Setting Up Working Area: ETL Task

ETL task objects are used to display schemas of data loading and transformation, as well as mechanisms, schemas and object dependency structures in the working area.

A working area is a container where ETL task objects are located. A working area is a convenient method of:

Graphics primitives are various geometric shapes that can be used for additional format ting of ETL task working area. The following graphics primitives can be used:

Rounded rectangle - .
Rectangle - .
Ellipse - .
Triangle - .
Quadrangle - .
Pentagon - .
Hexagon - .
Octagon - .

Connecting lines are used to create visual links between various objects. When a connecting line is created, a link between connector or transformer inputs and outputs is not created. The following connecting lines can be used:

Straight line - .
Dotted line - .
Arrow - .
Angle line - .
Bended line - .
Curved line - .

Images in the formats BMP, JPG, JPEG, JPE, JFIF, GIF, PNG can be inserted to the working area or inside the graphics primitives.

Operations with Working Area

Operations with ETL Task Objects

When a new ETL task is created, the working area displays the list of groups of available objects:

Clicking the selected group displays a context menu, on which one can select the required connector, transformer or other object. Additional objects are created using corresponding buttons on the toolbar.

After at least one object is created on the working area, the list of available objects is hidden. To create objects in the future, use context menu items opened by clicking in the working area.

Use the clipboard to move and copy working area objects.

NOTE. Access permissions are taken into account when the user works with the clipboard. The user can execute only operations, for which he has permissions.

To copy an object to the clipboard:

Select the Paste item in the object's context menu.
Select the object and press CTRL+C.

NOTE. The operation is unavailable for the Link object.

To cut selected objects to clipboard:

Select the Cut item in the object's context menu.
Press CTRL+X.

NOTE. The operation is unavailable for the Link object. The links between objects are deleted on object movement.

To paste the copied or cut object from the clipboard:

Press CTRL+V.

NOTE. The Paste option is available if the clipboard contains some objects.

To delete selected objects:

Select the Delete item in the object's context menu.
Select the object and press the DELETE key.

NOTE. The links between objects are deleted.

Additional objects in the working area can be rotated by the angle that is multiple of 90 degrees. To rotate an object, select the Rotate 90º Clockwise or Rotate 90º Counterclockwise context menu items.

To set up placement order of selected objects, select the Bring to Front or Send to Back context menu items.

Each workspace object may contain some text.

Connectors, transformers, and objects of the Other group display object name and type as text.

Additional objects in the working area can contain text. To enter and edit text, double-click the selected object or select the Rename context menu item. The text editor is displayed. To finish text editing, click outside the editor area. The line text is always located at the same angle as the line. Object, to which the text belongs, is rotated with the text.

Use the available context menu items to change text font, size, style, color, vertical and horizontal alignment within the object:

If required, one can load custom fonts.

Formatting can be changed for graphics primitives or connecting lines. To do this, use available menu buttons: Set Up Borders and Set Up Fill for graphics primitives or Set Up Line for connecting lines.

Border color, transparency, type and width can be changed for primitives and connecting lines. Fill color and transparency can be set. Transparency degree is set in the range from 0 (opaque) to 99 (transparent).

To open the panel to set up working area formatting, open the context menu and select the Workspace Parameters item:

In the panel one can set up background and grid color. To set a color, click the appropriate icon and in the dialog box that opens select color or enter color code in the HEX or RGB format. The selected colors are applied automatically.

To insert an image to the working area, click the button on the toolbar. In the dialog box that opens select a local file and click the working area position where you want to insert the image.

To insert an image inside the existing graphics primitive, select the primitive and in the Image in Shape context menu item select the Select Image item. After selecting the file and clicking the OK button in the dialog box the image is inserted inside the graphics primitive.

To set up the image on the working area, select the Set Up Image context menu item. In the settings one can set up image transparency. Available values are in the range [0; 80].

To set up the image inside the graphics primitive, select the Image in Shape > Set Up Image context menu item. The settings panel opens:

The Alignment group of settings can be used to determine image orientation inside the graphics primitive. By default, the image is aligned to center relative to vertical and horizontal borders of the primitive.

The Border Margins group of settings can be used to set additional image margins inside the primitive.

The Image Parameters group contains the following settings:

Zoom Mode. The mode for image resize relative to graphics primitive size. The following values are available:

Do not Resize. Original image size is kept. If the image is larger than the graphics primitive, the image is out of the primitive borders.
Lock Aspect Ratio. Image size is fit relative to the width and height ratio of the graphics primitive.
Stretch. The image is stretched to fit the graphics primitive taking into account the specified margins.

Transparency. Image transparency degree. Available values are in the range [0; 80].

To remove the image from the working area, select it and select the Delete context menu item or press the DELETE key. The image is removed after the operation confirmation.

To remove the image from the graphics primitive, select the primitive and select the Image in Shape > Remove Image context menu item. The image will be removed.