
? (question mark) any character
# (pound sign) any ASCII digit
Default % (percent sign).
specifies the default type of optimization performed by Omnidex throughout an application connected to this environment. These options can be toggled on (optimization_setting) or off (NO_optimization_setting). Several optimization settings can be specified in a single SET command, separated by commas or spaces. Example:
SET OPTIMIZATION=“AGGREGATION, SERIAL”
Default \ (backslash). Only a single escape character can be defined.
Specifies the year cutoff for determining the century in 2 digit years. For example, if the century threshold is set to 60, a 2 digit year of 45 would be translated to 2045 and a 2 digit year of 61 would be translated to 1961. This setting can be explicitly over-ridden for a specific column in the column definition. Environment name is a required string of up to 32 characters. Environment name can contain numbers and any of the allowed special characters. However, it MUST BEGIN WITH A LETTER, A-Z (case insensitive).
DATABASE < database_name >
TYPE < flatfile |
TABLE < tablename | "tablename" >
[ TYPE < ROLLUP | > ]
[ PHYSICAL "filespec" ]
[ AS "select_statment" ]
[ PRIMARY KEY “col1”,”col2” ]
[ FOREIGN KEY “col1”,”col2” REFERENCES “table1”(“col1”,”col2”) ]
< COLUMN column_spec [ COLUMN column_spec ... > ]
COLUMN column-name DATATYPE datatype-spec
[PROXIMITY “options”]
[SYNONYMS 'options']
[SPELLCHECK 'options']
[MISSPELLINGS 'options']
[FORMS 'options']
[STOPWORDS 'options']
[PHONETIC 'options']
[INCLUDED_TAGS 'options']
[EXCLUDED_TAGS 'options']
{AS < columnspec | "$retrieve_file(FILENAME)" > ]
NODE nodename
DATABASE dbname FILEDSN "dsn"
[ LOCAL ]
[ CACHE ]
CLUSTER table
[PARTITION BY criteria_expression
The following sample Environment Catalog Source is the minimum set of statements that will compile into an Omnidex Compiled Environment.
ENVIRONMENT tinyenv DATABASE tinydb TYPE flatfile TABLE table1 COLUMN myseq DATATYPE INTEGER COLUMN mytext DATATYPE CHAR(60)
This creates an Omnidex Environment named “tinyenv” with a single Database named “tinydb” with one table named “table1”. Because the DATABASE TYPE is “flatfile”, the name of the underlying operating system file for this table is “table1”. Typically a filespec location would be used. Copy and save this environment as “tiny.src”.
os> oacomp tiny.src tiny.env
os> odxsql tiny.env
or
os> odxsql > connect tiny.env
> create file table1
> insert into table1 values (1)
> select * from table1
C:\dev\odx\tiny>more tiny.src
ENVIRONMENT tinyenv
DATABASE tinydb
TYPE flatfile
TABLE table1
COLUMN mysq DATATYPE INTEGER
COLUMN mytext DATATYPE CHAR(60)
C:\dev\odx\tiny>oacomp tiny.src tiny.env
OACOMP - Omnidex Environment Compiler Mon Nov 30 21:41:50 2009
(c) Dynamic Information Systems Corp. 1981-2009 5.0 Build 1H
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 3 (2600) TDO830/TDO
** Trial Copy **
Parsed; Validated; Compiled; Done
** Environment Compiled Successfully! **
C:\dev\odx\tiny>odxsql tiny.env
ODXSQL - Omnidex SQL Mon Nov 30 21:41:59 2009
(c) Dynamic Information Systems Corp. 1981-2009 5.0 Build 1H
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 3 (2600) TDO830/TDO
** Trial Copy **
Connected to C:\dev\odx\tiny\tiny.env
> create file table1
File table1 created
> insert into values (1, 'lions, tigers, and bears')
1 row inserted into TABLE1
> insert into values (2, 'lions, tigers, kittys, cougars')
1 row inserted into TABLE1
> insert into valu (3, 'The teddy bears are having a picnic')
1 row inserted into TABLE1
> select * from table1
MYSEQ MYTEXT
----------- ------------------------------------------------------------
1 lions, tigers, and bears
2 lions, tigers, kittys, cougars
3 The teddy bears are having a picnic
1 row returned
>
C:\dev\odx\tiny>dbinstal DBINSTAL - Omnidex Database Indexing Utility Tue Dec 01 07:30:37 2009 (c) Dynamic Information Systems Corp. 1981-2009 5.0 Build 1H Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 3 (2600) TDO830/TDO ** Trial Copy ** Database or Environment: tiny.env Cmd: install ** OMNIDEX MultiDimensional/Keyword (MDK) Index Installation ** Enter Tables and Columns to be indexed To create an index comprised of all or parts of one or more columns, enter an Index Name followed by '!' at the Column prompt Enter '?' for a list of Tables or Columns, '/' to exit the current prompt Table name? table1 To index this table in any parent domains, enter the column linking it to its parent or 'P=' followed by the parent name Link column 1: / Table will be indexed in its own domain Column name: mytext;kw Column name: / Table name? / Specification of MDK indexes is complete ** OMNIDEX Aggregation/Sorted_Key (ASK) Index Installation ** Table name? / Proceed with installation? [Y] Use the Build command to load the following indexes: TABLE1 (Omnidex MDK) Cmd: build Table [;key] table1 Unloading keywords TABLE1: 3 records (15 keywords) processed 15 keywords unloaded 0 (0MB), 1 (1MB), 0 (0MB) Loading keywords 15 keywords loaded 2 blocks used, 2 levels Indexing complete. CPU time: 0:00:00 Elapsed: 0:00:00 Cmd: quit C:\dev\odx\tiny>
After creating an Omnidex Environment and adding Omnidex indexes via DBINSTAL, applications can be developed using the DISC provided ODBC and JDBC drivers.
Create an ODBC or JDBC datasource using the Windows Client DataSource Editor (DSEDIT).
Name the file as “tiny.dsn”.
Or modify the following text file and save as tiny.dsn. Change the following lines to the correct path and filenames.
Change these three lines with:
Cut and paste this text as “tiny.dsn” with the modifications and save in the same directory as the “tiny.env” Omnidex Environment file.
Host=tdo830 ODBCDSNFILE=C:\dev\odx\tiny\tiny.dsn FileSpec=c:\dev\odx\tiny\tiny.env
ODBC] DRIVER=DISC OMNIDEX OdxNet Driver ODBCDSNFILE=C:\dev\odx\tiny\tiny.dsn ODBCDSNNAME=tinydsn [DataSources] tinydsn=DataSource Edit Wizard Generated [DataSource tinydsn] Dictionary=tinydsn DisplayWindow=NONE [Dictionaries] tinydsn=DataSource Edit Wizard Generated [Dictionary tinydsn] Server=Server1 NetworkServices=OdxNet Type=OmniAccess FileSpec=c:\dev\odx\tiny\tiny.env HostOAConnectOptions= Password=!~ AccessOptions=Write [Servers] Server1=DataSource Edit Wizard Generated [Server Server1] Host=tdo830 Port=7555
Start a new command window as odxnet will run and await connections in the new command window.
os> odxnet
Go back to the original command window and do the following:
os> odxsql tiny.dsn -odbc
or run an ODXNET listener from within OdexSQL using the -odxnet command line option.
os> odxsql -odxnet
> connect tiny.dsn using odbc
> select * from table1 where mytext = 'bears' MYSEQ MYTEXT ----------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 lions, tigers, and bears 3 The teddy bears are having a picnic
Note that Omnidex will do a quick text (Keyword) retreival automatically
> insert into table1 values (4, 'Da Bears') 1 row inserted into TABLE1
> select * from table1 where mytext = 'bears' MYSEQ MYTEXT ----------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 lions, tigers, and bears 3 The teddy bears are having a picnic 4 Da Bears